Tails kept an eye on the radar, noticing something important.

"One of the emeralds is a lot closer to Angel Island than the other one is; either Shadow and Rogue, or Eggman will get there first," Tails said worriedly.

"That bat better not get there before us! She'll steal the emerald!" Knuckles snarled.

"But if it's Eggman we might be in even more trouble! He'll stop us from performing the cure. The only way we can do this is we get there before him, cut him off, and take the emerald from him," Tails argued. "We're ahead of one of them, if it's Eggman then we can meet Shadow and Rouge on the island, and they can help us take him on."

"Assuming that it is Rouge and Shadow that has the emerald and not someone else," Knuckles said pessimistically.

Sonic had nothing to say about the situation. As he rode on the wing of the plane, he began to feel dizzy while a shooting pain flowed through the muscles in his limbs like blood through the veins. Beginning to lose his balance, Sonic panicked. The Tornado was flying over water, another inconvenient place to become paralysed with pain. A large bout of nausea added to his pain, and his vision went blurry. Vertigo took over, and he was unable to speak. The suffering hedgehog tried to call out to Tails to tell him to slow down the plane but it was too late. The hero lost balance and fell down to the ocean below.

"Sonic, what are you doing!?" Knuckles yelled. Tails heard this and turned around, so see the signs of a splash in the ocean below. "Tails, circle him!"

The fox nodded, decreased the altitude and kept his trail to a small loop that circled Sonic who'd just plummeted into the water and sunk below. He wasn't even able to splash about and keep above the water; his body had given up on him. Knuckles dived in to grab the hedgehog and bring him back up.

Meanwhile, Sonic was losing consciousness, and he was unaware of what was going on around him. Although, not much was going on around him, just water… miles and miles of it, in all directions. He began to see hallucinations and hear voices.

He saw purple and green, in the exact shades that his powers created. Stars, lines and static filled his view, like his brain had been filled with negative chaos. Flashes and pulses hurt his head. In a normal situation, the hedgehog would have closed his eyes to escape the flashes, but what if the flashes were behind his eye lids, how could he escape those? The voices plagued his mind and made the visions more violent.

"You're going to die… the negative chaos has taken over… the parasite is eating away at your muscles and chewing on your bones…" a sinister voice hissed in his mind. "Go on… expel some of it… it'll save you temporally, but in the long term it'll multiply and kill you more quickly and painfully…"

Sonic wanted to do as the voices said and use his shield to get air, but he couldn't. It was like he was in a coma… unable to move. Was he… floating? The air around him felt heavy and dense, was it even air, or something else?

WATER!

The hedgehog's eyes snapped open, which stung them painfully as the salty ocean water attacked his eyes like a million tiny lasers. He expelled the last of his oxygen in a panic and swallowed some of the water around him. The salt burnt his tongue and the back of his throat, filling his lungs and stomach. It was like there was no hope. His world went black and silent.

O

SONIC, WAKE UP, PLEASE!

The head of the dying hedgehog was filled with the voice of his friend, Tails. Sonic tried his best to let out a groan of some kind to let Tails and Knuckles know that he was still alive. Instead, all he could do was let out a ragged breath, but it did the same job.

"He's breathing…" Tails sighed with relief. Sonic wanted to open his eyes, but it hurt too much to, so he kept them shut. His muscles twitched but that caused pain also, so he stayed still.

"Sonic… I remembered to pack some pain relief in the Tornado, do you need it?" he asked. Sonic couldn't answer verbally, or nod his head. He didn't know how to answer. Tails put grabbed his brother's hand and held it tight. "Squeeze if you want pain relief- AAHH! Okay! I'll get it now! Let go!" he cried out.

Sonic had squeezed as hard as he could to make himself clear, he wanted- no, NEEDED pain relief, immediately. The hedgehog let go, allowing the fox to grab the pain relief from the storage in the back of the plane. Sonic heard the rattling, then the footsteps made as Tails returned to him.

"This may hurt a little…" Tails said. Sonic felt a sharp pain in his arm, but it was nothing compared to what he felt already, so he didn't complain. Tails must have used a large needle. "It may take up to ten minutes to work fully."

Sonic groaned in protest, he wanted it to work NOW. Within a few minutes, the pain began to subside, which enabled him to open his eyes and speak.

"Thank you… Tails…" Sonic said sincerely. "Where are we?"

"I'm not sure exactly, not far from where you fell. We brought you to the closest land we could," Tails explained. "Tell me when you're ready to fly again."

"C-can I ride in the cockpit with you?" Sonic asked sheepishly.

"No Sonic, there's no room," Tails denied.

"But you let me do it before…" Sonic whined.

"That was when you were unconscious at Station Square… this is different. And it was a big risk, I can't fly the plane safely and keep up on my lap at the same time," Tails complained.

"Fine… but I need some time to feel better before we can go," Sonic huffed. He still felt dizzy, despite the decrease in pain. Then he thought of something. "If you couldn't fit me in the cockpit, h-how did you get me here?"

"I had to carry you," Knuckles answered irritably. Sonic gave a nervous chuckle.

"Wasn't my fault I passed out," he said in defence.

"But, you shouldn't be in this much pain. We still have plenty of time to spare. You've used those powers, haven't you?" Knuckles asked threateningly.

"NO!" Sonic yelled, feeling his conscience kicking him as he lied.

"The energy must have multiplied faster than we thought," Tails said. "Which means we need to get back as soon as possible!"

At this, Sonic brought himself to his feet slowly, being careful not to cause himself to pass out again. "Let's go, I'll try my hardest not to fall off, and I'll try harder to say something if I feel myself dropping,"

"No way Sonic, you're staying on the right wing with me," Knuckles said, grabbing his arm with both hand and pulling him over to his side.

"Aww, but I don't like the right wing, I'm a communist…" Sonic whined, then smirked at Tails, who smiled back.

"You certainly still have life you Sonic, we'll make it. The negative chaos hasn't killed you as of yet," Knuckles said and pushed him onto the wing on the right. "I'll make sure you don't fall off."

"What if I fall and drag you down with me?" Sonic asked.

"You won't," Knuckles said simply through gritted teeth, with a slight smile. He hardened his grip. This made Sonic feel uneasy. "I haven't come all of this way and left the master emerald behind just to see you die." Knuckles' aggression and determination made Sonic feel uneasy, but at least he knew he was in safe hands.

"Is the pain gone now, Sonic?" Tails asked. Sonic nodded slightly.

"Nearly gone, I'll be fine."

"Let's go then!"

And that began to the last flight to Angel Island, all three of them were unsure of whether they would make it in time.