-Sonic-

I look up the darkened chute as Shadow speaks, wondering how far it is to the top, wondering if perhaps I should have brought a Chaos Emerald with me. Still, it's too late for that now.

"...If it's too far for you, I should be able to hold Sonic up for a little..."

What about Tails? If he has to stop to rest, how will he stay up? I say as much to Shadow, quietly, but still slightly surprised he hadn't thought of it.

"What about Tails? If he needs to rest, he can't hold himself up there, either!"

Shadow looks away slightly, his eyes seeming to unfocus, looking beyond some point on the grey metal wall. I can't help but wonder what he's seeing, what he's thinking. Tails cuts in, then, his voice quiet in the confines of the chute.

"I guess the only way to find out is for me to fly up there, huh, Sonic? If I can get up, I'll be able to take you, and if I can't... well, I guess we'll have to find another way... right?" That sounds almost like Tails as I remember him, and I think again just how much everyone has changed... everyone except me. I nod, flash Tails a quick grin, and give him a thumbs-up. He smiles back, and jumps, tails taking over at the very top of his jump, flying up and into the darkness, soon past my ability to see him at all, only hearing the sound of his tails spinning echo eerily back to me.

It's a long few seconds before I hear his feet sliding on the slick metal of the chute, a long few seconds before he slides back down to where Shadow and I are waiting.

"It's not far, Sonic! I should be able to get you there easily!"

"Great! Let's go!"

Our voices are low, still, but they echo slightly in the chute all the same. Tails jumps once more, and this time I jump, too, just moments behind him, catching hold of his hands. Twin tails spinning again, he lifts me up the shaft. Tails has come a long way from the lonely, almost outcast boy he was when we met, when I first took him along with me after seeing how alone he was. Seems I'm not the only one who can live without looking back, or at least without seeming to...

We're up already, a thin line of light shining around a hatch. Tails lets go of one of my hands, pushing it open and somehow managing to hold it for us as he rises through. I land sitting awkwardly on the edge, because he can't let go to rise higher, he's got to hold it for Shadow. Scrambling to my feet and releasing his other hand, I get out of the way as Shadow comes through. That mechanical arm looks so out of place against the rest of him, like...

I shake my head firmly. Shadow is Shadow, that's all, and it doesn't matter what kind of things I've been thinking I see. Looking around the empty room we're in, I see a door, a green light above it almost certainly saying it's open. Just like Eggman to leave us a convenient way in! I beckon Tails, who's quietly lowering the chute cover back into place, and walk over to it, forced to almost stand on tiptoe to reach the button set high at one side. It hisses open, and I see just what I expected to... an automated robot production line. It's quiet, not in use, the lighting dim, huge mechanical arms hovering motionless over the conveyor belts that should carry parts past them. I wonder if we should smash it up, more to annoy him than anything else; he must have plenty of places just like this. But no – we've got to get that Emerald. Maybe on the way out.

I walk to the door at the other end of this huge room and look out into a blank, grey-walled corridor, a stylised version of Eggman's round head painted at intervals along the walls.

"What happened to the street signs?" I ask sarcastically. Tails laughs, even Shadow giving a faint chuckle. I look up and down and pick a direction at random – right, just because I feel like it, and if I haven't turned too many times, it should lead us into the centre of the base. Okay, Eggman – here we come!