His eyes scared her the most. They were cold, hard, unforgiving. No emotion was held within. He had blood-red eyes- the eyes of a vampire.

Nah, a vampire would have been friendlier.

Those eyes were a wall. Like most things in the universe, the hardness was merely fake, a charade; like most things, it was a mask. Hiding the true pain. Hiding the anxiety, the sadness, all the emotions everyone faces in their lifetime. Some just know how to hide it well.

They were horrible eyes. Just one look at them sent a chill down Twila’s spine. She was so busy focusing on the chill that she tripped over her own feet with a grunt.

”You okay?” Apollo asked, skidding to a halt while holding out a hand to help her up. Twila looked up and saw that his eyes had softened. It was a look only for the most trusted.

Which was a look only for her.

“Fine, of course.” Twila hauled herself upright and slapped imaginary dust from her jeans. “Where is she?”

”Here,” Apollo interrupted, pressing something into her palm. Twila looked down to find her communicator, the only way to get back home. Crud. It would not have been good if she lost that.

”Sorry about that, Izz,” Twila apologized into the tiny microphone, slipping the earpiece into one ear. She already was wearing a pair of glasses- big-rimmed black ones she’d bought at some thrift shop- and clipped the microphone’s cord securely onto the earpiece, giving Izzy Lynn both eyes and ears of the base from her computer at home.

“Got it,” Izzy said over into her ear. A tiny corner of Twila’s glasses fizzled to life- how Izzy had managed to fix her sunglasses like this, Twila would never know- and pretty soon she could see the auburn kitsune out of the corner of her eye.

Apollo reached into the bag around his shoulder and pulled out an identical contraption, clasping it to his own pair of sunglasses, black-framed with yellow lenses. “Energy readings,” He snapped into the mike.

“Got it, got it.” Izzy typed something rapidly into her computer. “Infrared feed now. You know how it works.”

“Roger, Izz.” Twila pushed the mike out of her face.

Her vision through the glasses flipped from the normal shades to a kaleidoscope of rainbow-like colors. There were two "hot" (red) objects in the room- Apollo and Twila herself. Apollo glanced around the room, his vision obviously the same. "This base is supposed to be deserted, Twi’ght, so anything human-shaped is out of the ordinary."

"And furry-shaped," Twila ordered. Apollo nodded, but switched to a different topic. ”Let’s split up."

Twila bobbed her head in agreement and watched as Apollo went down a separate hallway.

“Come out, come out wherever you are,” Twila taunted the shadows, looking around every which way for signs of life. However, there was no one around, emanating the dark aura of ‘cold’. Twila sighed- no excitement today, she guessed- until something caught her eye. Something hot. It wasn’t just electricity hot- she wasn’t alone.

Snapping to action, Twila slipped her flipped on the mike switch. “’Pollo, I think we’ve got something.”

“He turned off,” Izzy said from the bottom corner.

“I’m going anyway.” Twila pointed to the door where she’d spotted the ‘hot’ object.

“All right,” Izzy agreed. “Bringing you up on the main screen now. Be careful, Twila.”

”When am I not?” Twila smirked and threw opened the door, switching the infrared off her sunglasses so she could see clearly. What she saw shocked her. There were two people in the room! Well, animals.

The first was a blood-red hedgehog, its quills long and straight, pulled back out of her eyes. The second was also a hedgehog, black with quills pointed upward and navy blue highlights streaked across its body. But the latter hedgehog was different- he was unconscious, trapped in some sort of container.

“Stasis capsule,” Izzy explained, “Someone wanted this dude out of the way.”

The blood red hedgehog turned, letting Twila see her hard black eyes. “Krystal,” she grunted into her mike. It was followed by a list of instructions. “Open up all lines to Apollo. I’ll keep her here.”

Before Izzy could confirm the commands Twila had taken off her communicator once more and stuffed it into her jacket pocket. “Krystal,” She greeted the conscious hedgehog coldly.

“Twilight,” Krystal answered with an amused smile, “I welcome you. The reactivation of a project long destroyed is quite a sight to see.”

Twila sighed, cocking her head to one side in a silent gesture to the other hedgehog. “What’re you doing with him?”

Krystal only continued to smile. “Long ago the effort to clone the Ultimate Life Form was made. He was shut down due to his immense uncontrollable power… power Sir Demon shall soon control-“

“Oh, shut up,” Twila cut her off, swinging the guitar against her back so it sat at ready, the strap resting comfortably against her shoulder. “I’m not Apollo. I hate long speeches. So if we could skip it, I wouldn’t mind.”

“Too cocky for your own good, Twilight-“

“I said shut up.”

Krystal was getting on Twila’s nerves, and she knew it. She grinned as Twila’s hands went to a ‘ready to play’ pose at her guitar. “You asked for it,” The young guitarist growled.

“I did, didn’t I?”

“What the he-“ Twila began, but it was too late; she had already strummed her guitar, a low chord, and the blue sparks she used to attack emitted from it, combined with her own physical strength to make the attack. She shut her eyes and gritted her teeth against the bright light; there was the sound of glass bursting, the tiny shards whipping past Twila’s face, nicking her fur. Twila flinched and crouched down, curling herself up into a ball to help prevent future damage; she could barely make out flashing ‘Emergency’ lights flashing against her closed eyes. One shout came from amidst the chaos, deep and rough, loud if far away:

“Twila!”

At Apollo’s voice, Twila’s eyes flew open, waiting for a moment to make sure she wasn’t seriously hurt before jumping up.

Krystal was gone, the stasis capsule shattered. Twila swore, barely audible; the whole thing had been a trick, just to get her to release the hedgehog… clone. The room was flashing red, casting everything in its eerie glow; the lights above had shattered, the emergency warning being the only light in the room.

Then Twila saw the clone.

He was standing just in front of the stasis capsule, panting slightly, hands shaking at his sides. A power seemed to emanate from his body; dark blue, matching his highlights. It was almost too faint to be real, but it was there, all right, making everything glow blue for a split second as the emergency signal flashed on and off.

Then he looked up into Twila’s eyes. The clone’s own dark blue eyes were hard, cold, reminding her too much of Apollo. Not a single ounce of sympathy could be seen. He looked… angry, his mouth pulled into a cross frown.

His hands balled into fists, and Twila realized he was glaring at her. Two words escaped her as she looked for an escape route in vain.

“Oh… crud.”