AN – Once again, another chapter. I hope you all enjoy this one. There's lots of Tails and Knuckles here… Mainly Tails though.

Maverick87 - Well that's good. I think I may have seen that series before.

Solid Knife - Not much I can say to your review... -.-

Chapter 3: Central

The afternoon had fallen upon the land. The sun set as to leave an orange sky. Tails still hadn't found the emerald. The construction workers sat down to take a break. The fox noticed that the workers had yet to build anything. They'd been digging the whole time. He kept his suspicions in mind.

Tails decided that he should take a break from looking as well. Scanning the area he found a nice rock to sit on. No benches were around for a few blocks. His hate began to run towards Eggman however. All he could think of was how Sonic fell, the image played back as if in replay. He knew none of this would have happened if Eggman hadn't been so power hungry. Tails's thoughts rushed through his head as he gazed into the sky. Simply all he thought of was how this had begun.

Like every other day Tails stood inside his workshop trying to make some new invention or upgrade. Sonic was off running as usual. It'd actually been a few months between their last visit. Then it was rumored that Dr. Eggman had robbed a museum in Capital City. Sonic as usual had rushed to the seen with no thoughts about the event at all.

Eggman escaped and their quest for the Chaos Emeralds once again arose. Tails didn't know the full story, as he wasn't there.

The fox sighed. After a few minutes he got back up, knowing he had to begin his search again. That's when he noticed something strange however. When he walked forward, every worker was laying in obscene positions. When Tails walked forward to examine their bodies, all of them were in critical damage or dead. How could he have missed the event when the entire site was directly in front of his eyes?

Looking up, the fox saw a black hedgehog. The quills streaked with red. He knew who it was immediately. It was Shadow of course. When he turned to look back at Tails, he looked nothing of how Knuckles described him. His eyes were crimson, and there was no noticeable scar from what Tails could see. Tails also noticed a gold emerald in his hand. The Chaos Emerald he had been looking for. Tails rushed forward, but the black hedgehog simply ran off with nothing to say to the fox.

Tails couldn't catch up like that. Quickly, he spun his tails, boosting his speed to run back to the Tornado. When he arrived only a few feet back that same plane came. It dived down and pulled back up leaving a bomb to fall and bring destruction over the Tornado. All the fox's engineered work was destroyed. It seemed as if it was all for nothing. Tails knew he'd be stuck in Central for a while. At least while he was here he could track Shadow, if the hedgehog didn't use Chaos Control to escape.

Tails looked in the burning rubble for his Chaos Emerald. He started to carefully lift pieces so he didn't burn himself. Metal scrap was everywhere. It would take what seemed like forever to find the emerald. Tails couldn't stop though. Even after several minutes he found nothing. If the emerald wasn't here, then where was it? The fox sat down and pouted. "I have to be strong. I'll find the emerald eventually and get the other ones as well." Tails got up and turned in the opposite direction, looking at the present and what he could do.

He started walking toward the center of Central as the sky darkened. As he approached, many buildings were glistering with great light. Cars drove by, not even noticing him. Tails didn't know how to survive in this area though. This would be tough, as he had yet to find somewhere to sleep.

Knuckles gazed at the emerald he had obtained. Its green essence intrigued him. He ventured down the cliff now with the object that had brought him to that foggy location. As he met the bottom of the cliff he heard a voice muffled a bit farther away. It sounded as if the man was giving orders. Knuckles slowly crept in the direction of the vocals.

As he came closer he obtained a visual. Eggman was on Angel Island and he had a scout team of Robots right next to him. "What is he doing here?" Knuckles wondered to himself, becoming a bit dumbfounded. He mentally kicked himself as he just figured out why, "Right. The Chaos Emerald." Knuckles thought again. The echidna hadn't been spotted, but as usual was quick to jump into action. He came forward up to Eggman and asked, "What are you doing here Eggman?"

The genius smirked as he looked at Knuckles, "What a surprise. Shouldn't you be guarding that emerald?"

"What concern is it of yours?" Knuckles asked.

The doctor just grinned and held up nine shards in his hands, "I know who was trying to steal the emerald."

"Shadow?" Knuckles asked, wanting to get answers, "What do you know?"

"I know many things. Didn't you notice anything different about him?" Asked Eggman.

"He did have green eyes and a scar. But what does that have to do with anything?"

The doctor noticed Knuckle's Chaos Emerald. He grinned at the site and imagined himself yet again deceiving the guardian, "You moron. He's after the Chaos Emeralds. He's learned how to unlock a new power and therefore he has physical changes."

"And his eye?" The annoyed echidna asked.

"It was in a battle. He failed to avoid one of my machine's lasers."

Knuckles believed every word, "What else do you know about him?"

"Sonic and Tails are helping him." Replied Eggman.

"Then I've got to stop them. They probably left to find not only that last Chaos Emerald but the other Master Emerald pieces."

"Now Knuckles, take the shards." Knuckles caught the various green shards that were tossed to him. He could only restore a fraction of the Master Emerald however, "And take my Chaos Emeralds."

"You wouldn't let Sonic and Tails have them. Why me?" Asked the unbelieving echidna.

"I didn't trust them. They only want their own power. I trust you Knuckles."

Out of a hatch in his hover mobile, three emeralds dropped into Dr. Eggman's hand. They shined with brightness and glowed in reaction to each other. He tossed them at the red guardian. Eggman hadn't actually expected to see Knuckles, but it appeared everything worked out for him, "Now go stop Sonic."

"Wait." Knuckles said, "Why would you do this if you want the Chaos Emeralds?"

"I have my reasons. Now use my generosity while it last." With that, Eggman and his robots were off. A beam abducted them into a flying fortress and they were off Angel Island, away from Knuckles, "I can't believe myself. I fell for Sonic and Tails's little act. Wait until I find them, trying to hide an alliance with Shadow all this time." Knuckles said aloud to himself.

He remained on the Island for only a bit more. He still had to search the mountains and the other side of the floating island. Knuckles started off at that moment.

Half an hour had passed since the fox had set out. The night was becoming cold and the clouds seemed to blanket the sky. Tails knew it would rain. Tonight wasn't the night to go looking for Shadow. He had to find somewhere to stay, but in the vast city only alleyways were left for comfort. It was either that or the Central junkyard, where he could crash in a useless bus, which wasn't all so bad except for the metal produced a coldness due to the temperature. Tails decided that that was better though, at least he wouldn't be sleeping on a trash bag. Had the Tornado not been destroyed, he could have stayed there.

For countless scenarios with Sonic, Tails had come to this city. Either it was to stop Eggman or to just do something. Memories of those moments split into the two tailed fox's head. His mind on various moments. His mind on the hedgehog he idolized in many ways. He wondered about the possibility of Sonic surviving the fall into the ocean. Even had he, that doesn't mean he could swim back up.

Continuing his long walk, the fox ventured near the junkyard. On his way everything seemed to darken. As he entered, silence was quit to start, with the exceptions of the few cars still passing by. Tails walked forward and approached a random vehicle. If the metallic layer were cold then Tails's fur would at least keep him to decent warmth.

As Tails drifted to sleep the hard pouring of rain came down. Like marbles bouncing off the roof of a house, the sound was left. It was almost as if it left a visual of dents mentally in one's mind. The fox thought until he fell into his sleep. A dream placed into his mind and played.

Tails ran in the forest areas of the Mystic Ruins, following Sonic. The blue blur ran at a steady pace to let Tails stay with him. The fox only wished he could compare with the hedgehog. One thing that mattered though was that Sonic didn't care about Tails for his two Tails. He encouraged the use actually, he encourage Tails's strength in intelligence. Tails was proud and happy to know that he had a friend like the hedgehog. A hero, he always thought. A hero that can be trusted at all times.

Then the event erupted. Sonic missed as Tails remembered and fell into the water. The last thing he saw was the hand of his friend aiming up as if in a cry of help and then the splash…

Tails awoke with the wet surroundings. Everything so lively. It didn't seem that way for Tails because he was so lonely now. "I can't stop." Tails said to himself.

The fox got up and crawled out of his automobile. He now realized the water had soaked him, though not as bad as if he would of stayed outside. He walked back the path leading to the main city district. A recognized voice caught his attention. He turned and down the street he saw a pink hedgehog in a red dress carrying some bags. Amy. How would he tell her about Sonic? She waved her hand as she came closer to Tails. She frowned up close.

"What happened Tails?" She asked.

"A disaster. Everything has gone wrong." Tails started to say. Tears started to burst from his eyes. He held them away trying not to cry.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked once more, "Where's Sonic. Why are you wet?"

"Sonic is g-," Tails didn't know how to say it so he just spit it out, "GONE!"

"What?" Amy started to get sentimental as well, "What do you mean."

"Dead, gone. No longer alive…" The quivering fox listed.

Amy dropped her bags. Her happy mood was suddenly set into the break of sadness. Tears started to fall from her eyes. She fell to her knees. Tails was ashamed of himself at this moment. He knew he shouldn't be. No matter what he couldn't hold it back though.

"What… Happened Tails?" Amy asked in deep confusion.

"Do you have somewhere we can go to talk about this?" The fox asked, "It's a long story…"

"I have an apartment here. You can stay there for now…" Amy replied.

AN – This was a more emotional chapter. Review tell me what you think, I want to here the flames and suggestions.