Chapter 4: A Shadow of the Past

Tails was sat in a huge ship in his garage. It was a bright red with 'Solar Cyclone Mk. II' painted on the side in yellow. He had a look of content on his face.

I can't believe I actually managed to do this so quickly!

I wish Sonic was here to see this…

Tails' expression instantly changed at the thought of Sonic.

As long as I don't think about… him...I can't be put down.

As long as I get on with my work, I'll be fine!

Well I can't continue until they get back.

Tails hopped out of the Solar Cyclone and walked into the main building. He had been expecting Knuckles and Amy to be back a couple of hours ago. He sat on a large red reclining armchair that looked almost out of place.

Well I guess all I can do until they get back is relax.

As soon as Tails got comfortable, there was a knock at the door. Tails reluctantly got up and went to answer. As he walked past the window he had to cover his eyes. The bright green glimmer of the emerald was too much.

The emerald. They got it!

Suddenly Tails had a lot more energy. He ran to the door and quickly opened.

"Yes, you got it! Well done guys!" Tails bounded up and down in front of Knuckles and Amy. They quickly came inside.

"Yep, we got it and it's all thanks to yours truly," Amy said proudly. "If you had left it to this knuckle head we never would have found it!"

"HEY! MAYBE IF YOU HADN'T BEEN SO GRUDGINGLY ANNOYING I WOULD HAVE SEEN IT!" Knuckles was so angry, Tails could imagine steam coming out of his ears.

"Hey, hey guys! Calm down!" Tails stood between them. "You both worked to together and that's what counts!"

"I guess," Knuckles and Amy said with the same look of displease on their face. "Well anyway, Tails have you thought of anyway to get around that second emerald?"

"Well… no not really," Tails said quietly looking down. "According to my calculations the only other thing with enough power would be to create chaos control with the one emerald we have ourselves!"

Chaos Control… Chaos Control… Chaos Control… Shadow.

Tails instantly looked up. He thought about it again and then had the look of content on his face once again.

"You thought of something there, buddy?" Knuckles said after seeing Tails' expression.

"I think I just might have it. Who's the only person we know who can create chaos control within his own body?"

"Shadow." Amy said with a look of disbelief on her face.

"Shadow." Knuckles said looking very impressed at Tails.

"Shadow," Tails said, "Is correct." So the only thing we need to do get into space is find Shadow!

"But no-one has seen him since Sonic went missing…" Amy said.

"Yeah," Knuckles concurred, "and looking for Shadow is looking for a cure for Cancer!"

"Exactly," Tails said, "One day we will find it…"

"We should split up," Amy suggested. "I'll look in Sunset Hill and the Mushroom Hill Zone. Knuckles, you look in Metropolis and Angel Island. Tails, you search Route 99 and the Green Hill Zone.

"Amy…" Knuckles said in awe, "That might just be the smartest thing you've said all day!"

"That's a great idea Amy, but there's still a couple of areas we haven't covered…" Tails said.

"Steal my moment of glory, why don't you Tails?" Amy said with a scowl on her face. "Well… I could ask Cream to go and help us look in Seaside Hill and the Marble Garden Zone.

"We can't ask Cream to go and search two zones by herself!" Tails said looking surprised, "Vanilla would be so angry at us…"

"She'll be fine, Tails! I'm sure of it!" Amy winked at Tails.

"Yeah, Tails," Knuckles agreed, "As long as she's got Cheese with her, she will be safe."

"As long as you're sure…"

"OK!" Amy announced loudly, "Let's get started!" With that she dashed out and into the deep night.

"You know I wish Amy wasn't so hasty," Tails complained, "We've not even decided when and where we'll meet back. Hopefully she has her cell phone with her…"

"So… when and where are we meeting?" Knuckles asked.

"Well I guess if we meet back here in 3 days then we should be well on our way," Tails replied. And with that Knuckles glided away into the night. Tails locked up and flew away into the night.

Inside Tails workshop, noise could be heard from the ceiling. A large chunk of the ceiling fell off and a shadow glided down inside.

"Hehehe, looks like nobody is in." The mystery voice chuckled, "I don't think the fox, the pink furball and that knucklehead will miss this emerald that much." The mystery figure grabbed the emerald climbed up to the hole it entered through and glided away into the night.