Chapter 4: The disappearance

It was 7 am on Mobius. The sun was rising like someone is fishing it to light up the world! In the workshop, Livvy woke up.

"Good morning Tails, how—" she started, but saw that Tails wasn't in bed. "Tails?"

She goes downstairs to find her mate (lover), but there was no sign of him.

"Tails, where are you?" asked Livvy, getting really worried.

Jaytee pops out of the vent nearby.

"Livvy, what's going on?" asked the ninja, sympathetically. "You seemed... troubled."

"I can't find my mate," replied Livvy, sniffing around for her lover's scent.

Jaytee knew that Livvy has inherited a fraction of the wolf instincts, as she is a fox-wolf hybrid.

"Have you checked everywhere?" asked Jaytee.

"I'm pretty sure I did," replied the hybrid.

"I'll go check," said the ninja, "after many years as an impostor in hide and seek, I'll check the insides and the outsides. Probably Tails wants to play some hide and seek."

Livvy shrugged. It could be possible since Tails is pretty good at hiding. Jaytee later teleported back, shaking his head.

"He's not here," said the ninja, disappointedly. "I checked everywhere,"

He then spots the back door ajar. Livvy looks at Jaytee, and then the door. She turned pale in shock as Jaytee teleports back with a bucket in case she throws up.

"Oh no!" said Livvy, shaking. "Tails is gone!"

Just then, the front door opens and Sonic speeds in.

"Hey Tails, I was wondering if—" Sonic was suddenly cut off by Livvy shaking with Jaytee comforting her. "Livvy, Ninja, what's going on?"

"Tails... Tails is gone..." sniffed the hybrid.

"If you want to know how he disappeared, look at the back door," said Jaytee, making the hedgehog look.

Sonic gasped.

"Oh no!" yelled the hedgehog. "Someone broke in!"

The ninja grumbled to himself, saying,

"I should've been a nightwatchman..."

"Eggman..." said Sonic, darkly.

"Uh, Sonic?" said the ninja. "Didn't I already kill that guy?"

"Right..." said Sonic, remembering what happened. "We better alert our friends and check everywhere, including the most dangerous places on Mobius!"

The three called up their friends. Unfortunately, they couldn't call up the Chaotix because they were currently busy on another case. The gang searched everywhere, but to no avail. An hour later, they all meet up at the workshop.

"We've checked everywhere... there's no sign of him at all!" said Silver.

"How could he leave us like that?" queried Maria, upset.

"He couldn't have used Chaos Control," said Shadow.

"We need to face the facts: Tails is gone without a trace." said the ninja.

Everyone looks down in sadness. Livvy was crying, hugging Sonic tightly. It looks like the hedgehog is having difficulties maintaining his composure. The mourning session was interrupted when the Chaotix jumped in.

"Hey, guys!" Vector called out.

"How is it going?" Charmy asked, not paying attention to Livvy and Sonic.

"Charmy, if you would take a look at Livvy and Sonic, that will give you your answer," said Espio.

"Huh? Oh!" gasped the bee. "Tails is not here!"

"About time you showed up," said Rouge.

"Well boys, let's go search for clues!" said the Chaotix leader.

The detective trio searched everywhere for clues. It wasn't until they spotted a small and faint trail using their magnifying glass.

"Guys! We found something!" said Vector.

"What's up, father?" asked the detective's stepdaughter, Cream the Rabbit.

"Tails' fur, a trail of them not visible to the naked eye," described Espio.

"Follow us!" added Charmy.

The rest of the gang followed the trio. Even though the trail ended at the border, they decided to trudge into the tall grass. It was until Vector stepped on something that felt unusual.

"Hey, this feels strange..." said the crocodile. "It's like... I'm standing on top of a secret trapdoor..."

"You're right," agreed Espio, "it feels like metal."

Meanwhile, Silver was behind the group. He surveilled the area. He found something sticking out somewhere near where Vector was standing. He pushed the grass aside and found a button.

"Hmm..." said the gray hedgehog, his naivety kicking in. "I wonder what this button does."

He presses it. The grass underneath Vector gave out and the latter almost fell. However, Cream was able to save her stepfather.

"Thanks, Cream!" thanked the crocodile.

"You're welcome, father!" replied the rabbit.

"Silver!" scolded Blaze. "What did I tell you about pushing buttons?!"

"Oops," replied the silver hedgehog innocently.

They all looked at what was rising. It was a massive cannon.

"I think this may be the reason," said Knuckles. "I'm going in!"

"Knuckles, we don't know if this is safe or not," objected Nate. "there's also a chance that this isn't the one that can tell us how Tails has gone missing."

"Wait a minute," interrupted Livvy, sniffing the cannon. "I can smell Tails' scent in here. It's very strong! Tails must have gotten blasted out of the cannon!"

"Wow! How did you know?" asked Samuel, agape.

"I inherited a few wolf instincts," replied the hybrid.

"Well then, let's go into the cannon!" said Nate.

"Hmm... where does this lead to?" asked Samuel.

"A secret world, just like in Mario!" said Charmy.

"Charmy, you're getting somewhere!" complimented Vector. "This can explain why Tails is nowhere to be seen all around Mobius!"

Everyone hops into the massive cannon, which promptly blasts them out to Planet Wisp.