On the desert wasteland of Sandopolis Scourge was walking under the two suns "Lost… I am lost. But I can feel his presence. So close, so close" his voice broke. He stopped and leaned against his cane "I can see him in my minds eye". He groaned "Espio! ESPIO!" he screamed at the top of his lungs before falling to is knees. He started breathing heavily "Will it end here, like this?... No. NO!". He stood up "I have to draw him out. Tempt his noble heart. But how? How?". A grin formed on his face "I know. Ooh, I know" he opened his hand revealing a piece of glass.
Onboard the Hurst Tails was sleeping in his room "This is Master Espio the Chameleon". Tails looked around wondering what that was but just heard Tex snoring. He tried to get back to sleep but "This is Master Espio the Chameleon". Tails quietly got up and left the room. He followed the voice to Sonic's meditation room and entered "Sonic?". He then saw a shelf holding what was left of the two chaos drives with the Shinobi one projecting the message of Espio, but it was looping the same part. Tails stepped closer to it when it suddenly stopped, and Tails heard a different voice from the Raiju drive "Espio!". It lit up causing Tails to fall back. He then turned and saw Sonic at the door "Scourge is back".
They were now in the command centre with the others "So what do you think it means, Sonic?" Sally asked. Sonic Sighed "I can only guess. Chaos drives at times have a mind of their own but as to what it means" "It means Master Espio could be alive and in danger right now" Tails said quickly. Fang lowered his head regretfully "Tails, no one would like to believe General Espio's alive more than I would… Huh, but Senator Wynmacher confirmed his death". Tails however was determined "Maybe he was wrong. We know Scourge went looking for Master Espio. This could be a sign that he's closing in on him". Sally looked sceptical "Or it could just be a broken recording" "That doesn't explain why I heard Scourge's voice". Sonic put his hand on Tails' shoulder "But you've heard it before. You heard it and it was just a trick. Scourge was manipulating you". Tails turned to the others "I want to go to Sandopolis to check things out" "Tails, could I have a word with you?" Sally said and the two of them moved away from the group. Sally then turned very authoritative "We're training for the attack on Emerald Hill. And nobody knows that place better than you. I need you to help us prepare if we're going to be successful". Tails sighed "But Sally, if Master Espio's alive think what he could do for the Freedom Fighters" "If he was alive do you think he would be hiding on some backwater world instead of helping us". She put her hand on his shoulder "I wish things were different. I really do. But right now, I need you here. There's too much at stake. For Emerald Hill and for us". Tails sighed "You know I want to help Emerald Hill more than anyone" "I know". Tails walked away and Sonic moved next to Sally and they both watched Tails with concern.
Later, on the base's airstrip Tails was pushing a trolley of crates when a frog officer came up to him "What you got there, Lieutenant" "Some munitions for the A-wings. Where do you want them?" "Munitions, huh? Who sent them over?". Tails had to think for a moment "Uh, FT-Five" "Ah. Yeah, that calculator's working overdrive these days. Can I see the manifest?". Tails handed him a data pad "Hey, any of the fighters run fully-loaded?" "Well, the trainer's prepped. Been using a lot lately with the newer recruits. Well, everything seems in order. No surprise there. Why don't you-" he then noticed Tails was gone. He looked around the crates and saw Tails board the trainer A-wing "Hey, what're you doing". Tails ignored him and powered up the fighter "Lieutenant, you're not authorized". Tails pretended he couldn't hear that and took off "Sally, I hope you can forgive me".
He jumped out of hyperspace near Sandopolis "Alright, here I am. Sandopolis" he then heard a beep behind him. Tails quickly turned around and saw G-merl behind the seat and hit his head in surprise "Ah! G-merl!". G-merl beeped "No, you know what. How did you get here?". Another beep causing Tails to sigh "I didn't want any of you to be involved, not this time". G-merl beeped angrily "Yeah, I know you can take care of yourself. You know what? You're in. Not that you have a choice now". Tails sighed nervously and took to pieces of the chaos drive out "Okay, Master Espio, if you're down there, show me something". Nothing happened "Gem, take us in. I'll let you know when to change course". They headed down to the dark side of the planet and suddenly the Shinobi shard lit up and moved forward in his hand "Gem, bring us around. Uh, north by northwest". They headed in that direction until the shard stopped "Wait, what? Gem, take us down". They landed in a small trench "We're close now". He got out of the fighter "Gem, stay with the ship". The shards lit up again and Tails followed their direction and saw a red light coming from the rocks. Tails got close to it realising it was another shard from the Raiju drive causing the one Tails was holding shine as well. Tails picked it up and "Now you see". Tails eyes opened wide "Gem, this is a trap!". Suddenly a blaster bolt hit the ground near Tails, and he ran back to the fighter. He then saw an Overlander standing on the fighter trying to get to G-merl. Tails quickly pushed him off with the Force. The fighter started taking fire and G-merl quickly jumped out. "Move! Move!" Tails yelled as they ran from the fighter right before it blew up knocking them forward. The Overlanders at the top of the trench yelled in celebration but they heard a noise, turned, and saw Scourge with his lightsaber ignited. Tails groaned and stood up while helping G-merl "Well, that explosion must have scared them off". G-merl beeped "What else can we do? We have to go forward".
In the morning they made it out of the rock formations and saw the vast empty desert "Well, I suppose crossing the sands is a bad idea". G-merl beeped "Yes, Gem, especially for gizoids", he beeped again "Ok, we can head along the ridge". They start walking when "Tails". He looked out and saw Scourge in the distance "Gem, you see that?". G-merl looks out and shake his head and Tails realised that Scourge was gone "It's gone/ It was Scourge. It had to be". Tails took out the parts of the Chaos drives and they hovered in his hands pointing out to the desert "He's close. We have to go that way". G-merl objected but Tails shook his head "I'm sorry, G-merl, but I have to help Master Espio if I can. Here". Tails handed him a disc "Follow the ridge to a settlement, that disc will promise a reward if someone takes you back to Sally". Tails walked out to the desert. G-merl watched him before turning to follow the ridge. He however looked back to Tails. He sighed before running after him.
They were now going through a sandstorm and checked the shards "Don't worry, Gem! It can't be much further. We'll find someone, or something". Suddenly "Draw him out". Tails looked up and saw a shape in the distance "Your pain, your sorrow. It calls to him" "Come on, keep moving".
The sandstorm was over and the two of them were no exhausted, Tails could barley stand. He was about to fall over but G-merl suddenly put Tails' arm over his shoulder and helped him "Thanks, buddy". They kept going but then G-merl beeped "What?". G-merl suddenly stopped and stood motionless "Gem!? G-merl". He kneeled in front of the gizoid "Hey, no! No, no, no, no, no! Hey, don't do this, buddy! Come on!". Tails sighed "This is my fault. I should have just stayed home. I… I don't know what to do" he hugged G-merl's body and waited.
Sometime later Tails was now sitting I front of G-merl when "Haha. He is dead. He's dead" "No" Tails said weakly. "You led me to him", Tails shook his head in denial "No" "You failed your friends. You will die!". Tails suddenly saw Scourge standing over him "NO!" Tails ignited his and tried to attack but he just fell forward through the vision. He then heard Scourge laughing before falling unconscious.
Tails suddenly felt warmth on his face but not from the sun. It was a comfortable warm coming from something else. He opened his eyes and saw that he was no in front of a fire. He then saw G-merl now recharging from a generator and next to him was a large lizard creature. Tails sat up and then saw someone wearing a cloak sitting on the other side of the fire "You're in the wrong place, Miles Prower" "Master? Master Espio?". The person removed their cloak revealing it to be an older purple chameleon "I am. And when you have your strength, I will help you on your way". He stood up and moved over to Tails who was confused "On my way? No, I came here to find you. Too warn you". Espio sat next to him "About Scourge?" he said calmly. Tails nodded "Yes! Uh, you know?" "One doesn't survive as long as I have by being foolish or unprepared. Scourge is an old adversary and a persistent one at that". Tails still didn't understand "We can fight him together" "I had no intention of fighting him though that seems inevitable now". Tails shook his head "You don't understand. You're the answer. The drives told me. They said you would be the one to help us destroy the Raiju" "Hmm. It's the first I've heard of it" "The Freedom Fighters need you. We need you to defeat the Empire". Espio put his hand on Tails' shoulder "What you need, you already have. Unfortunately, you seem to be letting it all go". This didn't help Tails "But if I had what I needed why would the chaos drives send me to you?". Espio shook his head "They didn't. Scourge did. Scourge used your desire to do good to deceive you and in doing so he has altered the course of many things. He knows your fears, your heart and he manipulated the truth which led you here where you should never have been".
This was a lot for Tails to take in "But the chaos drives, they tell the truth" "Do they? The truth is often what we make of it. You heard what you wanted to hear believed what you wanted to believe. And now the only one who has gained anything from all of this is-" "Me". They saw Scourge standing a short distance from them with his eyes set on Espio. Tails was about to go for his lightsaber but Espio stopped him "You must go now" "I led him to you. Let me make it right". Espio walked over to the lizard "That is not your responsibility. I will mend this old wound. Ride north. That is your way out. Your way home". Tails reluctantly got on the lizard followed by G-merl. The lizard sprinted away from the fire as Espio watched, "See you soon, apprentice". Espio turned to face Scourge who mockingly sighed "Look at you. Hiding like a rat in the desert. Oh, how the mighty Shinobi have fallen" he said mockingly. Espio stared at the hedgehog who has taken so much from him with an emotionless expression "Look what I have risen above". The two began circling the fire "I've come to kill you but perhaps it's best to leave you here, in the squalor" "If you define yourself by your power to take life, a desire to dominate, to possess then you have nothing".
Scourge growled in anger and ignited his lightsaber. "And what do you have!?" he slashed at the sand causing it to cover the fire putting it out. Espio remained calm as Scourge stared at him perplexed "Why did you come here? You wouldn't just hide". He saw a slight change in Espio's expression "Oh, you have a purpose here. Perhaps you're protecting something". Espio's squinted determinedly causing Scourge to grin "No. Protecting someone". Espio ignited his lightsaber and took a defensive stance as Scourge went on the offensive. Suddenly Espio changed to an offensive stance similar to one a hedgehog they both knew. Scourge however didn't change and the two waited patiently for the other to make a move. Scourge suddenly screamed and jumped forward, he tried to strike on Espio's left then right side but Espio blocked them. Scourge then tried to hit Espio in the face with the hilt of his lightsaber but Espio then slashed straight down the middle of the saber. For a moment they were both still then Scourge's face dropped, and he fell to his knees. His lightsaber split in half and deactivated. He was about to fall to the ground but Espio caught him. Fear entered Scourge's eyes as his breathing became weaker "Tell me. Is it the Chosen One?" he begged. He looked like was about to put his hand on Espio's shoulder, but his arm then fell to the ground. Espio looked down sympathetically at his foe "He is". Scourge thought back through his life, an echidna he related to, then his brother, his mother, and his clan "He… will… avenge us" he said hopeful before his head fell back. Espio looked solemn before closing Scourge's eyes.
Scourge's shuttle arrived at Gizoid Base and landed. Sally, Sonic and Tex stood in front of it as it opened revealing Tails and G-merl. Tex walked up to him first "Tell me this means what I want it to mean" "We won't be seeing Scourge again. Sally and Sonic then waked up to him "Well?". Tails looked guilty "I'm sorry I ran off like that. I was wrong. This is where I'm supposed to be. You're my family and we should go home". Sally and Sonic smiled at Tails and the four of them headed to the command centre.
Espio was on the lizard traveling across the desert and stopped a distance from a moisture farm. A female voice could then be heard "Silver! Silver!". Espio then saw a young Silver the Hedgehog running towards the farmhouse with the binary suns behind him. Espio watches curiously wondering about the future.