A/N: Yeah, I'm back. Wow, I'm on chapter twenty (not to brag or be rude). I never thought it would get so long, but hey, it's cool with me. Anyways, enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 20: Hunt for a Ghost

It did not take long for Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow to continue their bickering. Constant accusations were thrown back and forth like a grenade set to explode in the next moment. No matter how often Sonic would separate them, the fight resumed exactly where it left off, but with a stronger edge of hatred. The blue hedgehog suddenly gained the responsibility of a babysitter.

All five began walking aimlessly in the abyss of a city. With the insistent squabbling, Sonic completely forgot about the flow of time. The clocks were frozen in place as the fox, hedgehog, and echidna opened old wounds. Sonic only wished for their arguments to stop, so that normalcy would return but alas, was not the case. Within each of them was paranoia, pain, and an edge of darkness which clung to their past and clutched their hearts to the point of an infinite dull pain. Pent up within them for so many years, even hell could not prevent the hatred from being unleashed upon each other.

After an eternity of screaming, Tails abruptly halted in front of a trap door amidst the ashen rubble. "Someone has been here," he whispered, cautiously in case said stranger was still within earshot.

"Um, that must have been me," Sonic quickly added. "I think I remember this place. I went down there when I first wound up here."

"So, you are certain that no one else could be down there?"

"It's not like there's anyone left alive to be able to sneak around," Shadow muttered under his breath, arms crossed. "What's so important about this place anyway?"

"Well, unless you have lost all your brain cells and memory, this is one of the entrances to the underground base. I can start up one of the computers in there and use the chaos emerald to track down Eggman."

"What are we waiting for!" cried out Knuckles in mid jump as he plummeted down the hole. Shadow and Tails immediately followed, but Amy paused and Sonic waited for her to go inside.

"What's wrong?"

She shook, almost in fright of hearing another sound, but quickly regained her composure, realizing who the words originated from. "Nothing. Just thinking."

"About?"

"It's nothing of importance. And time is not on our side anyway." She responded, not once looking at the blue hedgehog. "Time never is."

"We'll see," was all Sonic could say. Her behavior was peculiar and worried the blue hedgehog. However, before he could ask, Amy slid down the trap door.

Darkness filled the catacombs, smothering all and any hope. Hours went by as none of the characters made a sound. Even Sonic secretly wished Tails' self-picked fights would resume. However, everyone seemed to be consumed with their own demons and ghosts.

Tails refused to think about his personal problems. Or how he was responsible for his own pain. Every time his memory or the thought of guilt slipped into his mind, he forced it out as quickly as possible. There was nothing left to hold on to. Tails lost his will to live long ago. And yet, the fox could not pinpoint why he remained here. He was so lonely. Was it revenge or hatred that kept him going? Stuck in ever-growing darkness, Tails could not remember the source of all his frustration. Sonic and the others were scapegoats, nothing more. The fox slowly realized he was an empty shell. He was lost in a sea of darkness and revenge… and there was no turning back.

Amy was not holding off any better. Knowing Sonic was alive and in her presence made her heart flutter. Walking inside her 'home' of several years reminded her of the tears, the desires, and the regret. She suddenly recalled how Tikal had slapped her to her senses for what felt like an eternity ago. Tikal. Amy shut her eyes, forcing her tears at bay. That echidna was a blessing and should have lived… instead of her. In fact, all the women in the fight should have survived except her. Cream, Tikal, Sally… everyone. They were so brave, never shedding a single tear, and here Amy was, still alive, and weaker than ever. And it was true. Amy knew now more than ever the depths of her weakness. Her love for Sonic was abandoned after she embraced despair. And now, Amy no longer desired to be with the blue hedgehog, in terms of boyfriend-girlfriend. She just wished some of his bravery would rub off on her.

Knuckles caressed a green bracelet with his thumb, thinking about the time spent in this dungeon. His memories flooded over him with an unstoppable force. The guilt of his failure was fighting to obtain control of the echidna's thoughts and it appeared Knuckles was losing. Tears streamed silently down his cheeks, and he was infinitely thankful that the tunnels were too dark for his allies to see him.

The bracelet glowed dimly and Sonic barely saw it. "Hey Knux? What is that?"

"Nothing," he weakly replied, hiding the tears.

"Ah, come on. You can tell me."

"No."

"Knuuuuuuuuuuuuckles…." However the echidna ignored Sonic from there on out, and the blue hedgehog decided to give his curiosity a rest. Suddenly he crashed into Shadow who had stopped walking entirely. "Shadow?"

Shadow thought of Rogue. The little boy entrusted his life to the dark hedgehog. And he failed him. He failed Maria. He failed Roxie, Rouge, Dice… everyone. His only chance of atonement involved this final mission: to stop Robotnik. He promised Rogue he'd save Dice, and he failed miserably so far. His last chance, the very last one, was screaming at him. He could not fail. He would not fail.

Being the perfect life form that he was, Shadow could see in the dark, gazing at the endless branches of rooms, until at last he came across the door he was looking for.

"Shadow?"

"Huh?"

"Watch where you're going."

"What do you mean?" He responded, looking intently into the room.

"Never mind." Sonic sighed in defeat. "Hey," he whispered, barely audible, "Do you know what's up with Knuckles' bracelet?"

Absent-minded, Shadow continued staring into nothingness and responded in a detached tone of voice, "He gave it to Rouge as a birthday present about two years after you disappeared. The glowing green center gem is a shard of the master emerald. After Station Square was destroyed, Knuckles found Rouge dying and she returned it to him."

"How do you know all of this?"

"I saw her give it to him," he numbly added, walking into the room after debating whether or not to do so. Sonic sensed Shadow move, and curiously followed.

"What is this place?"

There was no response.

"Shadow?"

A small light clicked on overhead and Sonic could see Shadow holding onto the chain attached to a light bulb.

"Shadow? What is this place?"

However, the hedgehog never heard a word from Sonic. Ceremoniously Shadow took out a tattered photograph folded underneath his glove. He placed it on top of a rusty bunk bed, which should have expired and fallen to the ground ages ago. Grudgingly Shadow made his way across the room, gently touching and dragging his left hand across the wall.

Realizing the importance of this room to Shadow, Sonic refrained from nagging. He instinctively stood beside the dark hedgehog and then noticed the deep sadness emanating from his face.

"This… was Rogue's bedroom." Sensing confusion, Shadow added, "Rouge's son. He died in my arms."

"Sorry."

"Don't be." Shadow at last came across the bat's desk and saw an illustration of Rouge, Roxie, and Shadow together. The dark hedgehog gingerly put his fingers onto it, and after a good five minutes, released his grip on it. "I came here to let it go. I made a promise that I will fulfill, but after that… it's time to move on."

"Heh, right. Let's catch up to the rest of the guys. I'm not sure if Knuckles is going to hold out without your verbal support."

"Mm."

The two hedgehogs sauntered through the halls, not saying another word to each other since exiting Rogue's bedroom. With their jogging, they reached the others within seconds.

They had already reached the main computer, and Tails was underneath it, re-wiring the circuitry. "About time you two showed up," Knuckles laughed, truly happy not to be alone with Amy and Tails.

"Got it online! Glad there's still enough power for the computer to run."

"Nice work. So what do I do with the chaos emerald?" Sonic asked, the one soul who touched the emerald since Dice gave it to him. He refused to let it fall into anyone else's hands after being given the responsibility to protect it.

"Place it here, in this recess. The wiring should hook up to it automatically. Since Robotnik has the master emerald, and probably the rest of the chaos emeralds, it will be easy to track down which dimension and time period for that matter he's in."

"And then I could use chaos control to get us there." Shadow lowly responding, adding to the plan.

"And then we're going to give Eggman what's coming to him," Sonic laughed.

"Hm, odd."

"What is it?" asked Amy nervously, the only three words she had said to Tails.

"Eggman is here, in this dimension. At his old base…"

"But that was destroyed nearly two hours ago," Shadow gasped.

"Well, he's there now…. And so is Dice."

A/N: Wow, we really are getting close to the ending. I had the ending in mind before I even started this story, and then filled in the blanks leading up to it… I figured the ending would come within the next five chapters. But I think it might be the next three. Heh, we'll see. Might be longer. Depends.