Chapter 5

Tails walked through the halls, his blaster arm already activated and ready to fire at a moment's notice. He peeked into a nearby room, and saw the Chaos Emerald sitting in the room, flanked by five robot guards. He noticed that the eyes were blue, meaning that they were in defense mode. They wouldn't move unless something that wasn't an Eggrobo entered the room.

Tails pulled out a robot, which was named the Mecha Tails. It was one of his companions even before he met Sonic. It was able to fly short distances, and convert itself into a one-person submarine as well. It was usually used to enter places that were too small for Tails to enter, and was helpful when he defeated the invading Kukku on Cocoa Island. The Mecha Tails looked a lot like a small robotic chick.

After setting it down, he pulled out the controls out and maneuvered it inside the room. On the screen installed on the control panel, Tails could see what was going on through the Mecha Tails eyes. And what he saw was one of the Eggrobos turning and going towards it. Exactly what he wanted.

The Mecha Tails turned and ran out of the room, the robot following. As soon as the Eggrobo was outside the room, Tails fired his blaster. The blast wasn't powerful enough to blow any holes into it, but was good enough to disable it for a while.

Tails ran up, detached the head, and pulled out wiring, control systems, and other technical stuff. Once he assumed he pulled out enough tech stuff, he squeezed himself inside and started moving it like he was wearing a costume. After putting the Eggrobos head on his own, he took a look at himself on the polished metal wall. The costume wouldn't fool any non-robot, since his face was clearly visible. But he hoped it would be enough to get the emerald without confrontation.

Tails walked in, and as he hoped, the Eggrobos ignored him. Or, at least they did until he picked up the emerald. Since they were under orders not to touch the emerald, they knew something was up and went for him. Since he had no useable weapons, he turned to run. But he tripped over his own two feet. He looked to see one of the Eggrobos pointing a blaster at him.

He closed his eyes, thinking that this would be the end. But then, he heard something fly over his head and hit metal. He opened his eyes to see Cream, slashing and kicking at any robots that came for her. By the time Tails worked his way out of the suit, all the robots in the room were turned into scrap metal.

"Nice save, Cream," Tails commented, then picked up the emerald. "Sonic, we have the emerald. Time to get out of here."

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"Copy that, Tails. I'll meet you outside," Sonic said. He changed direction to go towards the front door.

"So Tails is still alive? That's good," Amy said. She was running behind Sonic, trying her best to keep up. "I'm glad you came, Sonic. Some guy named Nukum was supposed to save me, but I've been waiting forever for him."

As they ran through the halls of the detention center, they met up with a few robot guards, but were easily taken care of by Sonic. Soon, they reached the front door, which had a crowd of robots in front of it. Tails and Cream were already there, trying desperately to hold them at bay.

Sonic jumped into the fray, while Amy held back. She knew that she wasn't much of a fighter without her hammer, and figured that if she jumped in herself, she'd just be in the way. So she held back, making sure nothing came at them from behind.

With Sonic's help, they were able to clear a path for them to escape through, just when reinforcements started to arrive. They finally stopped running after they were able to safely make it into the sewer system, emerald in hand.

They stopped for a few minutes to catch their breath, glad to have escaped. Then Amy and Cream hugged and cried, glad to see each other again after so long. The feeling was so strong, Sonic and Tails couldn't help but smile.

As they walked towards the base, Tails mentioned the same things he did to Sonic about what's been happening over the last ten years, and then asked her a question that's been burning in all their minds.

"How did you survive?" Tails asked. "The news report said that there was no survivors found inside the building."

"I wasn't inside when it was blasted," Amy answered. "When Holly and I saw the missile coming for our apartment, we tried to get out as soon as possible. I barely made it, but Holly didn't."

"So then, why didn't you tell us you were still alive?" Cream asked.

"I didn't escape unscratched. I suffered some broken bones from the explosion and flying pieces of the apartment. I was too injured to call, and the doctors didn't recognize me." Amy answered. "One night, Eggman's robots came into the room and captured me."

"Well, at least you're back with us now. You can go in there and get cleaned up," Tails replied, pointing to an inconspicuous door. He then walked over to the glass case and unlocked it, giving her the dress and hammer inside. As Amy walked into the room, Sonic noticed the suspicious look on Tails face.

"Doesn't it seem strange that the doctors wouldn't recognize Amy, even though she was a famous singer?" Tails asked.

"Now that you mention it, yes," Sonic answered. "So what are you saying? That it's not the real Amy?"

"She's not a robot. Her skin felt warm, and her fur felt like real fur." Cream told them.

"Still…we should keep an eye on her, just to be sure. I don't want Eggman finding this place." Tails said.

As Tails went to the computer to analyze the data that they found, Sonic thought about what Tails said. Though Amy's explanation did sound possible, Tails did put some doubt in his mind about whether that was Amy or not.

To be continued…