Me: Sonic? Sonic! Where are you? Shadow? Anybody?! Come on, guys! This isn't funny! *Sighs* Well, until I find them I'll go ahead and do the introductions myself. Welcome to the newest chapter of "Locked Up Tight." I hope you guys-
?: *Grabs her*
Me: Mph! *Disappears*
?: We hope you guys enjoy this story and leave behind lots of reviews. Now, que the story.
Locked Up Tight Ch. 6: The Search Begins
Tails soared high above the forest floor from the safety of the X-Tornado, eyeing the ground several feet below. He scoured the thick sea of oak trees, and his tired blue eyes eventually came upon a small grassy clearing. Amongst the clearing, several houses sat at a reasonable distance from one another, but Tails focused primarily on Amy's small rose-colored house. The structure innocently squatted close to the edge of the clearing, and Tails stared at the wooden sign outside the pink hedgehog's house that proudly displayed her name. He could still distinctly recall Amy's small confession that she fully anticipated moving out of the cottage-like house and into a large apartment in Station Square.
"It's not like I don't mind living out here or anything," Amy responded when Tails asked her about her sudden change of heart. They'd been preparing for Sonic's birthday a couple of months ago, and the pink hedgehog had dragged Tails into the kitchen with her to help prepare the cake for the surprise party. "It's just that it's too quiet out here, you know. In the city, there's the hustle and bustle and everything's so exciting. Besides, I've always been more of a city girl anyway. Now, enough about me. Go keep an eye on Sonic, and make sure he doesn't suspect that something's up."
Tails shook his head, attempting to push the overly fond memory from his mind. Instead, he focused on a small patch of grass near Amy's home; the perfect landing pad for the X-Tornado. He gently pushed the joystick forward, slowly guiding the nose of the bi-plane towards his intended target. Tails was lightly jostled in his seat as the landing wheels of the vehicle bounced against the ground, and he pulled the bi-plane to a smooth stop. The X-Tornado softly purred beneath him, sending tiny vibrations throughout his body. Tails pressed a green button on his dashboard, and the plane immediately turned off. Tails exhaled, mentally preparing himself - for what, he still wasn't quite sure - before he reached underneath his seat. His gloved fingers brushed against something smooth, and he pulled the object into his lap.
It was a plain brown leather satchel with Tails' hand-painted two-tailed insignia on the front. Tails briefly ran a hand over the surface of the worn leather - a byproduct of time and the countless adventures he and Sonic's been on. He then slipped the bag over his head and firmly adjusted the long strap. Satisfied, Tails reached up and pushed against the impenetrable glass hatch above him. The hatch opened with a slight creak, and Tails spun his namesakes, hovering into the air. The hatch slid close behind him as he lowered himself onto the green grass. He cast one last glance at his - but it used to be Sonic's, didn't it - plane before he began to jog towards Amy's house, his unusually wet bangs slapping against his face.
The current damp and unkempt state of his fur was a direct result of him nearly waking up too late, and he was forced to rush through his daily morning routine in order to be on time for the small get-together over at Amy's house. Last night, Tails spent the duration of his time sleeping within the safety of his workshop rather than his bed. He'd spent a large portion of the day - after returning home from the short meeting with the others on what they should do about their current situation - tuning up the X-Tornado. Tails knew that they required the flight and updated speed capabilities of the bi-plane to fight against whatever devious plan Eggman was presently concocting, and the absolute last thing they needed was some minor glitch ruining that. So, with that in mind, Tails spent a better part of his evening and night, running a total system check on the X-Tornado. He thoroughly searched everything - engine, fuel tank, and the part that allowed energy from the Chaos Emerald to be utilized. Once that was done, he did it all over again; never can be too sure, after all. When nothing came of that, he decided to work on a few other inventions. Tails would like to say that he thought all the tinkering would benefit their ragtag team, and help them succeed in the near future.
In reality, however, it was more or less a distraction, and a reason to remain holed up in his workshop.
Leaving his workshop meant going into their - his and Sonic's - home and dealing with, well, nothing. Tails never saw their house as being particularly big, even though it was essentially a two-story house. But, without Sonic there to fill it with his unusually large, warm presence, the house seemed a whole lot bigger - emptier. Truthfully, without Sonic by his side to guide him, Tails felt kind of lost. It was a ridiculous thing to think about; he knew that. Yet, every time he forced himself to take a step inside, it felt like the uncomfortable silence that filled the air pressed down on him, suffocating him. Then, there was a large hole in the front of the house that only helped to show how hard everything was without the hedgehog.
By the time night had fallen and his body longed for sleep, Tails kept making up excuses as to why he should stay awake just a little longer. Before he knew it, the two-tailed fox found himself face down on his work desk, drooling onto one of his older blueprints for some invention and the sun beaming down on his face. The alarm on his communicator - which he, thankfully, had the foresight to set - blared loudly in his ear. Once he saw the time, Tails forced himself awake and took a quick shower to erase the evidence of his late-night, and he hopped into the X-Tornado.
Tails suddenly stumbled, and he just barely managed to catch himself before he ended up into a small heap of limbs on the grassy ground below. His bag banged against his hip in response to the action, the contents within lightly clinking. As he approached the pink hedgehog's quaint home, he could easily spot Amy loitering outside, standing in the midst of the brown cobblestone path that led to her front door. The older hedgehog stood there with her hands planted firmly on her hip, staring intently at something before her. That "something" was actually the largest member of Team Dark, Omega. The evil-robot-turned-good was currently wielding a large hammer, and he used the tool to hammer in several pieces of wood against Amy's originally destroyed doorway.
Once he finished that, Amy briefly investigated the quality of his work, a hand on her chin. "Alright, good," she said after a few seconds. With a finger, she pointed at another section of her doorway. "One more right there should do it, for now, Omega."
"AFFIRMATIVE," Omega chirped, and he scooped up another thick plank of wood from the shrinking pile. He twisted the hammer in his large hands before he began to hammer it into what was left of the damaged section of Amy's doorway. As he focused on finishing that final task, Tails sped across her pathway, only slowing down once he neared the pink hedgehog.
"Here I am, Amy!" Tails yelled, waving his hand in the air.
Amy immediately turned around at the sound of her name, her signature red dress swishing around her knees. Her jade eyes softened at the sight of him, and the corner of Amy's lips turned upwards into a gentle smile. "Hi, Tails!"
Tails came to a short stop in front of the pink hedgehog, and he leaned over to catch his breath. "Sorry if I'm late."
Amy shook her head, pink quills swinging around her neck. "Nope. You're just in time, Tails." She jabbed a gloved thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the entrance to her cottage-like home. For the first time, Tails noticed that her actual front door – the usual dark brown door with a soft, hand-painted pink rose at the top – was leaning up against the outer walls of her home. "The others are already waiting inside for us."
Tails sighed in relief, and he wiped a hand across his forehead, straightening up from his bent-over position. He was worried that Amy would've kept to her promise to come looking for him if he was even a second late. "That's a relief."
"I HAVE COMPLETED MY TASK," Omega's aggressive monotone voice suddenly declared, successfully drawing both Tails and Amy's attention from their current conversation. The tall robot stared at them, expectantly, leaning the hammer and the excess planks of wood along the side of Amy's house.
The pink hedgehog twisted on the heel of her signature red-and-white boots, and she took a quick glance at her repaired doorway. Her sharp jade eyes slowly glided over the placement of the planks, silently studying them. Apparently, satisfied, Amy nodded, lightly patting the robot upon his arm. "Alright, thanks, Omega. That's good enough until I can get someone out here to repair it."
Omega stiffly turned his body to face her, angling himself down a bit so he could properly look at Amy. "YOU ARE WELCOME, AMY. EVEN THOUGH IT WAS YOUR DOORWAY'S FAULT FOR BEING TOO SMALL."
Amy huffed, annoyed, and she firmly planted her hands on her hips. For a split second, Tails was positive that she would've pulled out her infamous Piko hammer and show Omega the true extent of her gratitude. Instead, Amy shook her head and merely stated, "let's just go inside, guys."
And, with that, Amy led Tails towards her doorway with a surprisingly gentle hand to the small of his back. Once they crossed the threshold, the familiar sharp scent of a mixture of roses and cinnamon pleasantly slapped Tails in the face. Behind him, he witnessed Omega squatting down to fit through the somewhat repaired doorway, his head brushing against one of the planks of wood. Nevertheless, the robot just managed to squeeze his way through, and he followed behind them.
"Here we are," Amy announced, gesturing forward with an arm.
Before Tails was Amy's living room, the entirety of the space covered in soft shades of red, pink, and white. A few pieces of furniture were scattered about; a couple of chairs and a plush sofa that sat before an oak coffee table. He took note of the few occupants within the room.
Shadow and Knuckles, unsurprisingly, sat on different sides of the room, each of them in their own world. Knuckles sat in a wooden chair by a white breakfast bar that separated the kitchen from the rest of the room, balancing the chair on its two back legs. He acknowledged Tails' entrance with a curt nod of his head, but he didn't say anything else. Shadow, on the other hand, was leaned up against one of the walls, arms crossed, and his eyes closed. He opened them once he noticed that Tails arrived, and he now merely stared at him. Lastly, lounging on the couch, Rouge was amid checking her makeup in a small compact mirror. When her teal eyes landed upon Tails, she closed the compact mirror with a small click, and she smiled.
"About time you got here," she teased, lightly. "We've been waiting forever."
Tails chuckled, nervously, and he used one hand to rub at the nape of his neck. He froze once he recognized who he'd been imitating, and he lowered his hand back to his side. "Uh, yeah. Sorry about that. I had to get some stuff together."
Not everyone needed to know that he'd overslept.
"It's fine," Amy said, smiling at him, knowingly. He distinctly wondered if she somehow knew how he struggled to get any sleep last night. Amy did mention that she had some sort of "womanly intuition." "And, besides, now that we're all here, we can talk about what we're going to do next. Right, Tails?"
He bobbed his head. "Uh, right. Let me just-" Tails strolled over to the large coffee table, and he kneeled onto the shaggy white rug beside it. He tugged the strap of his satchel over his head and plopped the bag onto the surface of the table. He peeled the brown flap over, and he gingerly pulled out two identical tablet-like inventions. "These should help us figure out where each emerald is located."
Shortly after they all agreed to focus all their efforts on finding the Chaos Emeralds, they quickly began compiling a plan. So far, a major part of their plan was to simply split their group up into two teams: Team Dark and Team Heroes. It seemed a lot easier to keep the dynamics of each team the same.
"Better safe than sorry," Shadow had commented when Knuckles complained about how long it would take with only two teams. "It'll be harder to fight three people than two."
Tails jumped when Rouge suddenly leaned over his shoulder, her teal eyes eying his inventions, curiously. "What are they?"
"Oh," Tails raised his eyebrows, surprised. He'd forgotten that he'd never actually shown any of the members of Team Dark this particular invention before. "They're my Miles Electric, and I use them to-"
"Aw, you named them after yourself," Rouge cooed, patting him on the head with a grin. "That's adorable."
"Rouge," Shadow stressed. Tails craned his neck around, and he found the hedgehog standing on his other side, shaking his head.
"What?" Rouge held her hands up in defense, her grin never wavering. "I'm just saying."
Tails pressed a fist to his mouth, and he cleared his throat, trying and failing to cover the blush blooming across his cheeks. "Anyway, my inventions should enable us to accurately pinpoint the location of each emerald just as long as we're at a certain distance away from them." He picked up the Miles Electric on his right, the invention seeming almost brand-new compared to the other. "This one is just a back-up I made in case my original broke, so it might be a little buggy."
His thumb scoured the side of the device, and he silently powered it on. He tried his hardest to ignore the feeling of everyone hovering close behind him as he did the same with his original Miles Electric. Sure enough, after a few seconds of staring at the loading screen, two bright green dots popped onto the black background, displaying two different locations for the emeralds. Each dot was a reasonable distance away from the other.
Knuckles extended a large hand over the top of Tails' head, and he picked up one of the devices, squinting at the bright screen before him. "How do we know one of these isn't Eggman?" He asked after a moment.
Tails twisted his head around, and he peered up at Knuckles.
"What do you mean?" Amy questioned.
Knuckles tapped the screen with one large finger, a scowl pulling at the corners of his lips. "What if Eggman set up a fake Chaos Emerald to trick us? Or, what if he set up some other traps?"
"INDEED," Omega chimed in from his own corner in the room. "THE PROBABILITY THAT EGGMAN HAS SET SEVERAL TRAPS FOR US IS EXPONENTIALLY HIGH."
"Then, that's a risk we have to take," Amy stated, a hand on her hip. "We can't afford to let Eggman have any more advantages over us."
Tails snapped his fingers. "That reminds me," he turned his attention to the communicator on his wrist, and he tapped on its screen. After a moment, he peered up at Rouge and Shadow. "You guys don't mind if I borrow your communicators for a second, right?"
Shadow rose a brow at the fox, but Rouge was already unlatching hers from her wrist.
"Best be careful with them," she warned, lightly, handing the communicator to Tails, "The Commander's still mad that Handsome here has already broken four of them."
Shadow glared at her, but Rouge coolly ignored it.
"I will, I promise. I'm adjusting them to our own personal frequency." Tails peeled the back off Rouge's communicator. "And, no offense, but we wouldn't want GUN listening in on our personal conversations."
Shadow pursed his lips and nodded, reluctantly untying his own communicator from his wrist. "Fair enough."
Amy clapped her hands. "Speaking of which, what all does GUN know about this? I mean with Eggman and..." she paused for a second, her expression falling slightly. "And, with Sonic?"
"Oh, I'm afraid that's classified information," Rouge stated, smugly.
"Not much," Shadow answered, his red orbs still glued to what Tails was doing to his communicator. The fox was currently in the middle of tuning it to the team's private frequency. "We told them about Eggman's suspicious activity, and that he's been collecting the emeralds. We also mentioned the reintroduction of Metal Sonic. The only thing we didn't mention was his capture of the Faker."
Rouge frowned at him and, this time, he ignored her.
Tails quietly soaked in this new piece of information, replacing the backs on both communicators. If GUN found out about Sonic, it would be a matter of time before they decided to be completely involved. And, usually, GUN got involved, things only got worse.
"Alright, here you guys go," he handed the communicators back to them. "You should be able to access our private channel and switch back between ours and GUN's."
Shadow clipped his communicator back onto his wrist. "Now, the only thing left to do is to decide who goes after what emerald."
Knuckles shrugged his shoulders, and he glanced down at the Miles Electric still grasped firmly in his hand. "We could just take this one-"
Rouge abruptly swooped out of nowhere, and she swiped the device out of his hand. "We'll be taking this one. You guys have the other one."
"Hey!" Knuckles cried, instinctively reaching out to take it back. But, Rouge was too quick for him, and she easily backed out of his reach.
"Too slow," she mocked, sticking out her tongue.
Knuckles growled, but he made no further move to go after her.
The corners of Tails' lips curled up into a smile at the sight. He was happy to see that their group's usual antics still remained the same even though one of them was missing. He stood to his feet, pocketing their own Miles Electric in his satchel. "You guys need some help getting there?" He knew that they would have to cross over multiple bodies of water in order to reach their destination. "We can give you a lift in the X-Tornado if you want."
Shadow dismissed his assistance with a subtle shake of his head. "That won't be necessary."
"Yep," Rouge patted Omega's arm, smirking knowingly. "We've got our own mode of transportation right here."
Tails tapped the screen of the emerald tracker installed within the X-Tornado, his blue eyes studying the location of the blinking green dot. "Hmm," he hummed, returning his attention back to the endless blue sky before him. "I think these coordinates line up with that of Spagonia. We could visit Professor Pickle, and ask him what he knows about any Chaos Emeralds nearby."
Knuckles picked his head up, his dread-like quills blowing in the wind from where he crouched on the wing of the X-Tornado. "Who?" He called, peering into the cockpit.
Tails forgot that Knuckles had never met the professor. "Uh," he began. "You'll know him when you meet him."
"Hey," Amy piped up from behind Tails. She sat back in her seat, her arms crossed against her chest as she stared out the window. "Do either of you guys know what the others got?"
"Who knows," Knuckles muttered, bitterly. "That bat snatched the thing from me before I could look. Hopefully, it was some desert or jungle. That'll teach her to steal from me."
Tails chuckled. "I doubt it. Rouge seemed pretty excited to be going wherever it was on the Miles Electric."
Amy put a hand to her chin. "Maybe she recognized the coordinates."
Rouge grinned, gleefully from where she sat upon Omega's broad shoulders, the breeze whipping her hair about her shoulders. Sitting on Omega's other shoulder, Shadow took note of her suspicious expression, and he looked up from the Miles Electric in his hand.
"What are you so happy about?" He asked.
"Oh," she giggled into her hand. "Nothing much."
Shadow furrowed his brow. She'd only act that way when she was planning something. "Rouge-"
Rouge pressed a finger to her lips, and she winked. "You'll see when we get there, Handsome."
Before Shadow could pressure her anymore, Omega suddenly slowed in the air, his boosters quietening. "WE'RE HERE," he declared.
Rouge stared down over the side of Omega's shoulder, her grin developing something much more sly. "Perfect," she purred.
Shadow followed her gaze, and his expression dropped into that of a deadpan. "Of course," he groaned.
?: Sorry for the short chapter! A lot of stuff has been happening in the world lately, but, hopefully, it won't be another year until this story is updated. After all, the author is no longer in control. :)