Alright, let's be real, this is a buffer chapter. Which means it's a delay to try and buy us more time for the next two chapters. (ALSO- first reviewer to understand the reference in the title gets a cookie and my utmost respect)

Yes, two chapters. Halo and I must type up two full chapters before we can update again, because if we don't, we will be burned at the stake by all of you. So in advance: YOU'RE WELCOME.

Also, we have a little surprise for all y'all because my co-writer is a genius. Yes I am! Thank you, Halo, for figuring THAT out. Because I wanted to throw my computer at the wall.

Comments, then on with the story:

SharpDragonKlaw: Tails is one of the best. I kinda hate what SEGA has turned him into. I mean, can we get a playable Tails- IN THE ACTUAL PLOT LINE, PLEASE? I mean, Boom did it but… we don't talk about that game. Ever. (THE HECK, SEGA?)

Avenger Guest: Which is now what I am calling you. (; Spider-man would be… Uh…. Dang, I don't know. Spidey is one of my favorites and I LOVE what the MCU has done with him [my sister, Cheese, says it would be Sticks which I definitely disagree with. Sticks would be Deadpool, duh. (or Gwenpool, whatever)]. Spidey would be… I want to make it Tails, but Tails is Tony so KRIFF, I DON'T KNOW. Maybe Manic? I mean, that would make sense, but he is Quicksilver so... (Ow, my brain…) Anyway, that sounds like a fun AU idea but I don't think I have time, unfortunately. And if Nack is Hawkeye, he needs a MAJOR personality revamp. But it does make sense.

Wafflesbelike-NYANCAT: I think you summed up that chapter perfectly. And Hallo! Haven't seen you in a while. How've you been?

Megaman07: Aww…. Ray is now a cinnamon roll. I don't care what anyone else says. He is a cinnamon roll- I will fight you on this.

ultimateCCC: I mean…. Dark Chaos Energy would also be enhanced by the Master Emerald so… it wouldn't do anything. Like, at all.

MelGamingPlays: Slowly getting there? I keep forgetting that Halo and I are the only ones with the outline because KRIFF, Y'ALL ARE SO GOOD AT GUESSING WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. So slowly getting there… as in, "slowly" approaching the climax which is much closer than you think. Sonic in Sonic X is, I think, the best representation of him as a character. Like, the games do a semi-good job, but Sonic X? Perfection. And Shadow. I need more Shadow. (COME ON, SEGA. You are ruining the character!)

AStoryTellerBook: Tails is a popular choice, which is kind of ironic since this chapter we are hanging out with him. As for that reference…. Halo? Sunset Boulevard. It's a CLASSIC, educate yourself.

tailsBOOM1992: I would expect nothing less from someone with "tails" in their username. XD And yeah, Tails is going to be wary around Sonia for the next… forever.

StarlightSparks:

NeckBreak: Amy is pretty cool when done correctly. I mean, love the hammer and all but… sometimes she can get on your nerves. Especially Sonic's nerves. XD

sonic vs tails: Soon. Very soon.

Autumn: Eh, it was fine. I got to be by myself which was kind of cool. And don't worry, internet can be a pain in the neck. Add another tally to Tails (I keep forgetting how many people like Tails! SEGA, make a good game with him and you'll get a bunch of money!)

Detta: I enjoy writing the super tense scenes, then throwing in a bit of humor to get a laugh, but not enough that it destroys the tension. Always fun to write and read. So Halo typed the part with the whole "part of Dark will always be apart of Manic" and I didn't edit it very well so… explanation at end of chapter. Promise. ALL HAIL SHADOW. And completely agree. (SEGA QUIT MESSING UP MY CHILD).

ShadAmy1Fan - Shylah McVey: Okay, first things first, I'm going to give you a virtual hug. *hugs tightly* I'm not going to say that life is going to be a happy or thrilling life, but do know you are not alone. I hope you are feeling a bit better than when you looked up 'Miles from Home'. Here is some cookies. *gives chocolate chip cookies* Thank you so much for all of your compliments. I am so glad you are enjoying this story. I want to respond to everything, but I think the update will be better than any compliment I can give. Thank you so much, your compliments made my day!

Okay, I need to just put this out here: When you are done reading this chapter, go listen to "Ready As I'll Ever Be" from Tangled: Before Ever After. Seriously, it just… makes me happy.

Without further ado, enjoy!

XXX

Tails' POV:

Well. That happened.

Moving onto more important matters, Hope and I had begun to mass produce the cure. And believe me, we made a lot of it- Shadow had to come in twice more in the next three days to 'donate' his blood, and ended up finishing three more crossword puzzles in that time (more correctly, Manic finished them. He was under a forty-eight hour observation in the lab with me and Shadow didn't know what 'pop culture' even entailed, let alone what consisted of it).

While Hope and I worked, I ordered Knuckles to herd everyone into the various laboratories to be tested for infection. In all honesty, I should have done it a lot sooner but as it had been 'incurable', I had been too much of a chicken to see the results. All Overlanders came back negative, to no one's surprise. I mean, it's not like they're even capable of possessing Chaotic abilities, so it was probably a bit redundant to test them at all, but better safe than sorry.

Amy and Shadow were both lower than five percent (Shadow was .5% and it dropped to zero by the end of the hour with his own immune system). I had about six percent; Rouge was around 1.7% infected. All of us took less than an eighth of a shot and were fine by the end of the day. Knuckles came back as 5.4%, much to his frustration ("I cut myself off from the Chaos field to not get infected!").

Sonia's test came back as 17.6%. Manic just about had a heart attack when I told him (as did I when I realized that Sonia might have actually been willing to kill me when she found me testing the serum on Manic. Yeah, I had Hope administer the cure to her.) At least the percentage explained why she had been so… erratic the past few days.

Sonia took the news rather well.

"I was going Dark?"

Manic shrugged, "Probably. Give it another week and you probably would've started to hear the voice. Oh, geez, I wonder what yours would have sounded like."

"I was going DARK?"

While Hope and I were holed up in a lab all day, Shadow was apparently getting down to business. I only attended one of the training sessions and it was at his own insistence for "my own good", apparently.

Rouge acted as his training partner when everyone worked on close physical combat. He would demonstrate the correct technique, then attack Rouge. When Shadow worked with specific individuals, she would practice on a punching bag and the gym course.

Knuckles refused any of Shadow's "training" but the two sparred everyday. Instead, he helped Sonia with her combat skills. Gag me. If they weren't training then they were shamelessly flirting. And you wonder why I didn't want to go to the stupid training classes.

When he wasn't busy with his girlfriend, Knuckles would drag me out of the lab at least once a day and have a few practice rounds with me. We would do that for an hour and then I would head off to practice in the shooting range. Over the past year, I had gotten pretty good with a gun, much to Manic's horror (seriously, what was his deal with guns?).

One time Sonia and I had a contest with moving targets and distance shots. She won. And yet she still spent most of her time in the range, unless Shadow or Knuckles wanted to work on her combat skills or she felt up to some gymnastics. Through Manic, I also found out that Shadow was helping Sonia develop some mental shielding abilities and better control of her visions. Most of it involved meditation of some sort, but I wasn't interested enough to ask her about it.

Amy was trying to get more creative with her hammer. She had started pulling different sizes out of thin air and then throwing them at targets. I didn't know what a hammer could do against Dark, but I wasn't about to underestimate Amy, especially since she was working with Shadow and Knuckles on her physical combat.

Manic was by far the most interesting to watch. After he had been officially cleared by the General and myself, Manic had attacked the training mat with such a vigor we had to put a time limit on his training sessions to keep him from over exerting himself. His sessions consisted of combat sparring and teaching himself Krav Maga and Jujutsu off the internet, some extreme gear practice, and knife fighting. Seriously, Manic with a knife was one of the coolest things to watch. He threw them at targets from different positions, practiced different techniques, and sometimes would fight Shadow in mock combat. Shadow vs. Manic in knife skills was like watching an action movie fight scene. If I ever had any free time, I'd go down and watch their matches- along with half of the off-duty guards. Shadow won most of the time, but Manic was no amateur.

Of course, the one time I went to the team training session, Shadow attempted to get Manic to branch out his skills. And by that, he meant his Chaotic abilities.

"You want me to what?"

Shadow didn't seem fazed by the pure expression of horror on Manic's face. "When Dark took you over, he mentally attacked both Miles and Sonia, effectively incapacitating them for short periods of times. Dark is limited by the body he possesses, which means that ability is something you can do as well."

The remaining blood drained out of Manic's face, "Aw, heck no!"

"Manic-"

"Nope! Not happening, Shads! I ain't 'perfecting' anything! And nothing you say is gonna change my mind, nuh-uh!"

Well, something must have changed his mind, because the following day, Shadow began to work with Manic on his mental abilities. I, uh… I made sure to steer clear of that lesson. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for Manic learning new skills and all, but I'd honestly rather not be there to see his progress.

In the meantime, Hope and I had successfully synthesized enough of the cure to heal… well, a small army. Yeah, we probably went a little overboard, but we weren't about to take any chances, and hey, I didn't hear anyone complaining.

After we ran out of blood and Shadow had adamantly refused , we started to put together a plan to save Sonic- or at least I did.

And then we waited. For what exactly, none of us were one hundred percent sure.

It turned into a two week 'vacation' that consisted of training and resting. After the cure had been finished and produced, Amy dragged me to bed where I slept for over thirty-six hours. If I was being honest, it was really nice- unless a nightmare decided to ruin my perfectly good sleep.

Most nightmares consisted of Dark (aka Sonic) chasing me through an electric storm. Sometimes Dark Manic was with him and on one occasion Sonia (can I just say she was… terrifying. I really did not need that image in my head. Ever).

And of course the day after that 'pleasant' experience was the day GUN patrol picked up a large surge of Chaos energy in- surprise, surprise- Chaos Valley.

"I refuse to go back to that place!" Manic growled.

I shrugged, "That's nice. Pack your bags."

"Did… did you not hear me?"

Everyone chose to ignore him and turned their attention to General Towers. He stood at the front of the all too familiar briefing room, with everyone in their respective spots- except Manic, who was pacing the back wall, nervously tapping his drumsticks on anything in reach (has he always had those?).

"We have visual confirmation that Dark is in the center of the valley. He appears to have set up a camp off a lakeside waterfall."

"Great…" Sonia groaned, "He probably found the cave where Manic and I found the black emerald."

Everyone stiffened. Sonia frowned, "We told you about the cave."

"Yeah, but you didn't say where it was." Rouge said. "Then again, General Oversight, why didn't you just ask them?"

"If you want to keep your job, Agent Rouge, I suggest you hold your tongue."

"Yes, sir."

"Wow… you people are stupid." I said. The General glared at me. I shrugged, "What? I don't work for you. I can speak my mind."

"You're a consultant. I can fire you at anytime."

"Yeah, but you won't." I leaned back in my chair, "Thing is, I'm the only thirteen-year-old on the planet who can build an atomic bomb with his hands tied behind his back. Can you do that, General Towers?" I asked cheerfully, crossing my arms. "Didn't think so. Now please sit down sir, the grown ups are talking."

Knuckles had been drinking a glass of water at the time and choked, coughing and spitting in horror. The General's right eye twitched slightly.

Amy tightened her hands around the edge of table, pursing her lips. I shrank back slightly as she opened her mouth to speak, her voice dangerously low, "Okay… Miles, if you ever speak to the General like that again, I will personally drag you out back and pound some manners into your thick skull. Got it?"

I nodded, deciding that it would probably be a wise decision to shut up.

The General cleared his throat, "It doesn't matter whose fault it is, just be grateful we know where Dark is. I have received several plans and operations from my top agents on how to proceed, with Shadow, Knuckles, and Tails acting as consultants. We have determined the best course of action. Shadow…" He nodded at said hedgehog who took that as his cue.

Shadow stood, placing his hands on the table and leaning forward slightly. "Miles has roughly determined the amount of the cure we need to inject into Sonic in order to destroy Dark, which is ten full shots at twenty milliliters each."

I bit my lip and tried to reassure myself I had done the math correctly. I had checked at least two dozen times, repeated calculations and triple checked the answer with my data from Manic. It wasn't a lot on the surface, a little less then a cup of liquid, but it was as much as I was willing to inject into Sonic at the risk of overwhelming his system, and… yeah. Of course, I had left that out of my written report. There was no way I was gonna let the general veto my plans now.

Shadow continued. "Each of you will receive a total of five full doses: two full shots and six half shots. The half shots have been made especially to fit into a gun Miles designed for this purpose. The full shots must be manually injected."

Manic raised a timid hand, "By manually, you mean we have give it to Dark? Like, touch him?"

Shadow nodded once. "Before we make contact, everyone will be injected with five milliliters of the serum to combat any dark chaos energy we come in contact with- no exceptions. If the occasion arises, you can inject one of your full doses into your main blood stream to combat Dark if he attempts to possess or infect you."

Well, that was news for me. Guess I'd have to have them pack extra serum.

Amy raised her hand. "What if we don't have chaos energy in us? Do we still need the shot?"

"Yes." Shadow's tone left no room for argument. "We will be air dropped into the valley. Dark will know when we are there, so the goal is to move as quickly as possible. When you have a clear shot, you take it. Shots into main veins will ensure that the cure moves faster through his system. We estimate that when the cure has cleared about fifty percent of the infection, Sonic will be able to take back control of his body and mind."

"You estimate?" asked Sonia, a twinge of uncertainty in her tone.

"Correction: We hope."

Manic clenched his fists and glared at his hands. I didn't know what he was thinking about, but it didn't look like a happy memory.

My eyes snapped back to Shadow, who made eye contact with everyone. "In the event that we cannot move fast enough or the cure does not work- if we do not have time to cure Sonic for whatever reason- you will all be equipped with a single ten milliliter shot of the poison Knuckles was able to put together from his father's notes. Miles's design for the gun will accommodate the poison's container." Shadow's voice grew hard and tense. "Use it. His death will be almost instant and near painless. If we don't take Dark out now, I guarantee, we will not have another chance."

He straightened up. "Everyone will be in divided into teams. Each team will attack together to keep Dark off balance. Knuckles, Amy, and Miles are Team Beta. Manic and Sonia: Delta. Rouge and I are team Alpha. Stay with your teammates at all times. In the event that Dark… overpowers us, Hope, OMEGA, General Towers and Cream are the last line of defense at GUN."

I blinked. If Shadow was calling in Cream… things were more desperate than I'd anticipated. I swallowed down the panic rising up in my chest and tried to keep my face as passive as possible.

General Towers stepped up again, "If there aren't any questions, then let's move. You're equipment is ready and waiting in your respective transports."

No one said a word as we left the room and headed to the runway outside. The Tornado was already waiting with three small briefcases; I handed one to Amy and Knuckles before opening mine and pulling out the weapon lodged inside. The gun was based off a simple tranquilizer design, but instead of a sedative, we were going to be injecting Sonic with Shadow's diluted blood. That thought alone made me want to puke.

Knuckles placed his hand on my shoulder, "Tails… you know it isn't him. Not really him."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and forced myself to nod. "I know," I lied. I pulled the gun out, loaded it with a syringe, then strapped it to my leg. "Let's go."

Shadow, Rouge, Sonia, and Manic climbed into a helicopter and strapped in. Shadow and Sonia sat in the front, with Sonia behind the stick (who knew she could fly?). Manic waved out the door and shot me a thumbs up, a wide, goofy grin stretching across his face. "Don't sweat it, dude- we got this!"

I forced a smile and returned his gesture before he slid the door shut and the helicopter blades began to turn.

I sighed, climbing into the cockpit of The Tornado and firing up the engines, trying to shake the feeling that that was the last time I was going to see Manic smile.

XXXXXXXXXX

DARK

I had felt it when the second vessel had severed itself from my influence. How could I not have? I hadn't chosen it because of its subtlety.

Being trapped in these… mortal bodies was infuriating enough on its own without them attempting to resist my influence. It was pathetic, really. But they'd be free of me soon enough.

It was rather odd, returning to the place that had once been my prison. I knew better than to re-enter the cave, but the sheer amount of chaotic energy it provided was too tempting to resist. If I absorbed it, perhaps my time in the blue one would be shortened; his energy was running too low for me to absorb any longer without destroying the vessel. The mere thought of being strong enough to rid myself of this insufferable flesh bag was more than enough motivation to stick to the plan.

I picked up the meat of a squirrel I had skinned, glaring at it with distaste; it was nauseating, no, degrading how mortals had to eat to survive. At least in the emerald I was free from this disgusting practice. And don't even get me started on this vessel's insistence on sleep.

Hesitantly, I raised the rancid meat to my lips and began to chew- how could mortals possibly stand this- and gulped it down, shuddering as the sludge slid down my throat. Ugh.

I closed my eyes, trying to tap back into the second vessel's mind, but as usual, came up with nothing. How had the boy been able to sever the connection? I had been so close to breaking him. If only I'd had more time… my influence had already left his mind poorly guarded. I had already been able to manipulate the boy's Chaotic abilities. At that point, any resistance should've been stamped out in a heartbeat. His strength was gone, I had personally made sure of that.

A lethargic feeling began to rise up in my chest; I couldn't tell if it was due to this vessel's need for sleep or my own hunger for Chaos energy. I needed the second's energy supply; forget my mortal body starving, I needed to keep my essence alive.

My eyes darted to the entrance of the cave; maybe… just this once…

I shook my head- no. Too risky. Even with a mortal body, I couldn't take the chance of being trapped within its walls for another millenium. And if this body died, the only host form I had left was in the emerald. Never again.

But I was running out of options; I needed more energy. I could potentially take possession of another mortal, but unless they had an incredible storage of Chaotic energy within them, exerting myself simply be worth it. The girl was showing some promise… I had managed to plant in her a small percentage of my consciousness before she too had broken away.

No, the body that I had really been looking forward to belonged to the Ultimate Lifeform- what better vessel than one who could decimate entire cities with hardly a snap of its fingers? It was strong, and practically oozing with Chaotic energy, and as far as I could tell, its mortal needs of eating and sleeping were minimal. It would've been perfect.

But it seems I miscalculated. The Ultimate Lifeform was too strong for me to penetrate. I should've foreseen this outcome, but I was too hasty, spread myself too thin and wasted too much energy… a mistake I will not make again.

I felt my eyelids begin to grow heavy and had to force myself to remain upright; if I exerted myself any longer without providing myself with some sustenance, the vessel's host mind might find it in itself to retaliate, even if it was weakened. There was no other alternative. I needed to feed.

I reached over to the small bag of supplies I had brought along with me. Any mortal food I had had was long since eaten, and all that was left in the bag was a small blanket (curse this unbearably fragile flesh prison) and five pulsing, glowing gems, all brightly colored except one. I smiled to myself, selecting the red one. Even as I did nothing with it, I could feel its power throbbing in my palm.

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes, clearing my mind of all thought and allowing myself to be immersed in the power of the emerald. Immediately, I felt a surge of strength force its way through my senses, filling me with the exhilarating energy I'd been craving. It was several long minutes before my hunger was satisfied, and even then, I was tempted to consume more; a few extra moments wouldn't hurt…

I had no idea how long I held onto that emerald, only that when I finally let it go, any color or glow it had once had had drained to a dull gray. I felt like kicking myself; I'd taken too much. The mortals would be monitoring the Chaos field, they'd be sure to notice and track my signature… if they could track me, then that would mean they'd be after me. Those wretched, meddling vermin were going to ruin everything-

Wait… no. This may be just what I needed.

Those mortals were so pathetically predictable, they most likely would lead an attack to my location. With all of them trapped in one place, it would be almost too easy to wipe them all out in one fell swoop. ...Yes, this was perfect.

I laughed to myself; yes, little mortals, come face me. Come face the wrath of a God when he has no further need to hold back.

XXXXXXX

Alright, so a little explanation because some people are confused: When we say Dark will always be a part of Manic, we don't mean LITERAL DARK. You know how when you get sick with, say the flu. You will (hopefully) get better- but the flu is still inside of you.

Fun fact: every illness you have ever had never fully left your body. It's still in you, but it's just… inactive. THAT is what we mean by "will always be a part of him". It can't (and won't) do much. So… yeah.

Also, thank Halo for Dark's POV. She figured it out. At the last minute, which is why we rejected the idea in our previous responses.

Yes, she is the best. Don't you forget it.

Review Question: Is Sonic/Maurice… well, what has he been up too? Like, do you think he is chilling with a soda and watching old sports games in his head, or do you think he might be kinda sorta brain dead, so to speak?

To be honest, I am just curious what y'all think. Like, I haven't thought much about it, but if I was possessed by an evil demon and trapped inside my own head… well, I wouldn't want to watch what was going on outside, personally.

No, I'd probably just pull up old memories and just watch them (specifically all the movies and TV episodes I have seen. Netflix in your brain, go figure). Maybe that should be the question- If you were possessed by some crazy demon, what would you do? (Well, other then try and… oh, I don't know, TAKE BACK CONTROL OF YOUR BODY.)

Review, please!