One of the building's two big spectacle "lenses" (or rather, huge, round windows made to look like Eggman's trademark specs) slid open, revealing the target of all their ire standing with arms outstretched wide, greeting them with great flounce and panache, all while staying out of reach.

"Welcome," he shouted grungily, "to the humble roots of an empire! Everything begins with a good supply chain, you know?"

A platform extended out of the "eye" of the building, and he walked out along it, peering down at them. He held something in one hand behind his back; it looked like a bundle of fabric of some sort, innocuous enough, but odd.

"Logistics are key! And before you, you have the single greatest logistics network known to the history of all mankind... A portal to anywhere. However, I don't expect the likes of you to appreciate this kind of hard work, technology, and sophistication, though, no, nonono. Tch." He folded his other hand behind his back as well, and held his head high, trying his best to look smug, but grinning a bit too much to fit the part. He eventually looked down again. "Well... perhaps you'll appreciate it, Tails." He almost seemed to spit the name. "Seems you were one of only two of my most favorite friends who decided to come and pay me a visit today, weren't you? All these strangers and nobodies... Has Sonic sunk so low he can't show his face anymore? Maybe he knows when he's met his match!"

He began ohohoho cackling, like always.

"But it seems you people... don't. So I'll take a moment to show you what you're up against! I'm just all sporting like that."

He raised a hand, snapped a finger, and the other eye of the building lit up like a giant screen, giving a view of events occurring far away. It appeared to be... Central City. And sure enough, one of those giant, puffer-fish-like vessels was in the picture, looming down over the city, though only its mouth was visible, since the camera was too close.

"As you can see, the least weapons in my arsenal are preparing to crush the world's most powerful capital. Let's ... hm. That's not a very good view at all. You can hardly see the destruction it's about to wreak. Hang on a second, would you?" he asked so politely, then giddily added, "You've gotta see this," as he pulled out a remote and made a few button presses.

The camera view switched a few times, then panned out, and revealed... the same puffer fish airship, actively on fire, missing its right eye, streaming pillars of smoke, and barreling over the city, on a crash course with a distant mountain range.

Eggman stood frozen in utter shock, his jaw practically on the floor. He pressed buttons rapidly.

"I have more! I have more. That's just one. Someone got lucky!"

Camera views changed rapidly, until another was found. This one was chasing what looked to be a red biplane—A much older looking biplane than the one Tails had flown in... In fact, it looked like the original Tornado. Eggman's brows raised and his mustache bristled at the sight of it.

The biplane climbed high into the air. The bulky puffer-shaped airship attempted to follow, but just as it pointed its mouth at the more agile airplane looping overhead, something blue leapt out of the pilot's seat, dove out of the plane, and straight into its mouth.

The puffer twisted in the air, and bulges began appearing in its sides one after another. One of its big, glassy eyes shattered. More bulges appeared. Finally, the rear end of the ship burst in flame, and the spinning blue ball emerged from the other side just in time to fall back onto the biplane as it looped beneath.

Sonic the Hedgehog had just single-handedly loop-de-looped an airship, disembarked from an airplane, attacked said airship, exploded out the other side of it, and timed it well enough to land back in his own plane at the bottom of the loop.

Eggman's face was frozen in aghast horror. He emitted but choking and gurgling sounds.

"You're all so happy Sonic came through in the end, aren't you."

It was a question, but he said it oh, so flatly, with bubbling rage underneath.

"Well, I have baaad news for you. He's out there—Not down here saving you!"

He was angry. That much was for certain. However, his rage was contained, bulging and frothy, behind a thin veil of composure, reinforced by what confidence he had remaining, which was actually substantial. Whatever his trump card was, it was that bundle of fabric he had been hanging onto. He picked it up again and hurled it carelessly off the platform, down to the others. As it plummeted, its form became clearer: It actually looked like a body, wrapped in bandages.

Did he just throw a mummy at them?

It wasn't very big, barely even near Jam's height from the looks of things. It struck the floor with a fleshy, bony sort of *tunk* noise, almost painful to hear, and laid there a second.

Eggman meanwhile hustled away, those spindly, spider-like legs whisking him back into the safety of his domain. Toby and Kyle were actually not that far away, thanks to the flight boost of the rat's gear, but before they could reach the altitude necessary to confront him, all the artificial lighting around the structure went off, and things became dark.

Correction—They became unnaturally dark. The glow of the magma outside the distant crystalline walls and ceilings faded to black, and there was a raucous whoosh, and a blast of wind powerful enough to dismount Toby from his board and very nearly knock everyone on the ground level off their feet. Strange, shrill laughing noises pierced the air for just an instant, and everything grew very cold.

The blackness slowly went away, and the glow of the walls returned. When light levels returned to normal, the mummified figure standing in front of them was on its feet. It seemed to have long spikes hanging from its head, each individually wrapped in fabric, and large, blunt fists, each with a set of spikes... and when its eyes snapped open, they were vivid purple.

What a familiar fellow that was. With the way he raised his fists and started forward, though, it was clear that familiarity didn't mean friendship at the moment.

Then again, even some other members of their own party who were friends began to posture themselves a bit strangely toward the others—Specifically, the members of the party who had pocketed some extra crystal treasures along the way. The bluish gems pulsated visibly through the fabric of Jam's pouch, the inside of Ace's jacket, and Toby's pocket.

"What, this old thing? I guess it's pretty cool."

A reckless, but flashy trick or two high on the wow-factor would follow.

Normally.

That was how Jam customarily responded to the Lightning Ring Envy her beloved trinket usually garnered.

Today -- Right now, her response was decidedly different.

Tails' admiring was received with silence, and the monkey's previously slouchy posture had straightened drastically, becoming rigid, and unnatural. The shield itself seemed to have responded in synchronization with the monkey's wordless, but slow and purposeful advance, snapping and spitting ravenously, as its long, lashing tongues of 30,000 amps searched blindly for some quarry.

It and its wielder looked considerably darker than usual, save for that off glow bleeding through her hip pack.

The theatrics or boot cycle, or whatever it was that had produced those unsettling first steps forward ended abruptly, culminating in sudden lunge forward spearheaded by both electrified fists one right after the other, both irrefutably aimed for the boy genius' face.

In case anyone was still uncertain, something was very wrong.