The Darkness of sleep that had conquered my senses began to diminish as I became aware of the world around me. My eyes were adjusting to the low light of the night as it dawned on me that I would not be awake at this hour were it not for external stimuli.

"Someone or something must be nearby..." I thought to myself.

I cracked my knuckles and prepared for a fight as I positioned myself on my feet at a speed rivaling that of even Sonic. I turned around and, much to my surprise, the jewel for which I had been tasked with protecting from the day of my birth was intact in its pedestal. I breathed a sigh of relief as I turn to search the rest of the Island. But as I walk away, I hear a feminine voice from behind

"Looking for someone?" said the voice. I turn around, only to find a boot in my face.

...

As I came to, I rubbed the aching spot on my head where I had been kicked. As I lay on the ground, I turn my gaze from the clear night sky to the location of the Master Emerald shrine. I was so desensitized to this happening over the years that I struggled to muster even a feeling of annoyance at the fact that my emerald was once again missing. My apathy was cut short, however, when I remembered the negative effects of the emerald being absent from the island. The sky I saw above me seemed to shrink as Angel Island descended toward the ocean. The ground roared as the island crashed into the sea, tidal waves moving outward from all sides!

...

After a trek through the jungle, I found myself in the Mystic Ruins, home to Tails.

"If Rouge stole my emerald, she must have come this way! It's the only land within a hundred miles of Angel Island." I thought.

I made my way across the brief area of land not dominated by trees, keeping my wits about me as I look for any clues pointing me in the the direction of that thief. I walked up the dilapidated case of stairs leading to Tails' workshop, as it came to my consciousness that he probably would not be awake at this hour. He was only eight, after all. Despite my worries, I knocked on the door, assuring myself that my noble ends of returning the Master Emerald to its home and Angel Island to the sky once again justified something as trivial as waking a sleeping fox. But to my surprise, the door was answered swiftly. As the door opened, my eyes acquired the view of the inside of the small building. Apart the the one who answered the door (who, I might add, was covered in what seemed to be oil), there were many tools strewn about the interior; I'd never seen so many in one place before!

"Oh, hi, Knuckles!" greeted the fox in an energetic fashion becoming of him. "Aren't you supposed to be guarding your emerald? Don't tell me it broke again..."

"No, of course not!" I interjected "It, uh... was stolen..."

"By Rouge, I assume."

"Yeah, uh, I think so... By the by, you haven't seen any bats or emeralds around here, have you, Tails?"

He put his face in his palm and chuckled. "Heh heh! Sorry, but no. I've been working in here all night."

My hopes were dismantled by Tails' statement. If he hadn't seen her, I don't know who would. "Oh, well, thanks anyway." I said with a fake smile. As I was walking away from the house, I had the inspiration to inquire about what he was working on in there.

"Hey, Tails! What are you building, anyway? I've never seen so many tools before?"

He replied with a confused look "...What the heck do you mean? I'm just tuning up the Tornado... How does this look weird to you? It's not like I have anything better to do than build and fix things."

I chuckled at his satire, to which I got another confused look. "Well, I'd better go continue looking for Rouge. See ya!" I said to him. I ran with haste toward the train station, with intent of putting an end to this ordeal before the rise of the sun.