This was a harder chapter to write, apologies for the lengthy waiting time. I hope you all enjoy.

Tails

Present Day

Mobius

"You're hand's shaking."

Tails cast a withering look at Sonic as he halted from stacking his card. The speedster took the hint and gave a smiling shrug to the concentrating fox. The two friends were locked in an intense game of House of Cards. The rules were simple, stakes were high and the game was constantly on a knife's edge from ending. A single breath would be all it took to collapse their delicate structure, and what would make it worse is that they were about to pass their record number of cards stacked. The number to beat was 108, and they were at 105.

Tails ever so gently placed the card down, holding in a sigh of relief as the structure held strong. "Your turn" he whispered once he'd backed away. They'd been at this for the last three hours while they waited for Tails' analysis machines to finish their tests on Sonic's samples after the encounter with Eggman.

Sonic picked up a card, steadfast determination on his face. Holding his breath in, he leaned forward as Tails watched with disappointment as he placed the card with practised perfection.

"107" Sonic smiled. "What do you say we raise the stakes to loser owes a month of chilli dogs- and a chaos emerald"

Tails was about to reply when someone knocked at the front door.

"Hey Tails, you in?" The door knob started turning.

"Amy don't come in!"

Sonic was up in an instant, leaping into a diving roll to push back against the door from opening. He sat against it, arms spread wide. A single draft from an open door would collapse their game- they were too close to let anything stop them now.

"You can't come in Amy" Sonic shouted.

"Sonic? What are you two up to?" her voice was muffled from the other side of the door but her irritation was evident.

"Hurry up Tails!"

The fox had a card balanced between two hands, sweat beading on his brow as the pressure built. Amy was in a growing volume of protests behind the door. He steadied his trembling hands and placed the card, just as the door swung open.

"-me in!" Amy shouted, hammer out. The structure of cards collapsed as a gust of wind scattered them around the room. Sonic had landed on the floor,

"No!" he cried, reaching out as though he could stop it. Amy stepped inside the house, hammer in hand, and glared around the living room of Tails' place.

"What was so important that you tried locking me out in the cold?" she demanded. Tails still had the cared balanced between his gloved fingers. His blue eyes were wide in frozen horror at the mess of cards all over the floor.

"What's with the mess?" Amy let her hammer disappear and picked up a card at her boot.

"Darn it Amy" Tails murmured. He dragged a hand over his head. "We were so close"

"House of cards?" realisation hit the pink hedgehog and she surveyed the scene before her with fresh eyes. "Oh... I just wanted to see if Tails finished with my…" she got quieter as she thought mentioning she was only there to get her recipe book was not worth its backlash. "I don't suppose you'd let me help you start again"

"No, no, that's ok." Sonic waved a hand depressively in the air. "That's more than enough anxiety and disappointment for one day"

"I'm going to check the tests" Tails stood up and stretched. "That game doesn't count by the way," he said over his shoulder.

"Stakes are off" Sonic agreed. He rolled onto his back and sighed. "How's it going Amy?" The pink hedgehog rolled her eyes at their dramatics and walked to the kitchen.

"I'm fine. I went with Cream for a picnic yesterday. You want a drink?"

"Is there juice?"

"Just water"

"...I'm good," Sonic answered. He got up and walked around the wall to the open kitchen. A small, round dining table with a few chairs was in the middle, the kitchen against the wall. Beside it a door leading into Tails' workspace, it was open from when he'd walked through. He pulled out a chair and sat on it backwards, arms crossed over the wooden top rail. Amy was facing away from him, bending to get a couple of glasses out of the cupboard.

"Where'd you go?" he asked conversationally.

"We went to visit Knuckles at the Shrine" she said, filling the glasses from the tap.

"Haven't seen him in a while. How's he going?"

Before Amy could answer Tails came back with a tablet in hand.

"The tests are complete, and all the results are negative," he announced.

"Negative? What's wrong with me?" Sonic asked.

"What? What's wrong with Sonic?" Amy asked.

"Nothing's wrong with you. Negative on a test is a good thing; means nothing came up, so as far as biological residual, dark matter or unknown energies go, you're in the clear. Whatever Eggman's up to had no effect on you"

"Eggman? What have you two been- someone start explaining what's going on, now" Amy put her glass down on the bench.

"Eggman's come out of his hiding hole" Sonic stated. "Tails and I faced him on the beach yesterday, and he's got something planned." Amy moved the second glass of water towards Tails as the two boys explained how Eggman had split them before attempting to take Sonic out with some sort of a powerful stone, and then of how Tails had stopped it and then Eggman had made his escape.

"Eggman...just left?" Amy asked after a moment of letting the information sink in. "He can't have forfeited"

"That's what we've been mulling over, Tails said. "When he stopped mid-fight, it felt a little off. And from the samples I got from Sonic, it looks like he didn't get whatever it was he was after."

"He'll try again," Sonic said. He'd been oddly still as he'd described the weird stone that Eggman was in possession of.

"Then we should stop him before he gets any further," Amy said.

"That's what we were thinking, but we don't know where Eggman's base is," Tails said.

"Which is right about where we took a break in thinking about it, and played House of Cards" Sonic finished. He leaned forward with a lazy smile, "And here we are, thinking about it all again. Square one."

"Don't you have something that can scan for Eggman's base or robots or, I don't know-something like that?" Amy asked Tails. The fox shook his head. "Tried that already; I launched a satellite last month just for it. I'm loathe to admit it, but Eggman knows how to cover his tracks"

The three went quiet in their own thoughts. This wasn't anything new. The growing uncertainties of the future brewing over Mobius with Dr Eggman at the root of it all: they'd done it all before. But there were new variables to this game. Eggman's extreme of making sure to lure Sonic to the beach had set the tone of his new master plan: it was going to be merciless.

"The beach, huh" Amy put a thumb under her chin in thought. That wasn't so far from Angel Island. "You said this all happened yesterday, didn't you?"

"Last I remember" Tails confirmed.

"Yesterday when Cream and I went to see Knuckles, there was a shifty-looking group trying to take the Master Emerald." Sonic sat up on his chair, Amy noticed. "There were only three of them and Knuckles fought them off easily enough, but they weren't from around here"

"Is Cream alright?" Sonic asked. Amy opened her mouth but then shut it with a frown.

"Of course she's fine. So am I"

"Obviously"

Tails quickly took Amy's attention before she could decide if that was an insult or not.
"When did you go see Knuckles?"

"It was for a late breakfast, but it took us a little longer" she trailed off as she recalled ending up well of the trail. "It would've been just before noon"

"That's around the same time Dr. Eggman attacked" the fox looked at Sonic.

"You think they're related events?" Sonic raised a brow. "Not that I'd be surprised if Eggman wanted friends (he needs the help), but they don't sound like Eggman's type of hired minions"

"Hard to say," Amy shrugged. "They were in all black, and didn't really give off any 'Eggman-level-evil' vibes"

"Different colour scheme" Sonic nodded. "Not Eggman."

"You can't decide if Dr. Eggman is or isn't behind something based on a colour scheme" Tails argued. "That's not, er, what's the word? Rationally deduced."

"Eggman always has a colour scheme, he uses it on all his robots (even Shadow had it, now that I think about it)" Sonic defended. "Red, black and white with a bit of orange, ergo a rationally deduced conclusion"

"It's actually gold, not orange" Amy cut in. Sonic tilted his head trying to picture it.

"Huh, you sure? I can't picture it now"

"I thought it was yellow," Tails said quietly. "But regardless of colour- scheming to take the Master Emerald isn't Dr. Eggman's style. He's only ever been after the seven chaos emeralds. I deduce this shifty group is something else entirely" the fox stated matter-of-factly.

"Deduct," Amy corrected. "And I think that's more probable, but we can't be sure"

"Might be worth asking Knuckles what he thinks" Sonic suggested. He tapped his fingers on the chair rail. "Orange or gold? It's a good time to visit that ol' hermit anyways"

"I'll come with you" Amy volunteered eagerly. Sonic stood up from his chair with a smirk.

"Race you there" He was out the door in a second, leaving Tails to endure the pink hedgehog's fuming comments before she stormed out of the house with her recipe book in hand.

Shadow

Present Day

The Claw, Space

The Claw's Prisoner Deck were near silent with only an occasional shuffle as a captive shifted for a better sleeping position. Shadow himself was sitting close to the elecaura shield so he had a sight of anyone coming into the cell block. Since visitors (being the prison guard who would walk through on a check up every few hours) were rare down here, his eyes were closed and arms crossed, somewhat relaxed.

His thoughts were running in circles with too many unanswered questions. What had happened to his Inhibitor rings? Who was that mobian from earth, and what had he meant? He kept replaying their encounter through his head, and each time it made less and less sense. He'd never met that hedgehog, but it was clear his attacker had known him… and Maria.

Shadow put his head against the wall in irritation. That had been a low blow. On top of which, his golden inhibitors were gone. They had helped him staunch the flow of chaos power so he didn't overdo it. He needed a new set if he was ever to use a chaos emerald again.

Next door, Levone the Silver-grey Wolf was pacing about in a restless manner. The aging mobian hadn't spoken a word since Shadow was dragged into his own cell, which didn't bother Shadow at all. They weren't friends. At last the wolf let out a small sigh and sat down in silence. It didn't last long.

"You're not a Mobian are you?"

Shadow flicked an ear and opened his eyes, realising Levone was talking to him. He couldn't see the wolf with the steel wall between them, but his accented voice echoed clearly.

"What business is that of yours?" Shadow asked.

"Just curiosity. I wasn't born on Mobius, but my parents were from there. They told me stories about mobians achieving incredible feats when they use that thing the Captain was so interested in," Shadow's eyes narrowed. Dr Eggman. The Doctor was on Mobius. Surely he'd have the knowledge to rebuild his inhibitors.

"What do you call them again? Ah yes, Chaos Emeralds." Shadow frowned at the wall as though he could Levone through it. Was that blackmail?

"If you were to get your hands on that chaos emerald, what could you do with it?"

"What does it matter to you?"

"Don't get me wrong Hedgehog, I've no mind to blackmail you. I want to suggest a partnership to escape. I'm not daft enough to try a bargain with Captain Johan, there's no chance he'd keep his word to one of his bounties"

Interesting. "You have a plan?"

"I know where this ship is going, and I know how to get off of it."

"How can you know that?"

"The Captain hasn't made any landings since I came aboard, and I have a large sum on my head- high enough to persuade any bounty hunter to bring me in swiftly." The wolf sounded like he had no pride in the fact. Shadow didn't think he sounded like the incriminating type, but travelling vagabonds were rarely honest characters. Levone asked, "Have you heard of Empress Galavina, or her army of Ravagers?"

"No"

"Well they're an unfortunate acquaintance of mine with whom I have many scores to settle." There was a deep bitterness in Levone's tone. There was history there, a definite promise of revenge, not something Shadow wanted to entangle with. However…

"I've encountered their ships many times, studied the blueprints. I know where every hall, guard route, ship hangar, control pad manned-gun and canon is. If there's any chance of escaping the bounty hunters, it's on their ship. So what do you say?"

Shadow was quiet for a long time as he considered the offer. Getting his red chaos emerald back was his priority, but using it might prove difficult. He thought about following along with Captain Johan's demands, at least that way he'd be free- and to a destination of his choosing. He could go to Mobius and get the Doctor to make his inhibitors for him, then get the chaos emerald back. But by then the Captain could have travelled to any system in the Universe. Chaos Emeralds were rare and hard to find. It would be a bother to have to track it down. Partnering with Levone could prove to be the better alternative.

"How do you propose we get out of these cells?" Shadow asked. Levone smiled.

"It's a two-person job, and we can only do it when the ship arrives at its destination…"

Shadow listened as Levone explained his plan. It was full of maybes and depended heavily upon Shadow's abilities, but it could work.

Sonic

Present Day

Angel Island, Mobius

"Goodbye Sonic," Cream waved farewell as the blue hero took off. Cheese hovered above her head, munching on a biscuit from tea. "Come again soon"

Sonic had come by for a quick check in, and Cream had invited him to stay for tea and tarts. He'd stayed a good hour, chatting casually as Cream delighted in hosting. He was going to Angel Island now, something about talking to Knuckles about the odd thieves yesterday at the Shrine. Cream had told him what she could recall, and Sonic had nodded, already having heard it all from Amy. From his mentioning the pink hedgehog, Cream had started to subtly shift the conversation in favour of said hedgehog. Unfortunately Sonic picked up on Cream's good-hearted intentions and kept his reserves up.

"Cream dear, come inside now. It's getting cold out" Cream's mother, Mrs Vanilla, called from the kitchen. Cream gave her little chao a pat and went inside to clean away the dishes, leaving all thoughts of Sonic and Amy for another time.

Sonic winced at a growing stitch in his side; it was too soon after eating. He could never find it within himself to refuse Cream's invitation, especially with that hopeful glow in her eyes. A visit to Cream and Cheese always meant a stay for tea and genuine conversation. That young rabbit had a talent for hospitality- no one in her care ever felt alone. Sonic smiled to himself. She was the best of Mobius.

Angel Island wasn't a long run, or rather, not a difficult run, for the speedy hedgehog. The well-walked path was easy to follow. It wasn't until you made it onto the floating Island that you needed to peel your eyes for the trail's twisting route. To a newcomer, the floating island looked like a tangled maze of trees- no paths in sight. Even Sonic had found the trail to the Master Emerald Shrine difficult at first. The key was in the wind-he'd learnt that from Knuckles.

The sun was high in the sky now, the Master Emerald would be glowing with beauty. A normal chaos emerald had its own special glow, making them coveted objects by jewel enthusiasts and power-seekers alike. But the Master Emerald was a bigger prize than all seven chaos emeralds put together. It's deep ethereal hues could hypnotise you if you stared too long into it. It was the prize jewel of Angel Island- especially since it was the only thing keeping the floating island up. Except for a quick trip through space, it had never left the Master Emerald Shrine, and its Guardian never left it alone-

Sonic nearly tripped when he sighted the empty pedestal. He did a double take- rubbing his eyes and blinking hard. "No..." he breathed in disbelief. The Master Emerald was well and truly gone. He looked around the glade. There was no sign of Knuckles, and nothing appeared out of order. No sign of a battle.

Sonic moved toward the shrine cautiously. Wind stirred the luscious grass and birds still sang. Nothing appeared amiss. The Shrine itself looked no less ruined than what it always was. He'd tapped his foot on the third step when he heard a faint beeping sound. His quills stiffened, battle-ready, but nothing moved. He continued up the steps, eyes wide on high alert.

He saw a curiously-dressed figure standing on the perch the Master Emerald had always been on. A mass of blonde curls erupting out of a front-facing helmet. The figure wore a high-necked jacket with side tails, baggy-looking pants that tightened and wrapped into a pair of knee-high boots. Had to be female. She had different pieces of loose armour all over her as well. An icelandic spacewoman, but… mobian? He couldn't tell with the helmet. The beeping sound was coming from a gadget covering her left forearm.

She spotted Sonic at the same time he spotted her. They both froze in a moment in surprise. The blonde rogue was the first to recover. She grabbed something from inside her jacket and threw it at the ground between them. A flash of blue light blinded Sonic and he staggered to the side. He blinked hard and rubbed his eyes. As soon as his vision returned, the mysterious figure was gone.

Sonic looked around for her. The glade was empty. Nothing moved except what was stirred by the wind- and that wasn't much except for the grass and- several branches at the far end whipped back like someone had just passed through them. Sonic gave chase.

He was forced to slow his pace down as soon as he entered the close-growing trees. Thick twisting roots were close to tripping him. He held his hand ahead of his face to shield his eyes and push through the branches as he followed the rustling sound of someone running ahead. The rogue had chosen their escape path well- and clearly had plenty of experience with running. Sonic could tell he was gaining ground, but nothing like what he could over a clear landscape. That kind of chase would have been over in a second. For every carefully-placed step he made, he was learning more about whoever it was he was chasing. She was faster than the average mobian, and apparently well-adapted to obstacle courses.

Sonic could see the rogue through the trees now. A mass of blonde locks bouncing ahead of him. The helmeted girl glanced back before twisting to the left to shake her pursuer. Sonic smirked at the attempt and followed suit, jumping around the same thick tree. He didn't see the trap until he'd stepped on it. The ground tripped him up and something gathered around him before snatching him up into the air. He swayed in bewilderment from a net that clung to the big tree's thick branch, arms and legs spangled through its holes.

He wriggled about in vain to untangle himself, or at least twist into a more comfortable position than belly-down. He managed to get an elbow in through a hole before giving up with a frustrated huff. The net was rubbery (perfect but tested like a metal- definitely not Mobian. Just who had he been chasing?

The thick branch creaked softly as the net rocked. A laughing bird taunted him from somewhere in the trees. There was nothing much to look at except the shadows through which the rogue had disappeared. He puzzled over the mysterious girl. Amy's story and now the Master Emerald's disappearance were undoubtedly linked. Sonic let out a huff and tried wriggling about again. The net started spinning slowly with his movements. That rogue wasn't from around here. Since the great fight against the Meterex a few seasons ago, the idea of space travel and alien life was not a new phenomenon to Mobius. There was something big happening, but right now he was just glad Amy or anyone else wasn't around to see him like this.

"Sonic?"

The tangled hedgehog twisted around to see Amy Rose staring up at him in surprise.

"Ah-Amy- fancy seeing you out this way" Sonic salvaged what dignity he could with a smile.

"What on Mobius are you doing up there?"

"I'm sure it looks the way it is Amy. Help me down." Amy obliged the tangled hedgehog. She put a hand out to grab the net and frowned at the odd material.

"It's not like you to get caught up. How'd you miss this trap?"

"...I was following someone. I got to the shrine at high noon, the Master Emerald's-"

"-Missing" Amy finished. "I saw it. And there was no sign of Knuckles either. Now don't squirm or you'll make this harder" Amy yanked on the net. It bounced but showed no sign of giving. She stepped back to see where it was tied. A green magnet-like device attached the net to the strong tree's branch. It didn't look like it was tied. She hadn't seen anything of the sort before. Amy pulled out her hammer. Sonic eyed the weapon tensely.

"Amy?"

"Relax, I have a good arm." Amy weighed up the throw. "Who were you chasing? Must have been a quick little thing to catch you out like this"

"She was quick. I assumed it was one of the unwelcome visitors you and Cream saw yesterday. I saw her at the shrine using some sort of a gadget." Amy let the head of her hammer swing down on the ground and leaned on the handle.

"She?" Sonic missed the tone and continued on.

"She was full of tricks and curves-I mean twists. Blonde and wore a helmet over her face. You didn't see anyone like her yesterday? Amy?" Sonic felt his stomach drop at the sight of Amy's glaring eyes.

"You fell over your own feet chasing a pretty blonde girl" Amy clarified. Sonic opened his mouth but had nothing to say as he realised the way it sounded. "That's what you were doing all day? You left me at Tails place to walk here on my own while you were playing tag with another girl?"

"That's not what I said at-"

"I think I might just leave you swinging here and find Knuckles on my own. Maybe I'll come across this 'blonde beauty' and give her my own greeting" Amy heaved her hammer up on her shoulder. Sonic would have rubbed the side of his head if his hands were free.

"You're jumping the gun Amy. I was visiting Cream less than half an hour ago. I saw a suspicious person and tried to catch her. That's all" Amy lifted her chin.

"That's all?"

"Amy, that's all" Sonic repeated. The pink hedgehog noted his sincerity and let her rising jealousies dissipate.

"Alright, I'll trust you" She swung her hammer and let it fly. Sonic let out a startled noise but Amy's aim was true. The green device dislodged and the netted hedgehog fell down with a dull thud. Amy stepped around him to get her hammer as he disentangled himself.

"So tell me, what are you doing this far west of the shrine?" Sonic asked as he dusted himself off.

"Cream and I bumped into Knuckles on a trail in this direction yesterday. I got to the shrine just before noon. There was nothing at the shrine that looked like Knuckles' had been in a fight, so checking the west side of the island seems like a good start." Sonic agreed with her.

"Four legs are slower than a pair, he stepped close to her and swooped her up. "But two heads are better than one I hear."

Amy was blushing in surprise and wrapped her hands around his neck. She smiled suddenly, having realised something.

"You said 'high noon' right? I won the race." It took Sonic a second to understand.

"You can walk instead you know" Sonic gave her a sly glance, and realised just how close her face was. He jerked his eyes forward and just started running, heart pumping.