You haven't looked at a clock since you sat next to Tails' bed last night, watching over him. He seems stable, but hasn't woken up at all since. You just stay sat in your chair, one leg over the other, arms crossed, waiting for any improvements.

You hadn't stopped mentally kicking yourself since you had returned to the Medical Wing to be with Tails. Silver had filled you in with what he was told by the rest of Team Two as you all returned to HQ. Tech, Janae, Knuckles, Shade, Rouge, and Tails had managed to sneak through the building and break into Nega's Experimental Lab, where they discovered he was using one of his massive machines to drain power from the Master Emerald. Why, nobody was able to figure out, but even after Nega called in troops to stop them, the team managed to fight their way to the Master Emerald.

Janae, however, instead of covering Tech and Tails as ordered, decided to make her way towards Nega, who of course had the most protection, and as such, she ended up with the most Badniks to deal with…

The Master Emerald got freed, but without their back-up, Tech and Tails got ambushed, with Tails getting dragged over to Nega. He threatened to kill him if Knuckles didn't place the Master Emerald back…

But of course through all the tension, Janae broke through and attacked Nega, which then led to Tails getting attacked, but Tech managed to shoot some of the robots off with his Burst Gun. Janae was overpowered and knocked unconscious, while more Badniks poured in and attacked.

All the while, Rouge hooked up the Master Emerald to Janae's line and escaped with it.

And Eggman Nega got away.

That's when you and your team intervened and helped Team Two out. The rest is history.

Upon returning to HQ, Knuckles was shocked to see Rouge had in fact NOT taken the Master Emerald for herself, but brought it back in one piece, and was standing there waiting for everyone to return. You expected a shouting match to ensue, but oddly enough, Knuckles gave her a hearty thank you, and took the Emerald to a safe spot.

Something else must have been weighing heavily on his mind…

It didn't matter to you at the moment though. You had more important things to worry about. You went straight back to the Medical Wing to check on Tails, who was still unconscious with no signs of waking up anytime soon...

It's been hours. How many, you have no idea. You aren't even sure if you had dozed off or not. And if you had, your eyes must've been open the whole time. You just didn't want anything else happening to your friend…

"Sonic?"

"Gah!" you nearly fall sideways out the chair when you feel something touching your shoulder. You straighten up and look over to see Knuckles nearby, with his hand on you. "Oh… Hey, Knux…"

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

"I guess I just didn't sleep much last night."

"You were snoring kinda loudly when I walked in…"

You blink. Perhaps you were asleep at some point… "Hm… So what's up?" you ask, "I'm kinda surprised to see you here and not glued to the Master Emerald. I would've thought after all that, you wouldn't let it out of your sight twenty-four seven."

Knuckles gives a low sigh. "I asked Shade to watch over it for a while," he replies, "I wanted to come down and check on you."

"Oh really? That's unlike you."

"Yeah, well..." The echidna turns away from you, as if he was ashamed of something. You immediately pick up on this.

"You okay?"

"Sonic… I…" he slowly turns back to face you. "I'm sorry."

"... Sorry for what?"

"I'm sorry about Tails," Knuckles says, "Since you weren't with us, I should've done more to protect him. I feel responsible."

"Hey, Knux, don't beat yourself up," you reply, "It was a tough situation. And Silver told me everything, remember? Janae went gung-ho after Nega, which caused him to hurt Tails the way he did. I'm sure you would've done what you could if you could."

Knuckles lowers his head, looking ashamed once more. "The thing is…" he mumbles, "Silver wasn't told a certain part. I could've done more… but…"

You raise an eyebrow, and perhaps have tightened your look. You're almost afraid of what Knuckles is about to say next…

"... When Nega threatened to kill Tails if I didn't put back the Master Emerald…" Knuckles looks you in the eye, "... I hesitated."

You stare at him. "Hesitated...?"

"Yes," Knuckles nods, "For a moment, I actually could NOT decide between the Master Emerald and the life of a friend's!" He grits his teeth and looks away once more, "I can't believe I actually put an OBJECT before a person's well-being! And now look what happened!"

"Knuckles…" you start.

"I know, Sonic, and I'm sorry," Knuckles continues, "I really am a knucklehead. I wouldn't blame you if you hated me."

"Knuckles!" you shoot up from your seat and…

-Yell at him. (Chapt 19)

-Forgive him. (Chapt 20)