After many days of flying the gang finally saw what they were looking for. A city and a large one at that. It was massive and Sonic was bursting with excitement.
"Now that looks like a fun place to be." He said excitedly.
"About time." Knuckles said completely over being in the plane. "Now I can finally start my own journey."
"You're still saying that?" Sonic asked.
"Yes." Knuckles said sternly. After just a few days of flying, he was positive he didn't want to travel with Sonic and Tails. Sonic was completely reckless at one point then lazy in the next. Meanwhile, Tails pretty much did what Sonic said and just let him do what he wanted. Knuckles was not convinced they would be able to effectively retrieve the remaining Emeralds. He was amazed they had found two.
"Whatever!" Sonic said not really caring anymore. "Onwards to the city!" he called as he pointed straight towards the city.
As they got closer Tails began to get extremely nervous. This was a huge city. Much bigger than he had ever seen. He was worried about what everyone was like and got scared about what they would say about his tails. When he thought back to his village and how everyone hated him he began to tear up and shake with fear which Sonic noticed.
"Hey, you alright Pal?" Sonic asked in concern.
Tails was so deep in thought he jumped at Sonic's question. "Oh…uhm…yes," he said, stuttering. Sonic was not convinced.
"Hey don't worry. Everything will be alright." Sonic said, trying his best to cheer up the fox.
"But…" Tails began.
"No buts. This will be fun and besides I will be there. I will not let anything bad happen to you. I promise." This calmed Tails a little bit. So far Sonic has kept his promises but he was still a little nervous about the city.
"Ok. Thanks, Sonic." Tails said after he calmed down.
Once he was calm Sonic just had to jump in excitement. He couldn't hold it in anymore. He was so excited to see people, sleep in a bed, and have a warm meal. It felt so long since he last had those things and he was hyped to have them again.
"Then let's hurry. I can't wait!" He said practically jumping on the wing.
"Hey, watch it!" Knuckles said holding on while Tails tried to keep the plane steady.
"Sorry," he said after he stopped moving around.
After a while they finally were able to see land however there was no place to land. Tails looked all over but there was no clearing he could use to land the plane. Just then they heard a voice
"Attention unauthorized aircraft. You may now land." It said, The gang looked around for the source and saw a bird flying a few feet away from them.
They were not sure if this was the voice until they saw the bird say, "Repeat, you are clear to land."
Tails couldn't bring himself to yell so Sonic did it for him. As loud as he could he said, "We don't know where to land."
"Follow me." The bird said before making a slight turn. Tails did as instructed and followed the bird. It took only a few moments before they saw an airport at the edge of the city. "You have permission to land." the bird said before making his own landing in another area of the port. Tails did just that and made a smooth landing. He loved it since he never had an actual runway before and it felt good to land so nicely. However, this joy was quickly interrupted when he saw a couple of people who looked like security guards heading for them.
Tails got scared and quickly grabbed whatever he could to hide his tails. Luckily there was a blanket still out from the last time they made a quick landing. He frantically wrapped his tails up and then sat nervously as the guards got closer. He hoped they wouldn't notice.
Sonic on the other hand was curious and what was going on. Did they do something wrong? Are they in trouble or something? Would they be forced to leave? He wasn't sure but he just waited until the guards were right in front of them
Then with a bright warm smile, one said, "Welcome travelers. Did you have any trouble during your flight? Is there anything we can assist with?" This startled everyone.
"Are we not in trouble?" Sonic asked.
The guards were stunned then they chuckled, "Well we would have liked to have a heads up of your arrival but we know things happen. Is everything alright with your plane?" he asked.
Tails was the one who realized that they assumed they were in trouble and needed help. He then spoke out, "Everything is fine. Thank you." he said quickly. He was so nervous he couldn't bring himself to look at them.
"Then do you have any luggage or bags you need assistance in moving?" He said still with a smile.
Sonic was the one to speak this time, "No thanks. But could you direct us to the best place to get food?"
Knuckles and Tails couldn't believe that was the first thing he asked but then they should have expected it. The guard laughed "Happy too but first let's park your plane. Please follow the flier guide." the guard pointed to the bird that directed them before. The bird signaled for Tails to follow him which he did and they were able to safely park the plane alongside many others. The very moment they stopped moving Sonic jumped out of the plane and raced over to the friendly guard from before.
"So where can I get food?" he said before the guard could even see him move.
"May, you sure are speedy?" he laughed.
"The speediest," Sonic said proudly.
"Well, then I would like to ask you to be careful. There are many people you could accidentally run into. Alright?" The guard asked.
"No problem," Sonic said with a thumbs up.
"Good. Now as for food…" He thought for a moment. "... I recommend the Comfy Bunny. It is a nice little restaurant that has excellent food and is close. The prices are reasonable too."
"Sounds good. How do I get there?" Sonic asked practically drooling at the thought of some good homemade food.
While the guard was giving directions to Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were left behind to get what they needed from the plane. Tails decided to leave most of the things behind for now but grabbed a backpack full of equipment just in case. He also got out his bandages and began to wrap his tails again. Meanwhile, Knuckles thought about grabbing the two emeralds but after some thought he figured he could wait until he had something to carry them in. He couldn't carry them in the open but borrowing something from Sonic or Tails did not sit right with him, the last thing he needed was to owe them more than he already does. He did check on them though and to his astonishment they were glowing. Tails noticed the glow but Knuckles quickly covered them to where no one else did.
Tails whispered over to Knuckles, "They were glowing. There is another emerald around here."
"I know but where," he said as he looked at the large city in front of him.
Tails took out the tracker but unfortunately, he couldn't get a good signal. For some reason, the energy reading was weaker than the other two and was phasing in and out. Tails figured something was wrong with the tracker and would just need to fix it.
Knuckles signed and said "Well great. Guess we have to work together to find it in this place."
"Really? Are you sure?" Tails asked, stunned by his sudden change of heart.
"Not like I have a choice. It will be more effective to team up and look for it together instead of looking for it by myself." Knuckles was obviously annoyed by this development but Tails didn't say anything.
"We better tell Sonic." Tails said before looking over to where Sonic should be but found he was gone. "Where did Sonic go?"
"Why that little…" Knuckles grumbled before running to the guard, with Tails following him, and asking in an angry tone, "Where did he go?!"
"I directed him to the 'comfy Bunny'. Just follow this path till you hit the fountain then make a left. Keep your eyes on the right-hand side because it is a small restaurant and easily missed."
Knuckles didn't even try to thank the guy before running off in the same direction but Tails as politely and calmly as he could said "Thank you." He then ran after Knuckles.