REVIEW RESPONSE

PurpleCobra247: Glad you liked that little quarrel. The main purpose was to give Knuckles and Tikal their first Master Emerald fragment, as well as to be humerous. I'm glad you liked the chapter. Knowing people like my stories gives me encouragement to keep writing. Hopefully, there won't be any nore delays in writing up this story.

Burner the Echidna: Yeah, long chapters can be tiring. I'll look out for your Phantom Shadow fic when it's up. Glad you like this.

Nightw2: Hopefully, this will be the next story I finish. Then I'll work on something else. Glad you liked the exchanges. I hope the story gets exciting near the end. It should do regarding what I have planned.

Kittyness: I'm just curious, but what makes you say that Tikal is Knuckle's ancestor? I know that she belonged to the tribe that Knuckles is descended from, but that does not mean that they are directly related. Thanks for the review anyway. You made an interesting point. There's a FanFiction in there somewhere…

Whinnie: Regarding Sonally or Sonamy, I'm happy with either, but I suppose it's only a matter of opinion. At a pinch, I'd rather write Sonamy but I wanted to be a bit different from what I'd normally do. Sorry if I offended you by including Sally. This is a Knux/Tikal story so there won't be any Sonic romance for the rest of the story. Anyway, thanks for your review. I accept Sally because she was Sonic's first love and I accept Amy because it's quite obvious that Sonic likes her at times.

Treasurehunter: Thanks for the encouragement. I'll do the best I can.

acosta pérez josé ramiro: I understand why you didn't know much about Tikal and I don't see her much in Sonic Fanfics. She hasn't appeared very much. Glad you liked my little background story of her. I agree that her and Knuckles make a good couple. I also agree with you about Soinc having a simple weakness. That's partly why I came up with the Tsunami submarine, to combat that weakness.

The missing fragments

The search for the Master Emerald fragments had led Knuckles and Tikal to the central park of the city. The park was a large park with beautiful gardens. There were paths that led thorugh fields of flowers There were wooden archways at the entrance to each minature garden. The main grass of the Park also had a couple of trees growing. The trees were surrounded by wooden frames. There was also a small pond in the centre of the park. The pond was full of lillies and other aquatic plants. There was also some aquatic life in the pond. It was midday and the sun was shining over the whole park. The whole sight took Tikal's breath away. Everywhere she had gone since returning to Knuckles had revealed a new beauty. She had never realised how pretty the world was until now. She seemed to faze out of reality. She became unaware of her surroundings as she walked along the path. She did not notice Knuckles take a right turn at a fork in the path and went to the left. She carried on walking along the pathway, still unaware that she had been seperated from Knuckles. She snapped out of her little trance when she bumped into a green crocodile. The crocodile was carrying a personnal stereo with headphones and wore a golden chain. The crocodile turned to Tikal and glared harshly at her.

"Look miss, watch where you're going will ya'?" The crocodile snapped. Tikal flinched and backed off.

"Uh, sorry." Tikal replied sheepishly. She looked around and then realised that she had been seperated from Knuckles. She looked around in a semi-panic state, a behaviour that the crocodile noticed.

"Miss, is something wrong?" Tikal looked back at the crocodile.

"I think I've been seperated from my…friend."

"And, who is your friend?"

"Knuckles."

"You're friends with THAT guy?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"Uhh, nothing I guess. Anyway, do you need help in finding him?"

"Well, help would be appreciated. I don't know this park."

"Well, you're talking to the right guy! Vector the crocodile, head of the Chaotix detective agencey." As he said this, a Purple chameleon and a bee with a pilot helmet appeared beside Vector.

"Names' Espio. Expert ninja and stealth operative." The chameleon introduced himself.

"I'm Charmy. I can…uh…um…give enemies a nasty sting." The bee introduced. Tikal giggled slightly at Charmy's introduction and then introduced herself.

"Pleasure to meet you all. I'm Tikal."

"What do you need Tikal?" Espio asked.

"I've been seperated from Knuckles. I need to find him." Charmy went wide eyed as soon as Tikal mentioned 'Knuckles'.

"Are you his girlfriend or something?" Charmy asked. Tikal blushed and became very shy. She did not have any idea of how to reply as she was unsure what Charmy meant. After all, she had never been in love before, but she had noticed she had some feeling towards Knuckles every so often, in particular, when Knuckles had brought her that food before they were attacked. She remained silent and backed away slowly. Vector gave Charmy a sharp slap to the head. He then grabbed Charmy by the head and lifted him to his face.

"Charmy! Be nice to potential clients!" Vector snapped.

"Erm, sorry boss." Vector then looked back at Tikal. She had stopped blushing but was still shy about what Charmy had said.

"Miss, we'll help you find Knuckles, or my name isn't Vector!" Tikal looked at Vector and smiled. She then gave a huge sigh of relief.

"Thank you. I was worried that no one would help me." Tikal replied. Vector turned to Espio and Charmy.

"Guys, I'll take Tikal with me. We'll all split up and search this whole park until we find Knuckles." Vector instructed.

"Roger." Espio replied. He sped off to the left.

"OK!" Charmy shouted. He flew off to the right.

"And we'll retrace your steps." Vector said to Tikal. The two began retracing their steps to find Knuckles.

Knuckles was in another part of the park. He was walking through a small garden looking around all the time. There were several varieties of plants in the garden and several insects. He could smell the fragments coming from the flowers. It was a fragrance unlike anything he'd ssmelt before. Living a life of solitude for so long had meant he'd only learnt a few select fragrances. He continued walking around the garden until he saw a upturned pile of earth on the path. Knuckles then had a look at the fragment that the dog had given Tikal. It was glowing brightly.

"There must be another fragment nearby." Knuckles thought to himself. He went to the pile of upturned earth and started digging. The ground wasn't very strong and he didn't need the shovel claw to dig through. A fragment of the Master Emerald was buried just below the surface. He picked up the fragment and smiled to himself.

"There's no telling how many fragments are left, we'll have to keep searching." Knuckles said aloud. He then looked around and realised that Tikal was nowhere to be seen.

"Great, where is she?" Knuckles was in two minds. His usual thinking patterns told him to ignore her and continue searching. After all, he'd lived alone for pretty much his whole life and would be happy to keep it that way. However, another feeling told hom to find her. It was a feeling he'd never come across before, but it was as powerful as his normal thinking pattern. For reasons unknown to even himself, he felt very concerned for Tikal's safety. She had no knowledge of the planet and was vulnerable. After all, she wasn't very strong physically and cared for everybody. Knuckles was worried that this nature might lead her to danger. Some of the citizens were very hostile, this he knew from Dr. Eggman and occasional trips when the Master Emerald had been shattered before. After a few minutes thinking, he;d made up his mind.

"I'd better find her before she runs into trouble." Knuckles turned around ad began searching the park for Tikal.

Knuckles had walked out of the small garden and found himself in a different garden. There were different flowers in this garden, each with a different smell. Knuckles quickly glanced around the garden and saw no sign of Tikal.

"I'd better make sure that she isn't deeper in the garden." Knuckles said to himself. He walked further into the garden but still saw no sign of her. He did see someone else he recognised walking around the garden. The figure was Rouge the bat, wearing her normal attire. Rouge glanced over at Knuckles and smiled.

"Hey there big boy." Rouge greeted. Knuckles just looked at her.

"What are you doing out in the middle of the day?" Knuckles asked.

"Treasure hunting."

"Figures."

"And what are you doing?"

"Eggman's up to no good again, he shattered the Master Emerald."

"Again? You really need better security on that island."

"It's a solo job!" Knuckles was thinking of Tikal when he shouted this.

"Whatever." Knuckles then noticed that the fragments of the Master Emerald he had wereglowing.

"Have you found any fragments?"

"I might have."

"If you have any, hand em' over!"

"You never change, lighten up." Rouge tried being seductive, but Knuckles was not impressed.

"Do I have to pound you?"

"Just try it!" Neither of them noticed Charmy flying around at high speeds. He wasn't looking where he was going and bumped into Rouge. The impact caused five green shards to fly out of her clotthing. Knuckles grabbed all of them in a snap.

"So you DID have some! Do you have any others?" Knuckles asked. Rouge wasn't listening. She had her back turned and was shouting at Charmy.

"Why don't you just look where you're going you little brat!" Rouge shouted.

"I am in a hurry trying to find someone." Charmy snapped.

"Well, who are you looking for?" Charmy looked behind Rouge and saw Knuckles standing behind Rouge, fusing all the fragments that had been found so far together. Surprisingly, the fragments were quite large and the emerald was half finished.

"I'm looking for you." Charly flew over to Knuckles and stopped right in front of him.

"Why are you looking for me?" Knuckles asked.

"A job from some girl who looks like you." Knuckles looked harshly at Charmy.

"Tikal! Where is she?"

"I think she's with Vector."

"Well, take me to them!"

"Ok, follow me!" Charmy flew off to find Vector and Charmy, with Knuckles following. Rouge was left rubbing her back and feeling miserable.

"Darn bee, now I have nothing." Rouge moaned.

Tikal was walking around in the centre of the park. She was accompanied by Vector. The two of them were near the pond. The pond was surrounded by several benches, none of which were occupied. Vector looked around the area and saw no sign of Knuckles.

"Well, he obviously isn't around here. Wonder if the others have had any luck." Vector said to himself. Tikal wasn't listening, she was looking in the pond. She admired the aquatic life swimming around the pond. There were fish, frogs and newts. She also saw a couple of dragonflies around the taller aquatic plants. She then noticed a green sparkle in the pond. She had a closer look and saw what looked like a green shard.

"Part of the Master Emerald." Tikal muttered. She reached for it but the shard was just out of reach. She contemplated the idea of jumping into the pond but decided against it to avoid getting an uncomfortable reputation. She then turned to Vector and tapped him on the shoulder.

"What is it?" Vector asked. Tikal pointed to thee shard ni the water.

"Could you pick up that shard for me?" Tikal asked.

"I'm not sure why, but ok." Vector reached into the pond and grabbed the shard. As he grabbed the shard, Charmy flew past shouting his head off.

"I found him! I found him!" Charmy's shouting startled Tikal. She jumped back and hit Vector by mistake. The impact caused Vector to lose his balance and he fell into the pond. He surfaced with a very angry look. He glared harshly at Charmy. Charmy just looked at Vector with a puzzled lopok on his face.

"Vector, why are you swimming in the pond?" Charmy asked. Vector stood up and grabbed Charmy by the neck.

"How about YOU take a dip!" Vector shouted. He forced Charmy underwater for a few minutes before pulling him out. Tikal looked at where Charmy had come from and saw Knuckles standing there. They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Tikal looked at Knuckles and felt something in her heart. She was relieved that he was ok but at the same time angry about the fact that they had been seperated. Knuckles had a similar feeling. He also felt an urge to run up to Tikal and hug her, however the urge was not that strong and easy to surpress. Instead he walked up to her and smiled.

"Are you ok?" Knuckles asked. Tikal felt close to tears but was able to supress them.

"Yes, I'm fine." Tikal replied. Knuckles looked at Vector climbing out of the pond. He was gripping Charmy tightly by the neck in one hand and was holding the green shard that Tikal had seen in the other. Knuckles saw the shard and gasped.

"That's a fragment of the Master Emerald." Knuckles exclaimed. Vector handed the fragment to Tikal.

"Here ya'' go miss." Vector said.

"Thank you, and thanks for your help." Tikal replied.

"Vector, how much are we…" Charmy began but Vector cut him off.

"Just this once, and because your such a cutie, you don't owe us a cent. Treat it as a gift from the Chaotix detectives." Tikal smiled. She was blushing slightly about Vector's comment.

"That's so generous." Tikal replied. Knuckles was watching with a smile on his face.

"Vector is certinly right about that." Knuckles thought to himself. He then realised what was going through his mind." What am I thinking." Knuckles said aloud. Tikal turned to him.

"Are you ok?" Tikal asked. Knuckles snapped back to normal and looked at her.

"I'm fine Now we need to find the remaining fragments."

"Do you think they will be anymore in the park?"

"I doubt it, the fragments aren't responding." In his mind, Knuckles was in turmoil. Questions were passing through his mind about what he thought of Tikal. He was unsure of what it all meant, but he knew that there was something wrong. He was unsure of what though.

(A/N: Ok, I tried to add a little humor to this chapter. Pleast tell me how I did. Hope you're all enjoying this. Please R&R)