Disclaimer: I still do not own Sonic or the awesome music.

Author's Notes: This would have been finished a lot faster but my stupid laptop was crashing a lot. I'm just glad I finished it. Also to anyone who cares, each of these chapters have a length of 3,000+ words because of the new format I made up so this story may be longer than the ones from 2014. Again to everyone who favored, followed, left a review, or read this to test the waters, thank you so much! Anyway, enjoy. :D

Chapter 3: Answer Me

The Next Day...

Sonic awoke and gave out a yawn while stretching his arms. He got out of bed and put his red and white shoes on. While getting ready for a new day, Sonic had some upsetting thoughts on his mind.

"I can't believe Tails flew away. I was about to run after him but Cream told me about Amy's disappearance. She said she looked everywhere but couldn't find her. I told her to go home and that I will deal with it in the morning. I think Egghead kidnapped her again but he never really does anything bad to her so I decided to sleep since I was tired from running to clear my head."

After the cobalt hedgehog finished his morning routine, he thought about the choice he had to make: look for Tails or locate Amy so he could rescue her.

"I need to save Amy but I don't know where Eggman's base is or atleast the one where he's keeping her. Tails is usually the one to actually figure it out or Eggman would show up and tell me. *sigh* I can't wait for Eggman so Tails is my best bet," he thought with a determined look on his face.

In the Sol Dimension (Yesterday)...

Blaze and Silver were enjoying a variety of dishes. After eating to the point where their stomachs would burst, Blaze asked for the check. While waiting, she noticed her silver friend acting a bit antsy.

"Silver, is there something wrong," she asked.

"Yes, I felt a distortion earlier. It was small but I was still worried. My first guess was that the phenomenon was triggered by the Chaos and Sol Emeralds being together but then the feeling was back again. If it was caused by the Emeralds, it would have felt like a pressure that gradually built up. This however was a feeling that resembled a light pressure staying constant."

"What does that mean," Blaze asked, enticed by this distortion.

"Since it was light, it must have been temporal. When time shifts in the Chaos Dimension's future, it's so light that only a few people could feel it. If it was the Emeralds, then everyone could feel it and see the dimensions slowly merge," Silver explained to the best of his ability.

"If that is the case, then something must have happened in the Chaos Dimension's past," Blaze said while being slightly amazed at Silver's ability to deduce certain types of instabilities.

"Here's your check," the waiter said before putting the receipt on the table.

Blaze paid the bill and was ready to leave with Silver to figure out the source of the time shifts.

In the Chaos Dimension/ Angel Island (Present Day)...

Tails and Knuckles were awake and getting ready to cook breakfast. The echidna lit up the fire wood and put a metal stand above the flame. After doing so, he placed the pot.

"Tails, help me cut the vegetables," Knuckles said as he took the ingredients out of the crate.

"Okay," the fox replied as he grabbed a few carrots.

Tails worked on the preparing the assortment of greens while Knuckles was busy with the roux. After they finished the prep, the two waited for the stew to be cooked.

"Wow, that smells really good," Tails said while being entraced by the intoxicating aroma.

"Yep. I took up cooking since no one can really come up here and bring me food. It also helps to clear my mind," Knuckles said as he lifted the lid to check, "It's going to be a while before we can eat."

"Can we train while we wait," Tails asked before his stomach growled.

"I don't usually like to train with an empty stomach but this might be a good test," Knuckles said to the hungry fox.

(Believe in Myself/Sonic Adventure 2)

Knuckles and Tails moved to a space where they can train without damaging the Master Emerald or knocking over the pot of stew.

"Are you ready, Tails," Knuckles said as he was positioning himself into an appropriate battle stance, "This is gonna hurt so there is no going back if you say 'yes'."

Tails nodded before raising his fists. Knuckles charged at him at full speed but the fox managed to dodge the attack in time. Then Knuckles burrowed underground. Tails flew up to avoid the echidna's uppercut. Knuckles was a little impressed with his speed.

"I see you're good at dodging but sometimes you have to do more than just run away from danger. Let's see how strong your attacks are. Just hit me with everything you got," Knuckles shouted as he spread his arms, making himself vulnerable.

The blue-eyed fox charged at him and punched his chest. Knuckles didn't even wince. He tried a flurry of punches but the echidna still didn't budge. There were no bruises on his body. Tails was disappointed in himself.

"Your attacks are really weak. Were you using all of your strength," Knuckles asked him after putting his arms down.

"I put everything I had into them. I really did," he said as he put his head down in shame.

"No way. I remember a time when you were actually able to hold your own. You had an energy gun and everything. What happened to those things?"

"All of them malfunctioned and I didn't bother to fix them," he confessed.

"Why?"

"I saw Sonic was able to do all of the fighting on his own so I just stopped fighting and started working on upgrades to the Tornado. It seemed that the only thing he needed me for was getting to places that required going past huge bodies of water. Besides that, there was no real use for me being there," Tails said with a bit of anger.

"You didn't even try to show him how capable you were," Knuckles said, "You stopped fighting because you thought Sonic was more qualified to protect you rather than yourself."

Tails raised his head up and thought about Knuckles' words.

"Tails, you were lying. You didn't put all you had into those attacks. You were too afraid. I can't continue training you if you don't take this seriously. When Sonic fights Eggman, he gives it his all even if he is a little afraid because he knows it will save the world and himself," Knuckles stated.

The fox was at a loss for words. He knew that Knuckles had a valid point.

"I was useless because I acted like a burden. No wonder Sonic doesn't think I could handle myself. I never gave him a reason to believe in me," Tails thought with a feeling of regret.

"Tails, I'm going to ask you one more time. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Y-yes."

"I need an answer with more enthusiasm than that!"

"Yes, I want to get stronger! No matter what happens, I won't concede," Tails shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Alright, I will continue to train you. But first, you need to get your equipment. You were in great form when using those."

"I would but they're at my workshop and Sonic is probably there."

"Hmm. Maybe you could use the broken badniks on the island to make new ones."

"That is actually a great idea, Knuckles," Tails said with a smile.

"Hey, my ideas are always great. Why do you think people chose me to lead the Resistance?"

"They were out of options," Tails said without hesitation.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing," the fox said while rubbing the back of his head with an innocent smile.

"Knuckles might actually be smarter than we thought. He is right. If I don't want to be treated as a burden, I have to stop acting like one," Tails thought, now more determined than ever to prove that he can fight too.

Knuckles smiled and thought, "He's a handful but this might actually be fun."

At Eggman's base...

Amy was exhausted. She stayed up all night, wondering when Eggman would finally make his move. Her eyes were red and she could barely keep them open.

"Maybe I could close my eyes for a minute," she thought before she fell to the floor, sleeping deeply.

Eggman saw his test subject fall into a deep slumber while he was putting the bloody yellow Chaos Emerald in a small glass case.

"That's right. Make sure you get a good rest because you might not be able to when you see what I have planned for you," he said before doing his evil laugh, once again ending with coughing uncontrollably.

Infinite was bored. He thought Eggman would have done something to her by now but he just sat there, watching and waiting for the perfect moment.

"Doctor, aren't you going to do something yet? So far, you just kidnapped her and made her a bit paranoid," Infinite said, expecting to put more of his plan in action instead of just patiently waiting.

"It's actually a good thing you said that because I need you to do two things for me. First, I need you to take care of those pesky G.U.N. agents that keep trying to stick their noses in my business."

Infinite's interest peaked.

"What do I do to the G.U.N. agents? Do I get to kill or capture them," Infinite asked excitedly.

"No, if you kill those two, the government will definitely be after me (more than they already are). I just want you to make some illusions to throw them off. Fortunately, they haven't found out about Amy but I still need to make sure those two won't be back for a while. Speaking of which, after you're done with that, I need you to make a couple of illusions to keep her...entertained," he said with a chilling smile.

Meanwhile...

Sonic started to feel frustrated and worried.

"Where could he be? I can't find him anywhere. Okay, I gotta think like Tails. If I wanted to be alone, where would I go? Maybe a place where not many people can access. That would only leave Angel Island but Tails couldn't have possibly been able to fly there without the Tornado. And if he somehow managed to get up there, how would I be able to get to it? The Tornado could do the job but it's been a while since I actually tried to pilot it. Even if I knew how to fly it, the wing is broken. *sigh* Oh, Tails," the hedgehog said to himself.

At Spagonia...

(Rooftop Run Day/ Sonic Unleashed)

Silver and Blaze appeared in a blinding flash of light to the outskirts of the city. Both of them were holding suitcases. Silver noticed the Emeralds from the future disappeared but he wasn't very surprised.

"Looks like we made it, Silver," Blaze said as she looked at the big city to confirm where they were.

Some parts of Spagonia were still being repaired. A few workers were breaking flickies out of some of the inactive badniks.

"What happened to this place," Blaze asked while she looked around and saw a lot of damaged skyscrapers.

"Eggman happened," Silver said as he remembered the injured innocents trying to escape from the city.

Blaze and Silver started to walk into the partially damaged city. They continued to walk until Blaze stopped in her steps.

"What's the matter, Blaze," Silver asked.

The cat stared at a memorial. It listed all of the people who risked their lives protecting the defenseless from Eggman's army.

"All of those people...died," she said with her eyes closed.

"Yes, our agents managed to protect most of the civilians but a lot of them were killed by Infinite," Silver said as he read the names, "Most of the names here were new recruits."

"Why are you not fazed by this?"

"I already did my mourning, Blaze."

Blaze and Silver silently walked away but Blaze looked back a few times.

"So Blaze, we need to find somewhere to stay since we are a long way from Tails' workshop," Silver said while checking the time on his watch.

Outside Eggman's Metropolis base...

Shadow and Rouge appeared outside of the building with the help of the green Chaos Emerald. Shadow let go of Rouge and put the gem away.

"Finally, we made it," Rouge said as she looked at the tall structure.

"We would have made it here a lot sooner if we didn't get that hacker mission," Shadow said.

"They were just a bunch of pushovers anyway. All of that fuss over an organization that was really easy to take down," Rouge said, complaining about their low paying mission.

"None of that matters now. We have to find out what Eggman's up to," Shadow replied before walking to the entrance.

Rouge flew up to a window. She hid when a robot faced that direction.

"Now to find a way to distract them while I break in here," she thought while pulling out a small bomb.

Shadow skated in, going so fast that the robots' cameras could only pick up a black blur. After a few minutes, he ran into a room that was completely dark.

"What's this? I can't see anything," Shadow thought before a light on the ceiling turned itself on.

Under the light was a familiar face. It was Maria Robotnik.

"Hello, Shadow," she said with a smile.

"Maria! Is that you," he asked while being dubious about this girl being Maria.

"I thought I never would have seen you again," 'Maria' said.

"It can't be. The real Maria died on the ARK over 50 years ago!"

"Shadow, it was all a bad dream," she said as she started to walk towards him.

Then Shadow heard Rouge's bomb explode and he snapped out of it. The figure that claimed to be his childhood friend's true form was one of Eggman's sentries.

(Big Swell/Sonic Rush Adventure)

The robot fired a beam at him but only missed by an inch. Shadow quickly took out the Emerald and used Chaos Control to get behind it. He rolled into a ball, went into the air, and pushed himself with enough force to go through its exoskeleton. Shadow's body ricocheted off of the inner walls of the machine, cutting through its main circuits. The robot began to shake as Shadow exited it. It exploded; the noise alerted the robots that did not get distracted by Rouge's bomb going off.

"Damn it," Shadow said as he saw all of the robots pointing their guns at him.

Meanwhile...

Rouge watched as the robots all ran to the direction of the explosion. The bat kicked open the window. She flew in and landed in a dark room.

"Where am I," she asked with only silence as a response.

After walking around for a bit, she sees six small objects glowing in front of her. Rouge's eyes sparkled as she saw all of the Chaos Emeralds except the green one. While someone else in her position would have been suspicious of six or seven of the Emeralds being together, she was blinded by greed and tried to pick one up. Before she could get the chance to grab the yellow one, she heard a series of explosions.

"What's going on," she said while trying to find the source of the blast.

Shadow emerged from the fire and dived on to Rouge.

"What the he-"

"Chaos Control!"

The two disappeared in an instant. With them gone, Infinite came out of the darkness and looked at the 'Chaos Emeralds' on the floor. Their true form was a pile of land mines.

"It seems my illusions were too much for them," the jackal said as the ruby implanted in his chest started to glow an ominous shade of red.

Infinite contacted Eggman on his communicater.

"I've taken care of the pests."

"Excellent. Now that they're gone, it's time for you to use your abilities for that other thing I told you to do," Eggman commanded.

"It would be my pleasure to, doctor," Infinite said before he turned off the comm.

At Tails' Workshop...

Sonic saw the sunrise as he stood on the roof.

"I tried to find an Emerald today but I seem to be out of luck with a lot of things lately. Shadow usually looks for the green Emerald and Eggman must have a bunch of them. There must be another one out there. Without Tails, it's really hard to determine where they are. Why did you have to leave? I need you right now," Sonic said, "You weren't useless, Tails..."

If you truly believed that then why do you fight alone?

"Who said that," he nervously asked, "Show yourself."

I'm not hiding, Sonic.

"What do you want?"

Close your eyes, hedgehog.

Sonic closed them and saw nothing but fire.

(Boss/ Sonic Rush Adventure)

I have a few questions for you, Sonic the Hedgehog.

Dark silhouettes appeared, standing on black towers.

The tower's length symbolizes a hierarchy. Right now, you're at the bottom of it.

"So who is at the top then," he asked before Eggman appeared along with Eggman Nega.

The first tower, the shortest one, is owned by a person with the ability to harness lightning.

The shadow opened their eyes. Its irises were red. The creature also had a damaged tail and strange armor covering most of their body.

The second tower is owned by the master of illusions, Infinite.

Infinite's face was covered by his hand instead of his mask.

The third tower is owned by a cold and emotionless beast that can control fire.

The third tower's owner opened their eyes to reveal gray, dull, irises. They were short but wore ragged clothes with hair that went in many directions.

I'm going to skip explaining the owners of the fourth tower since you are well acquainted with them. And then there's the last tower.

"What do you mean? There are only fo-"

The peculiar room started to shake as a fifth tower started to rise out of the ground. Sonic was really surprised when he saw the last shadow.

It seems you know who is the owner of the final tower.

The owner of the highest tower was a dark version of Sonic.

Ah yes. The owner of the final tower is me. Now, Sonic, I told you earlier about a series of questions I wanted to ask you.

"Fine. Ask away but know that I have some questions to ask you," he said as he stared at the owners of the third and final towers.

If you had to fight Eggman right now, would you do it by yourself or with your friends?

"I would fight him with my friends," Sonic said half-heartedly.

The flames started to rise, causing the blue hedgehog to sweat a little.

Next question, do you believe in your abilities more or your friends'?

"My...friends' abilities..."

The flames started to get hotter.

Next question, if the owners of a few of these towers were friends, would you fight and even kill them if you had to?

"Wait! What? Does that mean some of these guys are people I know besides you, Infinite, and the Eggheads?"

Answering an inquery with another...You can't probe my brain on the matter. You will find out in due time. Now since you couldn't answer my third question, I'll just ask you a different one.

"But-"

Last question, if Eggman did anything irreversible like killing your friends, what would you do to him?

"Tails asked this question before," he said to himself.

Do you have an answer? Darn that was another question. Just answer me already.

"I...I...don't know," he reluctantly said.