~Chapter 1~

Stranded and Lost

Sonic woke up to the chirping of birds and the light shining over him from under a leaf of a fern. Where am I? He wondered as he sat up and saw the jungle around him faintly. His eyes adjusted to the daylight and he stood up using his hand to push off his knee. He looked up and saw the sky trickle through the leaves on the trees. "Hello?" He asked loudly as he looked ahead of him now. "Hello!?" He called a bit louder after no answer. This seemed to make the birds fall quiet for a moment and some even take off into the skies, but after soon enough they had started their chirping song as he got to moving.

The blue hedgehog walked slowly weaving through the tree's and pushing low leaves out of his way to get through. "Is anyone out here!?" He called again as he started to walk faster. There was still no answer and all he could see around him was jungle. He began to wonder how he had got there in the first place. Realizing he was getting nowhere he started to run. He was slow at first as he was trying to gather his surroundings. Soon he sped up and was moving around trees and through brush and over logs quickly with ease. He zoomed past nothing but what he saw before, tall green trees, and the grass below him.

Sonic took a quick glimpse behind him when before he knew it there was water by his feet. He leaped back and saw he was standing on sand. He had come upon a small beach and a deep ocean. humm... Am I on an island? He wondered as he made an X with his shoe and then took off following the beach side by the water. The whole time he saw nothing but water to his left and jungle to his right as he ran all the way around back to his X. He was on a island, a small one at that. He thought for a moment before dashing into the jungle and starting to run all over the place trying to find out if he was alone and stranded, or just confused.

Maybe i'm still asleep... He wondered as he stopped and looked up again. He felt like he had gone everywhere on the small island, but he was not sure. He quickly ran up to a tree and jumped, bouncing back and forth off two of them to the top. He sat there for a moment looking around. Is this it? ... No one is here? I'm alone on this small boring island? He could not stop asking himself questions he did not know the answer to. He could not remember anything past yesterday.

O O O

Tails sat there holding his cup, he looked down at it worried to death. He used his two hands to raise the cup to his mouth and take a drink. It tasted weird, something he had never drank before.

"Are you enjoying your coffee Tails?" Amy's voice came from nearby. She had just walked in from the other room with her own cup as she sat down taking a sip and scooting her chair in and placing her drink on the table.

Coffee! That's what it is. Tails thought as he looked down at the dark drink. He took another sip to be polite, but he didn't want to drink anymore so he placed his cup on the small wooden table along with Amy's.

Before he could answer about the coffee Amy asked another question. "Are you OK Tails? Something seems to be worrying you. Is Sonic OK!?" She asked shocked as she leaned forward in her chair.

"Thats what I came here to talk about..." Tails began looking away from Amy as he spoke. "You see, Sonic went to go confront yesterday... And... He has not come back yet." He said with worry and fear.

"OH NO! You mean MY Sonic is out there fighting Eggman and he has not returned!? OH where could he be!? Come on we need to go search right now!" Amy said and stood up and started to head to the door.

"No! Amy, We can't do that... Look I know you are worried like I am, but we can't just jump in and try to find him. I mean maybe he finished with Eggman and was helping out someone else. We need to go tell the others to keep them on alert so we know if he is OK sooner, or if we all need to go and find him." Tails said trying to explain his plan to her.

"But we need to find Sonic NOW!" Amy demanded.

"We can't Amy we can not get to stirred up over this. We need to stay patient and calm." Tails told her.

"... Alright, where do we go first?" Amy asked after a tiny bit of thought, sadness and a sigh in her voice.

"First we need to go and tell the others, we need to start with-"

"Cream and Marine! They will be a GREAT help! And they will actually help me LOOK!" Amy said and it was like she had forgotten completely that Tails was there. After she cut Tails off and finished her sentence she was out the door like that. There was no holding her back now.

Tails sighed, and watched her go before getting up out of his seat. "I was going to say... Silver." He said knowing it didn't matter now. He walked out the door and looked down the road just to see a flash of pink disappear into the crowd of mobians. She was heading in the direction of Cream and Marine like she said. Silver was the other way. She can do what she wants, but I'm going to do it my way i'm not going to chase her down and try to stop her this time. Tails thought and looked where Silver was.

The yellow, two tailed fox stepped down the concrete steps and started his way to Silver, trying to stay calm as he walked. He quickly went through the crowd, making his way. He was moving past everyone trying not to look at their faces. He walked for what seemed like a while as the sun beat down on him and the other mobians. He looked down trying to focus on where he was walking as he turned left down another street.

Tails took a Right next. Shortly he stumbled upon a dead end. The very last house was where Silver was. Tails took a deep breath and walked up to the door and knocked firmly as his tail's waved behind him. Soon a silver hedgehog came and opened it was a warm greeting of a smile.

"Hello Tails, how are you today?" Silver asked. It had been a while since they had seen one another, the last time is when Sonic needed help fighting . "Do you need my help again?" He added thinking of the good old times.

"Yes. But not the way you might think," Tails said and raised one hand behind his head and scratched it lightly. He lowered his arms and looked in Silver's eyes and began to speak again. "You see, yesterday Sonic had gone to see if was up to anything and stop him if he was. But Sonic had not returned yet. This got me concerned so I wanted to warn everyone to keep an eye out for him and help me make sure he is alright, and if worse comes to worse help me search for him." Tails told him.

Silver could see the worry in Tails eyes, also seeing sadness and fear for his friend. The silver hedgehog smiled at the two tailed fox. "I would be glad to help. Is there anything I need to help you with now?" Silver asked him.

"You could help me tell the others! Only you me and Amy know so far and I want to tell as many people as possible." Tails said smiling gaining more hope for Sonic.

"Well, where to first?" Silver asked stepping out with Tails and closing the door behind him as they walked onto the street.

"Well i was thinking it would be easier if we split up! That way we can get the word around faster?" Tails said.

"OK. Good idea. How about we meet back here after?" Silver asked. "I can get Blaze, Shadow, and Knuckles." He added onto the plan.

"OK! I can go get Espio, Vector, and Charmy!" Tails said in agreement. It felt like a good plan to him, his tails began to move with excitement.

Silver nodded to Tails and they separated to gather their group. Tails started to spin his tails over and over until he took off into the sky. He glanced back, seeing Silver using his Telekinesis to go the other way. Looking back ahead he focused his sight on his destination, making sure nothing was blocking his way. Flying sped up his traveling time, and that made him wonder why he didn't do it before. He just ignored the thought and continued in his direction. He was glad the Espio's place was close by, even though it wasn't really Espio's place he just seemed to be there a lot.

Tails started to move down about to land on the street he expected Espio and his friends to be. He finally landed and made his tails stop spinning as he tried to look normal as he walked a few feet and turned down a dark alley. "Espio?" Tails called as he walked in. It was not as dark as he remembered, the sunlight was taking some of it up and lighting up the place a bit. Although the brick walls made the space a little small. At the end there was a fence, trash cans, a dumpster, and some wood boxes. He looked up at the sky, the building he was between were tall and the sky looked pretty clear.

"Espio? Are you here?" Tails asked again. He walked deeper into the alley and saw a shadow moving. He snapped his head in that direction and looked at it but it was gone before he could react any farther. Then he appeared like a shadow, out of nowhere on one of the boxes. His eyes opened and he stood tall now, making his horn have a shine on it and his eyes closed.

"Tails... We meet again." The purple chameleon spoke and opened his eyes looking directly at him. "How can I assist you?" Espio asked and he jumped down off the box and walked up to Tails with his arms crossed.

Tails looked at him, started to explain what was going on, about Sonic, and that he had told Amy and Silver already. When he was done with that he told Espio about his plan and that it was to soon to over react but that he just needed a few extra hands to help keep an eye out and possibly search later. The hole time the purple chameleon had closed his eyes and was nodding listening to every word.

"OK, I will help. Who are we going to tell now?" Espio asked.

"Where is Vector and Charmy? I came for all three of you." Tails said.

"Thats why i'm here. I'm waiting for them. We meet here and head to the hideout, so if you wait here they will come soon." Espio told him. "I know they will be in." He added quickly.

"Great!" Tails said. "But do I have to wait here or can I wait out there on the sidewalk?" he asked, hoping he didn't have to because he didn't like being back here that much. It gave him a weird feeling even though he knew everything was fine.

O O O

Silver at this point had already told Blaze and got her to help, and she followed him to the next location. Shadows place was right in front of the two, they stepped up and Blaze nodded to him as he knocked on the door. When the Red and black hedgehog answered the door. Silver tried to explain quickly but he forgot to tell Shadow why Tails was worried so he didn't seem to care.

Shadow tried to close the door but Silver reacted quickly and stuck his foot there to block the door. He ignored the throbbing pain and finished what he was saying and added about Sonic. When Silver finished he looked at Blaze really quick and back at Shadow who was thinking briefly.

"Well?" Silver asked him a few moments later of waiting.

"We need your help Shadow." Blaze added trying to help get him in.

There was another pause as Shadow looked away and past them at the other houses and the street. Then he looked back inside his house before opening his door. "Fine." Shadow sighed. "I'll help, it just seems odd that Sonic of all people would be gone for so long, never wins."

"Thats why we need you to help us." Silver said. "Tails sees to too, so do we, so we need everyone we can get to help us." Silver said.

Shadow stepped out and his fur was covered in sunlight now so it was easier to see who it was. After closing the door behind him he walked pass the two and on the empty sidewalk. Shadow lived far from the inner city, so there was not as many people walking the streets like their are in other places. "Well where are we going now?" He asked.

Silver and Blaze followed him out, and they looked at each other, Silver had forgotten to tell Blaze that they were going to get Knuckles next. "We need to go find Knuckles and then we are Meeting Tails, Espio, Vector, and Charmy back at my place. But I don't know where Knuckles it I was hoping one of you would." He told them both with hope one of them knew.t

"Yes, I know where he is, he is not that far from here if we move quickly." Shadow said.

"Ok, lets go." Silver said. He made himself float just off the ground to give him some speed, when Shadow started to run he was quickly behind levitating with a lot of speed next to Blaze who was running. The three ran, Silver and Blaze just behind Shadow to see where to go.

The black and red hedgehog seemed to be leading them away from the city, and the seemed right to be finding Knuckles since he is guarding the master emerald all the time. The ran out past the city and into the forest. It was a small nice forest with dirt paths and tree's spread out evenly. Animals scurrying everywhere, birds chirping, the nice fresh air, and the clear blue sky with the bright shining sun. Silver took a deep breath of it before he picked up his speed to keep up with Shadow and Blaze.

Even though they were moving quickly, He felt like it was taking longer then Shadow had said, it didn't feel like 'close' to him. He tried not to think about it, he knew that Shadow knows what he is doing. He looked around again at the beautiful scene before he followed Shadow into a new direction. After turning right and moving on a bit more, Shadow had come to a halting stop.

Quickly stopping his telekinesis, Silver landed right on his feet next to Blaze who had also stopped looking at Shadow with curiosity. "Whats wrong? Silver asked stepping forward to stand next to Shadow.

"It should be around here." Shadow said. He looked with squinted eyes ahead of where the group of three stood. The hedgehog walked forward, the other two following as he pushed away some brush and there it was. The master emerald. "Here! Knuckles will be here." Shadow said and looked up and saw a red shape moving.

Before either of them could react, The red shape grew as hit flew over to them and crashed down taking down Shadow with it as the figure growled "Why have you come here!? What is your reasoning!? Are you here to steal the maser emerald!?" It asked pointless questions as it looked down into Shadows eyes. After realising who it as he backed off and helped Shadow up and dusted himself off. "I'm sorry you guys, it was hard to tell who it was from that far away." He apologized and explained himself.

"It's ok Knuckles, just next time see who it is before you attack." Shadow said keeping one eye closed when he got helped up. He rubbed the back of his head and glanced at Silver for him to explain the plan.

Silver sighed, and started to explain all over again.

"No! I'm not leaving the master emerald for this! If we are not fighting with him, he will be fine and there is no need for me to leave!" Knuckles said.

"Knuckles we need you!" Silver said stepping forward and looking Knuckles in the eye's as his hands came down in motion to match his words.

"No, i'm not going to do it unless I KNOW he is in danger. The master emerald needs protection and I'm the only one here to do it." Knuckled said and turned crossing his arms and started to walk back.

"Well, come on guys, he isn't coming." Silver said sadly and turned around and started to walk back.

Knuckles stopped and sighed, "wait." He said. He thought quickly looking at his feet. He glanced but up at the emerald thinking hard as Silver looked back over his shoulder. "Fine, I'll come, but don't expect me to stick around to long. And if anything happens while i'm gone, i'm blaming you!" He said whipping around before he said 'i'm blaming you!'

He started to walk over to them, as Silver smiled and was fine with that. "Well ok everyone lets go!"

Silver took off levitating with Knuckles over head flying, as Shadow and Blaze ran next to him and he lead a little bit. He took in more of the fresh air as he turned back left to get back on track to where they were heading before, back to his place.

The moved straight and Silver signaled them to speed up, so the traveling would go faster. He looked up at the forest trees and the sky, and when you did you barely saw any leaves in the way of you sight. The skies though had started to get a little cloudy, and it looked like it was past noon judging by the suns placement.

Looking forward again the group moved. Before they knew it they were back into the city. Silver made a left, and then a quick right, to get back to his house since they no longer had to go to Shadows house. The group was right behind him the hole time and Silver felt amazing to be the leader of it. Soon they were coming up to his house and before he could react, he saw flashes of green, yellow, purple, and black and he had to move around them.

The two groups clashed together, almost crashing into each other at the meeting points at both their speeds. Tails and Silver went right up to one another and saw that they both had succeeded to get everyone along, even though Knuckles had his arms crossed and was worried about the master emerald only. "Great, everyone is here!" Tails said with a big smile. He was happy his friends were banded together again to help him and Sonic. "OK first we need to split up again and see if he came back yet! SIlver, Blaze, I need you to check the Chili Dog place." He told them and pointed.

"Next I need Shadow and knuckles to find Amy, she will be with Cream and Marine, we need to see if she has seen him and if not we need to bring them back here." Tails said and looked at them turning his body slightly. "I will go see if Sonic is home with Espio, and last but not least Vector and Charmy, you should check the path Sonic left on to go fight Eggman."

"Got it!" Silver said and looked at Blaze, the two quickly took off running and levitating in the Chili Dog Pace direction. Tails was glad Silver's house was so close to the center of town, making it the meeting point was a great idea. He watched as Vector and Charmy headed out, and Shadow and Knuckled passed also goting where they had to. Tails glanced back at Espio now and he nodded once to show he was ready.

Tails took off flying, Espio jumping and running behind him. He knew exactly how to get to Sonic's from here, so he made his way along side with Espio. He just hoped that Sonic was OK, and that Amy and her friends had not gotten into any trouble. He shook away thoughts and focused on where he was going after a quick look at Espio.

Espio looked back at him and smiled, the yellow fox smiled back and gave a nod as the speed was picked up. The two turned a corner and moved quick to get out of the way of the busy streets.

As they crowd grew they had to slow down a bit, but Sonic's was no longer far. This was going just how he wanted, and it would end how he wanted as long as his friend was safe. He landed on his feet and walked beside Espio as far away from the other Mobians as possible so they got by faster.

The nearest corner he turned followed by his search companion. The streets already seemed less busy as Tails began to speed walk, and when it was clear enough, it turned to a run, then a fly. He didn't know if Espio had been with him the hole time, and he didn't check, he saw Sonic's house door and he was going to get there. He knew Espio was right behind him anyway, he didn't really need to check.

Tails landed right in front of Sonic's door. Please answer... Please be ok... Sonic PLEASE! Tails thought as he raised his arm and closed his hand and moved his wrist slowly to knock on the door loudly.