DanceDream: Aww, yeah, I betcha Sonic would have loved to see that too. He's had a few heartwarming moments in Meka Tower himself of course, but whereas Tails and Amy have each other, Sonic doesn't really have any of his old pals there to be with. Now if only they could all be together again…~ Heh, yeah, Murphy's Law, right? Of course that couldn't have happened while the weather was nice. XD It must be spring, with all the rain lately. As far as shined vs. shone, I think both are in the dictionary but shone probably does look better so I changed it. Oh, and happy birthday, since judging by what you said it's probably sometime around today! ^v^ Oh gosh, your 'ramble time' doesn't bother me at all! I appreciate the comments, and besides, you've seen how long-winded I can be. ^^; Thanks a lot!

X

Okay guys, here's the rest of what went down last time, picking up right where Tails's fight left off.

Some changes are a' comin', and this chapter sorta introduces the dynamic of the next few chapters as well, so... should be interesting. Hope you guys enjoy. :)

CHAPTER 24: AGAINST THE CURRENT; EQUILIBRIUM

Not freezing up this time, Tails boosted himself with his twin appendages that were momentarily dry enough to function, going after the imposter. He hoped against hope that his faintness would hold off. He could heave or pass out after he was safe again. But not now. Not now. Not now…

Lightning struck every few seconds and he was able to follow his foe's shadow as it contrasted brutally against the brightened ground. The one advantage Tails had was that his opponent couldn't seem to hear or see him very much through the storm either. The echidna was tearing through several more trees like last time, but didn't realize that Tails had come after him.

The fox's heart was pounding. He could feel it more than the storm around him and more than the lightheadedness he was barely keeping at bay. Because all he had to do was get that Emerald and run. And he was so close. He didn't even have to sneak. The storm blinded his approach and muffled his steps as his feet crunched twigs and splashed through mud.

Every second was a conflict between wanting to get closer, throwing himself at the fake from here, and fleeing all together. He knew he wouldn't opt for the last; Tails wasn't a coward. But that didn't mean it wasn't tempting. Somewhere inside, a part of him that was still very much a child was crying out in inconsolable fright.

But another part of him, a much stronger part that had overcome bullying and ridicule, built incredible machines, and grown up with Sonic, was managing to stifle that fright like water to fire.

I can do this… I can get the Chaos Emerald…

The echidna saw him out of the corner of his eye and turned around, exposing the Chaos Emerald – at the exact moment Tails launched himself forward with reckless abandon. It was the perfect concurrence, and his outstretched hands closed around the Chaos Emerald as if it was right where they were meant to go. The gem slipped easily out of the other's grasp because of the rain. Tails curled his entire body around it, preparing for the inevitable struggle in the coming seconds. He had it – he had it! – and now he had to protect it and escape.

Long before he could do that, he and his enemy were both on the muddy ground again, neither of them able to regain their stance after the assault.

He felt the onslaught of punches as the echidna tried to fight his way to the Chaos Emerald again. Using his position to his advantage, Tails made to roll away, but was grasped by one tail before he could do so. He cried out in unexpected pain – because apparently fatigue and nausea wasn't enough – and let go of the Chaos Emerald. He hadn't meant to, but with the slippery downpour, that brief wince had let his grip loosen just enough. It rolled away a few yards, taking its light with it.

Tails blinked frantically, trying to see straight through bullets of rain, renewed darkness, and lingering pain. Then he was dragged back by that same tail as the Knuckles fake tried to yank him as far away from the gem as possible. Tails gritted his teeth and literally held his ground, digging his fingers and feet into the dirt to fight the motion. There was a brief instant where the echidna was surprised, apparently not expecting his tug to be resisted like that. Taking the opportunity, Tails put everything into the strong muscles of his namesakes that he could and flung the fake away from him.

With eyes only for the Chaos Emerald, he dragged himself further down the slope. It was wedged underneath a fallen tree that the imposter had torn through minutes ago. With his condition it seemed way further than it actually was. He wasn't even severely hurt – somehow – but wiping out on that hill and being unable to stop himself had shaken him up, and every time he had started to sort himself out, something else took his feet out from underneath him.

The nightmarish conditions of this battle were not helping, either. But he had been out in a storm before, when he had gone to Prison Island to find one of the other Chaos Emeralds. He had flown the Tornado in that. If he could conquer that, he could conquer this too.

He was just beginning to vaguely wonder why his enemy hadn't recovered yet when another shadow came over him and the Chaos Emerald.

They say third time's a charm. This was the third time the echidna had felled trees in an attempt to hurt him. There were only two trees beginning to tip this time around. One was missing him by a wide margin.

The other was so spot-on it seemed like the trunk itself had a desire to kill him.

Its branches reached far and wide overhead as it fell, and he knew he wouldn't be able to get to safety before the tree got to him. There was no drama about it. It really was that simple.

In some vague corner of his mind he hoped his foe would have a change of heart enough to realize what he was doing, and somehow stop the tree. Since those days before meeting Sonic, Tails himself had changed a lot, coming to see the best in most people instead of the worst.

But some people were still just bullies.

Lightning struck again and in the slow-motion moments before the tree landed, he saw the echidna watching it happen from a distance.

xxx

"Maybe this is backwards," Lucas said, "but sometimes it makes me more nervous when Eggman's quiet than when he's not."

The doctor had indeed been quiet lately. Sonic didn't seem to think it was backwards. The first time Eggman had been quiet, it was because he had been constructing Meka Tower under wraps. The second time was in between Sonic's destruction of the scanner and Eggman's attempted exploitation of the Chaos Emerald. Right before… that.

When Eggman was quiet, bad things happened.

"Yeah…" Sonic responded, not elaborating yet, but letting whatever he was thinking sit for the moment.

He and Lucas quietly considered for a few minutes, but the conversation paused on the tone of a comma, like there was more to say. I waited intently to hear it. They both drew breath at the same time, their initial words clashing with each other, then both tried again with the same result.

"Ah, you first," Lucas laughed.

"…As far as I'm concerned, Eggman being gone just makes it easier for us to continue screwing this place up from the inside. Eggman won't even realize how low his android count is until he gets back, and—"

"At which point, all of this will catch up to us," the man finished for him, then shrugged when Sonic fixed him with a frown. "Just being honest."

"Maybe we can get out before then," Sonic dared to say. "Though if not… we kinda dug ourselves that hole already, you know? If Eggman's really been gone these last few days, then he's missed out on all the robots destroyed by you, me, or anyone else in Meka Tower. So he'll be irked when he gets back either way."

"Right, so, now that we've already screwed ourselves over, we might as well keep on doing whatever the hell we want."

Sonic blinked. "Are you being sarcastic?"

"No, I'm not!" the young male laughed genuinely. "Bad stuff's going to happen either way, so we might as well make this count, right?"

They were both trying to be optimistic. It helped them, talking about bad possibilities like they were just another part of the day. Maybe it disguised the toll all this had to be taking on them somewhere underneath. But I of all people shouldn't be making assumptions like that.

"Well… yeah," Sonic answered after a second.

"What's wrong, Sonic?"

The blue blur crossed his arms. "You stole my line!"

"Sonic," another voice greeted from the hallway. Espio. He was visible now, his scales matching the shade of the hallway lights.

"Espio," Sonic greeted him. "Nice to see ya. It's good timing."

"Just so you know what's going on and hopefully to provide some assurance, I figured I should tell you Tails has indeed been staying at the Master Emerald's cave and is keeping close watch. Whenever he has to leave, Amy takes his place, so there is always someone there. I just spoke with him yesterday, and he's got a sleeping bag in there now, along with one of his computers and his radar system."

"Isn't the radar system part of the Tornado?" Sonic asked.

"It can be. Apparently he can remove it or attach it now."

"Guess I shouldn't be surprised." Sonic paused and met his eyes. "Hey, have you been listening?"

"Of course. Don't take it personally, Sonic. It's what I do."

"We've got nothing to hide from you. No reason to be all secretive when you could have just joined in on the conversation."

Espio's eyes narrowed. "Maybe I wanted to see if you had anything interesting to say about yours truly."

"Heh, yeah? Insecure?"

"Absolutely not. Curiosity is in my nature."

"Sure it is. What's going on, Es? I'm sure you didn't come just to tell me about Knux's pet rock. Or, y' know, Tails's adopted pet rock."

"A couple things. One – Amy told me they know the location of another Chaos Emerald. Because I'm trying to preserve battery, we didn't talk much, so I don't know if they've actually gone after it yet, but they know where it is. If they find it, the power of the three Emeralds might be just enough to help us out in here. But first we have another issue to deal with. Or more specifically, you have another issue to deal with, Sonic. Which leads me to number two: I've found something out."

"What's that?" Sonic leaned against the wall, arms crossed.

"A particularly large squadron of H-series androids have you in their sights for the next closest scanner, since you apparently destroyed the one up here. I don't know what this is about. I only caught word of it as two of them were conversing on patrol. If I heard right, they'll be coming tomorrow morning. I'm not sure if this is of any real concern to you, but figured it would be wise to let you know just in case."

Sonic was still leaning against the wall, eyes closed now and a subtle grin donning his features. It was a look of overall nonchalance, acceptance… No, that wasn't quite it…

He was up to something. Espio had given him a lot of information, and he was working out ways to put it to use.

"Espio," he said after a minute, voice full of soft energy that made me want to know what was going to happen next almost as much as it made me dread it. "Let's you and me figure something out, here. And then I'm gonna need to borrow your communicator real quick."

xxx

"Wh-wh…what?"

His voice sounded hoarse to his own ears. Weak, fragile, and scratchy. Even though the storm was still raging, he heard his voice like it was only inside his head… as if his ears were clogged.

After a moment of strenuous thinking that took way longer than it should have, he determined that they were clogged. He was lying down, so the rainwater that had gotten in those ears during the fight had sunken in.

He remembered what happened, knew how surprised and thrilled he should be to find himself alive, but couldn't find those emotions anywhere right now. In fact, he couldn't find much of anything. It was all lost in a heavy, blinding swirl of a headache…

Though he didn't want to, he made himself open his eyes and face the world in case the fight wasn't over yet.

Staring down at him was the tree.

"Ch-Chaos…"

Stunned and sore, Tails lifted the Chaos Emerald to shed some light on the bark. He tilted his head back further, trying to figure out why he hadn't been crushed when the tree was… right there.

Before hitting the ground, the trunk had intersected with the other fallen tree that the Chaos Emerald had been near. Because of that, it was elevated about two feet off the ground.

He was alive because that tree had landed the way it had.

For some reason, Tails wanted to cry.

Wait… but… where is that echidna?

Making himself think through the rest of the circumstances now, Tails subtly and quietly looked to his left and right from his little space under the supported trunk. Almost subconsciously he pulled in his namesakes tight, for they were the most noticeable of his physical traits and he did not want to give himself away.

His attacker had his back faced to him and was searching around the other tree he had struck.

The phrase 'barking up the wrong tree' came into Tails's mind, but it didn't quite fit.

The dark guardian didn't know Tails had recovered the Chaos Emerald while he had turned to collapse more trees, nor had he been able to see where Tails had gone through the thick of the storm.

Tails took a deep breath and tried to squeeze his namesakes dry. He was utterly exhausted and the rain hadn't slowed. But if he could get out from this tangle of branches and just somehow fly, he could escape with the Chaos Emerald right now.

As he got himself out from under the trunk and forced himself to stand again, he realized that was way easier said than done. The 'tangle of branches' was more like a huge net of jagged, overgrown limbs of tree. It was going to be difficult at best to squeeze his way in between them without attracting the fake's attention, and that was if the fake didn't seek him out without provocation before then.

That monster would rip and claw his way through the chunks and scraps of tree in seconds if he knew the Chaos Emerald was there…

…Okay. I have to get out.

He started off trying to be slow and careful, clutching the Emerald tightly to his chest to stunt its telltale light. There was no way to keep from snapping branches underneath his shoes, or from shifting larger branches aside with his hands and making them sway and crunch. Thankfully the echidna didn't notice – the noisy storm was more of a welcome distraction by now than it was a curse, even though his heart still dipped every time the world flashed white.

Once, he thought he felt that echidna coming towards him through the rain. He didn't hear nor see him; just had that instinctive hunch. He froze in place, ears perked and tails stiff, but heard nothing. Like an oblivious nutcase in a horror movie, he ever so slowly turned his head to make sure. He saw nothing, and turned back…

"Hh-!" Right in his face. The young fox lurched backwards and nearly destroyed the slight progress he had made, but managed to catch himself on a more stable branch at the last second. His heart felt loud in his head again.

Upon closer inspection he quickly realized that what had scared him was a stray branch that had begun to dangle right when he turned around. He held still for what he thought was a long, long time, afraid to move, afraid not to.

Then he heard footsteps – a sign of his enemy that was actually legitimate – and scrambled for dear life. He had to get out, had to get out. Foxes were supposedly sneaky, but Tails fighting a lethal force in a thunderstorm was not. Breathing heavily, he scraped his arms on branches and threw himself through webs of snapped sticks. Physically, he couldn't function like this right now, couldn't stand up straight and plow relentlessly through such abrasive obstacles, but he was anyway, because he had to. Had to. What was more important than getting the Chaos Emerald was not letting Eggman's side get it.

Not to mention his own life. That was pretty important too.

After a grueling half minute that seemed to last for an age, he finally breached the last of the branches and burst into open air and unblocked rain. He didn't glance back. He ran without stopping, spinning heavy namesakes and sending stray strands of water everywhere. Every few seconds a cloud of black ignited in his vision. Slowly the intervals between his bouts of ill faintness began to spread out. He didn't know if he was finally recovering or if it was just sheer willpower, but he didn't care. He had gotten away. He had the Chaos Emerald. He needed to keep it that way now, on both counts.

Seconds passed. Minutes. The echidna didn't notice his absence and he gradually felt more certain of a successful escape. His terror went down, leaving room now for other thoughts. Like what in the world he'd been thinking when he had been looking forward to the chance to challenge himself for a change. This… wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind. But he knew at least one person who'd still be grinning after a fight like this. He shook his head.

I'll never know how you do it.

But he didn't have to. That was fine with him. He adored Sonic, but like with everyone, there were things they would never see the same way. For Tails, fights weren't a game. At least, not to that extent.

Thinking about Sonic – and Knuckles too, for obvious reasons – suddenly he hated that he was alone, that he had no reassuring arm around his shoulders or even anyone to be scared with him. Whining a little morosely, he wrapped his tails around himself and continued at a brisk pace. He felt lonely in the midst of his own residual fright and relief. He wanted to get back to the crystal shelter and see Amy, just to have someone to talk to. He didn't feel like he had willingly chosen to do this anymore; he felt like he had been stranded out here and hadn't seen anyone in days, despite that it had been little over an hour.

He again found himself thinking of the first Chaos Emerald that he and Sonic had found at the Mystic Ruins pond. He had thought of it once previously – ironically, right after he had found the second Chaos Emerald on Prison Island. The memory had upset him a little because of Sonic's hesitance to put up with his fear long enough to retrieve the gem. Such an innocent day had never gotten to him so much.

Tails reconsidered his friend's reluctance now, and suddenly he understood those feelings, understood how easy it was to be consumed by them, and how incredibly difficult it was to combat internal fear. He felt horrendous for ever thinking of that day sourly, especially after the fear and oppression they had all been called to face since then.

As he looked down at his Chaos Emerald, his prize, clutched tightly in both hands, he recalled his more recent talk with Sonic just a short time ago – while he had built the door for the Master Emerald shelter – and managed to smile. Despite the overall lousy hands they had been dealt, they had risen to the challenge, and played those cards well.

He had never felt more proud of his brother, or of himself.

As his communicator suddenly beeped and Espio's voice came through, asking if he was there, the fox remembered that despite their victories so far, nothing had been solved yet – only prevented – and there was much to do.

"Espio…" he said, not bothering to try and keep the fatigued breathlessness out of his voice. "I… this isn't a good time. Amy's watching the Emerald, don't worry… but I'll contact you as soon as… as soon as I get back."

It occurred to him as he spoke that it would take another fifteen minutes at least to get back to Amy and the Emeralds. His workshop, however, was only another mile… Yes, he could stop there for the moment, see what Espio needed to talk to him about.

"Tails!" came another voice, sounding a little concerned. "Are you okay?"

"S-Sonic!" the fox stammered, surprised and thrilled to hear that voice again. It still amazed him – how okay Sonic sounded despite everything, and how okay he himself sounded despite everything. "Hi, Sonic! Yeah… I'm almost back, just hang on a minute…"

The hedgehog promptly ignored that request, never fond of waiting. "You're out in this storm, aren't you? I can hear it pattering on the roof here. It's a strong one."

"Y-yeah, that's exactly what's going on." Tails was tickled: Sonic could hear the very storm he was caught up in. Sometimes he forgot Meka Tower really was part of the same world. It made him feel that much closer to the blue blur. "There was a Chaos Emerald, Sonic. I had to go get it!"

"Good for you," the blue blur said, and Tails had to strain to hear over the still-noisy weather around him. "That's totally awesome, Tails, and I hope you're as proud of yourself as I am. Just keep talking to me, okay? How far away are you from safety?"

"Only a few minutes from the workshop now… but I should probably go back to the place where the Master Emerald is."

"Don't worry about it right now," Sonic said. "You said Amy's watching it? She'll contact you if anything goes wrong, right?"

"Yeah."

"You should definitely go back soon, but dry off at your house first. Take care of yourself, eat something, or whatever. All right, bud?" Tails thought about this, realizing Sonic was probably right. He had forgotten about the scrapes and bruises he had sustained, and how cold he was. If nothing else, he could take half an hour or so to get himself back into decent shape. While he was thinking, Sonic continued on, "I think Amy will be able to take care of the other Emeralds just fine for now. Besides, I wanna talk to you."

Tails almost emphatically replied that he wanted to talk to him too, but sensed an undertone of significance in Sonic's voice and had a feeling there was something specific his friend meant by that. Curious, he asked, "What about?"

"If you're up for it, I could use your help with something."

Tails arrived at the Mystic Ruins and quickly made for his workshop. The storm was still roaring around him as he ran inside and shut the door, closing it out and sighing heavily. He unsnapped the radar from his communicator and let it fall to the floor along with his Chaos Emerald. Rainwater began to form a small puddle at his feet. He wrapped his arms and tails around himself again, shivering. "Okay, Sonic. I'm inside now."

"Sorry if I'm rushing you, pal. We'll have time to catch up on things when… well, when we have time."

"No worries," the fox said, though he was curious how Sonic's side of the battle was going. Even before that, though, he was exhausted. Everything was happening all at once. But if it meant actually getting somewhere, it was worth it. "I want to hear what you need help with!"

"Heh, okay, you asked for it. Well… first off, can your radar thingy detect places?"

"O-of course," the fox said, as if this was obvious. "It's a radar."

"Okay," Sonic replied, Tails's mildly cheeky tone going over his head. "So how many Chaos Emeralds do you have now?"

"Three."

"Sweet. And they can strengthen that radar, make it more advanced, right?" He didn't wait for the obvious answer. "Is there a way you could get it to show more detailed diagrams of the places it finds?"

Tails thought. "Yeah, that wouldn't be too hard. I'd just have to configure it a bit, which might take a few hours."

"That's fine, because we've got a few hours. Exactly a few hours. It might keep you up most of the rest of the night, bro, but I really appreciate it."

"No problem, Sonic! I want to help, for sure. Sleep has a flexible schedule so I don't think it'll mind. Heh. But Sonic, you still haven't explained what this is all about, yet. What are you doing?"

"You and I," Sonic corrected, and Tails could hear the smile in his tone, "are going to destroy one more scanner."

"One? Weren't there four total?"

"Hah. I'm hoping we won't have time to destroy any more than one, because I want to be out of here by then. Getting antsy here, you know? So yeah, let's be optimistic and say one more. But with your smarts, we're going to find a way to do it quietly."

xxx

"Time to fly!" –Tails, Sonic Battle

xxx

In the next chapter: Sonic, Tails and Espio work together to attempt to destroy another scanner – and the former hopes to find an opportunity to escape all together. With three Chaos Emeralds now powering the radar, enabling Tails to discover the finer details of Meka Tower's interior, that juuust might be in the cards… but first the gang has other problems to take care of. Like why Sonic is being put in this situation again to begin with. There is more to the scanning than meets the eye, and… Oh dear, what is in that vial?

Eh, sue me, I'm running outta Tails quotes. -_- Sorry. Anyway, hope you guys liked this chapter! As always, thanks for reading, and I'll see ya next time. :)