Sorry if you were hoping for Prower Demonopoly to be updated, but I'm gonna let that rest for a while. I honestly have no idea where I'm going with it. In the meantime, I hope you'll enjoy this!

Also, I haven't mentioned this yet in this story: 'x' is a simple time break, and 'x-x-x' is a change in point of view.

For the second morning in a row, I forewent making my bed. I was only on a few hours of sleep, but my excitement made up for that. I glided down the stairs and into the kitchen where I grabbed a frozen waffle before heading on to the workshop. I stuffed the cold breakfast in my mouth as I pranced through the clutter that had accumulated over the past few weeks. I reached my laptop and booted it up faster than I ever had before and watched the loading circle spin at an antagonizing pace. Once the desktop appeared, I opened the Notepad application and got ready to type. Then came my favorite part: thinking of a way to get everyone to go to space with me that didn't make me sound like a lunatic.

Easy! If Eggman goes after the emeralds, everyone else will hop right on board! I just have to… ugh…

I typed out 'Get Eggman to go to space' in the document.

How… I can't just tell him that the emeralds are scattered across the galaxy and expect him to believe me… Hey, if we launch first, Eggman will do the exact same thing and chase after us!

'Tell everyone that Eggman will be going into space to find the emeralds, we go before he does, he chases us, ? ? ?, profit!'

But how do I know his ship is even flight-ready? What if he's already scrapped it? I… I have to tell him… Not in person, of course!

I felt the simultaneous satisfaction of a solution and raw tingling excitement of an eminent adventure. Even with a half-baked plan, I closed the notes without saving and ran an old broadcasting program and a screen capture. I contacted Eggman's not-so-secret IP address. Within half of a minute, a plump, angry human appeared on the screen.

"What! Tails? What do you want! I'm busy wallowing in circumstantial loathing and scheming the planet's demise!" he barked.

"Yeah, me, too… Not the scheming part…"

"You look like you haven't slept in days! This better not be a waste of my time!"

"Yeah, yeah. All that wallowing's gotta go somewhere in the schedule, ya know?"

"Get on with it!" I let out a gaping yawn. "And wake up!"

"Hm? Yeah, fine! Listen: I've been getting bored! I know you always wait a couple months between each failure, but could you hurry it up?" His face twisted in agitation.

"How dare you hack into my communications system only to insult my genius! I've got plans to formulate! I don't need pests like you… pestering me during my prime thinking hour!"

His last few words did me in. For the first time in a while, full, hearty laughs escaped my lips and shook my deprived body. I was well aware that people's brains function optimally at different times of day, but I had never heard it called anything as ridiculous as prime thinking hour! Eggman was fuming by the time my round of laughter died down.

"So-ho-rry! I'm sorry!Whew… O-ho-kay… Look: I heard the chaos emeralds were (heheh) spread across the galaxy again. We're leaving in a week to get them. So… Ready to lose another space race?"

"Wh… What? Why—you would!" Eggman had to take a moment to cool down. "Why… would you let me know that? Are you lyingto me?"

"Lying? Why would I? An adventure's no fun without someone to trounce the whole way!"

He growled almost inhumanly, curling his bushy mustache upwards. "Fine! I'm leaving this planet in… three days! Tell your friends to be ready!"

He promptly ended the connection. I ended the screen recording as well and let out the last of my laughs. After the initial feeling of triumph and glee faded, an unmistakable, overwhelming feeling graced me. I realized that I hadn't simply sparked another adventure: I was succeeding to change my life for the better—the best possible, even!

If I conduct this all right… I'll be… I can… I can bring her back for good!

x

I wasn't fond of lying, but it was necessary in this case. I spread a cut version of the footage to everyone (except Knuckles, of course, who couldn't be bothered with technology) under the pretenses that Eggman had contacted me first. I also included that we would depart as soon as possible with a list of necessities. After packing up half of everything I owned, I left everything in the garage.

That very afternoon, I started up the plane to head to Angel Island for a third time. This time, however, I slowed to just above the stall speed to appreciate the clear day. This extended the flight to about an hour. I wished that I could take advantage of the perfect weather and fly around all day, but my destination was soon upon me. I landed reluctantly and made yet another trek through the forest. At the top of the stony stairway, I found the same echidna now awake. He was standing attentively next to the emerald.

"Hey, Knuckles." He looked over to me and gave a sly smile. His expression said something along the lines of "I know something you don't!" Verbally, though, he only echoed my greeting.

"Hey, Tails." He sat down, back to the emerald, and motioned for me to do the same. I sat next to him. "Ya know, the Master Emerald told me you were coming."

Knuckles. Always quick to spill the beans.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Told me to help with whatever you came here for."

"Huh…"

"So… What did you come here for?"

"Eggman's going to space to find the chaos emeralds in three days: we're chasing after him." This earned a surprised and excited look from him.

"So you need the Master Emerald!" He stood up and heaved the gem onto his shoulder. "Where to?"

I smiled and stood to lead the way, thanking Chaos that he wasn't the least bit suspicious. "Follow me!"

x

With the emerald once again in tow and Knuckles in the passenger seat, I cruised back home. After landing, I was glad to find that my message had reached all of my friends. I could tell by the multitude of bags full of food, clothes, and other pleasantries that had found their way into my garage. A small, cream-colored rabbit, appropriately named Cream, was doing her best to organize the clutter. Knuckles and I hopped to the ground. Knuckles went around the plane to retrieve the Master Emerald while I entered the garage.

"Hey, Cream." Her ears shot up.

"Hm? Hi, Tails." She dropped the bags she was carrying and plopped down tiredly. "Ugh, I've been sorting bags for…" she scanned the walls, but found no clock. "Too long…"

"Yeah, take a break. Who all has shown up so far?" I eyed the mass of luggage, knowing that there must've been more than a few.

"Just Amy and Sonic."

Oh.

"Just us five? No one new?"

"Nope! That's all!"

"Huh… Did you bring any of your stuff with you?"

"Mmhm! Right there!" She pointed to a row of small pink and green sacks. Knuckles finally returned with the Master Emerald on one shoulder.

"I'll show you two to the ship," I stated as I took up all of Cream's luggage. I led the two through the basement door and down the long flight of stairs. The basement was dimly lit, casting most of the colossal ship's surface in darkness.

"Hey, Cream, there's a big lever on the right side of that control board over there," I said, nodding my head in that direction. "I need you to pull that for me."

"Sure!" She rushed off to fulfill my request. After a moment, a section of the ship's hull descended with a mechanical whine until it met the ground, revealing the vessel's gaping entrance. Cream soon rejoined us, and we ventured on into the unlit labyrinth. Knuckles started straight for the altar room while Cream and I headed for the sleeping quarters. At some point in our walk, the lights came back on, indicating that Knuckles had found the altar room and done his job.

"First come, first pick on the rooms… Not that they're any different from each other…" Cream nodded and eyed each room indecisively before choosing the nearest one to her. She opened the door to find that the cabin wasn't quite empty. There were a couple picture frames propped on the nightstand, and one of it's open drawers exposed several sets of neatly folded clothes. My heart jumped in my chest, but not so hard as it would have even yesterday. Yesterday, looking into my dead lover's room would have driven me into another confused rage. Today, though, there was hope that she wouldn't be dead for much longer.

"Is this room taken?" Cream wore a confused look.

"Er… no, I just forgot to clean it out."

"Oh. I can just take another room if that's easier…"

"Y-yeah. Good idea." She backed out from the threshold, closed the door, and opened the next one. I followed her in and set her bags down. A small, light blue chao wriggled it's way out of one of the bags and rested on his owner's shoulder.

"Well, it's your room: do what you want. I'll be on the bridge if you need me."

"Okay! Thank you, Tails!"

x-x-x

I was concerned the minute I received my brother's message. My first thoughts went to how his recent loss would affect his ability to lead a ship. There was no question that Tails was the best captain a crew could ask for, but trauma of that magnitude could do anything to a person. I was in no position to say how he was feeling, but I certainly knew that better than anyone else. I had never lost someone by my own hand, but lost nonetheless. Regardless of what I thought, though, I'd have to wait and see for myself if he's ready to lead a ship again or not. With the last of the food rations in hand, I pressed on for Tails's house at full speed.

x-x-x

Apart from the occasional hiccup from the craft being dormant for so long, everything was in working order. The maintenance robots reported all systems fully functional. I eyed the control panel for a while. The launch sequence was fresh on my mind. I wanted nothing more than to initiate it and leave this planet already, but I had to wait for everyone to board the ship. Naturally, I left the bridge out of impatience and boredom. I navigated my way to the exit, where I passed by Amy, who was carrying an armload of rations and luggage.

"Hey, Tails!" She sat down her load in the middle of the ramp and stretched her back.

"Hey, Amy."

"Ready to head back up there?" She glanced up to the sky that would have been there if not for the huge metallic ceiling.

"Yeah… I've kinda been missing space life."

"Me, too. I'm excited to start cooking for more than myself again!"

"I'm excited to start eating something other than premade food!" This earned a laugh from the hedgehog.

"I bet you are!" She picked up all the baggage she had set down.

"We're launching as soon as everyone says they're ready."

"Got it!" She nodded and turned around.

"Oh! First come first pick on the rooms! Just make sure it's empty before you choose it."

"Alright." We both continued on our way. I made my way towards the garage to check on our progress. When I reached the bottom of the basement steps, though, I heard my brother's voice and froze. He sounded a little strained… and very concerned.

"I know he's capable and all," he said. "Obviously… but I don't know if he's in any condition to start leading again."

"Look," said a deeper, less worried voice. "It's been, what, two, three weeks? A month? I'm not too big on keeping time, but I know it's been long enough, don't you think?" Sonic drew a deep breath that quivered almost unnoticeably.

"You should've seen him in those first few days…" Every word of that sentence came out more strained than the last, but not by much. There was a long, unnerving pause. His breath imitated fatigue for a few moments before dying down. "I've never seen anyone so… … … I don't know how anyone could come back from something like that…"

"Really? How long has it been since you've seen him?"

"Uh… I thought I'd give him some space for a while, so I haven't seen him in… two weeks!"

"Huh… He picked me up from Angel Island this afternoon. You know what I saw? I saw Tails exactly how I knew him before. No burdens at all: just a kid asking me to power his spaceship with my magic rock!" This barely elicited a chuckle. "If you ask me, he's fine."

"Yeah, but we're about to go right back up to where it all happened! How can—"

"Hey," Knuckles interrupted. "Let him do his thing! If he can't, I'm sure he'll tell you. Isn't he the most honest person you know?" Silence. "Yeah. Now, let's get this stuff on the ship already."

There were several things wrong with what I'd just heard. Sonic opening up to Knuckles? Knuckles offering reassurance? Sonic being worried in the first place? I took the conversation's end as my queue to ascend the steps. I passed by Knuckles on his way down.

"Make sure you claim a room." He nodded. I continued up the stairs and found Sonic at the top. He beamed when he saw me. I returned the smile. It was only a matter of seconds before he broke into a full grin.

"Are those thick shoes, or did you grow since the last time I saw you?" I couldn't help but grin either.

x

Dusk was approaching fast, but the ship was fully loaded and fueled by sunset. I smirked to myself as I watched the ship's digital system readings stabilize. We were finally ready for launch!

Three days, Eggman? How about six hours?

I then realized that I had not yet chosen a room for myself.

Ugh… Can't win 'em all…

I strolled from the bridge to the cabins, knowing that everyone else had more than likely gotten their pick already. After checking each of the six rooms to see which of them were occupied, I found that the only room that remained was the one next to Sonic and across from Cosmo's room. It occurred to me how little I cared which room I got. I shrugged and entered my room to find all of my stuff already placed in a neat pile on my bed.

I'll organize this later. It's time to go!

This chapter's pretty long: longest I've ever written, probably! I hope you liked it!