"I know roughly where he fell, Sonic, but it's an awfully large area that he could be anywhere in. It might take us days to find him, and in a few days' time, if he's alive then he'll already be gone," Tails said, the wind blowing his words back to Sonic. "Reaching the edge of the search zone... now, Sonic. Keep an eye out for him. I'm bringing us down low." The Tornado 2 swooped down, just above the tops of the trees that flew past beneath them. "Uh... Sonic? There's something I forgot to tell you..."

"What is it now, Tails?!" Sonic shouted above the wind whipping his words away, still scanning the ground for any signs of Shadow.

"Well... over half of the possible landing area is over the ocean."

Sonic said nothing. The plane flew on in a spiral search pattern with a squashed edge running along the cliffs at the shoreline.

"Tails! There! Take us in!" Sonic shouted, pointing.

"What? Where?!" Tails quickly glanced back at Sonic to see what he was pointing to, then swung the plane around in a banking turn, increasing its height.

"Tails, what are you doing?!"

Tails didn't respond, instead transforming the plane back into a biplane. Then he answered. "There's no landing gear in that mode! The wings come too low!" As the Tornado 2 swept around again on an approach run for a landing, Sonic jumped off the tail and headed for the dark shape on the ground. The plane taxied to a halt, and Tails joined him.

"Shadow, are you all right?" Tails asked. Shadow was standing, if a little unsteadily, and he looked over at Tails and Sonic.

"I'm fine. I just... used up... a bit too much... energy." He swayed slightly and closed his eyes for a few moments.

"I can fly you back to my workshop," Tails offered. "From there you can get a train to Station Square or wherever else you want to go." Shadow nodded and almost fell over, but Sonic caught him just in time. Tails, seeing them side-by-side, was struck by the resemblance between them. They would look even more alike if they charged up using the power of the Chaos Emeralds, he knew. Similar... and yet somehow very different, or should it be different, and yet somehow very similar, he wondered.

Shadow walked slowly over to the plane and climbed onto the back, sitting down where Sonic normally stood. Sonic jumped on in front of him and called back to Tails, who was still lost in his own thoughts.

"Come on, Tails!" He sighed at the look on the little fox's face, as if he were gazing at something that only he could see. Tails, who had been staring into the middle distance, thinking, jumped and ran back to the Tornado 2, scrambling into the pilot's seat, trying but not quite managing to look as if he wasn't thinking about anything in particular.

He flew the whole way back in a peculiarly abstracted way – but was suddenly jerked out of it by the sight of his workshop. A large hole had been blasted right through the doors of the upper hangar, and the plane inside – the Cyclone – was wrecked. Shadow watched Tails look down at his second runway. The fox was too shocked to say anything, as was Sonic. That door had a hole through it, too, and was too bent to open properly without extensive repairs. They would have to land on the higher runway. Tails pressed the button that sent a signal to extend the runway, but nothing happened. An error message flashed across a little screen above the button, repeating itself over and over: MECHANISM FAILURE MECHANISM FAILURE MECHANISM FAILURE. Tails hit the cancel button. They would have to land elsewhere.