Chapter 6

Tails awoke the next morning in the cockpit of the X Tornado. The first thing he saw

as he opened his eyes were the delicate stems and leaves of Cosmo's plant. Beams of

morning sunlight darted between its leaves, the sight of which filled Tails with the same

warm feeling he had felt every time Cosmo would greet him good morning.

"Good morning…Cosmo." Said Tails to the plant. He would often talk to it as if it were
Cosmo. He felt as it were some means of communication with Cosmo's spirit.

Tails sat up and stretched. He put the potted plant into a cup holder, next to his newly

acquired Chaos Emerald. A grim look crept across his face. The memories of what had

happened the night before flooded his mind as the momentary amnesia one experiences

when they first wake up wore off.

Was Sonic right? Was Sevag really evil?

The question pained Tails as he thought about it. It was the question that had caused

him to cry himself to sleep the night before. Not that this wasn't uncommon for him

nowadays.

Tails felt like he was turning his back on the one person in the world who cared

about him most, Sonic. Tails still held some hope that Sonic was wrong about Sevag, that

what he had done to Knuckles was out of self defense. But the worst of it was that, even

if Sevag was evil, there was no turning back now. Like it or not, he was Tails' only hope

of ever seeing Cosmo again.

Tails looked at Cosmo's plant." Oh Cosmo, what should I do?" Tails asked it, knowing full well he would never get an answer.

What would Cosmo think about all this? Would she…be disappointed in me?

Tails didn't know anymore. He felt as if he didn't even know himself anymore, let alone

anyone else. Tails gazed gloomily outside of the plane, surveying where he had somehow

managed to land the night before. He seemed to be in the middle of a jungle, in a clearing

between the trees. It was more than likely near the Mystic Ruins. Not far from his house

actually. He then looked at his emerald radar. His eyes widened. Three Chaos

Emeralds…all next to each other! That could only mean one thing…Shadow was

nearby.

"We're in luck Cosmo! We'll have you back in no time!" said Tails, hoping it was true.

He opened the glass dome surrounding the cockpit. Just then, tails heard a swooping

sound, and when he turned, the emerald he had sat Cosmo's plant next to was gone! Tails

looked around, panicking. It couldn't be Shadow…could it?

"Who's there!" Tails shouted, "Come back here!"

Tails looked around, until a glimmer of his emerald caught the corner of his eye. He

looked at a nearby tree, and hanging upside down from a branch, was Rouge the Bat!

"Thanks for the emerald, fox boy. Hope you don't mind me taking this! " Rouge said with a smirk.

Tails slammed the dome shut and jumped down from the plane.

"Give that back! Or else!" Tails yelled.

"Finders keepers! You'll have to take it from me if you want it back." Said Rouge, taunting Tails. She spread her wings and flew off.

Tails growled with fury, wound up his tails and flew after her.

"Give me back my emerald!" Tails growled, bearing his teeth as he caught up with Rouge.

"Your emerald? I don't see your name on it." Rouge scoffed as she flew faster. Tails sped

up as well, keeping up with her. They raced through the air both struggling to fly faster.

Tails growled and snarled, and he reached out in front of him. He stretched as far as he

could, and soon, he grabbed one of Rouge's ankles.

"Let go of me!" She shouted. Tails pulled himself forward using her leg, and climbed

onto her back. She began to zig-zag through the sky.

"I can't fly with you on top of me!" Rouge exclaimed. Soon she began to plummet to the

ground. Tails reached for her hand, and tried to pry the emerald from her fingers. But

before he could, they both hit the ground hard.

The two of them layed dazed on the ground the emerald lying between them. They both

lifted their heads, seeing the emerald, and immediately they both dived for it, causing

them to bump heads and fall back again.

"Why you!"
"Stupid fox boy!"

They dove for the emerald again, this time turning it into a tug of war.

"Give…me...the emerald!" Tails yelled as he pulled.

"Never! I'm not letting you hand it to Sevag! Its mine!" Rouge shouted.

"What do you know about Sevag?" Tails demended.

"Like I'm telling you!" Rouge retorted.

Suddenly a bright light erupted nearby. They turned, and saw Shadow, holding a Chaos

Emerald. Rouge let go and motioned for Tails to duck. They crept behind a bush and

watched Shadow. There seemed to be an old wall overgrown with vines, and Shadow

walked through a door way carved into it. Rouge darted to the wall and peered around the

corner and Tails followed, only because Shadow had the emeralds. They both gasped as

they peered through the door way. It lead to a clearing, and in the middle was a tall step

pyramid similar to Mayan pyramids. They watched as shadow walked up its stairway,

pressed a switch that opened a door, and walked in.

"So that's where he's been hiding." Said Rouge.

"He has my emeralds!" Tails exclaimed.

"You mean my emeralds." Rouge snapped back." Shadow has been on an emerald hunt lately, and I'd like to know why."

"Well, he stole one that I found." Said Tails.

"hmph," scoffed Rouge, who now seemed uninterested in both Tails and his emeralds."Well at least he's not delivering them to Sevag. At least…I don't think he is."

Tails was getting furious with Rouge's sarcasm, but decided to remain calm. "Look, if you're going to try to steal my emerald and just all the sudden forget about it, I think you owe me some sort of an explanation."

Rouge turned to Tails," Look, I don't know what crap Sevag has been feeding you kid, but whatever it is I can't let you, or anyone else give him the emeralds. I've been spying on Shadow for some time and he's already got 3 chaos emerald and the Master Emerald, plus the one we just saw him holding."

"He's got the Master Emerald too?" Tails exclaimed.

"Didn't you wonder why Knuckie was all beat up?"Rouge asked," Anyway, I'm not exactly sure what he's up to, but I can't let him get all the emeralds."

"Well you won't stop me from collecting them!" Tails declared.

"Oh won't I? We'll see about that." Rouge answered," Enjoy both of those emeralds of yours, because they're the only ones you're going to get." With that, she flew into the pyramid.

Tails hesitated. "She still didn't tell me what she knew about Sevag," Tails said to himself," but its time to get those emeralds away from Shadow! And nothing can stand in my way!"

Tails ran into the pyramid, little noticing a certain blue hedgehog staring down at him from the trees.