"So, wait, where are we going again?" I ask the fox as we scurry down a block.

He explains, "To my workshop in Mystic Ruin. Not only are we going to have to try and figure out where the Chaos Emeralds are, but we're going to have to think of a way to break back into Eggman's base so we can get that flute back. But don't worry; everything usually works out in the end. With me and Sonic on your side, we can fix everything in no time! You checked out the book before you left, right?"

I hold up the book. "Right here," I confirm.

"Great!" the fox cheers. For someone who's dealing with such a solemn situation, he's handling it pretty well. It's kind of inspirational, in a way, to see someone so positive at a time like this.

Before we know it, we're standing in front of the train station. We purchase our tickets for the next trip to Mystic Ruin, then make a mad dash to the train—which is departing in, oh, I don't know, five minutes. Regardless of the limited time frame, we make it just in time. As soon as we're seated, the two of us pant to catch our breath. The train doors slam shut, and it finally leaves the station.

"You know, I never got your name," the fox points out.

I introduce myself: "I'm Voca. Nice to meet you..."

"...Tails. My real name's Miles Prower, but everyone calls me Tails. Nice to meet you, too."

Tails. What a quirky, yet appropriate nickname.

The two of us shake hands. Tails then asks me, "So, Voca, could you tell me more about what happened when the Emerald Flute was stolen?"

I explain the whole story—or at least the bits that I was aware of—up until the moment where Shadow disappeared in the alley. I conclude by saying, "Shadow told me to find Sonic if I needed assistance."

"He always seems to be in a rush," Tails explains. "Its like he always has something to do."

"You also know Shadow?"

"It's a long story. But why would he have one of the Chaos Emeralds?"

I shrug as my way to tell Tails that I have no idea how it ended up that way. "Not sure. He said it was his, and that Eggman had stolen it from him. He used it as some sort of method of teleportation. It was kinda cool, actually."

"He used Chaos Control," Tails explains. "With the power of a Chaos Emerald, Shadow can teleport to different locations. I still haven't figured out how Chaos Control even works with only one Chaos Emerald, but it's possible."

I blink a few times, not sure at what the hell Tails just told me. "Uh, what?"

"I'll explain that later."

"Thanks. Damn, never expected that finding that pan flute would make my life so much more confusing."

"It seems to happen like that a lot. Don't worry; you'll get used to it."

"Well, that's a relief." I slouch down into my seat and exhale. I close my eyes, and stress escapes my body. For the first time all day, I actually feel at ease. I think about Shadow again, which leads me to bring up the question: "How are we going to find Shadow?"

"Hm?" Tails' ears perk up. He gives me a confused look, wondering where I'm going with this.

"Well, he has one of the Emeralds. We're going to need to get him to hand it over somehow."

"You're right, but maybe we should just wait until we get back to my workshop to talk about this. You look stressed."

I want to yell at him, "I'm not stressed!" but he and I both know that's a big ass lie. Instead, I close my eyes and meditate for a moment. Inhale...exhale... Phew. Feeling better already.

-x-

"Look at all the trees!" I say in amazement the moment after Tails and I step off the train. If there's one thing I know, it's that where there's trees, there's climbing. I completely forget about what I was so concerned about while I was on the train before. Wait, what was I concerned about again?

Ah, who cares? TREES! I feel like I haven't done any climbing since I first arrived in Station Square. (Well, there was that one time that I was wall jumping between two buildings, but that's not exactly "climbing.") How long ago was it? A week? Again, who cares? The thing is, if I don't do some climbing soon, I might explode. "TREES!" I exclaim as I dash over to the nearest oak.

As I begin climbing it, Tails flies over and hovers next to me. "What are you doing?" he asks with curiosity.

"Climbing," I answer. "Isn't it obvious?"

Within a minute or two, I'm already sitting on a branch at the very top of the tree. I take a whiff of fresh air and sigh. I should have came here a long, long time ago. Much more entertaining and relaxing than Station Square, that's for sure.

Tails giggles. "I've never seen someone go from so stressed to so docile just like that."

"If there's one thing that gets my mind off of stuff, it's climbing. Not many places to climb in the city."

"Guess you've got a point there. But shouldn't we get going? Sonic—"

Right. The Emerald Flute. The Chaos Emeralds. Eggman. There goes my fun. But I guess saving the world from impending doom's a little more important. Just a little.

-x-

"Sonic! Sonic, you here?"

It's dead quiet in Tails' workshop. Regardless, it's kinda cool. I mean, look at all of these gadgets and stuff. For a kid, Tails is pretty intelligent. He's got blueprints for planes, strange devices...shoes? I don't know. But he's got all of these prototypes for all of these mechanisms and stuff as well. I must say—I'm impressed.

After calling for Sonic some more, Tails walks over to me and says, "He must've went out for a run or something. He'll be back soon. Feel free to look around in the meantime."

"Thanks." I sit down on a chair near a table of blueprints and pick one up to look at it while we wait for Sonic's return. A to-scale drawing is depicting some sort of aircraft—like a small plane of some sort. In big, capitalized lettering, I see the words, "TORNADO IV" You mean there's more than one?

"Tails, was this the plane you were telling me about before?" I ask.

The yellow fox scurries over and looks at the blueprints for a moment before saying, "Yeah, but this is only a sketch of what it's going to look like after I remodel the Tornado III. Do you want to see it?"

With both inquisitiveness and eagerness, I answer, "Sure!"

-x-

"Wow," I muse as I take in the sight of the Tornado III. "This is incredible! You built this yourself?"

"Mhm," Tails modestly answers.

"It's incredible! I've never seen anything like this."

He blushes. "Thanks! I'm glad you like it."

I hope I get to ride in this thing someday. That would be almost as awesome as climbing. No. It would be equally awesome, if not awesome-r. The craftsmanship on this thing is flawless and second-to-none. I've never seen technology this advanced in...well, ever.

"I wish I could give you a quick flight around Mystic Ruin, but something's wrong with the Tornado, which is why I was going to give the plane an update in the first place. Besides, we have to wait for Sonic."

I nod with understanding, then return to examining the aircraft. "Well, since we aren't doing anything, why don't we try and fix it? I'd love to help, and it'll help the time pass."

Tails smiles and nods with agreement. "Sounds like a great idea!"

-x-

As Tails and I are working on improving the landing mechanisms of the Tornado III, an annoying whine wails from somewhere. "Tails!" she calls out. "Tails, have you seen Sonic?"

A pink hedgehog knocks down the door that connects the main workshop to the garage. She's holding this freaking humongous red-and-gold hammer. (At least now I know how she knocked down the door.) Her spikes are short, and the ones on her head fall like a bob haircut. She's wearing a red tank top dress with white trim. She also has matching boots on her feet and white gloves on her hands. Her eyes are green and filled with a compound of anger and worry. First, she looks at Tails, expecting an answer.

Then, she glares at me, and suspicion replaces the past emotions portrayed by her eyes. "Who exactly are you?" she demands to know. "Sonic is my boyfriend, so back off!"

She raises her hammer into the air and charges towards me. I crouch down to the floor and attempt to shield myself with my arms. I shut my eyes so I don't have to watch the shit be beaten out of me. What the hell did I do to her?

Before the brat has a chance to hit me, Tails runs in front of me to stand in her way. "No, Amy, don't!" he requests as he frantically flails his arms. She puts her hammer down, but she doesn't look happy about it. "She's not here to date Sonic!"

"Then why is she here?" Amy asks. She puts her hands on her hips.

"She needs our help to get an artifact back from Eggman," he explains. "We're also going to need to collect the Chaos Emeralds so we can keep them away from him as well."

Amy sighs. "Sorry," she tells me honestly. Tails moves aside, and Amy walks closer to me. She holds her hand out in front of me—her way of apologizing for trying to pummel me to a pulp, I guess. Cautiously, I grab her hand and shake it. You're still a crazy psycho chick, I decide. But at least she's apologizing. As we finish shaking hands, she whispers in my ear, "But don't let this make you think that I'm not going to keep an eye on you to make sure that you won't steal my man!"

Crazy psycho chick. Should that be considered an understatement?