The phone rang, and rang, and rang... Then there was a quiet click as it was answered, and the sound of wind, breathing, and distant voices followed.

"Hallo,... boooooy."

Somewhere not far away, there was a marginally insane, hunch-backed vagrant of indeterminate (but smelly) species who had answered a ringing train station pay phone. Unfortunately for Ace, this particular effort was a waste of time, as Rock was no longer present to receive the call.



Meanwhile, the hand of fate dealt another unfortunate blow right there in the sheriff's office. As it would turn out, the sheriff had unwittingly ordered that the highly unstable Chaosol Emerald be placed in the care of a CE-powered robot. Almost immediately on contact, a noisy whir began to emanate from the Chaos Drive power source in poor Target's chest, and his internal temperature began to climb rapidly to dangerous levels. Without the stability of any kind of living biology to absorb and cope with the bizarre energies of the emerald (as Sheff's body had apparently found a way to, despite its undesirable crystalline byproduct), the results would be the same as was seen in Eggman's own weaponry.

In short, Target had roughly ten seconds to drop the gem before his exploding, armored carapace had the chance to do some small-scale thermonuclear renovation for the department by taking out a few walls and creating a new skylight.

A rocky hand suddenly landed on Jack's shoulder, Sheffer getting her attention. He had stood in the doorway as the commotion with the CT had occured, their only option for a carrier for the energized emerald now gone. As the griffin looked to him, he made the motion of having an open palm before him, his other hand seemingly scribbling onto the other with an invisible instrument. He looked to her expectingly.

The golden sheriff stared at the poor soul encased in crystal. Paper? Pen? How he'd use such a thing with his hands so huge was beyond her. She checked her pockets, patting herself down, but turned up nothing. Mimeing would have to suffice. "You want the rock back. Don't you?" She said cooly. He'd been protective of it thus far, and it didn't seem like a stretch for him to want to continue and hold it if only to protect others from his fate.

His first response was a immediate nod, but before she could reply, he started a series of motions. First, he pointed to her hat where the emerald was obviously contained, then raising an arm, his finger then pointed to the crystal, then finally to her. He repeated the cycle again, as though hoping she would get the message.

"I know." She said softly, She raised a dismissive hand as she herself headed out the door into the rest of the station. It was time to go, she couldn't wait anymore. "I don't much fancy the idea of being crystal either. But ya've done enough Sheff. We need ta concentrate on gettin' you furry again 'fore we worry about what the rock is doin' to my head."

Still incapable of making any the tiniest of grunts, Sheffer reverted down to a large stomp of his foot, the rock smashing into the floor as he stalked after Jack. Without any hesitation, he marched through the door and snatched the hat from her head, taking the emerald along with it. Before defiantly walking off, he tossed back her hat before hurriedly moving down the hall away from her.

"DARNYOU" She snapped picking up her hat. Then she pointed a finger at Sheff. "SWEAR to me, ya wont run off. Yer stayin' with me 'till we get ya back to normal. An' yer gonna gimme that rock, if I ask for it. Just please. Don't be stubborn. We gotta work together here."

Sheffer turned back, and through the crystal, one could an annoyed look, as though questioning her opinion on his actions at that moment. Yet, his hand rose, giving a typical cross over his heart before putting his back to her again, continuing to move along.