Hello, hello, hello… I'm back with Chapter 11! Man, things didn't go well for the cliffhanger of the last chapter, I would say so. So much to write up for this one! Well… better get to writing this...

Chapter 11.

Earthquake!

Things hadn't gone well earlier this morning. Just when Amy thought that she had Tails feeling a little better about himself, Sonic, Fara and Esmer had invaded their privacy. Amy was not in the best of moods then, and, she sure the heck wasn't now. Every now and then, Amy would glance over at Tails to see if he was fine, but all she got from him was a sad, depressed look. Currently, the crew was finally moving out towards the bio lab. Sonic had tried to make amends with Tails, but all he got was the young fox refusing to listen. Tails was no longer mad with Fara, but still, why would she eavesdrop on him like that? Knuckles and Sticks shot glares at Sonic every now and then. All the while, Jerek and Red noticed the rising conflict, and discussed that if it continued, there was the possible chance that the crew was going to have a schism. Tails had placed his goggles over his eyes so that nobody would know that he was crying. Just as when he felt like he wanted to keep on living, the kit's heart had been broken all over again. Tails felt as if Sonic and Fara had stomped all over him, he felt crushed, he felt like he was defeated. He kept walking up near Amy. Whenever Sonic shot Tails a glance, the fox immediately looked away from the blue hedgehog. Tails felt angry, angry at his best friend for invading he and Amy's privacy. Tails felt deeply hurt and crushed… and all because someone had to just shoot and kill his uncle. He shouldn't have to have felt feel the weight of having lost a loved one. Suddenly, Tails felt someone wrap an arm around the back of his neck and start to rub his head. It was none other than Amy. He suddenly wanted to just break down and weep, but he knew that she was only trying to comfort him. Amy saw through the fox's goggles that he had been crying all this time.

"You okay Tails?" Amy whispered.

Tails closed his eyes immediately as he let a tear escape his left eye. The kit then leaned into Amy, and without even knowing it, he slipped down Amy's arms and fell to the ground all the while unknowingly crying bitterly out loud. Everyone stopped what they were doing and walked towards the two when they heard Tails' wild sorrowful shriek. Tails lay on the ground weeping like crazy, his eyes were closed as everyone saw through his goggles. The kit suddenly let out another wild sorrowful shriek. Soon enough, Sonic knelt down and wrapped the poor fox up and into his arms and craddled him like a baby. Sonic took the goggles off Tails' eyes. The kit then buried his head into Sonic's chest and sobbed louder than before. The blue hedgehog brought Tails' body closer to his and begun rubbing his back. Sonic didn't even mean to break the kid's heart, but it was too late now. The blue hedgehog felt guilty. Suddenly Tails let out another wild sorrowful shriek.

"Whhhyyy!?"

Fara and Cody knew immediately what, or who their young cousin was talking about.

Sonic tried his best to comfort Tails.

"I don't know why bud, life just happens."

Tails just kept on wailing like no tomorrow. Sonic then thought of something he used to tell the fox when they were younger. At first, the hedgehog decided against it, then he decided to go with it. Sonic pulled Tails in closer to him.

"You remember the routine for when you're sad?"

Tails unburied his head from Sonic's chest and cocked his head. Then he suddenly remembered it. Despite the tears streaming down his face, Tails gave Sonic a goofy smile. The fox only nodded his head.

"Good. Just tell yourself those words whenever you start to cry."

After a while, Tails finally stopped wailing. Now he was gulping for air as he got himself off the ground. Then he looked up at Sonic. Sonic immediately frowned, knowing that it was time to apologize to him for this morning's incident.

"Tails, I'm sorry for invading you and Amy's privacy earlier. Will you be able to forgive me?"

Immediately, the fox gave him a hug, as a sign of forgiveness towards the hedgehog. After a brief few seconds, Sonic stepped back out of Tails' hug.

"Whoa, that's a little… tadbit... mushy?"

Tails only snickered.

"What's gonna happen when I finally move about when I'm old enough to do so? How are you gonna remember the fun times?"

Ouch. Sonic didn't even think about that one...

That afternoon...

It was unexpectedly hot that afternoon as the group head towards the biology facility. Knuckles and Sticks kept complaining how hot it was. After about the fifth time the crew finally shushed them. The foxes, on the other hand, were panting like crazy, especially Tails. The poor fox was sweating profusely, tiny beads dripping off his forehead. Whereas everyone else kept on going, Tails would lag behind and rest a moment. Thankfully, however, Esmer and Amy noticed that the kid was lagging behind. They asked him if he was alright, and all they got was the fox telling them that he was fine. Soon enough, the group kept on going, that was, until Sonic noticed the state that Tails was in. The fox could barely keep his eyes open, plus, his tongue was sticking out.

"Tails, buddy. You OK?"

The kid looked at his best friend wearily. He looked like he was going to pass out.

"I… don't… feel… anywhere near…"

Tails suddenly collapsed to the ground on his side. Sonic immediately frowned and rushed up to the kid. By then, everyone else had surrounded the two friends, concern on their faces. Sonic immediately removed the backpack from Tails' back and placed it on the ground right beside him.

"Tails, are you okay?" Fara asked, worried for him.

By then, Sonic had turned him off his side and onto his back. The kid's eyes were closed, but he was breathing, and breathing quite heavily.

"Tails, c'mon bud, talk to us." Amy said.

Tails didn't respond, the kid didn't even blink an eye. Fara and Cody grew all the more worried for their cousin.

"Miles?" Fara used his real name, hoping for a response.

After a brief few seconds, Tails groaned slightly.

"...r-right.." Tails whispered. The kid then barely opened up his eyes.

Sonic was the first to ask the next question.

"Need anything?"

Tails closed his eyes and moaned softly.

"...so hot…"

Without second thoughts, Sonic unzipped Tails' bag and pulled out the kid's thermos water bottle. The hedgehog then untightened the bottle cap and slowly lifted the kid's head up, then placed the bottle to the fox's lips. At first contact, Tails knew what it was, he slowly sipped the water out of his bottle. Amy had placed a icepack on the kid's chest by then. After about five sips, Tails opened one eye and looked up at Sonic.

"Thanks… Sonic…" Tails breathed heavily. Knuckles looked for any signs of a shady area where his fox friend could rest for a few moments before continuing on. That was, until the echidna spotted the entrance to a cave.

"I was thinking… maybe, we could rest for a few minutes or something like that?" Knuckles said.

Fara was first to jump in at the echidna's suggestion. "I'm with ya on that one Knux."

"That is, unless we wanna end up like Tails." Esmer added in.

Everyone soon found themselves in the cave, wanting nothing more than to rest for a moment or two from the heat outside. Sonic gently laid Tails down on the cool ground of the cave, with a little help from Amy. The pink colored hedgehog removed Tails' goggles from his forehead and replaced it with a cool, wet rag. Tails smiled as he felt Amy stroke the bangs on his forehead.

"... thanks… Amy…"

"Anytime." Amy responded.

"Feel any better?" Fara asked.

Tails barely opened his eyes. "...a l-little bit… better…"

Tauren suddenly pulled himself off the ground and looked around the cave, seeing if there was anything interesting while they were here. Then he looked at a paper map he had drawn out right before they left Acadia Island. Being the team's geologist, Tauren knew exactly where they were supposed to go to get to the facility. Suddenly, the wolf looked up from his map and looked at the cave walls.

"Well, since you said that this was a good idea… thanks for pointing this out Knuckles." Tauren said.

"This is exactly where we're supposed to be going if we're ever gonna stop the Regency."

Tails, who had been covered in a cooling blanket by Sticks, smiled as he heard Tauren's words.

"... well, what did you know… my passing out… happened… just… at the right… time…"

Jerek only shook his head, surprised at the sudden turn of events.

"I say that we let Tails get his energy back for a moment, then we move on."

Tails opened his eyes halfway, ears slightly turning, and smiled innocently.

Later...

After letting Tails rest, Jerek had Fara wake him up. The little fox woke up right away as he felt his cousin gently shake him. Tails wasn't the only one who had been resting, everyone else had been the same. Pretty soon, the team were back on their feet and walking through the caverns with Tauren as the lead. After about an hour of walking, the team come to a dead end as the pathway was now split up into five different ways. Thankfully, however, both Tails and Tauren knew which one was the right path to take. All the while, Knuckles had an uneasy feeling that something was about to take place while they were in the cave. He didn't know what… no, wait, he did know, somewhat. The echidna thought that he had felt the ground shake a little earlier as they were walking. Thing was, Knuckles just didn't know how he should alert his friends without them all freaking out. He really wanted to, but the thing was… how? Meanwhile, Sticks had an uneasy feeling that something, or someone was following them. However, the group just kept on walking, hoping that the exit was just around the corner or something in the likes. About twenty minutes later, they finally reached the end of the caverns. Fara could see the light on the other side of the cave. Team Sonic thought they heard Tauren breathe a sigh of relief as they finally reached the end of the caverns. Jerek mentioned that before moving on, the team should rest up for a few minutes. The younger teammates were relieved that Jerek even said that. As the team got ready to sit down, they all felt something that they never hoped that they would have to experience… they felt the ground shake. They all locked eyes towards one another, wide. The ground kept on shaking violently for the next few seconds. That was when Sonic came to the awlful realization that the ground was cracking beneath them. He knew that he needed to act fast, and now!

"What the heck is happening!?" Esmer yelled over the noise of the ground shaking.

Luckily, Tails, Fara and Cody started using their twin tails to lift themselves off the shaking ground. Soon enough, they and Sonic started to lock arms with their friends. As soon as everyone found a partner, they started running towards the exit, all the while trying to keep themselves balanced. Sticks and Esmer about fell a couple times, but with help from Knuckles and Tauren, the two were able to keep on running. Finally they made it outside the cave, where they felt the ground shake a little bit less than while they were in the cave. Jerek started counting people when he realized someone was missing… Fara and Cody immediately gasped. It was none other than their mother. As they ran back towards the cave, they saw a blue blur dash right past them alongside his sidekick.

"Fara! Cody! No!" Sonic snapped. "Let Tails and I get her!"

The two coal colored foxes stopped dead in their tracks as they saw Sonic and Tails go back into the cave, where the two eventually found Kari Prower. The snow white colored fox had twisted her ankle while they were escaping the cave. At least, the ground had stopped shaking. Tails landed on the ground and tried helping his best friend get his aunt up on her feet without hurting her more. Sonic easily get the older fox into his arms carrying her. Just as Sonic got ready to make a run for it, the ground started shaking again. And where the ground had cracked, it suddenly opened up. Just as Tails got ready to lift off the ground, a chunk of rock from one of the cave walls flew directly towards the kid. Tails tried to act fast, but he was too late. For in that moment, the rock chunk hit him square in the chest. Tails immediately hit the ground head first, then he fell down into the chasm… and the most unfortunate thing of all was they the fact that not just Sonic, but everyone else had just witnessed the whole thing unfold before their eyes…

"Tails! No!" They all shouted.

Tails kept on falling down the chasm, yelling for help. He knew that the ground would eventually shut itself back up and crush him between it. Just as he thought he would keep on falling down for eternity, the fox child suddenly hit something hard. As he did, he felt something crack in his back. Tails suddenly gasped sharply, the breath escaping his chest. The kid felt a very sharp pain shoot up his back, then he felt nothing at all. Nothing at all...

Oh my! Horrible! Not a good thing at all, especially now for everyone's favorite two-tailed fox! And what about the rest of the crew… are they going to have to move on without the poor guy? Will Tails survive? That's in the near future! So be on the lookout! God bless you'til then…

JalcoFox.