Yay! I'm back! About time that I stopped being lazy! However, I was moving into my grandparent's place for two weeks, so that I could be closer to this summer-technology-thing. I'm going to learn 3-D animation! Yay! No more walk cycles for me! This might make updating slow for the next few days, but, on the bright side, I'll have more time to type now that I will have less responsibility around the homestead.

Isu- Wow, I didn't know that! Heh heh... I guess that's for the Archie/comic/thing universe, though. Mine's for the games and stuff, and I decided his worst fear was blood, (along with water) But thanks for the info, I'll make sure to keep that in mind when I write the end. Thanks for the review! And I like Alexi's quotes as well!

Sonikku1402: Wow! A 10/10! I'm impressed with myself! Ha... looks like I'm not the only one who thinks that Sonic is a better character as a wimp! (Laughs)

Levee: (Sighs in relief) for a second I thought I was only going to get two reviews for this chapter ...yeah, I know Sonic is still alive. Maybe I'll kill him off at the end. I don't know. Thanks for being a dedicated reader! Yay! Everybody loves me! I am so great! I am so great! Everybody loves me! I am so great!

Sonic: She's doing it again!

Shadow: I'll just go grab the tranquilizer...

Amberspike: X l ...I feel bad that I haven't responded to your review yet. Thank you! I'm very glad that you enjoyed the story! Not everyone stands up and applauds these days, you know. That must mean I did something right.

Behind the Shadow: Err... goose pimples, eh? ...Well, I guess that's a good thing! Heh heh! I wonder if chapter nine was as scary as I wanted it to be.

ElectraGirl: Thank you for the review! Busy, Eh? I understand.

(Many people have argued that Amy does tarot cards, and Fliara's character serves no purpose. My story takes place in the Sega universe. Amy, in the comics, does tarot cards, and Sonic is afraid of spiders in the comics, but mine's for the Sega universe. I hope this clears up confusion.)

-To readers of 'umm...' I'm sincerely, mostly, ultimately, deeply, unfathomablely sorry for the update delay. I'm kind of getting stuck... I wrote the next scene, but it just didn't turn out like I wanted it to. Doesn't that ever happen to you? I think I'll have up next chapter sooner than not.

Tails felt his stomach again flop with queasiness and his walking slowed, only to eventually return to his normal pace once he was feeling better. The sight of that policeman had been a little too much for the kid. He shook his head and tried to drive out the images of blood and gore from his mind, but it wasn't working. Tails sighed. He was sure going to have nightmares tonight. Fliara noticed that he was lagging, and turned to her friend, Tails.

The yellow fox had quickly befriended Fliara, and the two became almost as inseparable as Sonic and Tails after the events in L.O.T.E.D. The yellow fox had often had to put up between the rival's complaints about each other, and had served as a peacemaker for the red dragon and blue hedgehog. Because Fliara would migrate to Africa's northern desert once fall started taking it's toll on the temperature, Tails found himself spending more time with Fliara in the summer than Sonic. Sonic he could see year-round, but Fliara was only around for two seasons.

"What's wrong, kid?" she asked, drawing the attention of the other heroes. Tails shuddered.

"I-I'm fine. But that scenario back there was a little more than I could handle." He said. "I'll be fine." The yellow fox said. Most of the group kept walking, thinking that was it, but Sonic, Amy and Fliara knew the problem was a little bigger than that.

They were right. Tails really didn't like this place. The darkness, the cold, the echoes and noises... everything was wrong! And the event they had just beheld was nothing compared to the trials and circumstances before them. Tails didn't want to go through that. He knew it wasn't the strongest or bravest outlook, but it was the only one he had.

Suddenly, Fliara slowed to a halt, and looked around.

"Is something wrong again?" Asked Knuckles, a tone of dread in his voice. Fliara scoffed lightly, and smiled.

"No. We're nearing the first gate. It should be past this turn, coming up." Fliara said, looking to the right wall in front of them. A cavernous opening in the wall allowed access to another corridor, one parallel to this one. The corridor they were in went on for a few meters, then stopped abruptly at a sheer rock edge. "We go in, and to our right is a gate, to our left is another passageway. If we take the left, we're still going deeper into the temple, but if we manage to open the gate, we can get to the center quicker." She explained. "We need to try and go through the gate, we can't waste any time for the sake of the people trapped in the labyrinth. Now, we have to decide... who's going first?" the red dragon asked. Nervous glances were exchanged between the heroes; no one wanted to go through the terror described in the books. Their worst fear was also their greatest weakness.

"I'll go." Said Tails, taking a step forward. A few gasped, turning towards Tails. Fliara grinned and walked up to the yellow fox, giving him a clawed high-five.

"That's our bud Tails! Keep a cool head, remember that it can't hurt you, and you'll be fine." Fliara said. "The black magic in the gate can not hurt you, unless you let it. Just believe that it can't, then it can't!" The dragon gave him a thumb's-up. "You ready, bud?" she asked, resting a clawed hand on her hip and her wings fluttering. Tails smiled.

"Absolutely." the fox said. Sonic took a small step away from Amy, and asked:

"Hey, Tails, by the way... what's your worst fear? You might want to know what you're going up against." The blue hedgehog suggested. Tails sighed.

"...Thunder. I can't stand it." The kitten admitted, shuddering. Rouge laughed.

"Don't feel bad, kid! When I was little, I was afraid of thunder myself." Rouge said. She pointed to her ears. "It was even louder with these. Being a bat isn't easy." She laughed. Knuckles and the others laughed as well. Fliara was the first to be silenced. She looked over to Tails.

"Are you ready?"

"Sure thing!" answered Tails.

Seconds after the talk, they came upon the long anticipated gate, and all it's dreaded formiddability. It stood high, wide and gaping, the weaving bands of iron pulsing in dark purple light, covering nearly the entire walkway. Passage was not possible through this door. The group looked to their left, and they saw the room containing the device to open the gate. (Drab sentence, I know. Go ahead; sue me.)

"I'm going in." Tails announced, walking towards the stone entryway. As he was about to cross into the next room, he was forced to jump back as a dark vortex sprung to life in front of him, whirling in the doorway like a demonic beast. Tails looked uneasily at the whirly-doom-spinning-cloud... -thing... (stop laughing at me!) but Fliara nodded to verify that this was normal. Tails took a deep breath, and then stepped through the vortex.

"Where is he?" Asked Sonic. Fliara looked over at the blue hedgehog.

"He'll be fine... I hope... We can watch him from here, but he can't see us. Look." Fliara said, pointing to the vortex. It now functioned as a one-way window, and on the other side was Tails, in the middle of a small, stone room.

There was a brief sensation of formlessness, then Tails found himself in a small, enclosed stone room, and as far as he could see, there were no doors or windows. He soon concluded that he would have to escape by defeating the challenge awaiting him. Tails looked around. He didn't see anything. It was terrible cold, and the young fox shivered lightly.

Suddenly, the booming roar of thunder filled the room. Tails looked around, startled, but did not see anything different. Another booming roar shook through the room, and Tails faltered, but told himself that it couldn't hurt him. His shaking decreased, and he stood upright, feeling much bolder.

Another thundering crash rolled through the room, but Tails went unfazed. He smiled to himself; this wasn't so hard! He just had to hang on for a few more seconds, and-... Tails' thoughts were stopped when a small orb of light in the middle of the room. Tails went into a battle-stance, not knowing what to expect. The orb grew, and bolts of electricity danced around it, as it morphed and formed into a giant, thunderous beast, made of leaping bolts of electricity. Tails stumbled, alarmed, and the beast swept a fierce claw at him, a resounding boom exploding from the air that was shredded by the beast's claw. Tails jumped to his feet, but was knocked down again by the shock wave. Fear crept up his spine.

Tails shook it off; it couldn't hurt him, it couldn't hurt him! The kitsune leapt to his feet with renewed valor, but flinched away as the beast swept its claw at him. It left a large cut in his shoulder, and the fox collapsed to his knees in shock as blood dripped from the wound. Tails tried to reassure himself it was an illusion, but it was too late. The fear consumed him.

The young fox felt an immense wave of pain in his conscious, then, nothing more.

The vortex-window suddenly closed, and the door to the gate-opener closed up with stone.

"TAILS!" Shouted Sonic, taking a step away from Amy, only to stumble and fall. Amy caught him, and pulled him into her arms. "What- what happened?"

"He's gone!" Shouted Knuckles in surprise. Fliara took a step forward,

"No, He's okay... for now. Dan-chilack has him." Fliara explained solemnly, wings drooping. Rouge stared at her in shock.

"Poor Tails... he's trapped? ...That means..."

"It means we have to get there as soon as we can. For Tails' sake." Fliara explained, turning to the rest of the group. Shadow nodded. The red dragon sighed, then looked at the closed gate in remorse. "Let's go." She sighed, turning and walking down the corridor to the left. The heroes paused for a moment, then followed the red dragon, their thoughts lingering on Tails.

Sonic limped pitifully, exhausted from the continuous walking. His limbs ached and he could no longer hold himself up at all; normally he would be able to do this but it had been so long and he was so weak...

He slowed, unable to keep up the pace, and collapsed to his knees. Amy kneeled down next to him, stroking his quills fondly.

"Fliara?" The pink hedgehog called. "We have to stop- ...its Sonic." Amy explained. She wrapped her arms around the small, blue hedgehog, who quivered slightly in the cold and due to his weakness. Fliara turned towards the two hedgehogs, and moaned in annoyance.

"We have to keep moving. Carry him, if he's so tired." The dragon said, turning around. "We still have an hour of daylight before I fall asleep. I suggest we use it to the fullest." The dragon explained. Knuckles slowed, and eventually stopped.

"I'm kind of tired too." The echidna explained. "I think we could all use some rest." Rouge and Shadow nodded to show their agreement. Fliara moaned.

"Fine. We better set up camp."

I'm sorry that this chapter's quality is... bad, but it's the best I could do. I think my brain is melting from all of this 3-D stuff. It burns!