Darkness; that's all Tails could see. Just complete and utter darkness. His head was aching and the smell of metal filled his nose. But despite the blackness around him he still knew exactly where he was; he was undoubtedly in one of Dr Eggman's machines. He started to sit up but recoiled sharply as his head hit against something above him. Slowly he reached a hand up and pressed his fingers to the low ceiling above him. Carefully he began moving his hands across the walls around him, trying to map out what kind of room he could be in. It was small, rectangular and cold. It had no windows and only a single barred and locked door. It almost seemed like...

"Ah, you're finally awake! Having fun in your little cell?"

Harsh, bright lights flickered on and Tails had to shield his face. Once his eyes adjusted he saw Eggman stood on the other side of the door, smirking at him.

"What do you want with me?" Tails growled.

"Woah, easy there kid. No point having all that anger since this going to be one of the last days of your life"

"W-What do you mean?" Tails cursed internally at the crack in his voice. He had faced Eggman hundreds of times before, so why was he so scared this time?

"Oh don't worry, I'm sure your friends will save you. They will be looking for you, right?"

"Of course they will! And they'll beat you, just like they always do"

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you. Not after what I have planned for you" Eggman's eyes gleamed with a horrible sense of glee and Tails' heart momentarily froze. Never before had he seen such... evil in Eggman's eyes.

"After all these years I've grown tired of chasing after Sonic and playing his silly games. But now I have created something he cannot defeat. I will destroy him so completely that he will bow down to me in about... 2 days from now"

"Sonic would never give in to you!"

"I wouldn't be so sure. I don't expect you to understand but everyone has their weakest point. After all these years of chasing and running, I have finally found his. To tell you the truth, I laughed when I first found it. I had spent years searching for it but it was right by his side, just like it had been this whole time. And I will use it to crush his very soul!"

"Well if it's so important then what is it?" Tails prayed that his faux confidence didn't sound too forced.

"Hmph, don't worry. I'm sure you'll figure that out soon enough"

With that Eggman turned on his heels and strode out of the room. The lights flickered into nothing and Tails was left once again alone in the dark.


It had been hours since Tails had called Sonic earlier that day. At first Sonic had no reason to worry; maybe his friend was just taking his time or he got distracted by one of his other projects (as usual). But once the sun began to set Sonic called his friend multiple times and each time there was no answer. He told himself it was nothing but he couldn't stop that small spark of fear igniting. So he took it upon himself to go and see what Tails was up to, just to make sure he was okay. But as he walked out of his door he managed to crash straight into Amy.

"Oh, sorry Sonic!" Amy squeaked in surprise.

"It's fine, really" Sonic quickly took a step to the side.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked after a pause.

"Nothing, I'm fine" Sonic replied a little too quickly and Amy instantly knew he was lying. He sighed and looked down at his feet for a moment before looking back up at his friend.

"You don't happen to know where Tails is, do you?"

"Well I haven't seen him today..."

"It's just, this morning he called to say he was coming over but he never arrived. I've been trying to call him but he's not picking up and I can't help but feel something has happened to him"

"Maybe we should go check his workshop" Amy suggested and Sonic nodded. Together they made their way up to their friend's workshop. Once they opened the door instantly Sonic felt something was wrong. All the lights were off and not a single sound could be heard. The two hedgehogs called out for their friend but no reply ever came back. Quickly they left and mostly ran all the way to Tails' house. But no one was there either, which caused Sonic to really begin to worry.

"I'm sure he's fine" Amy forced a smile but her words held no confidence.

"We have to look for him!" Sonic tried to burst out the door but Amy caught him by the wrist.

"It's no use now. It's getting late and it's pitch black outside. Trying to find him would be almost impossible. I'm sure he'll be fine until morning, wherever he is"

Reluctantly Sonic had to agree; there was no chance they would be able to properly look for Tails in the dark. Slowly they trudged home, Amy bidding her goodbyes once they reached Sonic's house. He rolled himself into bed but he did not fall asleep for hours.

He just couldn't help feeling something awful had happened to Tails...