BrOkEn WoRlD </3 *8*

[Cyclone EXE]

My other fic...died... *crowd cheers* But! I have another idea for one that I'll most likely finish this time! *cricket cricket* ... ...

Okay...did any of you know...

That...

I'm an amazingly obsessive person?

Cyclone: NO!

...

Well.

I'm not only obsessed with Rockman...Sonic is the coolest thing since microwave ovens! Right? Okay. So. This fic...is gonna have my two favorite things all rolled into one! I mean...Sonic and Rockman? Together? This is gonna rock your sox ALL THE WAY OFF!! ... ...maybe. *hopefully*

Okay so...I suppose I should start this thingy, huh?

Enjoy.

~~~~~

The following characters are NOT official and are completely copyright Liz... (Cyclone.EXE)

Neptune the Fox
Mercury the Hedgehog
Cyclone.EXE
Katya Turner

Don't use in fics without permission...please.

*Thankies! ^.^*

~~~~~

~*~*~*BrOkEn WoRlD*~*~*~
~*~ AA/R ~*~ 3PP ~*~ PG-13 for mild language and violence ~*~

Prologue:

In a world farther away then you could even fathom, there was a place of great danger and adventure. This world was home to a variety of creatures, all who could speak and exist much like humans.

But they weren't human.

In fact, these beings hadn't seen a human in quite some time. Not since their last and accidental journey to Earth. But that had been years ago. Now they lived in peace, for the most part, and fought the occasional battle amongst themselves like any other civilization would and does. Things were as normal as they could be.

Decades away, there was another world. Earth, is what it was called, and it is most familiar to humans and animals of minor intelligence and speech capabilities. Of course, humans, being the gullible creatures that they are, believed that they were alone and were the most intelligent species in the universe.

They were wrong.

But of course, they didn't know that, and they didn't know exactly how primitive and barbaric they in fact were. It was amazing to think that there was a power out there beyond the capacity of the mind of the quote on quote "genius" human being. But they had no way of knowing that.

One did. Or at least...she thought about it. And this is the story of that girl, her friends, and a marvelous adventure that they found themselves caught up in one seemingly innocent Saturday morning. A battle between some of the most powerful in the world...but did I say her world?

What world? The world that people believe is the only one that exists? Or another world...father away then the human mind can think about going.

We'll see.

*****

Chapter One:

The large veil of darkness settled over the night sky like a thick woolen blanket, blotting out the stars, the moon. A light blue fox stirred in her sleep and shivered in the sudden, cold darkness. She opened pale pink eyes and looked around her dark room, startled. Rubbing her eyes, the fox stumbled out of the bed that she was lying in and pushed up the glass on the window looking out of her room. She caught her breath. The sky was alive.

"Tails, where's Sonic!" the light blue animal launched herself onto her friend's bed, waking him with a start.

"Dunno...why?" Tails mumbled, sleep still clouding his light blue eyes.

"See for yourself." The female fox pushed the curtains from Tails's window and his eyes widened in shock. The sky had become a vivid black, and red bolts were streaking through the clouds like lightning. The air had grown cold, and Tails shivered, noticing that he could see his breath in the air in front of his nose and mouth.

"W...what is that!" he stuttered, pushing the sheets of his bed from his thin body

"Dunno, but it doesn't look happy..." the light blue fox followed Tails's movement with her vivid eyes.

"Okay, let's find Sonic then." Tails was already out of his bed and at the door to his room, hopping out into the hallway, still pulling on one of his red and white shoes. The female fox smiled to herself before snapping the curtains shut and bounding after him.

*****

Sonic the Hedgehog sighed to himself and smiled, looking up at the bright stars fondly as they twinkled above like miniature Chaos Emeralds. He breathed in the sweet fragrance of the flowers that bloomed lightly around him in the field where he lay, and closed his eyes for a moment, content and happy and enjoying this serene silence that he only had once in a while. The world was such a loud place more often then not.

When Sonic opened his green eyes after some time, he expected to be greeted by the stars and the full moon that hovered above like loyal friends. But they were gone. The hedgehog sat up, stood up, stared above him in awe. So much for silence. Radiant waves of multi-colored lightning burst above him, filling the sky with a cold blackness that covered everything in black weary light.

He heard the sound of a plane engine, softly at first, but soon growing n magnitude. It was moving toward him. Sonic smiled and looked up at the black and red sky; Tails had a way with timing. The blue body of the Tornado came into view just meters away, and, when it swooped low, the hedgehog leapt aboard with vigor. "Hey Tails," he greeted the fox that was piloting the machine.

"Sonic, we're gonna have to move into position above the planet in order to find out what's causing this cloud thing to appear," Tails said earnestly. Sonic nodded and Tails punched in a button on the dashboard of the Tornado. "Ready Neptune?" he asked the light blue animal behind him. The other fox looked at Sonic, who jumped over her head and slid into a third seat behind the two that Tails had installed.

"Ready!" Neptune pushed a few buttons on her control panel behind Tails's seat and they pulled up a lever simultaneously. "3...2...1..." There was a flash of silver light and the plane transformed into a sleeker machine. The three animals were encased in a protective bubble that slid over the cockpit and Tails maneuvered the Tornado up, up, toward the endless sky.

"How are the engines holding up?" Tails asked, not taking his eyes off of what he was doing.

"Good enough. The Chaos Emeralds are producing sufficient power," the female fox replied. She glanced back at Sonic, who gave her the thumbs up sign. She smiled before looking back at the various screens that surrounded where she sat in the plane. "The temperature is dropping," she said suddenly, puzzled.

"As it should," Tails replied.

"Nono, more then it should." Neptune frowned. "Minus one fifty and falling. And we're only in the mesosphere." Tails felt a chill run through his body and shivered. It was because of the cloud...he was sure of it.

"She'll hold. It's not that big of a deal." A red light beeped on his dashboard no sooner then the words left his mouth. The plane shuddered and everything around them darkened. They were inside of the cloud.

Sonic spoke for the first time since they had left the ground below as a shrill squealing met their ears. "What's that?!"

"It's the cloud," Tails answered over the noise. He grimaced but kept a firm hand on the controls. "I don't think that's lightning out there."

"It's definitely not lightning," Neptune whispered. "It's alive." The noise suddenly ceased for a fraction of a second. Everyone in the Tornado exchanged glances and looked up out the top of the cockpit. The red streaks of light had banded together in eerie silence and had begun to glow more brightly then ever before.

"Neptune, convert all power to the engines!" Tails said wildly. The female fox wasted no time in obeying and the plane shot out of the cloud just at the rays shot at them with amazing speed. The shrill cry of the thing could be heard even when they were clear out of the darkness.

"It's...huge," Neptune murmured. The three animals gazed out the windows in awe as the writhing cloud slowly but surely engulfed their beloved planet.

"Where'd it come from, I wonder," Tails breathed. Suddenly, there was a crumbling and the black mass of creature caved into where the planet was. It gathered itself in front of the three's horrified eyes and slowly drifted off into space. The empty space where the planet had been seconds ago couldn't match the holes that had been gouged into their hearts.

"It's...gone."
_________________
=]

[DjangoSP]

Great work, Cyclone! That was a great cliffhanger. Are you going to include Shadow in the next chapter? T_T
_________________
I am Solar Boy Django! TAIYOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!!!



Credit goes to X-Zero EXE for the uber-cool sig!!! :D

[Cyclone EXE]

Soon...Shadow. I love him about as much as I love Forte...

~~~~~

Chapter Two:

The dense black fog that had eaten he planet of Tails, Neptune, and Sonic opened a hole in space and slipped silently into it. Sonic's eyes narrowed. "After it, Tails! Don't let it get away!" Without thinking about how they would defeat it once they caught up to it or even wondering any further what the thing was, Tails turned the engines to full power with Neptune's flawless aid and they sped into the whirling tesseract after the thing that had destroyed their home.

Inside of the hyperspace tube there was a great amount of pressure, and Tails thought for a horrifying moment that they were going to be ripped apart by the fluctuating gravity that pushed and pulled with massive force around them. He squeezed his eyes shut-and they were out. "Woah!" Neptune gasped, and Tails opened his eyes, blinking in the sudden light of the planet...Earth.

"No," Sonic whispered. The great black shadow had already begun to engulf the planet, and slowly but surely the continent of Asia began to disappear under the veil of darkness.

*****

The night sky was just beginning to fade when the PET beeped from under Katya Turner's cheek; she pushed it away and yawned, wiping the drool from her face with a tired motion. "Well, this is lovely," she heard Cyclone say in disgust. Katya opened her eyes halfway and giggled at her navi's expression. She wiped away the puddle of drool on the PET screen with her sleeve.

"Heh...sorry." Katya yawned again, stretching her arms above her head.

"Katya, did you forget?" Cyclone inquired, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Forget...?" She sighed. "I always forget. What is it then?"

"Heh, you forgot."

"Forgot what!" Katya asked, getting a bit irritated. Cyclone paused, searching her Net Op's face. Katya frowned.

"Yup. You forgot that there was nothing to forget." Katya threw a pillow at the PET and didn't uncover the screen until she had gotten dressed, ignoring her navi's protests and mumblings. She finally picked up the feather filled cloth and hooked the device onto her belt, looking out the window at the-dark sky?

"Hey...that's odd," Katya muttered. "Cyclone, what is that? It wasn't supposed to rain today..."

"That doesn't look like rain," her navi replied. "Not unless rain clouds move like that." Katya was about to answer when her PET beeped. "You've got mail..."

"Yeah. From who?"

"Netto." Katya smiled. "He says to meet him at the park."

"Alrighty then. ...You’re sure it's not rain?" Katya pulled on her shoes and ran out the door, eager to get out into the fresh air and equally as eager to see Netto.

*****

The Tornado circled the planet while its passengers pondered what to do next. Sonic snapped his fingers after many moments, startling the two foxes in front of him. "Tails, how close is Earth to our planet?" Tails looked puzzled for a moment, but then his blue eyes lit up as well.

"I think I see where you're going with this." He pulled up onto a computer screen in the Tornado's control panel a 3-D diagram of the galaxy that had been mapped out by the team when they had battled against the Metarex. He highlighted all of the planets that were built much like Earth and the trio's home world and they rotated on the screen smoothly in front of eager eyes.

"Earth is the planet closest to us that has atmosphere sufficient enough to sustain life," Neptune said excitedly.

"Exactly. This could be a problem then," Tails said slowly.

"Why's that, Tails? We know where it's going now-"

"But we don't know how many it's already eaten. So where will it go next? Is Earth the last planet on its list, or is it only the second?" Sonic fell silent. Tails was right. And anyway...how would this help stop the cloud? He though for a second before suggesting something simple but crazy:

“Why not try shooting at it?”

*****

“Hey.” Netto greeted Katya with a worried smile as she plopped down onto the ground next to him.

“What’s wrong?” Katya peered into his brown eyes which, she noticed, were darker then usual. Netto looked toward the sky and Katya followed his gaze, blinked, stared. The sky was…alive. There were bolts of red colored lightning that streaked across the black background like a splatter painting in the making. There was a sudden flash that seemed to come from far away…

“What was that?” Netto saw it too. Seconds later, a bright blue light burst from the cloud and smacked into the ground meters away from where Katya and Netto were sitting in the park. They both stood up in shock. “What the hell?” Netto whispered.

Katya gazed across the damage-stricken area and wondered for a fraction for a second if this had something to do with a Net Mafia of some sort; she quickly shook that notion from her brain, however. How in the world would a Net Mafia send out a blast like that? And how did that explain the cloud? What about that? No…it was probably something much worse. It had to be.

*****

"No good...it just went right through!" Tails slammed his fist into the control panel of the plane, frustrated at what little progress they had made. "Think Tails," he muttered. His hand slipped and accidentally came to rest on a button that controlled how much power the Chaos Emeralds sent into the Tornado. There was a small energy spike and Tails jerked his head up in surprise, taking his hand quickly away from the button.

There was a shrill scream and the cloud writhed in what seemed like pain.

*****

A high-pitched wail spread through the area and Katya and Netto covered their ears with their hands to dull the horrible sound.

*****

"That's it!" Sonic cried triumphantly. "Tails, how many Chaos Emeralds do you have?"

"Four. You?"

"Two."

"...I have one." Neptune hesitantly handed over her Chaos Emerald and Sonic took it with a smile. The light blue gem glowed softly when it met its two brothers, the ones that Sonic had kept for some time. Tails maneuvered the Tornado farther away from the black mist so that, when the power was cut, it wouldn't be pulled into the thing as quickly.

"You only have a few minutes to do this," Tails said firmly. Sonic nodded.

"Alrighty, let's do it!" Tails nodded, slid the compartment that housed his Chaos Emeralds open and unfettered the hatch for the hedgehog, who grabbed the emeralds and joined all seven of them together in one swift motion.

There was a burst of golden light and Super Sonic streaked toward the shadow cloud at amazing speed.

*****

There was a golden flash and the scream rang out long and loud. Katya looked up and watched as the thing disappeared into the massive ball of white light that was engulfing everything.

*****

"Chaos Control...," Neptune whispered. "Oh no."
_________________
=]

[CrossFusionStarman]

I'm sorry I didn't read this earlier...it's so amazing! Cyclone, you always do a great job with your fics. Seriously, this is very good right now. 10/10 so far!
_________________
EXEHQ. Click now, I demand it.

NT Champions. Click!

SERAS VICTORIA OWNS MY SOUL

[Cyclone EXE]

*grin* It gets better! ^.^ Oh...and love the avatar CFS. It's amazing.

~~~~~

Chapter Three:

The world was quiet and amicable, the ocean tranquil, it's light waves lapping up on the sandy beach lightly, the sky black, the full moon bright and vivid against the rich background of night. Miles of sand, pale, fine grained, continued as far as the eye could see. A city, buildings made of brown clay brick and wood, stood silhouetted against the darkness a few miles from the beach. The whole area radiated an unexplainable feeling of peace and safety as the night droned on in silent and magnificent wonder.

Only one person was awake at this hour, and she was walking along the beach as the silent waves rushed in and out in a rhythmic motion. The fox was a pale blue color, her fur tinted silver in the moonlight that washed everything in a soft shimmering light. She was wearing a pale green, yellow, and orange dress that fell below her knees and looked like it had been worn one too many times, faded orange and yellow shoes, and a light green and yellow headband that tied in the back. The fox's two most unusual and stunning features were her two tails and vivid pink eyes, full of emotion and wonder.

The fox paused for a moment and stared out across the vast and tranquil sea for a moment. Her ears twitched rapidly for a second; the water rapidly receded from land. The fox closed her eyes as a gust of wind floated through the area, frigid, warning, telling of danger, pain, and suffering. When she opened her eyes once again, the fox took in a sight that she would never forget. A soft rumbling like that of thunder accompanied the ominous black water that slowly rose on the horizon. The fox turned on her heel and ran.

There was no place to go...that much was clear. No place where she could run to escape the doom that awaited her...her people. There was nothing to do but run, run... As she ran through her home, other foxes, brown, gray, black, red, opened their doors and whispered amongst themselves. The light blue fox knew that it was too late for them. It made her sick with loneliness and hurt for reasons that she could not explain. She kept running.

The fox bolted through a dense forest and could hear the faint screams of her people; they had seen the massive tsunami that was bearing down upon them like a lion on its prey. She only stopped when she had reached the top of a temple, the shrine made of stone with a single blue-gray jewel that was the size of her fist shining brightly upon it. Reaching into the front of her dress, the fox pulled out a shimmering blue stone that rippled like water that was attached to a string around her neck. She carefully picked the jewel up from its place on the altar and let out a massive sigh.

Turning slowly around, the fox gazed upon the wall of water that had just made landfall; it was only a matter of seconds before she would be hit by the massive force of the sea. Behind the water was a dark but vivid shape...the figure's body was outlined by a billowing cape...it was the cause of all of this...and she would never forgive it...this the fox swore. She closed her eyes and pushed the piece of stone on the string around her neck into a groove embedded in the jewel. "I'll miss you...forever."

*****

"No!" The light blue fox screamed, starting and bolting upright. Her furry head whacked against a low hanging branch of the tree that she was lying under and she groaned, rubbing the sore spot with her gloved hand. Tails leaned back and stifled a small laugh.

"Sorry...," he apologized halfheartedly.

"S'kay...," the light blue fox muttered. She blinked, Tails's face slowly came into focus and she shivered, still experiencing the remnants of her dream. She frowned, thinking...

"D...did you have that dream again?" Tails asked hesitantly. Neptune nodded and buried her face into her hands. She wiped away tears that she hadn't realized were on her cheeks until the very moment and lifted her pink eyes to stare into Tails's blue ones.

"I know what that thing is...," she whispered.

*****

"Netto...Katya...heellloo..." Netto opened his eyes halfway and blinked twice.

"Eh?" Katya mumbled inarticulately, stirring and also opening her chocolate brown eyes. They both stared at the two animals in front of them incredulously.

"You guys okay? You don't look so good," a blue wolf said, concerned.

"R...Rockman?" Netto asked meekly.

"Uhm...yeah. Who'd you think it was?" Rockman said impatiently, his concern evaporating into the night air. His green eyes flashed with annoyance.

"Uhh..." The blue wolf had a tuft of brown fur on his head on his forehead and Rockman's symbol was embedded in his right ear. He had two yellow markings running from his eyes to his ears, like his helmet did, and his bushy tail had yellow streaks splattered on it. His shoes were similar to Rockman's boots; dark blue with some yellow on the bottoms. His gloves, on his hands which were located at this point in time on his hips in a rather annoyed gesture, were dark blue like his boots and had a yellow stripe running horizontally across the middle.

"What?"

"Did you know that...you're a...uhm..." As Netto struggled to find the right world to explain his navi's condition, Katya, who had been sitting dumbly beside Netto, burst out laughing.

"Ohmygosh, this is the most HILARIOUS thing that's EVER happened, I swear!!" she cackled, falling onto her back and rolling in the dirt, brown eyes filling with tears.

"What!" Rockman asked disconcertedly. He looked around and walked to a puddle that was a few feet away, gazing into it intently. He blinked, twitched. "You have GOT to be kidding me..."

"You too?" A female coyote stepped from the trees and stood with her arms behind her back timidly. She had a tuft of brown fur on her forehead, and her eyes were covered by light blue goggles. Two grayish blue streaks ran from her eyes to her ears, like on Cyclone's helmet. Her shirt was black with a grayish blue stripe horizontally across her chest. Black shorts with a grayish blue belt across the top covered the upper part of her legs, and Cyclone's symbol was located in the center of the belt. Her shoes were also black with a grayish blue stripe across the middle of them and her fingerless gloves matched the boots. Rockman sighed.

"Great," he said.

"Cyclone! Aww! You're so kawaii!!" Katya squealed, hugging her navi close. Cyclone tried to push her Net Op away, but failed in doing so, and reverted to she hanging limp and helpless in the girl's arms.

"Where are we anyway?" Netto asked, looking around quizzically.

"Beats me," Rockman said. He was obviously still rather unhappy that he was turned unexpectedly into a wolf. Cyclone sighed as Katya set her down on the ground and she smoothed her shirt down over her furry chest.

"Oh, stop that," she scolded. "We're both changed, now, and there's nothing to be done about it!"

"But at least you're a proper color," Rockman muttered, gesturing first to Cyclone's sleek gray fur, then to his ruffled but vivid blue coloring. Cyclone sighed and, catching Netto's eye, shrugged as if to say, 'he's your net navi, you know.'

"I don't think just standing around will do us any good either," the boy said quickly, changing the subject. Everyone, although agreeing, let out a sigh and started walking.

~~~~~

Ho-kay, there it is...
_________________
=]

[CrossFusionStarman]

Woah, that's pretty unexpected. That's a good thing, though! Great job as usual, especially in the surprise area. Oh, and this avatar? Thank Xhunter, he made it ^^
_________________
EXEHQ. Click now, I demand it.

NT Champions. Click!

SERAS VICTORIA OWNS MY SOUL

[DjangoSP]

C'est que se? :/ Rockman and Cyclone as lobos!? :O Mama mia, that's one kure-ji concept!! But great work. :D But were they like actual wolves? Or Sonic-based wolves? :stonecube:
_________________
I am Solar Boy Django! TAIYOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!!!



Credit goes to X-Zero EXE for the uber-cool sig!!! :D

[Cyclone EXE]

Sonic based, of course. ^.^ [spaz moment]KAWAII!![/end spaz moment] Anyway...next chapter in a day or so. Must sleep now...thanks for the comments!
_________________
=]

[Cyclone EXE]

Okay...now...hmm. You may not totally get what Neptune's talking about in this chapter...not unless you read my Past, Present, and Future trilogy...Sonic fanfic...if you're interested at all then tell me...and I might give you the link to the story.

Anyway...here's chapta four.

~~~~~

Chapter Four:

Rockman hung back behind Cyclone, Katya, and Netto and kicked at a rock as the group walked on. Cyclone glanced back at him every few moments and he wished that she would just come walk beside him. The blue animal sighed and Cyclone, as if reading his thoughts, slowed her pace until she was beside him. "You okay?" she asked, head cocked to one side.

"Yeah." Cyclone frowned, her face darkening. "Well...the sooner we get back home the better," Rockman said quickly.

"I rather like the change," Cyclone said solemnly. She looked up at the sky with a smile. "Look, could you ever see that many stars from where we came from?" Rockman let a frown settle across his face. "And what about the..."

"Hmm?"

"Hold on..." Cyclone grabbed his arm with one of her gloved hands. Her ears twitched. Katya and Netto, obviously also hearing the same thing, froze and peered through the trees dubiously.

"I don't know how we managed to get back here...or even how here is even...here. Does that make sense?" a voice whispered. It sounded higher pitched, a female's voice.

"I suppose." A deeper voice...surely a boy's. "Is there any way to find out wither or not the others made it back too? And what if we accidentally picked up some humans from Earth...?" The voices were getting closer. Netto took a step back; a stick cracked. The persons whom were talking, however, didn't seem to hear. Footsteps could be heard now.

"Nah. I don't think that's-" Two foxes stepped from the trees a few feet from where Katya and Netto were standing ahead of Cyclone and Rockman and stared at the four of them incredulously. "Possible...," one of the foxes whispered.

Rockman and Cyclone stepped behind their Net Ops and peered around their legs to get a good look at the strangers. One of the fox's fur was a pale blue color, its eyes colored a vivid pink. The fox...her? Her attire consisted of an orange dress with yellow and pale green markings splattered on it and matching shoes. A yellow and green headband lay over her forehead and she wore white gloves. The orange fox next to her wore red and white shoes, white gloves, and had bright blue eyes.

"Woops," the orange fox muttered to his companion. The light blue fox cleared her throat.

"Well...this is awkward."

"You're telling us?" Netto said, more to Katya then to anyone else.

"So...what's going on? Is someone going to tell us or what?" Katya added with a dubious look at the two foxes that came out of seemingly nowhere. The animals looked at each other and the light blue one whispered something in the orange one's ear. The male fox frowned but nodded.

"I suppose you'll really want to know...as soon as possible..." The orange fox's frown deepened. "But...we have to find someone first."

"Who?" Cyclone inquired. The two foxes blinked and looked at each other with confusion in their eyes.

"Wait...are you with them?" the light blue fox asked, diffident.

"Uhm..."

"You're from Earth too...right?"

"Cha. Where else would we be from?" Cyclone asked haughtily.

"Ever heard of a Chaos Emerald doing that?" the orange fox whispered.

"No...but I suppose nothing could surprise me at this point."

"'Chaos Emerald?' Katya asked Netto, but he could only shake his head.

"Okay...this is getting a bit...weird...," Cyclone said slowly.

"You mush be confused but..."

"Tails," The light blue fox said impatiently, "This conversation isn't going anywhere." She turned to the four persons standing in front of them and sighed. "Okay. You want answers. The cold hard facts. Do we understand each other, if even to the slightest bit?"

"So..."

"I'm Neptune. This is Tails." She gestured to the fox beside her. "The planet you're on is in a different galaxy...well, different from the galaxy that you're used to." She peered into their faces to see if they understood and continued. "No doubt you saw the cloud that threatened your planet."

"What was that thing anyway?" Katya burst out. Neptune smiled sheepishly.

"I'll get to that, alright? Whew..." she paused, collecting her thoughts. "There's so much to tell," she said absentmindedly, directing her statement to Tails. The other fox nodded. "Okay...this is...Mobius. I suppose that's what this planet's called." Tails sighed.

"This place's a lot different from where you come from. There's really no specific race or anything...no dominant species, no planet wide wars, none of anything like that. It's all basically kept in small domains that are spread out all over the place."

"All of this problem, however," Neptune said, taking over with a grim smile, "started with a single...um...person...I suppose you would call him that." She closed her eyes, and Tails heaved a long sigh.

"Who?" Netto asked in a whisper. The noises of the forest could be heard very clearly now, and everything was much more alive them they seemed to be five minutes ago.

"Mercury."

"Like the planet?"

"No...a hedgehog," Tails replied. He sounded tired too. "It's a terribly long story..."

"...but let's just say that we've had enough meetings with him to last more then our two lifetimes and yours together....and there are more times to come where we'll have to face the threat of Mercury once more," Neptune picked up, opening her eyes.

"So..he was the cloud? Or what?" Rockman asked, doubt clouding his eyes.

"Believe that he had something to do with it. If you doubt anything that we're telling you now, you'll end up somewhere that you'd rather not be believing it very much," Tails told Rockman solemnly, almost angrily, reading the look in the wolf's eyes.

"It's okay Tails. I don't expect them to be able to understand yet."

"But...how is that cloud anything bad? And how did we come to be here?" Cyclone asked softly, reaching out for and holding onto Rockman's arm for comfort. Neptune turned her gaze and focused it on the gray coyote grimly.

"You were transported here through Chaos Control. To tell you nay more would be too complicated for you to be able to comprehend with your limited knowledge of our world. As for the cloud...," she hesitated. "I've seen it before in a place that I do not want to revisit right now."

~~~~~

Major set up for the plot. The next chapter may be like that as well...sorry for the little action lots of talk, but some fics need that to make them good and understandable, no?
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=]

[Mugen.exe]

Wow. This is a really cool fic. It's funny too! Rockman and Cyclone being turned into animals by the Chaos Emeralds? I'd like to see your Past, Present, and Future trilogy Sonic fanfic. Could you PM me a link? Thanks. This is a really good read! So, will Shadow show up soon?
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False Swipe is a great finishing move!
Witty robots, spunky orphans, and invincible pilots, this link's for you! A Gundam RP

[DjangoSP]

Is Shadow going to be portrayed as a good guy or a bad guy in this fic? iPlease make him a bad guy: I wanna see him kick some--*bricked* Seriously, good work. :D
_________________
I am Solar Boy Django! TAIYOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!!!



Credit goes to X-Zero EXE for the uber-cool sig!!! :D

[Cyclone EXE]

Here...why don't I just post the whole first book of PPF on this single thing and if you care/want to/are really bored you can read it.

...it's really long...and I wrote it like...six months ago...so yea. Here, just see for yourself.

~~~~~

Character Bios from Past, Present, and Future:

Neptune the Fox & Album of Pics

Mercury the Hedgehog & Album of Pics

Cheeks the Squirrel

Midnight the Raccoon

Blade the Fox

~~~~~

~*~*~*Past, Present, and Future: The Beginning of the End*~*~*~
~*~ AA/R ~*~ 3PP ~*~ PG-13 ~*~


Chapter 1:

It was a warm night. The wind blew softly through the trees, making some of the fall leaves tumble to the ground. Sonic stretched and leaned against the large tree he was sitting by. He smiled, content after another day of foiling Eggman's plans.

There was a sudden rustling in the bushes next to Sonic. He grinned to himself, knowing what was about to happen. He waited, ears priked to any noise of motion. Just as something leaped out of the bushes, Sonic stood up and stepped to the right. There was a thump and Amy landed face-first on the leaf covered ground.

"Owch," Amy cried. She sat up and rubbed her nose as Sonic tried not to laugh. "Sonic...that hurt!!" Her eyes filled with angry tears and she looked away from Sonic, not wanting him to think her a wimp. Sonic saw though and stopped laughing. He smiled sheepishly.

"Aww c'mon Amy, don't cry..." She looked up at him. Was that a bit of concern in his voice? Sonic put his hands behind his head and looked at the sky. Amy wiped her eyes and stood up. It was a pretty night, the stars seeming to fill up the cloudless sky. The moon was full and glowing a soft silver. Amy looked at Sonic, the moonlight reflecting off of her eyes and making them seem like diamonds.

They had both gotten two years older; Sonic 18 and Amy 16. They were living at Tails' place, in a house above his workshop. Cream, Cheese, Neptune, Cheeks, and Midnight were also living there. They still fought against Eggman, but the plans they had to foil were getting to be really simple and almost routine. Robbing banks, stores, etc. No more robots were being constructed, no more ships. It was a little too easy.

Amy shivered in the chill breeze that suddenly fluttered through the forest. Sonic gave her a sideways glance and cleared his throat.

"Ahem...uh...it's late. C'mon let's go home." He started to walk away. Amy sighed and followed him. Sonic started to run a bit, grabbing Amy's hand and pulling her along. Amy stumbled as she tried to keep up.

"Hey, owch! Not so fast Sonic," she whined as branches and leaves hit her in the face. Sonic sighed a little, and, with a hint of red on his cheeks, swept Amy off the ground and into his arms.

Amy sat there for a second, shocked, until Sonic started to pick up speed. Uncomfortable and not used to going so fast, she threw her arms around Sonic's neck. She thought it strange that he didn't try to draw back like normal. Amy blushed a deeper pink then her fur and lay against Sonic happily.

~*~*~*~

Chapter 2:


"Uh...Amy you can let go now." Amy opened her eyes and blinked.

"Hunah?" They were standing in front of a white and grey building. It had a slanted red roof and 3 windows visible from where they were standing. Voices could be heard faintly coming from inside. "Oh." Amy reluctantly let go of Sonic and he set her on the ground. Sonic stretched and let out a sigh. Then he opened the door to the building. He went in and held the door for Amy. Then they both walked up a set of old wooden stairs and through another door at the top.

Cream was playing a board game with Cheese and Neptune. Tails was nearby working on his latest project. Amy went over to Cream and watched them finish the game. Tails looked up and nodded at Sonic, who returned the gesture. Sonic slipped back out the door. Amy looked at the clock.

"Cream, you and Cheese really should be in bed! For heavens sake, it's Midnight!" Amy scolded. Cream looked at her sheepishly.

"I guess you're right," she yawned.

"You wanna finish tomorrow Cream?" Neptune asked. Cream shook her head.

"No, let's play something else tomorrow. You won anyway." Neptune smiled and cleaned up the board as Cream stood up. "Night everyone." Tails nodded at Cream and Amy gave her a quick hug before she disappeared into the room she shared with Cheese, carring her Chao.

Neptune went over by Tails and started helping his with his blueprint. Amy looked toward the place where Sonic had been by the door, and sighed when she saw that he was gone. She shook her head.

"Come to think of it...I should go to sleep too," Amy said aloud. She started up a set of stairs that led to where her room was. "You two should turn in as well." Tails and Neptune listened as she closed the door to her room with a click. As soon as the house was quiet, they began whispering.

Sonic stood on the roof outside, deep in thought. A cold wind blew through the air and he shivered slightly. Winter was definately coming. Sonic heard Amy grt into bed below him. He slid down the roof silently and peeked though her window. He sighed and lay back on the roof. Why was it so hard?

As Sonic lay by Amy's window, he saw two figures come out of the woods. Sonic smiled to himself and jumped onto the soft ground. The two animals jumped back.

"Hey guys, where've ya been?" he asked. Cheeks and Midnight looked at each other and shared secret smiles.

"Oh...around," Midnight replied, her dark eyes shining. Sonic shrugged.

"Yeah...whatever you say." He went into the house. Once inside he found that Cream and Cheese had also gone to bed but Tails and Neptune were still up, huddled together over a blueprint and talking softly.

Sonic grabbed the door and thought about slamming it to announce his arrivial, but he didn't want to wake up the girls. He looked behind him into the lab part of Tails' place, sort of like the garage part of a normal house. There wasn't any sign of Midnight or Cheeks so he shut the door and went over to the living room area by the TV. Sonic jumped on the couch and sighed deeply.

Tails and Neptune both looked up at the same time and blinked, startled to see Sonic. Tails glanced at the clock and sat back, amazed that it was already one o' clock.

"What's up Sonic?" asked Neptune.

"Uh...nuttin. Just tired I think," he replied hesitantly. "I think I'll turn in." He started up the stairs, looking down at them. "Don't stay up all night you two, you never know what might happen tomorrow." He vanished into his room and shut the door.

~*~*~*~

Chapter 3:

Midnight and Cheeks were sitting on the ground outside of the house talking. A faint light was visible in the distance over the treeline. Cheeks sighed.

"Midnight, I've been thinking," he started.

"Uh oh," Midnight joked. Cheeks gave her a playful nudge and she smiled.

"C'mon, I'm being srrious." He smiled. "Anyway...you know, Sonic and the others are gonna get suspicious of where we go every night."

"Why? We just go to the lake to sit and talk."

"Yeah but..."

"What, do you not want to go to the lake with me any more?" Midnight pulled away from Cheeks and looked him in the eye. "Or are you saying...that you don't want to be with me any more..." She looked away. Cheeks grabbed her hand.

"No no no! That's not what I'm saying...I just...uh..." Midnight looked at him and smiled. The moonlight reflected off her face, making her dark eyes seem darker.

"Come with me," she said. She stood up and pulled Cheeks into the woods. They went back by the lake that they had found, all tucked away from view surrounded by willow trees. Midnight looked up at the moon. "Isn't it beautiful tonight?" She sighed. Cheeks stared at her.

"Yeah..." he mumbled. Midnight looked up at him and giggled.

"Silly you're not even looking!" he turned his head gently. "See...it's reflected on everything." And she was right. The moon gave off a silver light that bounced off of the water and made the air around it sparkle. The atmosphere was tranquil, almost magical. Cheeks and Midnight looked at each other and, in the sparkling silver of the night, kissed.

Tails and Neptune were talking softly. They were glad that everyone had gone to bed so that they wouldn't be interrupted. Tails sighed and leaned back in his chair. He was older as well and had grown more mature in the past two years. Neptune looked at him.

"Stop..," she said, upset. Tails looked startled. "You're thinking about yourself I know it. Don't do that Tails, you always put yourself down!"

"But it's true..." Tails hesitated. he didn't want to fight with Neptune. "It's just...everyone is always asking each other their opinions on things, but I never get asked mine. No one notices me when I have something to say. It gets frustrating. And...and then something bad happens, and I know that I might have been able to prevent it." He shook his head. "I just wish...wish I was...ya know, stronger. Like Sonic..." Neptune took his hand.

"I listen," she said softly. Tails looked into her eyes.

"I know you do..." Neptune leaned against his shoulder.

"Tails...don't think that way...you are an awesome person and you're stronger then you know. Your day will come, you'll see...one day you'll show the world what you're made of in your own special way..." Soon Neptune was asleep.

After he had put Neptune into her bedroom, Tails went to his a few doors down. He collapsed on his bed after shutting the door behind him. After laying there for a bit, he heard Cheeks and Midnight come upstairs, whisper good-night to each other, and go into their separate rooms.

Tails got up and went to his window-seat. The sun was rising slowly in the East. The golden rays were faintly visible in the silver moonlight. Drawing his knees up to his chest, Tails lay his head in his arms. He fell into a dreamless sleep.

~*~*~*~

Chapter 4:

Neptune sat up and rubbed her eyes sleepily. She yawned and got out of bed. Huh? She didn't remember going up to bed. Neptune shrugged and got dressed into her green, orange and yellow dress. She tied on her shoes and went downstairs.

Amy, Cream and Cheese were sitting at the kitchen table eating pancakes, bacon, toast, and eggs. Neptune grabbed a piece of toast and sat down opposite of Amy. Cream was feeding Cheese some fried eggs.

"Morning guys," she said sleepily. "What's up?"

"Hi how'd you sleep?" asked Cream.

"Don't remember, good I guess."

"Chao chao," Cheese said. Cream cleaned up her and Cheese's plates and took the Chao's hand.

"Fine, we'll go on a walk," she said. "We'll be back soon guys bye!" Neptune and Amy gave them little waves and watched them go out the door. Neptune finished her toast and sighed.

"Hey, where are Sonic and the others?" Amy shrugged.

"Sonic's prolly out running around, I saw Tails come out but I don't know where he is, and Midnight and Cheeks are still asleep I think," she replied. She cleared the table and started to wash the dishes. Neptune walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. She switched on the TV and started to flip through the channels. Midnight came down the stairs and sat next to Neptune.

"Bored?" She yawned. Neptune sighed and nodded. "I know how you feel, there is hardly anything to do any more. Eggman has like, given up or something." She shook her head. Neptune stopped on the news. There was the usual, or at least, the usual for since Eggman had stopped building things. Either nothing was happening or it was something so small it was almost not worth it to report.

Sonic walked through the front door. He looked really bored and sat down on a chair next to the couch. Cheeks came downstairs and went outside to Tails' lab looking for him. Pretty soon Amy was in the living room, watching the news and looking as bored as everyone else.

Meanwhile, Cream and Cheese were walking in Station Square a few miles away. They had just finished some ice cream that they had purchased when Cheese started to act funny. He got a worried look in his eye and tugged on Cream's coat. Cream looked at Cheese, concerned.

"What's the matter Cheese? What's wrong?" Cheese just drew back into the safety of Cream's jacket. Cream heard a faint noise in the background, sort of like screaming. She flew up to the top of a building and peered over the side.

There was something coming. Cream could feel the building shudder as the ground beneath it shook. Something told her to hurry home, but she stayed rooted to the spot, her curiousity getting the best of her. Cheese shuddered inside the coat. Cream's eyes widened as something she had never seen before came around the corner of a nearby building.

~*~*~*~

Chapter 5:

"There's something happening in Station Square!!" Everyone in the living room looked up at the TV. A lady was standing in the middle of Station Square and there was a huge fire behind her. "Something just came through here and destroyed everything in sight. Station Square is in ruins. No one knows what did this, and police are investigating everything. There have been three found dead and we don't know if there are any more. We'll give you more on this story after these messages..." Amy gasped.

"Cream! She was walking Cheese in Station square!!" Sonic jumped up and ran out the door. Tails and Cheeks looked at each other and went after Sonic. Midnight, Neptune, and Amy hurried out the door also, shutting it to the now empty room.

Meanwhile, Cream was flying over Station Square, hardly believeing what she saw. The destruction was so massive...what was that thing anyway? It looked like a hedgehog...but Cream wasn't sure. Her head started to hurt so Cream landed on the roof of a building. Soon she saw the Tornado coming in the distance and flew out to meet her friends. After Tails landed the plane in a corn feild near the city, Cream told them about what happened.

"Cheese started acting really strange...then the ground started shaking. There were banging noises and screaming...I wanted to see what it was so I went to the top of a building to get a better view."

"What did you see?" Midnight asked softly. Cream took a deep breath.

"I dunno, It's complicated. It was really weird. I saw this hedgehog... Actually it was covered by it's cape so I didn't really see, but somehow I know that it was a hedgehog... Anyway, it was sending beams of light down onto the buildings and smashing them. The people were screaming and trying to get away... The weird thing is that he seemed familiar. I'd never seen it before but yet I had..."Everyone looked at Cream funny.

"So...uhm...you don't know what it was but you do know what it was..." Cheeks said, puzzled. Cream nodded. Everyone sighed. "Well, that explains everything!!" Midnight elbowed him in the ribs.

"Be nice," she scolded. Suddenly there was a beeping noise. Tails pressed a button on the Tornado's dashboard.

"Sonic, where are you??" He asked. Sonic's voice answered over the walkie talkie.

"I found what caused all of this...It looks like Eggman's behind it again. He has this huge base that I've never seen before right in the middle of Mystic Ruins. And I know for a fact that it wasn't here yesterday."

~*~*~*~

Chapter 6:

Tails and the others flew to Mystic Ruins and found Sonic. They looked up at the base. It was a green and brown color and about 5 stories high. There was a huge door at the front, but there was no sign of any security whatsoever. They all looked at each other.

"Uhm...so what are we gonna do?" Midnight asked. Sonic shook his head.

"I'd think that Tails, Cheeks and I would have to go alone on this one girls. It's too dangerous," he replied.

"But..."

"Nope no buts Neptune," Tails said. "Sonic's right, we don't know if it's a trap or not." He, Sonic and Cheeks stretched. Tails nodded at Sonic who nodded at Cheeks. He returned the gesture and they ran out into the clearing where the giant base stood.

"Wow this thing looks even bigger up close," Cheeks muttered. They flattened themselves up against the door and listened. There was no noise coming from anywhere so Sonic busted the door open. They waited for sirens to go off, but there was only the sound of the broken pieces crumbling at their feet.

Eggman looked at his cameras and saw the intruders running down the main hall. He grinned in a way that meant only bad things were about to happen.

Sonic and Cheeks stood against the wall as Tails tried to crack the code to the main door. Breaking through would cause a ton of noise, since it echoed in the massive complex, but it was looking as though it was their only option. Tails grinned as the door clicked.

"Got it." They were about to run through the door when they saw the animal blocking their way. It was a Hedgehog, but it's body wasn't visible due to a thick brown cape wrapped around it. It's fur was a deep reddish blue with dark blue markings on it's quills and around it's yellow eyes. It stood about an inch or two above Sonic.

"So... You're the one who caused the destruction in Station square," Sonic said casually. The Hedgehog smiled, the little light that was coming from the open door only showing half of his face, leaving the rest engulfed by shadow.

"So what if I am." Sonic, Tails and Cheeks shivered a bit, for it's voice was icy cold. "What would it matter...you wouldn't be able to stop me." It stared at Sonic, and Sonic shrank back a bit. It felt as though the strange Hedgehog was reading his mind.

"Well...we'll have to try to put you in your place," Sonic replied. "Enough chit chat!!" He ran at the Hedgehog with super-speed and tried to kick it's feet out from under it. The Hedgehog reacted with equal speed and grabbed Sonic's leg. Then it threw Sonic into the wall behind it. Sonic hit the floor and rubbed his head. "What the heck..."

"I already know all of your weaknesses. You don't know who I am...but know that I will be the one who has control of the world...of the universe...and all of the power of the Chaos Emeralds are mine!" He had taken a bright blue Chaos Emerald out from the folds of his cape. The hedgehog held it up, but before he could do anything Tails had grabbed the Emerald from his hand and was running away. The Hedgehog laughed, his pure desire for power ringing out in the laugh that echoed throughout the complex. "We'll see, Tails...we'll see how much you really know..." He disappeared.

Tails had flown to the top of the base. Panting, he held the Emerald close. He whirled around when he heard someone behind him. The Hedgehog was standing there, his arms crossed in the cape. It was now rapidly getting dark as night. The Chaos emerald started to glow and it flew out of Tails's hand into the Hedgehog's. He held it up, the Emerald absorbing invisible power.

"You...you have meddled with the wrong person..," he said in a soft voice. Tails gulped. Suddenly Neptune appeared right in front of Tails.

"Hey...you leave him alone." The Hedgehog stared at Neptune, but couldn't read her moves. She stared back at him with pure hatred and anger...and for reasons that she couldn't explain.

"You...I thought I had taken care of your kind!" the Hedgehog said. Memory hit Neptune like a lightning strike.

"You're the one who made the tidal wave..." Her voice was choked with unshed tears. Suddenly pure anger replaced any sorrow...all the pain of remembering...and not remembering...of living alone with no family...of not remembering her family... She trembled with all of the power that came with the anger. "Mercury."The Hedgehog looked surprised, but only for a flicker of a second.

"It was only a matter of time I suppose...but I have spent my whole life making sure your kind suffered the most...and I intend to finish the job." He threw the Emerald at Tails and he caught it. There was a bright flash of light and both Tails and Mercury the Hedgehog were gone.

~*~*~*~

Chapter 7:

Tails sat up. He rubbed his eyes and looked around groggily. What the heck happened? He glanced around and saw that he was in a forest. But this forest wasn't familiar. He strained to remember what had happened. There was the light...Chaos Control.

"Oh shoot." He was alone in who knows where during who knows when. "I'm in trouble..." Tails got up and stretched. "Now what?" He shrugged and started walking. Pretty soon Tails came to a clearing. There was a shrine in the middle of a meadow of beautiful flowers. They were all sorts of colors, and a light breeze made them ripple like waves lapping on a sandy beach. Tails walked up to the shrine, curious.

It was shaped like a star and had markings on a center plaque. Tails stared at the markings, knowing they looked familiar, but he couldn't place where he had seen them before. He looked at the sky. There was a beautiful sunset in the distance, painting the sky with color. The shrine seemed to shimmer in the faint light.

A week. It had been a whole week since he had been transported. Tails had been traveling everywhere, trying to find Chaos Emeralds and some sign of life. But there was nothing. Nothing but trees and bushes as far as the eye could see. He sat down on a rock, frustrated. He had gotten thinner from lack of food and sleep. Tails looked up and saw huge mountains in the distance. Maybe he should try there?

Tails walked farther and found himself out of the woods. What he saw surprised him. He was in the middle of a graveyard. The errie dusk made Tails uneasy among all of the gravestones. He saw a bunny leaning over a grave in the distance. Tails walked up to it catiously. It looked up at him.

"I've been expecting you." Tails was taken aback.

"Huh?" His voice shook. "What the...this is getting to be really strange..," he muttered. The bunny smiled, but it was a sad smile that made Tails's heart feel cold and desolate. It sighed.

"Yes, the world, your world, is in great danger..." It was a girl, for her voice was soft and had a higher pitch to it. She had snow-white fur and a pale blue cloak on over her short matching dress. Her shoes matched the headband on her head, a pale pink color.

"Mercury. You know him," Tails stated in a monotone voice. She nodded, still smiling.

"Yes...I know him more then almost anyone. He is from this place," she gestured around the misty graveyard, "like all of us here. "

"All of you?"

"Yes...but that is not important to you at the moment. What is important, no, listen. Don't speak." Tails closed his mouth. "What is important is that you are trained properly. As soon as you are ready...only then will you be able to go back."

"But..."

"No buts, this is real. You can change what happened, or at least, what will happen. If you listen to me." Tails nodded. he didn't know what was going on, only that he had no other choice.

~*~*~*~

Chapter 8:

"It's been six years.." Midnight and Cheeks were sitting on the top of a tree, watching the dark world around them. There was smoke billowing up in all directions and it was black as night even though it was noon. "I've almost forgotten what the sun looks like," Midnight said softly. Cheeks closed his eyes.

"Yea...six years since Mercury took over, at least four since there was any light..." He sighed. Cheeks was now 19, Midnight 18. "And it's been three years since..." His voice cracked.

"Since they killed Sonic and Amy..." They were silent. The incident was still vivid in their memories, and it always would be. Their lives would never be the same. There would never again be love and light in the world, for there was no world. Even though the mass of rock and water still exhisted, it was nothing without the light that once covered it. "And Neptune..." Midnight shook her head. Since Tails had vanished, Neptune had gone quiet. She hadn't said a word to anyone for three years. "Cheeks, I can't cry no matter how much I want to." He voice had no feeling, and her eyes were no longer vivid black, but a dull grey. "It's like I don't feel anymore."

"I know."

Tails stood by the lake. He cosed his eyes and concentrated on the sound of the water. The dark glassy surface showed no ripple. Tails's ear twitched. He didn't move. He was aware of everything that was going on around him, of every animal, of every plant. he had lived here for the past six years, being trained to use good against evil. Tails had grown more confident of himself over the years, and he found that he had a great power inside of him that needed to be used for the good of mankind.

Tails reached out and caught the apple that was thrown at his head, his eyes still closed. The apples started coming rapidly, and he was forced to drop some of the already caught apples onto the ground. A stray apple hit Tails on the head suddenly and he lost his balance, falling into the lake.

"Tails, you have to concentrate or else you won't be able to beat Mercury!!" The bunny that tails had met the first week of being in the new world stepped out from behind a tree. She had become Tails's trainer and his only friend.

"C'mon, I'm ready!! Just send me back, I want to go back so bad!" Tails begged. He stood up in the knee-deep water. "C'mon Star I need to go back. I know you can send me back..." Star stared at Tails. He was now sixteen and was taller then her.

"You can't let your feelings for Neptune decide weither you're ready or not."

"But...that's not why..."

"Tails...we've had this conversation already, more times then I can count. You've come a really long way and I'd hate to send you back...no, I CAN'T send you back until you know how to use your power!!!"

"But why!" Tails said stubbornly. "I can beat him." Star went up to Tails and smacked his face. "Owch! What was that for?"

"For not seeing!! Ugh, Tails you have to listen to me!"

"I've been listening for six years. I'm tired of listening, let me make my own choices!! Please, I can do this, if I concentrate I can almost-"

"Yes, you can almost!!! Almost, Tails, not yet!" Star interrupted. "Ugh, if only you could see in you what I can!!" She sighed and sat down on the ground. They were silent for a while. Then Star closed her eyes. "You just don't understand yet. You think you know but you don't."

"I won't know unless I go." Star slowly nodded.

"You can go...but give it three more days."

"Neptune...please say something...anything," Midnight begged. Neptune stared out across the lake. She knew...she knew Tails was alive, he had to be.

He's somewhere...he's at a lake too. I know it, I can feel it. If only I could explain how I know to Midnight...if only they had listened to me before, then Sonic and Amy would be here as well...Tails...he listened...he understood...but now I'm alone...and...I don't know if I'll ever see him again.

~*~*~*~

Chapter 9:

Neptune walked along the snow-covered road. The snow was a dark grey...not a bright white. It had been years since there had been a white snow. There was nothing...nothing but piles of rubble everywhere.

Like my heart.....there is nothing...nothing at all. My heart keeps beating yet I don't live. I keep breathing but I am breathless. My life has turned to ash like my surroundings. You will never know how I feel. I can't live without you...yet I am still here...so that means that you must be somewhere as well...my pain is so great...but you are the only one who can ease it. My heart is so cold...but you are the only one who can warm it. Tails you have to be somewhere...only the thought of you being alive keeps me going...

"Only a few more hours..." Tails was sitting under a tree by the lake. He had been training with Star non-stop for the past two days. It was almost time for him to go back.

Tails opened his gloved hand. There in his plam was the necklace that Neptune had given him when they had first met. It was a raindrop-shaped stone that shimmered like water. It was a deep, luminous blue that had a soft glow around it when it was rubbed with a cloth. Tails ran his thumb across its smooth glassy surface, remembering.

It had been a beautiful winter day, and Tails and Neptune were walking through the forest by Tails's lab. The snow was falling lightly around them and catching on the branches of the trees as it fell. They were only eight at the time.

"Oh Tails, it's so pretty," Neptune sighed.

"Yeah..." Tails looked up at the sky. Neptune unclasped something from around her neck. She opened his hand, pressing the object into his palm.

"Here, I want you to have this." Tails looked down at his hand and saw a beautiful stone necklace in his palm. He shook his head.

"No I can't take this...it's all you have left to remind you."

"But I want you to have it now, so it will remind YOU. I don't need anything to remind me, Tails, I'll always remember. Take it." She took the necklace and fastened it around his neck.

The memory melted and Tails found himself once again in the world away from his. Star came up behind him.

"That's from Neptune isn't it," she whispered. Tails hastily hid it in his hands.

"Uhm...ya I guess..," he mumbled, embarrassed. Star smiled sadly. Tails stood up, tucking the necklace into his right glove. Star looked him in the eye.

"Tails...are you ready for this...I can't come with you, you'll be on your own. Listen...you have to do what you know is best. Don't let your personal feelings get in the way of doing what has to be done. Do you understand that?" Tails nodded.

"I'm not sure now...I don't know if I'm ready..." Star smiled.

"Now that you've said that you are ready."

"What?" But Star was vanishing into a cloud of mist that covered the air around them suddenly and rapidly. soon There was nothing but silent blackness.

"Cheeks, there's no sign of her anywhere!!" Cheeks looked up.

"Who?"

"Neptune, she's gone! She's run away...and who knows what could happen to her!"

"Calm down, I'm sure she hasn't gotten far..." Cheeks gave Midnight a hug. he was really only saying it to calm Midnight. Inside he expected the worst, for Mercury had gotten very powerful. He had taken over the planet and all that lived on it. It was looking as though he couldn't be stopped.

Neptune sat, unmoving, unfeeling in the capsule. Mercury paced in front of her.

"I told you six years ago...I tod you that no one would be able to stop me. I took away the only things that gave you strength." He grinned. Now you are feeling the worst pain imaginable...and you can't stop me from gaining all of the power I need to control the Past, Present, and Future. I can change history to suit my needs, I can change the way the Earth is shaped. I can do all of that and more when I have to necessary power. And no one will be in my way."

Tails awoke in the middle of a forest. He rubbed his head and sat up. It looked familiar. Tails flew up to get a look around. He hovered in the thick air, shocked.

"This...can't be my home..." The snow that covered the ground was a dark grey, the air was thick and smelled of foul smoke. There was fire everywhere and no sign of life. Buildings were piles of rubble, roads and highways mounds of dust. The sun wan't visible through the heavily polluted air. "Oh, my God..."

~*~*~*~

Chapter 10

Tails flew to his old lab. It was still there, but it wasn't the same building that it had been. It looked terribly run down and worn. Just like everything else. Tails landed on the roof and peered in through Amy's old bedroom window, first wiping some of the thick grey smog off of the once clear glass.

The room was empty. The once bright-pink of Amy's walls was now a dull greyish white. It was like nothing had color anymore, for even the chocolate brown bark on the trees was faded. Tails tried to open the window, and had to use a bit of magic to get it open.

"I wonder what happened to everyone..." Tails walked out into the hallway. The major rooms were still in neat order, but most of the bedrooms were all dust and grime. Tails heard voices in the living room. He peered into the large cold room through an old faded doorway.

"Cheeks...and Midnight..," Tails whispered. He stood back and wondered if he should go and talk to them. "Well...I can't just go in there and say, 'Hi! You may have thought I was dead, but here I am after six years!! Funny how that works huh?' No...I have to do it a different way...."

Mercury stood atop a high tower. He looked out at his world, at the newly formed volcanoes, at the smoke billowing up from the once green and lush fields, now brown and smoldering. He smiled.

"Finally. I have waited so long...but now my waiting is done. With this land, I can build a new army and distroy all of those who could ever undo what I have done. I haven't slaved away for nothing...not this time." Mercury held out his hand and a huge billowing black cloud started to form above him, swirling faster and faster at his command. "I shall prevail!!"

Tails followed Cheeks and Midnight into the forest. He watched them climb into a tree and stare out into the distance, their movements more like this was a habit rather then something that they really wanted to do. Tails knew that he had to get all of the facts. He shook his head, but stopped when Cheeks spoke.

"You know...I always wondered what I would wo if Tails came back." Tails leaned closer. "And I always answer myself, 'I don't know.' ..."

"Ya I've thought about that too," Midnight replied. " I'd be more shocked then anything really. I mean, all these years thinking he's dead, and then him just showing up." Tails sighed.

"That's what I thought..," he mumbled. Cheeks looked up. He slid from the branch and peered into the bushes. Tails sat deathly still.

"What?"

"I thought I heard something..." Tails took in a short sharp breath. This was as good a time as any to show himself. Slowly he stood up. As Tails stood, a light breeze floated through the woods.

Mercury stopped. He stared in the direction of the woods off to his right. The hedgehog felt a quick stab of fear, but he shook it off and raised his guard once again. His eyes grew colder then before, and the happy smirk was wiped off his face. There was something in the new breeze that brought him a feeling of danger...danger to his whole scheme, to his whole world.

"...Maybe I underestimated that fox..." He raised a hand.

The first breeze in 6 years died out.

~*~*~*~

Chapter 11

Cheeks and Midnight stood, petrified. They couldn't believe their eyes. Tails lowered the hood of his dark cloak and looked at the ground. He started to speak.

"...I need to know what happened here," he whispered. Cheeks pushed Midnight behind him and held out his arm to protect her. There was a long pause before he replied.

"...Who are you," Cheeks said slowly. Words didn't come easily to him anymore. Tails shook his head.

"...I know this must be hard for you to do right now...but you guys are gonna have to trust me on a lot of things right now. You have to tell me."

"...You aren't the same...as you were before," Midnight whispered.

"Neither are you." They both looked like they had been slapped in the face and tossed aside. Cheeks looked like he had taken this the hardest. His mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. Tails didn't wait for a response.

"I need for you to tell me everything that has happened here these past six years. I've given you no reason not to trust me in the Past, you have no reason not to trust me now, in the Future. You trusted me before...but now is when it all really matters." Tails looked right into Cheeks's eyes, but the squirrell looked away. "Please...I wanna reverse what happened." Cheeks slowly looked at Tails. Tails was a bit startled, for his eyes were no longer the bright Caribbean Sea blue that they had once been...but were now like a great muddy puddle. he looked like he had seen more then someone is supposed to see in a lifetime in six years. It was Tails who looked away this time. Midnight's hands werecrossed over her heart. She closed her eyes.

"I thought you'd never come back," she said. Tails nodded, his face grave and serious.

"I know...but I really need you to do all that I ask. Believe me. Trust me."

Neptune sat in her prison, clutching a green stone shaped like a diamond. She still remembered when Tails had given it to her on her tenth birthday. Three months before Mercury came. She held the diamond close to her heart with both hands and closed her eyes.

Tails...where are you?

Four years ago, Mercure killed Cream and Cheese as a warning for those of us who were working in a Resistance. I was part of the Resistance, along with Sonic, Knuckles, Rouge and some humans. He also killed eggman...the one who released him, because Mercury wanted everything to be in his control and wanted to show how powerful he really was. The robots that Eggman had were also distroyed.

"Sonic and Amy were hardest hit by the death of Cream. Amy because Cream was her best friend, Sonic because he loved Amy and hated seeing her so upset. Sonic decided that he was gonna take care of Mercury before he got too powerful." Cheeks shook his head. "Neptune wnated him to reconsider...she somehow knew that what happened wouldn't be good... Sonic went anyway. naturally, Amy went after him. Neptune was near hystarical when they both had gone. She asked...no...she begged me to go after them. I went to help.

"I flew the Tornado to Mercury's base...there I watched as Mercury cornered Amy...and I watched him go after Sonic...It...I..." Cheeks's voice stopped. Midnight gave him a hug and didn't let go.

'You don't have to..." Cheeks interrupted Tails.

"No...I have to weither...it's just that remembering hurts too much." Tails nodded. His heart felt very heavy as he looked at all of the painful things that had been stored away in Cheeks's mind for so long. Cheeks took in a breath.

"Neptune...she went silent after she heard...after the news..." He paused again and swallowed. "Everyone's dead but us, Tails." It was now Tails who looked as though a big cement block had hit him in the head. He sat there, but there was only one thing on his mind. Tails's heart dropped to the ground, and he felt nauseous.

"E..everyone? What about...N...Neptune!?!?!" His voice was hoarse and loud with panic, not the strong quiet voice that he had used minutes before. Cheeks and Midnight looked at each other sadly. Midnight hid her face in Cheeks's shoulder.

"Mercury probably has her by now."

~*~*~*~

Chapter 12

Tails ran his hand over the Tornado's right wing. It seemed like decades since he had been able to see his plane. Tails hoisted himself into the cockpit and sat, remembering the time he had taught Neptune to fly.

It was a cool spring morning seven years ago, and Tails and Neptune had gotten up early to fly the Tornado. Neptune was a bit nervous, but very eager to get into the air. She had been begging Tails to teach her for a few months now.

"Ya know...I don't think I can do this..," Neptune said, hesitating getting into the plane after Tails.

"Nah. You'll do fine," Tails replied with a swift smile. Neptune grinned nervously. They both climbed into the Tornado. After about three hours of showing Neptune what to do in the plane and instructing her on what buttons to press if there was a problem.

Neptune had learned really quickly and was flying around in the plane like she had been in the air all her life. After learning to fly, Neptune had helped Tails build stuff and got very interested in mechanics.

I sure miss those days.., Tails thought. He shook his head clear of the Past and set his mind on the Present. Star had said not to let his personal feelings for Neptune get in the way...but it was starting to look like it would be easier said then done.

The glove box that Tails had installed on the dashboard suddenly fell open. Tails gathered up old, yellowed papers and placed them back into the compartment. Something shiny cought his eye.Tails picked up an old pair of Neptune's flying goggles. He stared at them for a few seconds, then closed the glove box and put them on.

What's he up to? If Mercury had looked over, he would have seen a teenage fox staring blankly at him through the shimmering capsule's walls. Neptune knew better. She was thinking of ways to stop the hedgehog. He had gone too far. The world isn't his to take. I have got to do something.

Mercury looked up from the control pannel and listened. He pressed a small blue button and the screen above him showed millions of scenes being watched by video cameras. He zoomed into one.

Neptune's eyes got huge as she saw Tails land the Tornado and get out. Tails? Neptune's heart skipped a beat, and she was shocked as well as overwhelmed with relief. All of the intense burdens that she had carried were lifted from her soul, and for the first time in six years the young fox was thinking swiftly and clearly.

As Mercury looked her way, Neptune changed her face to the monotone blank look that she had worn for so many years. Mercury took out his Chaos Emerald and was gone. Neptune glanced around, looking for a way to escape.

Tails put down the hood of his cloak and looked around the huge room that he had walked into. He whirled around and stared at a certain spot in the room. Mercury appeared seconds later and shot a beam of light at Tails, who dodged out of the way.

"I thought I had taught you your lesson." Mercury smirked, hiding his surprise. How had Tails known he was coming? Mercury struggled to read Tails's mind, but Tails could easily see into his.

"What, and not want to put you in your place?" Tails grinned nervously. He was still not sure of himself, even after all of his years of training with Star. This was the Ultimate Test. Mercury held up the Chaos Emerald.

"What do you want?" Tails looked taken aback.

"..." Mercury grinned.

"You want that girl." Tails swallowed.

"...That's not why...not just that." Tails immediately knew that he had said the wrong thing after the smirk on Mercury's face grew into a joyus grin.

"I see. So...you do want her." Tails forced his face to stay neutral. Mercury started toward him slowly. "I can see right through you."

He's lying,Tails's mind screamed at him. In the seconds that Tails hesitated, Mercury started throwing blasts of energy at Tails's head. Tails threw out his hands and caught all of them, sending them flying back at Mercury. One stray blast of energy smackes Tails in the side of the head and sent him flying into a wall.

"Dang...now I know why we did the apple thing..," Tails mumbled. Mercury didn't wait to throw more energy beams at Tails. Tails got hit two more times before he conjured up a large shield that looked like shimmering water and was shaped like a dome.

"Coward," Mercury taunted. Tails put his guard back up. He wouldn't allow it to get lowered again. Mercury started charging an attack, but something leaped out of the shadows at him.

Neptune clung onto Mercury's back as he tried to shake her off vigorously. He threw her into a wall, and she slid to the ground, panting.

"Stupid girl," Mercury muttered. He raised a hand to shoot a beam at Neptune, but she dodged out of the way of fire and the shot bounced back and hit the ceiling, causing smoke to billow around the falling debris.

Tails got an idea. he played it out in his mind, getting ready to put it into action. Tails threw the whole shield out at Mercury, who dodged it. The attack hit the ceiling, causing all of it to come crashing down on the hedgehog.

Once the smoke cleared, Tails stood and looked around. Neptune stood in a corner, staring at him with huge eyes. Tails was amazed at how different she looked.

Neptune's dress was longer and more grown up, as the sleeves went halfway down her arms instead of being up on her shoulders. She wore boots now instead of shoes, and a headband in place of her bandana.

Neptune started crying. After all of these years of not knowing, she finally knew. It was all wave after wave of mixed emotions. She just sat down and sobbed in the corner of the room. Tails went over and stood by her. He didn't know what to say.

"...It's all over now." Tails's voice cracked. Neptune looked up at him with the same bright pink eyes that he loved so much. He gave her a hug. Time seemed to stop for them at that moment. Nothing mattered anywhere else in the world...it was only what was going on in that room at that time.

Tails's ear twitched. He looked toward the middle of the room. Just as Mercury burst from the pile of rubble, Tails put up another shield.

"...I can't be beaten. Nothing...no one can stop me!" Mercury's eyes flashed with anger. The room suddenly got very hot. Mercury sent a burst of energy slamming onto the floor. After the dust cleared, there was nothing there but a gaping hole. Mercury grinned at the look of shock on the two fox's faces.

He started to remake the base. Pillars rose up from the ground, and the doors and windows in the complex got covered over with new metal. Tails grabbed Neptune's hand and pulled her up to a pillar as the floor began to be replaced with a giant pool of lava. They landed and Tails put a shield over Neptune before jumping to another pillar. He faced Mercury.

The battle that followed was like no other in history. It was one of pure magic and skill, of love and hate, of anger and happiness. Tails and Mercury kept matching each other move for move, until they both landed on pillars out of breath and panting.

"No one has ever lived this long in my presence. I congratulate you."

"And...that's a good thing?"

"Not if you wanted to win." Mercury brought up pillars of lava on all four sides of Tails. Tails started blasting them with water magic, but by the time he had distroyed two of them the third and fourth ones were so close that by the time one of them was gone the other would have hit it's mark. Neptune appeared behind Tails, hitting the lava pillar with her own stream of water. Tails worked on the last.

Mercury shot at Neptune with a blast of energy and she was forced to jump out of the way. in order to not get hit. The last pillar of lava wasn't yet distroyed. Mercury made it get larger, and no matter how hard Tails tried, he couldn't dissolve it.

Tails sank to the ground, all of his power spent. Just before the attack hit it's mark, Neptune stood squarely in front of it and shot a huge beam of water at it. There was a bright flash of light, and then silence.

Mercury floated over the two foxes as Tails forced himself over to where Neptune lay on the ground. Neptune looked at Tails and smiled. Tails's eyes filled with tears.

"I promise that I'll save you Neptune," he choked. Neptune's eyes looked sad. She spoke for the first time in four years, her voice tired and monotone.

"Don't give up. I know you can do whatever you try." She sighed. "I've got faith in you." Her eyes closed. Tails started to cry silently, and scenes of all of the things that he and Neptune did together years ago flashed before his eyes. Tails ran his hand acros the green daimond shaped necklace that was around Neptune's neck. He saw his reflection in it, and also the reflection of Mercury.

All his tears were interrupted by Mercury's laugh. Tails whirled around, all of his sorrow replaced with unshakable anger. Tails flew up into the air and stared Mercury down. His eyes had grown hard and cold as ice, even though the tears still flowed freely from them.

All I ever wanted was to show her that I could be who she believed I was. I can't just sit back and let all that she believed die along with her. I made a promise...and I'm gonna keep it no matter what.

Mercury's grin faded and he looked, for the first time, afraid of Tails. Tails started toward Mercury and in a flash had him pinned against the wall of the complex. The hedgehog tried to get away, but when he lifted the Chaos Emerald Tails took it and held it over the pool of lava.

"Fix what you have done," Tails sneered. He pushed Mercury into the wall harder. He winced and spoke in a voice that had a hint of pleading in it.

"What is it you want." Tails leaned closer to the hedgehog.

"Get out of my Past, Present, and Future." He thrust the emerald into Mercury's hand, and the hedgehog lifted it. They were both gone in a flash of light.

~*~*~*~

Chapter 13

Tails opened his eyes and sat up. It was dark outside. He ran to his window and looked out. He saw a large beautiful forest and a shimmering lake in the distance. There were city lights visible far away.

Tails closed his eyes to remember his dream. Was it a dream? It all seemed so real... He went over to a mirror and looked into it. He was still the same old Tails, 12 years old, quiet, shy, unsure of himself. In his dream though he was brave.

Boy I wish I was brave, he thought with longing. Tails suddenly remembered something else that happened in his dream. He tied on his shoes and walked down the empty hallway outside of hie room. Tails peeked into Neptune's room. She was fast asleep. Tails closed her door again and leaned against the hallway wall.

"I kept my promise." As soon as he said it, Tails's memories of his dream vanished. He wondered why he was standing outside of Neptune's room. Tails strained to remember what he had just said, for he was sure he said something. It was all gone though.

"It's all in the Past now."

~~~~~

Okay? First Book. Yay. Can you say Holy Shat? ^.^
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=]

[CrossFusionStarman]

Wow. Cyclone, your fics are amazing. Seriously, I can't find anything wrong with them. Great job!
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EXEHQ. Click now, I demand it.

NT Champions. Click!

SERAS VICTORIA OWNS MY SOUL

[Cyclone EXE]

Meh...may as well post the second and third books while I'm at it. The story will resume after this...promise.

~~~~~

~*~*~*Past, Present, and Future: The Return of Darkness*~*~*~
~*~ AA/R ~*~ 3PP ~*~ PG-13 ~*~

Chapter 1

The air was as crisp as the brown autumn leaves that Tails walked on as he trudged back to his lab. He carried a brown paper bag full of little things that he was going to use for his latest project. Tails slowed as he neared the lab so he wouldn't attract anyone's attention when he stepped onto their property.

Once into the house, Tails shut the door silently and crept up the stairs. He peeked into the living room and saw everyone crowded around the living room TV watching a program. Smiling to himself, Tails flew up to the top floor and into his bedroom.

With the door shut and his light-weight red coat hung in his closet, Tails poured the contents of his bag onto his bed. Inside was a small bag of clear crystals and a roll of gold wire. Tails got to work. He wanted to make neptune the perfect gift for her Fourteenth Birthday.

First he sorted out the crystals by size; smallest in one pile, largest in another. The largest crystal was the size of Tails's thumb. After that was done Tails cut a bit of the wire and bent it into the perfect heart shape he wanted, no bigger then his gloved palm and with two perfect humps the same exact size.

Tails wove a backing onto the heart-shaped wire and started to arrange the crystals in a pattern on the frame. He carefully glued each piece in place. Finally, Tails reached over and took out of his dresser drawer a beautiful blue stone.

Tails held the stone up to the afternoon sunlight pouring through his window to admire it. The smooth, deep ocean colored surface glittered and made the room shine with a hint of blue. Tails carefully placed it in the middle of the heart and glued it in place with a dot of superglue.

After weaving a long piece of string in through the top of the heart, Tails set it on his dresser and stood back, inspecting his work.

The whole necklace sparkled and shone gleefully and the room looked like it had blue fireflys flitting around by the walls. There was a sudden knock on the door. Neptune's voice came from the other end.

"Hey, Tails, can i come in? I wanna talk to you." Tails hurried to gently put the necklace into his drawer.

"Uhh...hold on..." He closed the door and shoved the empty bag under his bed. He went over the the door and pulled it open. Neptune, who was standing looking at the colorful paintings in the hallway, looked up at Tails with her lovely pink eyes and smiled.

"Hey, what were you doing?"

"Oh...nothing," Tails repilied, standing back so she could come in. "What's up?"

"I was just making sure you were back. I didn't hear you come up and was...oh nevermind. Wanna go for a walk? It's a nice day." She walked over to the window and looked out. Tails shrugged.

"Sure, I'll go for a walk. Lemmie get my coat." While Tails's head was in the closet, a glitter by the bed caught Neptune's eye. She leaned down and picked up a small crystal that had somehow escaped the necklace. Smiling, she put it in her coat pocket. Tails pulled on his coat and followed Neptune out his bedroom door, which he closed behind him.

Once downstairs, the two foxes crept outside, not wanting the others to know that they were leaving together. Tails held the door for neptune and they disappeared outside into the cool afternoon.

A few hours had soon passed and it was starting to get darker, but Neptune and Tails were so deep into their conversation they didn't notice. The forest had gotten pretty thick around the two foxes, but they had gone this far before and didn't think anything of it.

"Maybe we should turn back now," Neptune said after they had just finished with talking about recent dreams. Tails nodded. They turned around and headed back home. As they were walking, the dream Tails had forgotten came back to him in vivid detail.

"Hey, I have another dream. I just remembered," he told Neptune. She grinned and put her hands behind her head as they walked.

"Let's hear it then," she replied eagerly. Tails took in a breath.

"It's pretty sad though..." Neptune kept insisting that it couldn't be too horrible, and Tails began. By the time he had gotten to the part where Mercury was remaking the lab, they were at the house. It was dark and there was no activity inside.

"Looks like we missed dinner," Neptune whispered. She went into the kitchen and grabbed two apples. Tails shook his head. He wasn't hungry. For some reason there was a hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach that he hadn't felt before, yet it was sickeningly familiar.

Once upstairs, tails turned to go into his room, bidding Neptune good night. She stopped him for a second.

"Hey Tails...your dream. It sounds familiar. Have you told me before?" Tails shook his head.

"No I had forgotten it until just then in the forest."

"That's kinda weird. Well, it was just a dream. Are you worried about something?"

"I dunno. I have this weird feeling. It's like...it's hard to explain." Neptune's pink eyes were big in the dark hallway and glowed with excitement.

"Think it'll happen?" Tails thought for a second.

"I'm...I'm not sure."

"I hope it doesn't. I wouldn't like it at all if you left." Neptune walked to her bedroom door and waved to Tails, who absentmindedly returned the gesture. After the girl fox's door closed, Tails remained standing there. He closed his eyes and could see the hedgehog...with the glowing yellow eyes...the billowing cape. He shook his head clear.

It was just a dream.

Somewhere not too far away, Mercury the Hedgehog looked out over the city that he had so long ago distroyed. It had been two years since his last attempt...but this time he was ready with a plan that wouldn't fail.

~*~*~*~

Chapter 2

The next morning Tails woke with a start when Neptune jumped on his bed at 7:00AM.

"C'mon Tails! Get up it's my birthday!! Get up!" When Tails groaned and pulled his sheets over his head, Neptune tugged on one of his bushy tails. "C'mon lazy bum," she giggled. Cream appeared in the doorway.

"Can't get him up?" She smiled. Cream was 10 now and had matured quite a bit. She had a secret crush on Tails, although she was still too shy to tell anyone about it except for Cheese. Cream no longer carried the Chao around with her, so Cheese stayed in Cream's Chao Garden with his own kind.

Neptune sighed and shrugged. She grinned suddenly and leaned close to one of Tails's ears that was sticking out from under the blankets.

"There's gonna be cake." The ear twitched. "Chocolate cake with raspberry filling." Tails slid the sheets down a bit. "And pizza. Ice cream too." Cream began to giggle as Tails's ears twitched each time a new food was mentioned. He sat up and Neptune slid back to the foot of the bed, grinning.

"I guess I could get up." He sighed. Neptune and Cream both walked out of his room, giggling. Tails jumped out of bed as soon as their voices died out. He peeked out to see if they were gone and closed the door.

Tails tied on his red and white shoes after putting on a pair of white socks. He went over to his dresser and pulled out the heart. he didn't notice the one daimond missing from the right corner.

After the necklace was all wrapped, Tails went downstairs. he his the present in his tails, thinking that he would get Neptune alone before giving it to her. The kitchen was decorated a bit with pink crepe paper and there was a chocolate raspberry-filled cake on the table. Tails's mouth watered. Neptune bounced up to Tails, her face flushed with excitement. She insisted that he sit next to her.

When they had sung Happy Birthday and the food had been eaten, Midinght, Amy, and Cream started to clean the kitchen. They shooed the boys and Neptune out into the living room, insisting that the girls should clean and not the Birthday Girl or the boys. Sonic and Cheeks sat and started to play video games after the sliding doors to the kitchen were closed in their faces.

"Wanna go for a walk," Tails asked Neptune. She nodded happily. The two foxes grabbed their coats and started out into the cool afternoon air. There was already a scent of winter in the air and the wind felt colder then the day before.

Once into the forest, Tails stopped Neptune. She stared up at him with curipus eyes as he looked around to make sure no one was there.

"Here this is for you..," he mumbled, embarrassed. Neptune's eyes widened as he pulled out the box. "Happy Birthday..." Neptune took out the heart and the sun made the leaves around her sparkle and shimmer like little daimonds.

"Oh...it's so beautiful! Where's you get it?" Her eyes shifted to Tails's. He looked away.

"I er...I made it." Secretly Neptune pulled the piece of daimond out of her pocket and matched it up with the tiny hole in the necklace. Tails didn't have to know that she had a bit of an idea of what he had gotten her.

Tails took the necklace and slid it around Neptune's neck. She sighed and gave him a hug.

"Thanks...this is the best birthday ever."

~*~*~*~

Chapter 3

That night, everyone was in the living room watching TV and feeling bored. It had been months since Eggman's last plan and they wanted action. Sonic was especially restless and he kept pacing the room.

Amy switched from cartoons to the news to see if there was anything going on. There was a news lady talking in front of a screen flashing pictures of distroyed homes and flooded streets.

"The ocean has been acting really strangely lately and there have been a high number of tsunamis and earthquakes. Officials believe that it has something to do with…" The reporter talked with a person for a second. "A what? A large aircraft came out of the ocean?" Sonic, who was playing with his shoelace, looked up. Everyone else in the room sat silently. The screen flickered to a large ship flying over the ocean. And the ship had Eggman’s symbol on the wings.

The sun had been up for a couple of hours, and Tails was prepping the Tornado for flight. They had all decided to wait until the next day to fight Eggman so that they would be able to plan. Neptune was stretching her arms and legs and practicing some karate moves. She was eager to go and fight Eggman again, for she secretly wanted to impress Tails after getting her present from him for her birthday. Neptune stopped and sniffed the air.

"There's something up with the ocean...I can feel it," she said casually.

“I feel the chaos Emeralds acting up,” replied Midnight. “They're really close.”

“Eggman must be using a few to power his ship,” said Cheeks. “But what worries me is that we don’t know where he found them.”

“Yeah, I dunno where they could have been,” agreed Midnight. She looked up at the clear blue sky. "He always seems to be one step ahead of us." Cheeks nodded as Amy and Cream came out of the house and started chatting with all of them.

"Where's Sonic," asked Amy. Everyone shrugged.

Sonic was at the edge of the forest near Tails's lab, looking out over the ocean. He could see the massive ship that Eggman was in slowly closing in on land. Sonic remembered the last time almost this exact thing happened…

It had been a cool, crisp day four years ago. Sonic, Amy, Cream, Cheese, Tails, Cheeks, and Midnight were all hanging out at Tails’s place, bored. Eggman hadn’t been seen anywhere for months, and they all wanted a bit of action. Suddenly, they all heard a noise above them. Running outside, they saw a huge ship, the Egg Carrier, heading toward the Mystic Ruins.

“Hey, guys, it looks like Egghead’s back,” smiled Sonic, stretching his legs. Cream frowned. She held Cheese close and looked at Sonic.

“Oh, no…now what’s he gonna do,” she said sadly. Tails put his arm around her and assured her that everything would work out.

“Sonic’ll take care of him, huh Sonic!” Sonic smiled and headed outside. He was off toward the Mystic Ruins in a puff of smoke.

As I remember, thought Sonic, Eggman somehow knew we were coming.

As Tails flew by in the Tornado, ready to shoot at Eggman, the ship fired a beam at him. Tails swerved out of the way just as the laser shot by. Sonic stopped running, shocked. How did Eggman know Tails was there? Tails flew by and Sonic jumped on.

“Hang on, Sonic,” called Tails as he dodged the attacks Eggman was firing at them. The Tornado’s guns managed to find one of Eggman’s engines and it exploded.
Meanwhile, Eggman had Neptune in a capsule holding her captive. She could see what Tails and Sonic were trying to do.

They don’t stand a chance.., she thought. Just then, Sonic jumped off of the Tornado and blasted through the glass that surrounded the bridge of the ship.

“What were you planning to do this time, Egghead,” taunted Sonic. Eggman smirked. He snapped his fingers and a robot took Neptune out of the capsule and pointed a gun at her. Neptune glared at Eggman and crossed her arms.

“Huh? Who’s that?” asked Sonic.

“She'll be dead if you don’t agree to stay out of my business, Sonic!” Eggman cackled. Neptune stood up.

“Ya know, you reaaally underestimate girls, dontcha fatty,” she retorted. Sonic laughed, pointing at Eggman.

“Haha, fatty? Good one, that’s great!” Eggman held up his fists.

“Enough!” He screamed. He pointed at Neptune. “Finish her, E-109!” The robot started to shoot at Neptune but she jumped out of the broken window, pushing Sonic down. The bullets raced over their heads. “Stop wasting bullets!!” they heard Eggman yell. Suddenly, the firing stopped.

“C’mon,” said Neptune, and they both stood up and bolted for the edge of the ship. Sonic jumped off the Egg Carrier, onto the Tornado. Neptune, however, stayed and faced Eggman’s robot.

“Whaddya think you’re doin?” yelled Sonic. Neptune looked back at the Tornado and smiled her thanks. She then turned and ran toward the robot.

Neptune raced toward the robot, and it stood there looking confused. She tackled it and started to pull off it’s parts. The robot stood up and started to run around, missing one arm and it’s head. Neptune grabbed it’s gun and quickly re-programmed it to do what she wanted. She pointed it at the main engines of the massive ship, and they exploded. Eggman got into his mini-ship and got away. Neptune heard a whistle and saw the plane coming toward her. She ran and lept onto the top. They flew away just as the massive ship became a fireball in the sky.

Sonic looked back in the direction of the lab and sighed, the memory melting away. Tails did have a bit of a crush on Cream, but now it was obvious that he liked Neptune. Sonic had never seen them apart, only for a few minutes at a time.

“Aaw, well. I’ll never understand girls or love,” shrugged Sonic. He turned and headed back to Tails’s lab to see if they were ready to go. The plan was, once again, to attack Eggman while he least expected it, so he wouldn’t be ready with a counter attack. But things don’t always work out as planned.

~*~*~*~


Chapter 4

Tails, Sonic, Midnight, and Cheeks climbed into the Tornado. Tails fired up the engines and the plane began to move. Neptune jumped on top of the plane just as it sped up and lifted off. Halfway there, Tails went faster, using some of the Chaos Emerald they had put into the plane for power. Neptune stood against the wind, focusing on the ocean, which they were now over. Eggman’s ship was even bigger then they had all thought...it was two times the size of the Egg Carrier.

Eggman watched them approach with a smirk on his face. A black fox with jagged green markings stood by his side. He held a green Chaos Emerald. As Tails maneuvered the tornado in closer so he could fire on the ship, Eggman gave the fox orders.

“So, they think they can win? We’ll see! Now, Blade, show them our true power!” The fox took the Chaos Emerald and held it above his head. There was a flash of light on the Tornado, and Midnight was transported into the ship.

“Huh? What happened?” said Cheeks. Tails shook his head.

“Dunno…some kind of Chaos Control, only more advanced, I think.”

“Whaddya think Midnight?” asked Cheeks. He looked back. “OMG Sonic, Midnight’s gone!!!” cried Cheeks.

“…Looks like Eggman has a new weapon of some sort…”

“This isn’t the time to be amazed, Sonic!! What about Midnight!?!”

“Relax, Cheeks, she’s okay!” Sonic looked toward the ship. He hoped she was okay.

Midnight looked around. Eggman got up out of his chair, and she glared at him.

“Eggman, what have you done this time?” she said angrily.

“You always jump to conclusions. What in the world would I do? I’ve just built a ship. My masterpiece, the Egg Buster! Isn’t it okay to go for joy rides?” asked Eggman innocently.

“Hah! Yeah, right. Don’t give me that. And…” Midnight looked at the fox.

“This is Blade, my grandfather’s ultimate creation!” replied Eggman, beaming. He is faster than Sonic, more powerful than Knuckles, and far more experienced with Chaos Emeralds than Shadow! He is the Ultimate Life Form!”

“Yeah, right Eggman. Shadow and I are the Ultimate Life Forms, and no one is more experienced with the Chaos Emeralds than me. I’ll prove it!!!” cried Midnight angrily. She pulled out her Chaos Emerald and shot a beam of light out at Blade. He dodged it and it blasted a hole in the ship.

“Aaargh, my new ship!! Get her for that!” Eggman yelled. Sonic, Tails, Neptune, and Cheeks saw the hole in the side of the ship and smoke rising from it. Two figures flew out of the hole and started sending beams of light at each other from their hands. Cheeks unstrapped and opened the roof above him.

“Cheeks, stop it!” yelled Tails. Cheeks was about to jump off the plane when Neptune grabbed his tail.

“Lemmie go!!”

“Stay in the plane! Midnight can take care of herself!” she yelled over the roar of the Tornado’s engines. Just then, a blast of light came right at the plane. Tails swerved sharply and Cheeks almost fell off. “See, it’s dangerous!” Neptune reasoned. Cheeks glared at her.

"Then how can you saty up here," he retorted. Neptuns slapped him.

"There's no where in the plane I would sit!! Someone has to stay up here!!" Cheeks sighed, annoyed, but nodded and sat back down, rubbing his cheek that stung from the slap.

The battle outside between Midnight and Blade was heating up, but, as Tails came by and shot at Blade with the Tornado, Blade took enough time to shoot a green blast of energy at the passing plane.

“Neptune, I can’t shake it! It’s like a homing missile!!” cried Tails. Neptune turned around and her eyes got big. The beam of light was following their every move.

Neptune jumped up onto the tail of the airplane and saw the beam of light coming closer. She pointed at the ocean and made a sharp gesture upwards. A wall of water rose up and the beam dissolved. Neptune sighed with relief and gave a thumbs-up sign to Tails, who smiled and continued to pilot the plane.

Meanwhile, Midnight and Blade were still viciously fighting over the ocean. They flew over the ship and collapsed on the top, panting. Blade smiled. Midnight shivered when she saw. Wasn’t she winning?

“I congratulate you,” said Blade, still smiling. “No one I have met has been able to match my skills as closely as you.” He stood up and pointed the Chaos Emerald he had at her. "But, that’s all about to end!!" The Emerald powered up and a large beam of light shot at Midnight. Sonic jumped out of the Tornado and pushed Midnight out of the way just before the beam hit the ship where she was standing. Midnight stood up and nodded her thanks. Sonic gave her a thumbs-up, then turned to Blade.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” said Sonic. Blade blew smoke off of his Chaos Emerald and looked Sonic over. “You working for Eggman? How much does he pay?” Blade glared at Sonic and crossed his arms.

“So you are Sonic the Hedgehog…I suppose you think you can stop me? Foolish. No one will stop me from reaching my goal!”


“And that is, what, flying over the ocean in a huge ship with Eggman?” Sonic mocked. “It looks like you need a new goal, pal…”

“Enough!” cried Blade. I don’t have time to chat. Now, step aside or I will destroy you along with this pathetic world!” Sonic shrugged.

“Whatever, buddy.” He replied. Blade’s red eyes flashed with anger and he held out the Chaos Emerald. At that moment, Tails came by in his plane and shot at Blade. He jumped swiftly out of the way and watched the plane for a moment. He then smiled and held up the Emerald. There was a flash of light and Tails appeared by Blade. The Tornado began to nose-dive toward the sea.

Cheeks saw Tails was gone and immediately climbed into the pilot seat. He pulled up and the Tornado went straight again. Neptune, who was hanging onto the tail of the plane, pulled herself back onto the plane and looked down at the huge fortress. Blade shot Tails with the Chaos Emerald. Neptune grimaced.

“Give up, Sonic!” laughed Eggman. “Blade will not lose!”

“Leave, or the fox won’t live,” smirked Blade, holding the unconscious Tails over the side of the ship. Neptune saw what was happening. Her eyes filled with tears.

“...Tails...” She touched the heart necklace around her neck. Suddenly her sorrow was replaced with a little anger. She jumped off the plane and started to fly at Blade.

“Quit it, Blade!” said Midnight. “You can’t tell us what to do!!!”

“Yeah, put him down!!” Sonic got into his fighting stance. “Or else!” Blade laughed. His Chaos Emerald sparkled in the sun.

“Or else what?” he mocked.

“Or else this!” Midnight started toward him, ready to punch him in the face. Sonic jumped in front of her.

“Hey, listen! You can’t do that to Tails!” Midnight breathed air in heavily and let it out with a puff. Suddenly a ball of light-blue fur rammed into Blade. He was knocked off guard for a moment, but kept Tails over the edge. He grinned at Neptune, who was standing in front of him fuming.

“Let him go...put him on the ship.” Neptune said, her hands formed into fists. Blade smirked, his eyes gleaming.

“How about I just let him go instead?” His grip loosened on the orange fox and Tails fell into the ocean.

Back at Tails’ lab, Cream and Amy were watching the whole battle on TV. Cream started sobbing.

“Oh my gosh...how could anyone do that to Tails?”

“Cream, don’t cry…” Amy saw Neptune dive in after Tails. “What’s she doing? Is she crazy?!? Soooniccc, why don’t you do something!!!” Amy wailed.

Sonic, Midnight, and Cheeks watched the ocean intently. The water, however, was still.

~*~*~*~

Chapter 5

“Bow down to our massive power!!” Eggman cackled triumphantly. Just then, there was a shattering of glass behind him. He spun around and saw Neptune standing there. She was dripping wet and carrying Tails. “Wh-what? Tha…that’s impossible! You’re supposed to be dead!” Eggman stammered.

“Yeah? Well you’re supposed to be somewhere else, FAR, FAR AWAY!!!” Neptune screamed in Eggman’s face. She had set Tails down and punched Eggman through the window that looked out over the place where Sonic, Blade, and Midnight stood before the Dr. even knew what hit him. Eggman fell to the ground and stood up angrily. Neptune picked up Tails, jumped down, and placed the other fox in a corner so that he wouldn't get hurt. She then turned and faced Blade.

Neptune cracked her knuckles and glared at Blade and Eggman. Sonic and Midnight looked at each other nervously and stepped back. They had never seen Neptune like this before. The sky suddenly turned black and it started to rain. The ocean waves picked up and, although the ship was high up in the air, splashed over the ship. Eggman whispered to Blade and ran to his lab on the massive ship. Neptune started after him, but Blade blocked her way.

“You’ve gone waaay too far, fox boy,” growled Neptune. She faintly remembered feeling this angry somewhere else before... Her tails twitched as Blade smiled, his eyes blazing.

“You will never stop me,” he replied confidently. Neptune glanced at the Chaos Emerald in his hand and smirked. A streak of lightning lit up her face, making her eyes seem to glow. She pounced on Blade, who wasn’t expecting it. They wrestled on the slippery ship.

Amy and Cream were watching in Tails’s lab as Neptune grabbed the Chaos Emerald out of Blade’s hands and tossed it to Sonic. Sonic then grabbed Midnight and jumped onto the Tornado, which Cheeks flew by them. Blade threw Neptune off of him with a cry of rage and she hit the ship hard. Blade loomed over Neptune as the rain stopped and the ocean calmed down.

Neptune clutched her wrist, which was broken from the impact of her fall. She glared at Blade. He picked her up by the collar of her dress and was about to throw her over the ship when Tails jumped on his back, knocking him down.

Sonic watched as Tails pulled on Blade’s ears. Neptune stood up and kicked him in the face. Blade threw Tails off of his back, and Tails landed on his feet.

“Not so tough without your Emerald, are ya?” He asked Blade. Blade’s eyes flashed and he looked past Neptune, who was sitting on the ground. The ship was still over the ocean, but a small strip of land was visible in the distance.

Eggman flew by suddenly in his mini-ship. Blade jumped over Neptune and onto the back of the ship.

“So long, losers,” he called, laughing. Neptune pulled Tails to the edge of the ship with her good hand, and, as Cheeks flew the Tornado by, they jumped on.

“Where to?” asked Cheeks. “Are we gonna follow them?”

“We can’t,” replied Neptune, grimacing from the pain in her wrist. “We need to destroy the ship without causing a massive explosion. I have an idea too.”

“I think I see what your plan is” replied Tails, glancing at Neptune’s wrist. “We have to drown the ship in the ocean.”

“Yeah that's our best chance,” nodded Neptune.

“But...won't that cause a huge tidal wave??” asked Midnight. Everyone looked at Neptune.

"I could stop the tidal wave...at least I could try."

"But wasn't it a tidal wave that-OW!" Midnight elbowed Cheeks hard in the side. Neptune looked at her shoes.

"Maybe we shouldn't try to do it...it was a stupid plan..." Tails shook his head.

"No I think it'll work." Neptune looked at the ocean. Everyone was staring at her, nodding. Midnight elbowed Cheeks again and he smiled, rubbing his arm. Neptune smiled nervously.

"Okay I'll do it." Meanwhile Mercury was not too far away, watching the whole thing. He started to churn up the ocean, making waves that were small at first, but then grew to fifty stories high. He sent one toward the ship and the Tornado.

Neptune turned around and saw the massive wave coming toward them.

"Hey, Tails, Fly up!!"

"Huh?"

"Don't talk, just do as I say!!!!!!!!" Tails flew the Tornado up just in time for the wave to scrape the right wing. Pieces of the Tornado's wing crumbled into the wave, and, when the wall of water had passed, the ship was no where in sight. Neptune turned to watch the wave, which was barreling toward land. She looked toward the middle of the ocean.

Neptune's eyes zoomed toward a figure floating in the sky, watching them. He looked strangely familiar... Neptune shook her head clear, jumped off the plane, and started to fly full speed at the wave. She knew what she had to do.

~*~*~*~

Chapter 6

Tails started to fly the Tornado after Neptune, but something made him turn and head for the open ocean. Tails felt a familiar sick feeling in the pit of his stomach as the Tornade went fartheer and farther from land.

"What are you doing, Tails," Sonic asked. Tails shook his head.

"I'm...I'm not sure." Mercury could see the Tornado coming closer and he planned his attack on the small plane. First, though, he needed a second Chaos Emerald.

Neptune had gotten in front of the tsunami. She held out her hands and a soft blue light started to shimmer from her palms. The light grew to an intense blue orb that she threw at the oncoming wave.

The wave was about ten times larger then the orb, but, when the light hit the water, the soft glow was spread throughout the whole wall. The water slowly dissipated so that by the time it hit the beach of Station square it was only small laps of waves like always. Neptune hovered in the air panting.

"Woah." She turned and looked toward the Tornado. It was only a speck in the distance. Neptune got a sudden sick feeling in the pit of her stomach and started toward the plane faster then she had ever flown before, having a feeling that something bad was about to happen.

Mercury waited until the Tornado was close and then held up his Chaos Emerald. The plane and the hedgehog disappeared in a flash of light.

Knuckles was busy polishing the Master Emerald when he heard a rustling in the bushes not too far away. Looking up, he saw Neptune come rushing out of the forest toward him. Knuckles stopped polishing and walked down to the ground casually.

"Knuckles we have gotta get out of here," Neptune panted. Knuckles looked confused.

"What are you talking about? I'm not going anywhere." Neptune sighed, annoyed by his stubborness.

"Trust me. You don't wanna stay here! Something bad's going to happen." Knuckles looked over his shoulder at the Master Emerald. It had begun to flash violently, sending waves of light over the forest area so bright that Knuckles and Neptune had to shield their eyes.

"What's going on," Knuckles said. Neptune grabbed his red Chaos Emerald. "Hey, give that back now!" Knuckles tried to grab it back but Neptune dodged his hand.

"We can't let Mercury get this." As soon as she said the name, Neptune wondered who Mercury was. The name sounded horrifyingly familiar...like in... "Tails's dream," Neptune whispered.

"What are you talking about?" Knuckles sounded annoyed and impatient. The Master Emerald started to glow brighter and started to flicker more rapidly.

Memory struck Neptune again, again, again. Memories that she never knew she had flashed through her mind. Tails disappearing...growing up alone...Mercury...the darkness...then...Neptune snapped back to reality. She was crying silently.

"Huh? Sorry...what did I do," Knuckles said. "Don't cry..." Neptune shook her head.

"You didn't do anything." The same thing that happened to Neptune began for Tails. He sat up, alarmed. He was in the middle of a forest. A forest? Was he alone again? Panic started to take Tails over until he saw Cheeks lying on the ground not too far away. the tornado was nowhere in sight.

Tails crawled over to Cheeks and shook him. The squirrell sat up and shook his head clear. He looked around and got up. Tails stood up as well.

"Where are we," Cheeks asked, puzzled. Midnight came rushing out of the trees at them. She gave Cheeks a hug. Sonic appeared behind Midnight.

"What happened," Tails said. Sonic shrugged. Tails's eyes got big. "Hey where's Neptune?" Neptune and Knuckles came out of the trees behind Tails and Cheeks. Neptune ran to hug Tails and Knuckles looked back to where the Master Emerald was still blinking.

Suddenly everything stopped. The sounds of animals in the forest around the group ceased. the Master Emerald stopped blinking. The wind died out. There was nothing but silence. Everyone shivered as an alarmingly chill wind rose out of the silence and blew around them.

"Did you all think it was over?" A cold voice echoed through the treetops. The day got rapidly darker and a mist seemed to appear out of thin air and weave itself through the branches of the trees. Midnight held onto Cheeks tighter and Neptune backed up a bit closer to Tails. Only Tails and Neptune knew what was about to happen.

Mercury came floating slowly through the trees. All of the light that was in the area was gone, and no one could see anything but the shape of the hedgehog through the mist. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Cheeks got ready to defend the girls if they had to.

"Who's there," called Knuckles. "Show yourself coward!"

"Coward?" Mercury's yellow eyes flashed with anger and amusement. "We'll see who the real coward is." The hedgehog landed on the ground and stepped through a wall of misty fog.

"I thought I told you to stay out," Tails said angrily. Mercury looked at him gleefully.

"You don't really think that I keep my promises, do you?" He smirked and raised his clear blue Chaos Emerald. Neptune felt the red Emerald start to shudder in her hands. It tried to go toward Mercury. When the hedgehog saw that Neptune was holding what he wanted, he started toward her. Tails stepped in front of him.

"Stay away," he growled. Sonic, Cheeks, Knuckles, and Midnight were clearly very shocked. They stood rooted to the spot like statues made of stone. Mercury frowned, but his eyes held his true feelings...pure enjoyment of playing with his prey.

"Fine. Since you won't give it to me...we'll see how you like it when I take it from you." Before Mercury could make a move, Tails spun around and touched the red Chaos Emerald. He and Neptune looked at each other as they disappeared in a bright flash of light. Mercury's cry of rage could be heard all throughout the forest that night.

~*~*~*~

Chapter 7

Neptune opened her eyes and sat up groggily. What happened? She glanced around at her surroundings. Looking to the right, Neptune could see Tails sprawled out on the ground. He looked different though. His tails were bushier and he had a dark cape with a hood clasped around his neck. Neptune looked at her clothes and found that they had changed from the karate band, short sleeveless dress, and tennis shoes to a headband, longer dress with sleeves halfway down her arms, and boots.

Neptune crawled over to Tails and shook him gently. His eyes opened and he sat up slowly. Tails looked at Neptune and blinked. She looked familiar but different at the same time. Neptune waved a hand in front of Tails's face.

"Err...Tails..."

"Wha..?"

"Tails where are we?" Tails looked up into the thick air.

"Dunno...hold on." He spun his tails around and lifted off the ground. Seconds later Neptune appeared next to him, and they both looked out over the barren landscape. "This lookes unpleasently familiar," Tails mumbled. The two foxes landed once again.

A hooded and cloaked figure came out of the trees. Tails smiled as Star put down her hood. She didn't return the gesture. Her dark eyes seemed darker then before, and her face was grave...almost angry.

"Star...so I'm back in your world again." The bunny shook her head.

"This is your world Tails." Neptune eyed Star with suspicion. Tails took her hand and whispered to her.

"It's ok, she helped me before." He turned back to his old friend. "Are we in the future, after we were transported? How long ago was that?"

"So...you're Neptune," Star stated after a long pause. Neptune looked up at Tails. "I've heard a lot about you...Tails mentioned you quite a bit." Tails blushed as he felt Neptune's gaze and cleared his throat nervously. "Oh...right. Yes...you are in the future. Two years in the future, as a matter of fact. At least it's not six again. Tails looekd at her as if to ask a question, but he kept quiet. Yes, you are both sixteen again. That's a good age if you ask me.

"Of course the same thing that happened last time isn't going to happen again. It's only natural that the future be different this time around. Mercury hasn't had as much time to gather power so he may be easier to beat. I don't know that as a fact, though, so you'll still have to watch your backs. Don't let your guard down!

"You'll be able to get help, Tails. None of the others have been killed...yet. It's only a matter of time so don't delay in finding them. Do you understand?" Tails nodded and Neptune gazed at him admiringly. "Good. And you..." Neptune looked at the rabbit.

"You have always followed your heart. This is one of those times when it is a strength, not a weakness. Use that strength and help Tails. Teach him how to follow his heart. I've tried, but maybe he'll listen to you better then me." She smiled sadly. "What is it Tails?"

"How did Mercury come back?" The bunny was silent for a while, like she had used up all of her words in the last five minutes of talking. She finally opened her mouth to speak.

"We never caught him. He was too powerful still...but we're working on a way to prevent that from going wrong this time."

"We...?" Neptune whispered.

"Good luck." Star vanished into thin air. The mist that she had been keeping away with her presence returned along with a blast of cool winter air. Tails put his hood up and flew up above the trees. Neptune followed and they both headed off to get help.

~*~*~*~


Chapter 8

"So...uhh where are we Tails?" Neptune and Tails had stopped for a rest in the middle of a forest. Tails looked around.

"Looks like we're still in the Mystic Ruins." He flew up to a branch for a better look. "Yeah, I can see the Temple from here," he called down. A red glimmer caught his eye and Tails pulled two apples from the tree. He tossed a ripe fruit to Neptune and bit into the other.

"Wonder...hey let's see if Knuckles is around," Neptune said, climbing up to sit on the branch next to Tails. He tossed the apple core down to the ground and sighed.

"I guess we could see if he's around. Star did say to get help so it would be easier to beat Mercury." Neptune nodded.

"How about I go to your place and see if Sonic and the others are there while you look for Knuckles?" Neptune's face was bright but Tails hesitated. "Oh c'mon nothing's gonna happen."

"...Okay...but...I dunno."

"We're wasting time," Neptune said firmly. She put the apple in her pocket for later, stood up and began to spin her tails. She lifted off of the tree and hovered in the air in front of Tails. "I'll meet you back at the temple...okay?" Tails nodded reluctantly and Neptune flew off to find the others.

Neptune made it to the lab in about a half-hour. She crept up to the nearest window and peered through the dirty glass. Nothing was moving on the inside, there was only blackness and the silence of empty rooms.

The light blue fox pushed open the window noislessly and climbed through. She was pretty slender for her age and didn't have a problen making it to the other side. Neptune left the window open and unlocked the front door in case she needed to get out one way or the other quickly. She made her way into the living room.

Once her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, Neptune saw that hardly anything had changed. Everything was in the same spot and in the same condition except for some dust that had built up due to lack of cleaning. The drab carpet was worn more then before, though, so someone was living here and using the house.

Neptune's ears picked up the sounds of someone coming in through the front door. She hid behind a dried plant and waited.

"That's funny, I thought I'd locked it." Amy's voice came from in the foyer.

"Guess you didn't." Cream, Amy, and Sonic came into the living room. A light turned on overhead and Neptune crouched lower so she would stay in the shadows. It looked as though they had been out for a walk.

"So, Sonic, how have the...uhm the work meetings you've been going to been," Amy said softly.

"Not too good. Everyone's too afraid to make a real move. They think Mercury's gonna kill em."

"Well he will kill them if nothing's done!"

"Yeah but the Present is more important to the people in the...at my work then the Future," Sonic replied.

So, Sonic's part of a resistance, thought Neptune. We might be able to get a lot of help from them. Neptune rethought what Sonic had said. Oh...they're afraid? Humans...they're afraid of everything...

"-e'd help them," Cream protested. Neptune didn't catch what she had said before. She forced her thoughts back on the conversation happening in the room.

"Well we don't know if Tails would help because he's not here," Sonic said.

Ha he assumes too much...

"The point is this: we're gonna break up the...staff...if we don't get more support. What's the point if no one's gonna do anything but sit around and talk about doing what's never going to be done?" Sonic sighed.

"You've got my support..," Neptune muttered. "Tails's too, for that matter. He's more eager to dive right in and have a shot at Mercury then anyone." Sonic looked over at the spot where Neptune was crouching, hidden in the shadows. Neptune froze.

"What is is Sonic?"

"I think I know why the door was unlocked." Neptune knew that it was now or never to show herself. She slowly stood up and stepped into the middle of the room.

Cream suddenly looked as though she had just had the most wonderful day ever. Amy's face was full of shock and disbelief. Sonic just smiled. Neptune got a good look at all of them, surprised most at how much Cream had grown.

Cream's ears were longer and her dress replaced with a red and yellow top and skirt. She had on a headband to keep her ears from getting in her face and her shoes had heels on them. Her eyes were sparkling with relief and joy. Amy and Sonic looked about the same, only they were a bit taller and their spikes were longer and darker.

"Where's Tails," Cream asked.

"He's getting help."

"Help?" Sonic's eyes glittered. "Are you gonna try to take out Mercury?'

"That's the plan for now, but we need more people to make this work. It'll be easier if we all team up against him." Neptune smiled.

"Awesome. I know a lot of people who have been wanting to do something about this ever since it started." He grinned. "You know most of them."

"Tails is looking for Knuckles right now in the Mystic Ruins."

"Yup that's where he is. There are about five of us who really want to fight."

"And the others are...?" Neptune looked at Sonic expectantly.

"Well, there's me, Knuckles, Rouge, Cheeks, and, you'll never believe this, Blade."

"Blade? You're kidding." Neptune looked at all three of them like they were crazy. Amy and Cream shrugged.

"He's...changed or something," Amy said, her voice shaky. She was still trying to get over her surprise and shock.

"I don't trust him either, but the more prople willing to help the better," Sonic said gravely, his smile gone. Neptune nodded. She couldn't argue with Sonic when he was right. "I'll go get the others and meet you-"

"By the Temple in the Ruins." Neptune smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, but that's where I promised to meet Tails when I had gotten help." Sonic nodded.

"The Temple it is then."

Meanwhile, Tails was trying his best to persuade Knuckles to cooperate.

"Ugh, Knuckles, it's really me!"

"No it can't be. you and Neptune were transported somewhere-"

"By Chaos Control two years ago. I know!!" Tails took a deep breath. "Ya know, this is probably really hard to believe, but there's something you have gotta know." He looked at Knuckles seriously. The echidna's quills had gotten longer and were a deep red color. Knuckles crossed his arms defiantly.

"That was all in the Past. This is the Present. We have gotta do something now before it's too late for the Future...before Mercury gets too powerful. If we wait much longer, he may get even more powerful then last time."

"Last time?"

"Don't ask right now. That's all in the Past!! Do what's right now for the Future. Trust me like you once did." Knuckles looked at the ground. He let out an annoyed sigh.

"Fine. I'll help."

~*~*~*~

Chapter 9

By the time Tails and Knuckles got to the Temple, Sonic and the others had been waiting for a half-hour. Sonic and Tails shook hands.

"It's really good to see ya Tails."

"Same." Tails looked around. He smiled at Rouge and Cheeks. When his gaze fell opn Blade, Tails's eyes hardened with anger.

"What is he doing here," Tails growled. Sonic grabbed Tails's arm to restrain him.

"He's helping. Don't worry he's not an enemy anymore...we all want one thing."

"He's not good...he'll never be good!!!" Blade's eyes narrowed. Sonic slapped Tails in the face.

"Hey, we all want Mercury gone. That makes us on the same side!!" Tails jerked his arm away from Sonic's grasp and rubbed his stinging cheek. "Let's not start something ok?" Knuckles crossed his arms.

"So...what are we gonna do," he inquired casually.

"I'm not sure really. I guess we'll just have to do what we have to when we have to," Tails replied with a shrug. Knuckles snorted.

"Yeah that's a great plan. 'Oh we'll just wait for him to attack us and if we get killed, oh well!!' Best plan we've had so far." Cheeks gave him a sharp look, his bright blue eyes clouded with seriousness.

"Knock it off." Knuckles glared at him.

"Make me." Cheeks and Knuckles clenched their fists and started toward each other but Sonic stepped between them.

"Hey guys we don't have time for this stuff. The world's Future depends on what we do now, in the Present." He stared at them both so seriously that he looked almost furious. Cheeks looked away and mumbled something. Knuckles just scowled.

"If he'll stop..." Knuckles broke off at Sonic's icy stare. Tails looked around.

"Erm...where's Neptune?" Blade shrugged. Rouge looked bored and she decided to answer.

"She went off to look for you. She was pretty worried when you weren't here waiting. I don't know why she isn't back yet." Rouge pushed her hair back from her face as she spoke.

"Oh crud...this could change things." Tails spun his tais around and lifted off of the ground. As he flew up to the top of the Temple, Blade talked to Sonic.

"Heh..don't blame him for not trusting me."

"He's just...I dunno don't pay attention to him. Lots of things changed while he was gone."

"Exactly. That's why I don't blame him," Blade insisted. He made sure to keep his red eyes clear and monotone while he thought what he really felt.

How did he get back again? Meh...it doesn't matter. As long as I get that red Chaos Emerald again I can finally do what I have wanted for so long. But where is it? I can't believe that he and that girl got away from me again! The first time was too many. But three each...that makes it a total of six times that I have been prevented from doing what I want. No longer. I won't fail...but I have to be careful around those foxes. Only they can see what I really am.

~*~*~*~

Chapter 10:

Tails stood atop the massive stone building, staring out over the misty landscape. There was no sign of Neptune anywhere. Tails could see the outline of a huge tower in the distance, but it was mostly hidden by black fog. He squinted at the large wavering shape, but it was soon totally obscured.

Blade told Sonic that he was going to go look for Neptune. Tails's ears twitched when he heard her name and he glanced down in time to see the green and black fox disappear into the forest nearby. Tails silently put up the hood to his cloak and followed. The fog had gotten so thick that Sonic, Rouge, Cheeks, and Knuckles didn't see the dark figure of Tails pass over their heads and disappear into the mass of trees.

Tails landed on a tree branch noiselessly and stared into the fog. He summoned a small light to clear the fog in the area and saw Blade below him. The fox took out a Chaos Emerald and muttered words that Tails didn't understand. Tails blinked. Neptune was standing in front of Blade, not moving.

Realizing that Blade was doing something with the Emerald to make Neptune unable to move, Tails threw all of his weight down onto the fox. The Chaos Emerald was knocked from his hand and Neptune, unbalanced, fell to the ground. Tails stood and kicked Blade, knocking him unconscience. The orange fox then went over to help Neptune.

"What about pudding?" Neptune sat up and shook her head clear. Tails didn't smile.

"You okay?" Neptune had reality hit her hard and she hugged Tails painfully hard. He tried not to choke.

"Gosh...I don't know...I'm glad you're okay," Neptune whispered. Tails gently unwrapped Neptune's arms and pushed her back into a sitting position. He glanced over at Blade. He was still unconscious...but something didn't feel right. Tails looked back at Neptune. Her eyes were fearful and uncertain. "You feel it too," she muttered.

There was a movement behind them. Tails whirled around and saw that the patch of grass where Blade had been was clear. Neptune stood up and looked around. Tails slowly got to his feet, listening very carefully for any noise that wasn’t natural for the area around them. The black and green fox’s voice came from above them.

“You have both meddled in my plans more then once.” His voice was cold as hard steel. Neptune shifted her shoulders uncomfortably as she saw flashes of her childhood blink across her mind. It was mostly images of the devastating tidal wave that Mercury had sent to destroy her kind…the only ones who could anticipate what he was going to do before he could do it. Neptune was the only one left.

“Tails, that’s not Blade.” Tails nodded.

“I know.” Tails’s eyes never left his opponent’s face. As he stared, the fox in front of his changed before his very eyes. The body glimmered and a long cape hid it’s arms, torso, and legs. The black fur on its head became tinted with red, and long jagged spikes grew. The ears shrunk, the fur around it’s mouth disappeared. In a matter of seconds Tails and Neptune found themselves face to face with Mercury the Hedgehog.

Mercury's eyes flashed and he held up his Chaos Emerald. Grinning, his right hand began to glow and a light blue orb started to form.

"Tails...don't look at the light. It stuns you," Neptune whispered. Tails nodded slightly and kept his eyes locked onto the hedgehog's. Mercury's grin faltered for a second when he saw that he wasn't going to win that easily. He quickly regained his composure and smiled menacingly.

"No matter." He dropped his hand and the glowing ceased. "There are many ways to finish my job...for good." Neptune shivered a bit, for the air had cooled off rapidly. A heavy fog circled down and it grew so thick and dark that Tails couldn't see his hand if he put it in front of his face. Neptune took his arm.

"Close your eyes. I can tell where he is." Tails obeyed. Neptune concentrated hard on the center of her mind, on the sliver of light that is always there to guide you through the darkest iof times. Tails could feel her anticipating Mercury's moves, and, by using his knoweledge from all of the years of training alone with Star, Tails made a picture of the hedgehog's outline in their minds.

They saw Mercury taking out the Chaos Emerald behind them, Tails whirling aeround, Mercury creating a copy of himself. The copy came up to Tails from behind. The shadowy outline of Tails is the minds of the two foxes evaporated into nothing. The vision ended. Neptune looked up at Tails, her eyes fearful. The orange fox thought of ways to prevent what they saw from happening. They heard Mercury's cold laugh ring out through the black fog.

"Do you think you can win? Do you really think that you have me figured out?" The fog suddenly cleared. "Think again." Hot rain began to fall in thick sheets around them.

~*~*~*~

Chapter 11:

In seconds Tails and Neptune were soaked through and through. Mercury remained abnormally dry as he hovered in the air above the two foxes, not making a move, taunting them with his hesitation to attack.

He's trying to get us to lower our guards.., Neptune thought. She could feel Tails beginning to slip into uncertatinty beside her. He was getting nervous. Neptune could feel the darkness in her soul start to grow, to spread. She fought to keep her mind clear.

Tails began to feel like something wasn't right, like there was something that wasn't happening that should be going on. He glanced at Neptune who was standing tall and rigid in the rain, her hair tossled and flattened to her forehead. Tails looked back at Mercury, his jaw set, fighting to clear his mind of the darkness that crept from the depths of his soul.

Mercury chuckled. It was indeed great fun to watch his enemies fight the cold darkness inside of them, but it was time to finish the job. He flicked his cloak open, revealing the hand that held the light blue Chaos Emerald.

Neptune took a step back as a bright flash of an image blinded her for a moment. She narrowed her eyes and held out her hands. Tails turned around, watching in awe as Neptune formed a great pink orb of light in her palms. When the orange fox turned, Mercury shot a great blue beam of energy at his back.

A bright pink burst of light countered the blast and sent it back at Mercury. He blocked the attack with his cape and absorbed it's energy. Tails froze, not knowing what to do. Neptune immediately started to glow a dull pink and she gathered up another attack. Mercury, seeing that she was out to distroy him, grinned as he held out the Chaos Emerald. A larger blue beam flowed from the jewel.

Neptune countered the attack and Mercury once again absorbed the power. He started to glow an ugly red color.

Crud...he's getting stronger with every attack I throw at him, Neptune realized. With Mercury's cruel laugh ringing in her ears, she flew up level with him. They started shooting beams of light rapidly at each other, some bouncing back down at Tails. He finally snapped to his senses and formed an orb of white light in his hands.

Tails and Neptune both shot their attacks at Mercury at the same time he realesed an immense red energy at them. The three lights formed together into a black one. There was a great shaking of the ir around them and it felt as though there wasn't any air pressure at all.

There was a great split forming in the air surrounding the orb of black light. Inside was an endless swirling mass of darkness. Things around the rip started to bend toward it, the trees straining to be freed from their roots. Tails grabbed Neptune's arm and pulled her down to the ground just as a massive rock sailed through the air and disappeared into the mass of blackness. Mercury smirked.

"This...this is where it all ends!" Mercury held up the Chaos Emerald. The rain had been sucked into the growing hole, all of the light was also gone. "All of the light in this world will be lost to me..." Neptune experimented. She conjured up a small orb of light. The massive force of the invisible energy that was pulling things into the darkness strengthened and Neptune started to be pulled rapidly into the center of the rip. Tails grabbed her dress collar.

"What the heck are you doing," he yelled over the deafening sound. The swirling vortex had begun to take the shape of a twister, the funnel inching closer and closer to the ground. Mercury held his glowing emerald, controlling what the mass of black wind would do next.

Neptune let the light go and the tight cord that was pulling her to the center of the mass slackened. Tails let go of her and slowly stood up. Neptune remained on the ground, watching him fearfully. Tails started toward Mercury, half warning, half pleading with him.

"Stop Mercury, you'll destroy everything on the planet!!" The hedgehog chuckled.

"As if I'd listen to you." The tornado got larger, the funnel finally touching down. The wind immediately picked up even more and the roaring got louder. Mercury flicked his wrist and the mass of swirling air headed toward Neptune. Tails whirled around and watched almost helplessly as Neptune got up shakily.

Neptune started to turn and get out of the way but she froze, the fear in her soul finally taking over. The massive cloud got closer and closer. Neptune felt something pushing her, herself falling, falling. Then there was massive black and silence.

~*~*~*~

Chapter 12:

Mercury reached down and picked something up off the ground. He ran his gloved finger along the muddy surface of the object, cleaning off the grime and revealing a red glimmer. The red Chaos Emerald. The hedgehog turned to look at Neptune. The light blue fox had gotten to her feet. She looked around, didn't see Tails, saw the Chaos Emerald in Mercury's hand. Mercury looked back at the shimmering surface of the emerald. He could feel his arm tingle with the power that it held.

The silence filled Neptune's ears, drowning out everything. She could only hear the faint drumming of her heart faintly in the distance. She looked to the spot where the tornado had touched down and could see that there was no grass left. It was all gone. Her sharp vision noticed a small crack in the earth below Mercury's feet. The crack, to her horror, began to slowly widen.

Mercury drew his cape around his body and rose into the air. He hovered there, watching the magma below the surface start to bubble up and over the edges of the crevesse. He narrowed his eyes, the sun's dim light casting a shadow over his face. Neptune looked up as the shadow of a massive black cloud crossed over her high above and blotted out the morning sun's golden rays.

"It's really a shame." Mercury's icy voice peirced Neptune's heart. "It's too bad your boyfriend isn't here to save you again." The hard, horrible truth sank into Neptune's soul. Tails was really gone...and this time there was no going back.

Funny...I'm hardly upset at all...it was like this was ment to happen. Neptune knew that she still felt that horrible emptyness in a part of her being, but it wasn't nearly as awful as before. Before... Mercury's confidence began to falter when Neptune's hard stare didn't change to one of horrified pleading.

"Tails isn't really gone..." Neptune's eyes shone like stars in the night sky. She took out of her pocket the heart shaped necklace that Tails had given to her two years before. The blue jewel still shimmered like the ocean waters and was bright as the morning sun. The magma flowing out of the large hole in the Earth's surface started toward Neptune slowly at first, but then picking up speed.

The necklace's light suddenly widened and grew to a blinding climax. A shape took form in front of Neptune, the necklace melting in her hands. Mercury felt a stab of terror grip his soul, and he knew that Neptune was right. Only she and Tails made him feel afraid...

As the light raced toward Mercury he shielded his eyes. The hedgehog held out the Chaos Emerald as if to try and stop the thing from coming nearer...then he was gone. The red Emerald fell to the ground, sank into the magma. The light swept over the magma bed and the boiling heat subsided, the molten heart of the Earth evaporated.

Neptune watched the wide rip close to nothing. The light landed, picked up the red Emerald. It turned to look at Neptune. Neptune looked away as the light form of Tails came to stand in front of her, scared that it was all just a wild fantasy and that he would soon leave again. He took her hand and gently pressed the Chaos Emerald into her palm. She looked up.

I know what I have to do... Tails smiled. The wind blew gently through the broken forest and the light melted into nothing. Neptune took the Chaos Emerald and held it up. She focused on the Past after all of this occured...the Past after the Present...the Future.

Neptune awoke and sat up. She looked to the left and saw Tails stretched out on the couch next to her, sleeping soundly. She remembered that they had been talking late into the night. Neptune touched her neck and felt the chain of the necklace that Tails had given her...the precious gift that she loved so much. Tails stirred and yawned.

"What time is it," Tails whispered as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Neptune looked over the the left at the red framed clock hanging on the white living room wall.

"About six." She looked over at Tails, who was leaning on the arm of the couch, still half asleep. "Tails..."

"Wha..?"

"Remember when...I had...I had this weird dream."

"You did? ...So did I. It seemed kinda real."

"Yeah...very real..." Neptune coughed. "Maybe it was real." Tails sat up and drew his legs to his chest. He sat there for a few seconds, remembering.

"I...I had a similar dream four years ago. With the same hedgehog and everything..." He looked at Neptune, his bright blue eyes radiant with fourteen-year-old life. Neptune nodded.

"I know," she whispered. "I did too." They sat in silence for a while, pondering all that had been said in the past five minutes of talking. The clock struck six, bringing them out of their reveries.

"I don't think they were dreams." Neptune nodded, showing that she agreed.

"The others don't know about this, or at least they haven't said anything about it if they do. Maybe..."

"Maybe we're supposed to remember for a reason." Tails closed his eyes. He could clearly remember all of those years spent alone with Star his sixteenth birthday alone...without Neptune. He looked back at the light blue fox sitting beside him. She was staring off into space, clearly thinking as well.

"Tails..." Neptune looked at him, her lovely pink eyes full of seriousness. "I have a feeling that he'll be back...we've already faced him in the Present and in the Future...but there's one more place where he can try to build his empire."

"The Past."

~~~~~

The ages and times of the books are a bit sketchy...so here it is set in stone. *no fanfic is perfect...*

Book One: All Characters are two years older then Sega or I say they are originally.

Tails: 10
Neptune: 10
Sonic: 18
Amy: 16
Cream: 8
Cheeks: 15
Midnight: 14
Mercury: Unknown...

Book Two: All Characters are four years older then their ages in Book One.

Tails: 14
Neptune: Turns 14
Sonic: 22
Amy: 20
Cream: 12
Cheeks: 19
Midnight: 18
Knuckles: 23
Rouge: 24
Blade: 17
Mercury: Unknown...

Book Three: All Characters are two years older then their ages in Book Two.

Tails: 16
Neptune: 16
Sonic: 24
Amy: 22
Cream: 14
Cheeks: 21
Midnight: 20
Mercury: Unknown...

Okay...and here's the last book in my trilogy...the darkest book...and my favorite. Meh...

~~~~~

~*~*~*Past, Present, and Future: The Turning of the Tide*~*~*~
~*~ AA/R ~*~ 3PP ~*~ PG-13 ~*~

Chapter 1:

"The moon is so big tonight...unusually big." Neptune sat on her window seat staring out her window. She had turned sixteen three months before, the age that felt so eerily famaliar.
Something was going to happen...and soon. It had been two years since Mercury's last attempt, and he was probably going to try and strike again soon. "How do we stop him," Neptune wondered aloud.

"You talking to yourself?" Neptune turned and blushed at the sight of Tails. He was also sixteen, but was taller then she. Neptune had always liked the shy, quiet fox, but she ws pretty sure that, as she grew and matured, she had grown to love him. Not wanting to admit that she was indeed talking to herself, Neptune answered quickly and tripped over her words.

"I...I was just...erm...looking at the...the moon," she stammered. Tails smiled, his bright blue eyes showing as much emotion as the twinkling night stars. Neptune's heart skipped a beat and she silently tried to catch her breath. Tails went around to sit by Neptune and look out the window as well.

"Hard to believe that it was six years ago all of this started." Neptune looked up at him as if to ask a question like 'what remended you of that?' The moon cast a silver light on parts of his face and she couldn't read his eyes, for they were covered in shadow. "I'm glad that you were there to help me get through a lot of this, Nepune. I don't think I would have been able to do this alone."

Tails turned and looked into Neptune's dark pink eyes. Her heart swelled as he lightly took her hands and she started to tremble softly with anticipation. She could feel Tails leaning toward her... There was a knock on the door and bith the foxes sat up straight, startled. Neptune cleared her throat.

"Come in," she called reluctantly. Tails released her hands as Cream poked her head into the room.

"Oh...I'm sorry were you two talking?" Cream's voice made it apparent that she felt guilty for disturbing them. Tails swallowed/

"Err...no it's okay. I was just...saying good night." Neptune looked out the window again as Cream asked Tails if she could see him privately. He slowly nodded and got up, looking back at Neptune as he walked through the doorway. He followed Cream downstairs to her room and waited as the bunny closed the door behind them.

The room wasn't very big, but it was perfect for a neat and tidy person such as Cream. The walls were a light green and there were flowers on the windowsill. Cream looked up at Tails timidly, trying to put her thoughtsinto words.

"Tails...there's something I have to tell you before...I just have to tell you." Tails looked away from her big brown eyes. He knew that Cream had a crush on him, and he figured that she was going to ask him out. A hole formed in the pit of his stomach. I've...I really like you Tails," Cream's words all tumbled out like she was trying to say what she felt before her courage failed. "I always have but I've been too afraid to say anything..."

Tails felt the hole in his st
_________________
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[Cyclone EXE]

Whoops...need...more...space...

~~~~~

Tails felt the hole in his stomach widen. So very much did he want to not hurt Cream. She was like a little sister to him! How could he ever make this fourteen year old understand how he felt? That he loved her as a sister, not like a girlfriend? He stared down at the bunny, her eyes large and pleading, waiting for him to say something...anything.

I love you, but not in the way that you want me to.., he thought. His voice said, though, what he thought Cream wanted to hear.

"I've always liked you too."

~*~*~*~

Chapter 2:

Cream was all bubbly and cheerful the next morning, but Tails was exactly the opposite. He hadn't slept a wink the night before, for he was almost sick with worry over how Neptune would react. What did he do? Why? He was in love with Neptune...why did he say yes to Cream?

By noon, the whole house knew that Tails was going out with Cream. He hated this, for now it would be even harder to keep his decision from Neptune. He had to tell her or she would think that he had lied to her all of their lives. The light blue fox was out by the lake in the forest...that Tails knew. Cream was his only road block. She had been hanging on him the whole day, and Tails wanted to go talk to Neptune himself.

"Hey, Cream, I'm gonna go for a walk," Tails said casually as Cream sat with Amy at the kitchen table looking at different recipies for dinner. The setting sun's rays filtered into the room through a large window's blinds, making the pale blue paint on the kitchen walls have an orange tint to them.

"May I come?"

"Is it alright if I go alone? Just a small walk...I'll be back soon." Cream shrugged.

"Fine with me!" She smiled, making Tails hate himself even more. She was so happy now! How could he ever tell her the truth? "I'll help Amy with dinner." The sound of Cream's voice snapped Tails back to reality. "See you later!" Cream got up to kiss Tails on the cheek, but he pulled away and walked out the door, closing it on his girl friend's disappointed face.

"Amy...I don't think he likes me. I think he just doesn't wanna hurt my feelings or something..."

"Oh, don't worry. He'll soon come back from Tails Land, you'll see!" Amy patted the empty chair next to her. "C'mon, sit back down and help me pick something to make! I'm getting hungry ya know!"

Something's up, Neptune thought. She was sitting at the large lake in the forest by where she lived with Tails, Sonic, Amy, Cream, Cheeks, and Midnight, staring out across the glimmering surface while alone with her thoughts and feelings. Tails has been avoiding me all day...Cream's also been everywhere with him. Maybe... She felt a lump grow in her throat as she remembered how Cream had wanted to talk to Tails alone the night before. She awallowed, realixing how dry her mouth was.

"Hi Neptune..." She didn't look up at Tails as he sat by her on the cool ground. The usn had already almost completely set, but the two weren't aware of the darkness slowly closing in around them. "I have to tell you...you...I don't...just don't be mad, please." The lump came back stronger in Neptune's throat, and this time she couldn't get rid of it by swallowing. "I'm...going...when Cream talked to me in her room last night...I..."

Oh, spit it out! Don't you know it's worse for me to hear you try and tell me this in an way that you think won't hurt my feelings? Neptune's mind screamed at Tails, but her mouth remained closed, her jaw firmly clamped shut.

"I'm going out with Cream...but..." Neptune totally blocked out the rest of what Tails said. A bomb exploded in her heart. She suddenly felt dizzy, nauseous, couldn't breathe. She fought to focus on Tails's voice, on what was going on around her, but she do anything but sit in utter and horrible shock.

"I'm sorry..." Tails searched her face for a reaction of some sort. Inside Neptune was screaming.

Sorry? That's all you have to say? You act like you love me...lure me into your heart...and just when I think you are going to actually want to start a serious relationship you go out with Cream! She wanted to scream those words at the orange fox beside her, wanted to throw all of the pain that he had caused her in his face.

"It's alright, I knew," she said, her voice dark and monotone.

"You...knew? I don't understand..." He sounded even more shaken up then Neptune felt, but she didn't care. He could never know what effect this news had on her...

"It's not my choice. I mean, you can go out with whoever you like. It's not my decision." She forced a smile, hoping that she wouldn't throw up her lunch. Uh oh. Neptune could immediately see that Tails had read her mind and seen what she was really thinking.

"I see." Tails got up and brushed himself off. He stared into Neptune's eyes, his blue ones cold and angry. The light blue fox painfully realized that the reason that he had come to her, the only reason was so that she would forgive him and not think that he was trying to hide anything from her. A fresh wave of guilt spread over Neptune from head to foot as Tails, who had come to her looking for support and getting only bitter hate instead, turned and started to head back to the lab.

"Wait," Neptune said and grabbed his arm. Tails jerked his elbow away from her grasp and again stared into her face.

"Just...just leave me alone," he snapped. Neptune took a step back, scared at the way he was acting.

"Tails...please..."

No. I'm...I'm going out with Cream1 Don't you see? Just...go get a boyfriend of your own. I'm done with you." His heart tore in two when he saw her reaction.

All of the radiant energy inside of Neptune's pink eyes drained. Her shoulders slumped and she sat back down on the ground, hiding her face in her hands. Tails turned briskly and walked back to his lab, the sound of Neptune's quiet sobs ringing in his ears.

~*~*~*~

Chapter Three:

Neptune sat slumped on the ground. Her very soul had been ripped from her being. Tails could never understand the effect his words had on her. The world grew cold, dark, and desolate in her eyes.

I'm not sure what I'm doing here, she thought darkly. I suppose that's just another thing that I'll never know. My life is all about secrets that will never be whispered, never be understood. It's driving me crazy not being certain...but I feel that somehow I have everything I need to know whithin my grasp. I never even dreamed that Tails would think of doing anything like that to anyone! I suppose I just don't know anymore... Neptune decided then and there that she would never let her heart open for anyone any longer...it hurt too much when the hope and dreams that came with a relationship ended.

How could I do that? OMG I'm such an idiot! Tails punched his pillow again. Gotta...gotta tell Cream tomorrow. ...Neptune...how could I have pretended not to love her? She was the only one who believed in me...she trusted me, and I let her down. She'll never trust me again...ever... Hot tears fell from Tails' eyes and hit his pillow. He went over to his window and stared out at the shimmering sliver of the lake where he had broken the person’s heart who was so close to him.

Neptune opened her eyes. She felt physically and emotionally drained. Looking around and rubbing her eyes, Neptune realized that it was morning and the sun was starting to peek over the treetops. This forest...it wasn't the same. She stood up slowly, feeling very dizzy and nauseous. She looked down at her outfit, thinking for a second that she had perhaps traveled through time once again.

It was still the same dress; a longer dress that was orange, green, and yellow with sleeves halfway down her arms. She touches the headband on her head and checked her shoes to make sure that nothing had changed. They were also unchanged, although her boots were a bit muddy. Neptune thought nothing of it and again turned to her surroundings.

"Okay...this is sorta creepy. This is the same forest that Ta-" Neptune's voice broke when she remembered what had happened the evening before. "He...hates me."

"Oh, I don't believe that that is a valid statement." Neptune looked up and into a snow-white bunny's eyes. Star smiled in the sad way that made Neptune's heart ache for some feeling other then sorrow. There had been so much sorrow for so long.

"He told me..."

"He never said he hated you." Neptune went through the whole conversation thoroughly in her mind, sickened by the fact that she knew it by heart. The nauseous feeling again washed over her, but she realized that Star was right.

"He meant it," Neptune said stubbornly. Star closed her hollow eyes and shook her head.

"Then...you don't know him." Neptune bit her lip. She was tired of being riddiculed and tossed around.

"Yes I do!" Neptune knew that she was being very defensive, but at that moment she didn't care. She felt hot anger surging through her veins, anger that she had been feeling ever since the conversation that she had had with Tails the previous night. "I know him as much as he wants me to know him."

"You want to know how he truely feels." Neptune blinked.

"I...I do?" Star nodded.

"Why else would you have come here?" Neptune stared into the bunny's blank eyes and didn't say anything. Star drew her pale blue cloak tighter around her body, making it look as though she was floating above the ground with only air under the material and not a body.

"You came for answers that only we can give you."

~*~*~*~

Chapter Four:

Tails paced back and forth in the living room alone with his thoughts. Cream and Amy had gone shopping, Sonic was on a run, and Cheeks and Midnight loking for houses. Tails sighed. Why couldn't he have just told Cream no and asked Neptune out? They could be like Cheeks and Midnight now...married and looking for a good place to settle down and have children.

What to do? The orange fox shook his head. It was time to stop feeling sorry for himself and do something about the massive problem that he was juggling. What would Neptune do? ...She would probably tell Cream the truth...but how? How could that be done without hurting Cream?

Tails looked out the window near the soft red velvet couch. There was a small scent of danger and uncertanty in the air, and the young fox could sense that something bad was about to happen. This was the same feeling he had gotten every single time that Mercury was near...

"Star, do you know where Mercury is now?" Neptune was with the white bunny near the same lake that Tails had trained by six years ago. The bunny didn't answer right away, she just kept working on the target that she was making out of magic binding spells, leaves, and twigs.

"Yes," she said after the long silence that followed. "But I cannot tell you." Neptune closed her mouth. It was a bit annoying when Star could anticipate what she was going to say.

"Where did he come from anyway?" Star sighed, showing that she was annoyed by all of the questions.

"I suppose there's no harm in telling you..." she stood up, dusted her dress off, and began to stand up the newly made target. "Let's see...it was a very long time ago. Your world was very new still, and it was very vulnerable. We didn't want anything to happen to the planet...so we gave it protection. The Seven Chaos Emeralds, the Master Emerald. They were given to the Earth in order to keep the peace. Something, though, went horribly wrong...

"When all of the Chaos Emeralds bonded together for the very first time, an Eighth Chaos Emerald was created. Inside of this jewel was Mercury. We didn't anticipate this, so as you could guess we were terribly shocked. How could this happen when we were so careful?

"We didn't know how to deal with this new problem, and so after a debate and some argueing we came to the agreement that Mercury would stay sealed in the Chaos Emerald until the end of time... Now, as you know, he broke free and began to terrorize the world. We tried to stop him, but with that Chaos Emerald he is almost impossible to beat. That hedgehog though..." Star paused to smile.

"That hedgehog is a big wimp. I know he may not seem like the type, but without his source of power he is no problem to defeat and seal back in his cage."

"I thought you said that the Chaos Emerald was his cage," Neptune pointed out.

"Yes, that is what his first confinement was.We have since been monitoring his every move, measuring each of his attacks, documenting all of his powers. With all of that knowledge we have constructed a cage that will most certainly hold him once and for all." Star smiled triumphantly, her eyes still dull and sad, a soft radiant glow around her. Neptune turned to look out across the shimmering lake, staring at the dots of the gravestones in the cemetery across the water.

"I hope you're right," she whispered.

~*~*~*~

Chapter 5:

Cream looked up from her book to see who had just come into the living room. The only light in the living room was coming from the small lamp near the couch where she was sitting. Cream smiled, though her eyes still were very sad.

"It's been a while since I've seen you," She said warmly as Midnight sat next to her on the couch. "How have you been?" Midnight shrugged, her grey eyes radiant and full of light. She had outgrown her plain blue dress and now wore a new one that was red with blue across the top and bottom. Her shoes were unchanged; still red and black tennis shoes similar to Cream's. Midnight liked plainer attire and wasn't one for girly things with frills and lace.

"It's been wonderful...We found a house, you know! Just today!" Midnight's happyness drained when she saw the dispair in Cream's eyes. "Cream, what's wrong? What happened?" The rabbit put down her book as tears welled up in her big brown eyes. "Oh...Cream, did...tell me everything..."

"T...he doesn't like me at all...he was just pretending this whole time!" Cream shook her head, big tears splashing the couch around her. "He said that he lo...loved me...as a sister...not..." The cream colored rabbit couldn't go on any longer. She put her face in her hands and started to sob. Midnight forgot all of her happiness and wrapped Cream in a comforting embrace, making the young rabbit's sobs subside a little.

"Cream...I'm so sorry..." Midnight's eyes filled with sad tears, her tail lost all of it's excited bush. Cream sniffed and took in short choppy breaths as she tried to calm herself down. She smiled, her face blurry from the tears.

"I'm sorry, I must seem a baby to you," she mumbled miserably. Midnight held her tighter.

"No...no...shh...you're anything but that Cream," she murmured. They both waited in silence for Cream's breathing to return to normal. The young rabbit soon pulled away from the raccoon and looked at her hands, embarrassed. Midnight's eyes bored into hers, searching them for a sign of what she was thinking. "Where is he," she whispered.

"Looking for Neptune."

Tails stood at the edge of the lake where he had ridiculed Neptune the day before. He kicked at a nearby tree angrily.

"How the heck could I have done that?" He shut his eyes tightly and punched the bark with a solid fist. It hurt his knuckles quite a bit, but Tails had been working on blocking out all emotions that he experienced so he wouldn't feel all of the pain. It was all too much. He slumped against the solid brown trunk and buried his face in his hands.

"I can feel the darkness growing...Mercury is getting stronger. He is getting more powerful by the minute, by the second. I...I have to go and find him now," Tails murmured to himself. The orange fox slid the raindrop-shaped necklace that Neptune had given him so long ago out of his glove. He ran his fingers along the smooth glassy surface, his eyes filling with tears of longing for the love of the fox whom he had torn to pieces.

He stood and clasped the chain around his neck.

Neptune's ears were pricked for any noise that might be abnormal. She could feel so many things; the lightness of the sky and the wind, the darkness of her heart, the bright presence of Star, and the cold feeling of Mercury. All of these feelings...especially the feelings about Tails...about...

"Ow!" Neptune rubbed her ear where the apple had hit. "Golly, Star, I wasn't ready!" The bunny appeared in front of her as though she had just materialized out of thin air.

"You had adequate time to prepare yourself." She crossed her arms and fixed Neptune with a hard stare. The fox sighed.

"I'm ready, come on! I just wanna get this over with..." Neptune was interrupted by a sharp slap from Star. "HEY!" Neptune staggered back a couple steps, rubbing her cheek. "What was that for?"

Just as Star was about to speak, Neptune answered her own question, remembering.

"For not seeing..." The young fox touched the pocket of her dress. If Star noyiced this gesture, she didn't let on.

"Right, for not seeing! Ugh, Neptune you have to listen to me!" Neptune looked up slowly, her pink eyes locking onto Star's faded ones.

"I've been listening for ten years." Star's hands, which were balled into tight fists, loosened. "When will I listen to myself? I have always..." Neptune took a deep breath. "I guess it's just another thing I won't know. My life is all about events that will never be whispered, never be known. I suppose I'll just have to live with that...I've searched all of my life for answers, and all of what I know has happened because of Mercury." Star looked down, and Neptune realized that, for the first time, it was she whom was lost for words.

"He is the one who ruined my life when I was six, ruined it again when I was ten, and ruined it for a third time when I turned fourteen. No more...no more." She closed her eyes, letting streams of tears flow down her cheeks. "I know that I have to be strong...but it is all just too much...Somtimes, I feel as though all of my strength, my fear, my comfort, everything I want to know is right there...and all I have to do is reach out."

In the long silence, Neptune sank to the ground and buried her face in her hands. Star nodded and left, disappearing into thin air. She had sensed that Neptune now wanted to be alone. The fox reached into her pocket and pulled out the necklace that Tails had made for her fourteenth birthday. It seemed like ages ago that they had been so close...Star's words came back to her.

You will go to the Past, when Mercury first broke from the cage that held him. I will go with you, but you must realize that this is a battle that you have to fight yourself.

Neptune stood and clasped the chain of the beautiful necklace around her neck.

~*~*~*~

Chapter 6:

"Are you ready?" Neptune looked up into Star's hollow eyes and took the cloak theat she was holding out to her. As the light blue fox adjusted the dark cape around her shoulders, she let out a great sigh and shook her head. Star smiled quietly and looked up at the sky. "It looks like rain."

"I don't think I'm quite ready to do this wit- on my own." Neptune mentally slapped herself for almost saying 'without Tails.' She was going to have to get used to doing thngs without him. If Star read her mind and had an opinion, she didn't say anything or let on.

"That's exactly what Tails said." Neptune cringed but she continued. "I shall tell you the exact thing I told him..." As Star looked up into Neptune's eyes, the fox whispered her words.

"Now that I've said that I'm ready? What's that supposed to mean?" Star smiled her secret smile and didn't answer.

"As I said before...we will go back to the Past and catch Mercury once and for all. I have confidence in this new trap..." With a flick of her wrist, Star summoned up a large red orb that floated in between them. There were flashes of jagged blue light that flickered in the depths of the trap that resembled electricity.

Star wiped the orb from in front of them and and drew her arm back into the depths of her hooded cloak. Neptune put up her hood and her eyes disappeared in shadow. Star nodded and held out her hands, creating a small opening in the air in which a bright nothingness swirled silently. By the time the next wind blew through the trees the two had vanished.

"Midnight, it's here!" Cheeks ran into the living room waving a piece of paper. Midnight looked up from the book that she was reading, Cream from the letter she was writing. Midnight smiled.

"Let's see then," she intoned. Cheeks tore open the envelope and sat on the couch next to Midnight. Cream turned the letter over and went over to join them.

"What is it," she asked, curious.

"Haha, it's our house!" Cheeks's eyes were sparkling with happiness. Cream looked puzzled. "We have insurance now and can move in," Cheeks explained. Cream nodded and smiled.

"Congrats you two," she said with a little sadness in her voice. Cheeks leaned over and kissed Midnight on the cheek as she read through the papers. Cream, feeling isolated and left out, went back to the table and finished her letter.

'Dear Ben,

Sorry about before...after I turned the date with you down I felt so awful. I would like to start over. I was so confused before, but now I know how I feel and if you will accept me again into your heart I won't hurt you again...it's the last thing that I would ever want to do. I read your last letter and realized that I miss you so much. I would very much like to go out with you to dinner Saturday.

Yours Truely,
Cream'

She licked the stamp and pressed it on the envelope that held the single piece of paper. The young rabbit grabbed her coat and set off to the post office with a spring in her step.

Tails stepped out of the rip in time. He waved his hand, causing the shimmering hole to shudder and close. The large field in which he had landed was mostly silent and the only sound was the soft murmur of crickets in the tall grass. The orange fox pulled his hood up over his head and wrapped his dark cloak tighter around his slender form. His two bushy tails spun around quickly and he set off toward his destination.

He landed a few miles from where he started his flight, now standing in the middle of a great cemmetery. The gravestones were of many dark shapes and sizes and the sight of them were unnerving and made Tails have small shivers go up and down his spine. There was the top of a stone tomb peeking out from above the treetops. Tails took down his hood and wove his way through the headstones toward it.

The dense woods opened up to a large clearing that conatined the large stone fortress. A shimmering light blue light was visible at the top. Tails suddenly got a wave of cold dread in the heart of his soul and he quickly ascended the steps, knowing somehow that he destiny awaited him at the top.

Peering over the top step, Tails could see a very large Chaos Emerald floating just above the stone floor. He heaved himself onto the platform and hazed at the lovely shimmering jewel. Motion caught his eye. Upon closer inspection, Tails noticed a black figure inside of the Emerald. Cold hate gripped Tails' mind.

Mercury was, after all, the cause of all of his pain and sorrow. Why not destroy him now? No...he couldn't. That would upset the whole balance...somewhere, now, he was living, in another dimension on another planet. He would distroy the past six years if he killed Mercury now...and maybe even kill himself or one of his friends somehow. Time was a very delacate thing.

Tails got a feeling of danger that crept into his mind and he had a suddenly strong feeling inside of him...he had to get off of the platform. NOW. Tails frantically looked for a way down and dove off the way he had come just as a red force field shut around the top of the tomb. He peered over the top of the first step, his shoulder sore from the hard blow that it took when he jumped off of the top.

An indefinate shape took form behind the Chaos Emerald. Slowly it grew into a great black hole, and almost immediately there was something stepping from it's depths. Mercury the Hedgehog unfloded his body from the rip and closed it behind him. His yellow eyes opened and stared at the Chaos Emerald with pleasure. He laughed, smiling in a way that meant only horrible events were about to take place.

~*~*~*~

Chapter 7:

Tails watched silently as Mercury inspected his former self. The hedgehog wasn't aware of Tails reading his mind and learning of his plans. He was going to try and get his Past Self out of the Chaos Emerald and get it to help him destroy the Earth. Was that possible? Mercury frowned for a moment as he thought of something else.

His plan would be foiled...that much was certain and there was no denying it. If he wasn't with another version of himself now then didn't his plan fail? Tails rubbed his head, for he was starting to get a headache from all of the different thoughts that were now crammed in his mind. It was a confusing matter.

"So...what," he whispered. Tails froze, horrified when his enemy moved his gaze swiftly to rest on him. Tails held his breath, not daring to make a noise to give himself away. Mercury smiled menacingly.I t was too late; the orange fox had been seen.

"You think that you can stop me this time?" Mercury's icy voice echoed around the area. Tails stood angrily and stared into the blackish red hedgehog's face, careful to avoid the paralyzing yellow eyes.

"I can try." Mercury chuckled. He turned back to the Chaos Emerald showing that he could care less.

"Fool...soon all of my power will be shown...and you will not escape with your life again." Tails threw back his cape and thrust his hands out at the red force field that protected the Past and Future hedgehogs. In his palms formed a ball of blue light that reflected off of his angry eyes. Tails threw the energy into the shield and was forced to duck soon after, for it had bounced back not even leaving a dent.

"Now what..."

A pale blue bunny was walking beside Cream as they chated about non important things. The sky was turning colors and Station square's noise had died down, for everyone was gettong ready for bed at that time. Cream's usual giddyness had returned and, as the two strolled the streets toward her home, she felt secure and safe.

In the park cream sat on a brown wooden bench to watch the sunset and rest. She had been out with Ben for the past few hours walking around the city. Ben was a rabbit whom she had met while walking Cheese one day a few years ago. he had asked her out before, but Cream had declined because she liked Tails. After a few more times of running into and chatting with him, though, Cream had grown to like him a lot and trust him more then she did Tails. Ben walked over to her and smiled at the sky.

"Lovely, isn't it," he said, standing behind Cream, his dark grey eyes sparkling. The vibrant colors filled Cream's heart and stole her words so she could only nod to let him know that she fully agreed. Something, though, brought itself from the back of her mind and she looked down at the grass, her feet kicking at the green blades nervously.

"Err...Ben?" He looked at her. "I feel so horrible...about..." He smiled, his face etched with sadness that seemed familiar and slowly bent down to stare into Cream's big brown eyes.

"It's all in the Past now...don't worry about what happened before, okay? Focus on the Present, on the here and the now." Cream sighed with relief that he understood and looked back up at the sunset. The sky suddenly began to darken.

"What..? It wasn't supposed to rain..." Cream stood nervously, pushing her long ears back from her face. Ben also stood, although he did so more swiftly then Cream. he stared up at the ominous clouds for a few seconds and then turned back to Cream.

"Come on, let's get you home...quickly now."

"Why so fast?"

"There's some business that I need to take care of."

~*~*~*~

Chapter 8:

Tails paced back and forth along the side of the force field. Mercury completely ignored him and was now pondering ways to open the Chaos Emerald without causing an explosion and without hurting the Emerald or himself. Tails frowned. It seemed impossible to get by...

Neptune and Star appeared a few miles away in the middle of the cemmetery. Star looked around and put down the hodd of her cloak. Neptune frowned, remembering something that Tails had said a few days ago...

"Tails, where do you think Mercury is now?" Tails looked up at the sky, silent for a few moments.

"I'm not sure...but I do know one thing. We have to stop Mercury once and for all." Neptune nodded.

"But..." Tails held up a hand and Neptune shut her mouth. There was another pause as Tails collected his thoughts and put his feelings into words.

"The only way to do that is to go back to the beginning, back before all of this started. Don't ask me how or when we'll do this...I just know that it has to be done."

The memory faded and Neptune shook her head clear. Well...he was right about the Past part. He wasn't right, however, about the 'we.' Neptune looked up and saw Star walking away from her. The light blue fox pulled down her hood and scampered after her, knowing that to lose Star would mean failure. Even though this place was familiar she could easily get lost.

As she walked, the word 'we' echoed in Neptune's mind. Tears began to form in her pink eyes. She blinked them away, refusing to let her feelings for Tails cause her any more pain. Enough was enough...Tails was only a dream now.

"There is no more we," she whispered softly, touching the necklace that Tails had given her. She stopped, pulled it off of her neck, and dropped in in the brown dust that covered the ground of the graveyard. Neptune the fox then walked briskly after Star and into the dense forest that surrounded the dull headstones in the eerie clearing.

A hooded and cloaked figure bent and picked it up.

Hmm...there is only one thing that can open this. Those smart fools...they knew that I would come and try to do this exact thing. They didn't anticipate one thing though... Mercury glances sideways at Tails, who was watching him intently. The hedgehog smiled. If I need pure magic to open this...then I have the tool I need right in front of me. Tails gulped, knowing.

Mercury opened his palm and his beloved Chaos Emerald appeared glistening in it. Tails took a step back and nearly fell backwards off of the platform. As he was regaining his balance, Mercury raised his hand and Tails appeared inside of the shield with him. The orange fox put up his guard and readied himself for anything.

"This is where it all ends," Mercury said coldly. Tails nodded.

"Yeah...for you." In Tails's hands formed a glowing blue light that took the shape of a sword. Mercury's Chaos Emerald did the same, only the color changed to a dull red the color of dried blood. Tails lunged at Mercury, wanting with all of his being to take the evil being's life so that all of his heart's pain would cease.

Star and Neptune watched from the bottom of the shrine as dark black clouds began to swirl and gather around the top. Flashes of blue and red light could be seen from the two clashing on the small platform. Neptune swallowed, knowing. Star turned to stare into the forest and she touched Neptune's arm to warn her that something was coming. A hooded and cloaked figure appeared in front of them. Star smiled as a light blue bunny took off his hood and frowned down at them with sorrow in his eyes.

"Star." He nodded and looked up at the temple. "It has begun." Star nodded sadly.

"I am afraid that it is true...the prophecy will indeed come to pass." Neptune silently wondered what Star was talking about. The white bunny, reading her thoughts, took her hand and started toward the stone monument. Nepune felt a rush of cold and warmth at the same time when Star touched her.

Dull pounds of thunder echoed throughout the forest as the two bunnies adn Neptune stared at writing on the bottom of the shrine.

The darkness shall come in a cage of light, a cage that must never be unlocked. This cage will be opened by not evil not malice, but by only the pure good of heart. Once this proves true and the evil is unleahed, the havoc and the pain will be great. Only two young heroes can ever defeat the darkness and send it back into the cage of light. One shall be taken by darkness and hate, engulfed and consumed by the greed and blackness of mind. Only then will the other sacred hero stand up to the challenge and defeat the one whom they love to restore peace and balance to the universe.

Neptune's heart skipped a beat when she realised that it was talking about her and Tails.

One shall be taken by darkness and hate, engulfed and consumed by the greed and blackness of mind. ...Tails.

Only then will the other sacred hero stand up to the challenge and defeat the one whom they love to restore peace and balance to the universe. Neptune looked up at the light lue bunny for answers. He shook his head and nodded to Star.

"She's been around longer then I have, little one." Star sighed.

"Moon...you know as well as I that I have no knowledge of how she will do this." She looked toward Neptune. "No one does."

~*~*~*~

Chapter 9:

Neptune swallowed. There was a war going on inside of her...and right now the part of her that loved Tails was winning. She had to go up and face him...she wasn't afraid of Mercury. The only thing that Neptune feared the most was falling apart in front of Tails. Star, sensing her mire, touched her shoulder. Neptune looked into the bunny's dark eyes, knowing what she was about to say.

"I have no choice. There's no one else...no one..." Neptune looked up through the rain that was now falling around them lightly. Lightning burst across the dark sky and two silhouettes were visible on the top of the shrine for a split second. Neptune stepped onto the first step and looked back at the bunnies. They were both gone.

Tails and Mercury's energy swords hit each other with amazing force, driving both of the creatures back a few inches. The two beams of light dissipated. Tails put his hands on his knees, panting from the intenseness of the battle. Mercury smiled and held out his right hand. A black light engulfed Tails and he froze.

"Now you will know the feeling of helplessness..." The hedgehog's glowing eyes began to shimmer with a black light as he slowly began to take over Tails's mind and body.

Neptune ran up the stairs as fast as she could, but it seemed as though they never ended. All she knew was the black shadow that was slowly forming in her heart, taking over the space where Tails was so strong inside of her. It was a battle of wills.

Mercury swallowed the last of Tails's light just as Neptune reached the top of the complex. Mercury turned to look at the light blue fox and his smile widened.

"I knew that you would come..." He paused to inspect her. "Yes...he is in my control now. There is nothing you can do," he said when he saw that Neptune was staring at Tails with disbelief. His fur had gotten an ugly black tint to it and his once bright blue eyes were now a pale red. Mercury opened his hand that held the Chaos Emerald and started to transport Neptune into the shield, but she moved out of the way and avoided the energy.

"I won't hold back this time," she warned. Hot anger swelled inside of her, but Neptune held back, knowing that Mercury fed off of hate and anger. It was her greatest weakness. Mercury, frustrated that he couldn't read her thoughts, tried again to transport her beside him. Again he failed.

"If you insist on being stubborn, I will do things your way..." He turned to Tails, his yellow eyes flashing with anger. "Take care of her." Tails started toward Neptune, slowly, steadily. Mercury laughed as Neptune held her ground. “You said that you wouldn’t hold back…let us see if that was merely a cozen.”

“I didn’t say that I would fight Tails…”

‘That isn’t Tails, my dear.” Neptune grimaced. She didn't like anyone, much less Mercury, calling her by anything other then her true name. She took pride in her name, and it was the only thing that she truly liked about herself.

“That…is Tails…” Mercury laughed his icy laugh. Tails slowly advanced on Neptune.

One shall be taken by darkness and hate, engulfed and consumed by the greed and blackness of mind... Neptune gasped. It was coming true.

“That is your true weakness…if you are to overcome it then you must let Tails go,” Star whispered. Neptune looked behind her, but no one was there. “I told you that I would stay with you,” the voice said sadly. “Would I ever lie?” Neptune took a step back from the orange-black fox and descended to the step below the platform that they were on.

“I can’t do that,” Neptune whispered. Star’s voice sighed, frustrated, and Moon’s voice took over.

“That isn’t your choice. You have to let him go…and you will.” Neptune took another step back.

“How.”

“We can’t answer that for you,” Moon said firmly. He wasn’t as aloof as Star, and could make his voice sound almost angry. Neptune shivered when she tried to look at Tails’s eyes, her mind immediately starting to cloud with the darkness of Mercury’s power.

“We can give you something though…” Star paused as if thinking. Neptune took another step back and glanced behind her. She wasn’t even halfway down the many stairs that led up to the top of the shrine. The rocks were getting very slippery from the sheets of wet rain the fell from the mass of dark cloud that had gathered above their heads. “We give you realization of the light inside of your soul.”

“That’s all? That’s nothing…how am I supposed to use that?”

“You will know when the time comes." Tails suddenly stopped and held up his hands. A light blue ball of hot energy tinted with black formed in his palms. Neptune gasped and spun her two tails around, lifting up into the air as the attack spiraled at the place where she was standing. A second more and it would have hit her. The stairs connecting the top of the shrine to the ground below were blasted away from the power of the attack.

That can't be Tails,Neptune thought. He would never attack me...would he? She landed on the top of the complex to avoid another one of Tails's attacks that was aimed at her.

"Tails, don't do this..." Neptune's pink eyes filled with hot tears. Tails smiled and laughed the same cold laugh as Mercury.

"Tails is no more."

~*~*~*~

Chapter 10:

Tails kept up the attacks at Neptune while Mercury paced back and forth. He was growing impatient. Neptune dodged another blast and again tried to get through to Tails.

"Please...don't let him do this! You once said that light will break through the darkest of places..." She jumped and landed on top of the dome shaped energy shield. A streak of lightning lit up the sky behind her, casting her slender shadow on the ground below where she stood against the wind. "Don't make me fight you," Neptune whispered.

"Take her out," Mercury ordered. Tails obediantly dished out three more attacks, but Neptune once again lept out of the way and they hit the glimmering shield instead. Mercury's eyes glowed and the Chaos Emerald that held his Past self was engulfed by another force shield just as the large one shattered. The light bounced off of the smaller dome and disappeared into the dark clouds above.

"Just stand still...you're making it harder for yourself," Tails said mockingly as his palms radiated with energy.

"Meh...I'll never listen to you."

"We'll see..." Another flash of lightning burst from the sky as Tails threw two beams of light at the light blue fox in front of him. Neptune managed to evade the first one, but something broke her concentration and she was hit upside the head and knocked down with the second. Neptune rubbed her face and slowly stood.

You must let him go if you are to win... The teenage fox narrowed her eyes. She would have to end this now if Mercury was to be defeated. If she didn't...Tails would eventually take over her mind as she forced herself to keep running from the truth.

"I won't run anymore..." Tails lunged at her and threw a strong punch at her face. Neptune drew a deep breath and, ducking under the blow, grabbed Tails's wrist and pulled him over her. Tails took a hard fall, but immediately stood up unfased. Neptune realized that he was stronger then before...

"So it begins," Tails said softly. He kicked Neptune's feet out from under her, and she was forced to fly up and back a few feet in order to avoid falling onto the wet and slippery ground. Tails's eyes flashed angrily and he once again lunged toward Neptune.

"I'm sorry..." Neptune feinted a kick but instead punched Tails square in the jaw. He staggered back, putting his hand up to his mouth. When he took it away, the white glove was stained with red blood. Neptune held her ground against the strong wind that was threatening to lift her off of her feet and prepared to attack again immediately. Before Tails could even look up, Neptune had him on his back in the puddles of water with a single solid kick to his feet.

"What are you doing," Mercury said angrily. His voice rose anxiously. "What are you waiting for?" Tails mumbled something and stood up. Neptune smiled, noticing that his movements weren't so swift. She just had to work up enough...strength...

Only then will the other sacred hero...defeat the one whom they love. Neptune closed her eyes for a brief moment. When she opened them again, her tears of sorrow, of hate, of anger, of pure unshaken love flowed freely and mingled with the heavy rain the still splashed to Earth.

Neptune was stronger in the rain then she was while it was sunny. She had an advantage already...but she hadn't used it yet. Through the clouds, up above the atmosphere of this planet was the planet that she was named after, poised, shimmering, waiting for the fox to use it's power against her foe. Neptune had so much more power then Tails and Mercury combined...so then why not use them? She would have to eventually.

"I'll give you one last chance to back off," Neptune whispered to the orange-black fox in front of her. "Tails, I know you can hear me...just...listen..."

"Teh...give me your best shot." A boom of thunder sounded in the distance, and Neptune drew in a deep breath. She held out her hands, and blue white light gathered in her palms. She absorbed the energy of the rain and the planet Neptune, allowing the liquid power to flow through her fingers. She could feel all of the power...

"Tails...I'm so sorry," Neptune sobbed. She lifted her tear-streaked face to stare into Tails's eyes. He froze, unsure of what she was thinking, and she let loose a massive attack of light blue energy. "Nooooooooo!"

~*~*~*~

Chapter 11:

All Neptune felt was her own sorrow. All she heard was the beating of her heart. All she knew was the stabbing pain of the blackness that slowly engulfed her soul.

When she distroyed the darkness in Tails, his good had not returned. All that was left was an empty shell, a blank body without a soul. Mercury possessed his soul. Mercury's plans had been altered by this...he didn't think she had the heart to kill. But he could use this to his advantage.

"You're already on your way to becoming dark..," he intoned. Neptune shot him a horrible look, her face smeared with tears and rain and dirt.

"Never."

"You can feel it...you know it is true," Mercury provoked. Neptune's eye twitched. "You can feel the new darkness rising inside of your heart, filling the gaping hole where Tails once was." The light blue fox gritted her teeth.

"I'm not gonna stand here and take your crap," she growled, clenching her fists into tight balls. Mercury smiled, his yellow eyes glinting.

"Good, good...then let all of your anger out...attack me with all that you have. Go on."

"NO WAY!" Neptune screamed. "I'll NEVER do as you say!" If she had any tears left then she would be crying them now. But her eyes were dry just like her heart. Nothing mattered anymore...so...so why not attack him with all that she had? No...but...but it wouldn't matter...how could she know unless she tried.

"Coward."

At that one word, Nepune snapped. All of her inner darkness and anger burst fantastically from her soul. She furiously directed all of that hatred at Mercury, the resulting attack massive.

"I AM NOT A COWARD!" she squealed, and released a giant pink orb at Mercury's head. He put up a force shield and was safely guarded from the attack. The massive blast of energy spiraled up into the rain clouds which had intensified in result to Neptune's cold anger. Panting, the light blue fox collapsed into a puddle, her anger released and fatigue setting in. Every drop of her energy had gone.

To the left of her was Tails, his black blank eyes staring at her. She shuddered, tried to stand, and again found herself face first in freezing muddy water. Mercury walked over to her and paced back and forth in front of her face.

This is what he wanted, Neptune realized. But she was too weak to feel angry anymore.

Mercury paused right in front of her nose to polish his already gleamin emerald. His deep brown tattered cloak billowed out around his body making it impossible to tell how he was standing. His black and yellow shoes were barely visible along the folds in the bottom of the material, and only one gloved hand was out of the cloak enough to be able to use the Chaos Emerald. He stared into Neptune's eyes smugly, and this time she did not look away.

His eyes...they had a sort of familiar look to them. The yellow gleam around the center, a swirling grey along the edges. They looked almost hollow and lifeless. Neptune suddenly realized that she was looking into her Past. She saw herself in those eyes, she saw her family the she never really had, her village that she never really knew, her life that was never given a chance.

She saw the day she met Tails, the day that she had found her very first friend...how their friendship grew and florished...only to be shattered by a desire for power and the will to dominate. As the past seven years flashed through the great yellow eyes, Neptune felt her strength returning. This time it wasn't from hatred or from anger...not this time.

Neptune stood still looking into Mercury's eyes. Confused, he tried to look away. Neptune held his stare. It was now the fox's turn to smile. She had him right where his weakness was...he had no good in him, but through his memories of all of the pain and anguis he had caused he had given her a great gift. The gift of light, of love, of the life that she now had because of the life he had taken away.

If Mercury had never sent that devastating tidal wave, if that had never happened, she would have never met Tails. Neptune the Fox would be a princess, soon to be a queen of their tribe. She would be on that small sound island this very day, perhaps not ever having the thrill of the adventures that she had had because of living with Sonic the Hedgehog.

Every day was a new adventure. She always found herself looking forward to a new day despite all of the longing she had felt for a simple and quiet life. No more would she dwell on the Past so...there was seldom anything anyone could do about the Past. There was only enough time in life for the Present and the Future...and the Past was for learning to never make the same mistakes multiple times.

We give you realization of the light inside of your soul.

"I understand," Neptune whispered. She smiled and let all of the light and love from the Past flow through her veins. "Now we'll see who controls who."

~*~*~*~

Chapter 12:

Tails wasn't gone...Neptune now realized that he had remained with her all of this time when she had thought that he had deserted her. Tails was the light inside of herself...he was her Past, Present, and Future. He always would be in her heart, always in her soul. Neptune ws so very close to Tails that they had become one.

Mercury had not anticipated this stunning turn of events. He attempted to shrug it off, but Neptune held his gaze. She was now in control. She had the power to cause Mercury all of the pain and devastation that he had caused her, had the life and energy to distroy his. But...this wasn't the time nor the place...

A new feeling, a sensation that Neptune had never experienced before floated to the surface. A feeling that wrote out the Future, that told her what she must do now. She must not kill Mercury...no...now ws not the time. She was not the one.

"Go back into your shadow of a world and leave mine alone," Neptune murmured, her pink eyes flashing. Mercury's face twisted into a sneer.

"Make me." Neptune, startled that he wasn't worn down as much as she had thought, lost her hold on him. Mercury jumped into the air and disappeared. The Chaos Emerald that his Past self was enclosed in began to glow a soft white. The white turned to grey, then to black, then to white. Slowly but surely the hard outside of the jewel began to melt away.

Neptune formed an orb in her hands and threw it at the emerald. It surrounded the glowing surface and wrapped it in a tight pink ball. The light blue fox's ear twitched. She jumped out of the way as Mercury materalized and aimed a strong kick at her head. The air where the kick passed turned to solid ice.

Mercury touched down onto the stone surface of the shrine. The area where he touched turned to shining frozen water. The rain that fell around him froze and hit the ground, shattering around his yellow and black shoes. The clouds in the sky began to swirl above him and darken to the deepest black then Neptune had ever seen. The only way that she could see her foe was when the flashes of lightning lit up the sky for a brief moment.

He started toward her and every time his shoes touched the wet ground a layer of bitter cold ice branched out along the stone. Neptune tried to step back, but realized that her feet were frozen to the ground. It began to get bitterly cold. The rain hardened into dirty snow. Neptune shivered, struggling to free her shoes. Mercury moved closer.

The pink orb that Neptune had sent to prevent Mercury's Past self from escaping had begun to flash a black color. Black. Pink. Red. Neptune formed a new orb and threw it over the old. The flashing ceased. Mercury advanced.

Neptune could see her breath and couldn't feel her feet. Pulling up the hood of her cloak and drawing the material around herself, she gave up on trying to free herself by struggling and started to heat the ice with her attacks. The cold mass that had formed around her feet began to flake off...but not quickly enough.

Mercury stopped right in front of the fox and smiled. Neptune, realizing what was coming, gulped. Her breath, however, was cold and it only succeeded in making her cough. Mercury's cloak billowed around his body as a blast of frigid wind twirled around them. Neptune shook violently at the cold.

"Let me help you with that." The hedgehog's fist exploded out from the torn brown cape and struck Neptune's arms, which she had thrown up to protect her face. The heat that came from the atatck melted the ice around her feet and Neptune fell backwards into a pile of grey snow. Shaking from fear and from the cold, the pale blue fox stood clutching her burnt arms. She refused to cry, and her tears froze on the corners of her eyes.

Mercury grinned and withdrew his hand. Neptune caught a glimpse of his muscular figure hidden from view in the great folds of the fabric of the cloak. She threw out her hands and concentrated on the small pale pink globe that she was building in her palms. She threw it at Mercury, but the water that her powers were made of froze and the attack dropped to the ground, useless.

Neptune dodged another fire punch and jumped over a second ice kick. She tried again to attack but failed. The air around her only got colder, and Mercury only got closer to achieving his goal. This was going to be a battle of wills.

~*~*~*~

Chapter 13:

The frigid wind whipped around Neptune furiously. She tried to move out of the way of another one of Mercury's attacks, but only succeeded in tripping over her cloak. Frustrated, Neptune shrugged off the warm material and let the wind take it away.

Mercury paused to charge up an attack that Neptune had never seen before. The snowflakes around his hands melted and evaporated into a hot steam. Neptune took a step back from Mercury, for she could also feel the massive heat coming off of the orb.

The light blue fox could only watch in horror as Mercury melted all of the snow within five feet of himself. Red hot steam surrounded him and blocked his body from view. Neptune, remembering the Chaos Emerald that held Mercury's Past self, glanced over at it to check on its color.

The Emerald was empty.

Of course... Neptune thought as she turned back to Mercury. He escaped from the cage...that's why we had this problem in the first place. He was meant to leave that emerald now...just as I am meant to finish this now.

Neptune could only see flashes of red through the searing hot cloud of water vapor. She closed her eyes and summoned strength from her planet, soon being rewarded with a liquid energy that ran through her veins. She knew that the attack would melt and also turn to a steam, but all that Neptune needed to do was to stay out of the way.

Mercury threw the ball of fire at her with amazing force. Neptune drew a circle of enercy in front of her and braced herself for the impact. The hot orb of fiery gas hit the shield and shattered into droplets of water. The shield cracked and dissipated, but Neptune's only injury from that attack were a few burns on her hands and fingers.

"Give up...the only thing you'll succeed in doing is killing yourself," Mercury sneered. "Not even that fox would have believed you could do it." Mercury knew that he had hit a major nerve in Neptune and enjoyed watching the effects of his words.

This time...you've gone too far.

"Tails...he always believed in me no matter the odds. He...he was always there...but even if he isn't here anymore that doesn't take away the fact that he always...always believed..."

He lied...he once told me that he'd always be there for me. But not this time...the time when I need him most.

Neptune squeezed her eyes shut and imagined everything back to normal, back to the way it was before everything started that bleak day six years ago. She let all of the light from those years flow like liquid energy into the palms of her hands and made an oddly colored swirling orb.

"Go back to the place you cam from!" Neptune screamed. She let loose the orange and light blue swirling orb, but a beam of light came out of it instead of the whole sphere. The Chaos Emerald was taked from Mercury's hand, was streatched and made larger. Mercury unleached one last attack that hit Neptune dead on before he was engulfed in the prison.

Neptune opened her eyes. It took her a minute to figure out where she was, but it wasn't on the top of the shrine where she had battled Mercury. It was dark and cool among the trees of the forest where she and Tails had always walked on their way to the lake.

Neptune heaved herself to her feet, for unlike the last few times, she still felt the pain and soreness from her previous actions. Her burns had gone on her arms, but there were still welts on her hands. Her cloak was gone, her headband gone, and her dress was muddy and soaked. Neptune realized that it was raining lightly.

She walked a few feet to where the great lake was. She would spend hours just sitting and thinking quietly, just wondering and soaking up the energy from the crystal clear water. Everything was peaceful for the first time in six years.

"I did it," she whispered, but the invisible weight on her shoulders had not lifted. A tall hooded and cloaked figure appeared beside Neptune and stood quietly. She looked the other way as Tails pulled off his dark cape and let it drop to the ground.

He waited until Neptune stood up and turned to leave, then reached out and grabbed her arm. Neptune let him heal the burns on her hands, but she refused to look at Tails...she could never forgive him for the pain that he had caused her.

Never...never... ... Tails held out the necklace that Neptune had dropped onto the dusty ground in Star's world. In a dream she reached out to take it, felt Tails putting it gently into her palms. She was crying. He leaned forward and whispered something into Neptune's ear, tears also welling in his eyes.

"I told you I would always be there..."

Neptune lifted her pink eyes to stare into his crystal clear blue ones. All of the Past had gone with Mercury, all of the things that he had done were reversed. Neptune melted; all she wanetd was to stay like this forever. She shifted her gaze to the sky with great difficulty, for she sensed her planet was nearby. The radiant blue planet was visible in among the stars. Tails pulled the light blue fox close and kissed her.

~~~~~

Yaaaaaaaaaaay...wow. That took longer then I thought it would...no matter...it was important to my crossover story type thingamabob that I'm going to post another chapter to as soon as I get a reply...or two. That's all. Yesh...
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[Cyclone EXE]

Okay...three things.

1. Happy Christmas!!
2. Um...no one replied...so...
3. Chapter Five.

~~~~~

Chapter Five:

Tails sighed. The group of six had broken off into smaller packs of two and were searching everywhere for Sonic...and hopefully the Tornado. Tails and Neptune had told all that there was to be told, leaving out, of course, the parts that they felt uncomfortable discussing. Hopefully, Tails thought grimly, they now have an understanding of what we're up against here.

"Something on your mind?" Neptune asked, her voice soft. Tails didn't answer right away. After a moment of gathering his swirling thoughts together he spoke in a tone that was equally as soft as Neptune's.

"I just hope Sonic's alright, I guess..." He was lying, but Neptune didn't say anything, didn't try and pry. He had his reasons for not answering truthfully. She merely nodded and the two continued their search in silence.

*****

"Okay, so we're looking for a blue...hedgehog," Katya said disconcertedly. Netto sighed.

"Yeah."

"I disarray this is real...although it would be kinda nice if we were dreaming just this once," Katya said, also letting out a large and tired sigh.

"Yeah." Netto paused in mid stride and frowned.

"What?"

"I thought I heard..." Netto faltered. "Nah. It's nothing." Katya stared into the dark woods that stretched endlessly in front of them; an ocean of leaves. She didn't say anything, not wanting to know what mut be waiting for them int he dark. There was nothing but darkness anymore.

*****

"Woah," Cyclone breathed. She and Rockman stood at the edge of the vast forest and stared out across an endless plain of dancing grass that stretched as far as the eye could see. In the center of the clearing was a large stone building, crumbling, as old as time, it seemed, and looming over everything, watching, waiting.

"What's that?" Rockman said suddenly, pointing toward something big and blue at the base of the shrine.

"C'mon," Cyclone said excitedly, tugging on Rockman's arm and starting down the hill that led to the plains below, "let's go and find out." The two animals leapt over rocks and felled trees that stood in their way and caught their breath at the sight of a small plane, sitting in perfect condition in front of their very eyes.

"Is this Sonic then?" Rockman asked with a frown, walking behind the plane and staring at the ground. Cyclone circled the machine and found herself looking at an animal, a hedgehog. He was as blue as if not bluer then the plane and wore red and white shoes with a yellow buckle on the sides.

"Dunno..." Cyclone squatted next to the unconscious figure and cautiously spoke. "Um...hello? Sonic..." The hedgehog stirred and opened green eyes groggily at the sound of Cyclone's voice. He sat up so suddenly that the female coyote fell backwards in surprise.

"Wha..." The blue hedgehog's gaze fell on Rockman and Cyclone and a puzzled look spread across his face. "Who're you?"

"Uhm..." Cyclone looked up at Rockman.

"We're...not from around here...wait, you are Sonic, aren't you?" The hedgehog's puzzlement seemed to turn to uncomfort for a minute before reverting to slight anger.

"Yeah...so?"

"So," Cyclone said dubiously, "Tails was looking for...and asked us to..."

"Here, just come with us...cause there's a lot to explain and we aren't the ones to do it," Rockman said impatiently. He helped Cyclone to her feet and walked around to the other side of the airplane.

"Chaos Control..." Sonic muttered.

"I beg your pardon?" Cyclone asked sheepishly.

"Oh. No...it's..." Sonic stood up and Cyclone realized that he was taller then her by an inch or two. "Nothing." He looked up at the Tornado, then back at her. "Do you know where Tails is?"

*****

"It's been at least two hours and we haven't found anything. Maybe something happened..."

"No, but...Rockman and Cyclone aren't back yet..."

"They prolly got lost."

"No, don't talk like that!"

"It's possible though..."

"They might've found something!"

"Maybe. I hope so." The group's unorganized conversation was interrupted by Tails, who shushed them all rather rudely. "Listen...," he muttered.

"What, what is it?" Katya asked impatiently.

"Ssh!" Tails listened intently. His right ear twitched. "I know that sound anywhere," he said with a smile.

"I don't..." Neptune paused, smiled. "It sounds like your friends found something alright." In a matter of seconds, an engine could be heard followed by the first glimpse of blue through that trees.

"Ha!" Katya elbowed Netto in the ribs. "Knew it!"

"Hey, one of these days I'll be right," he protested, rubbing the spot where Katya dug her elbow into his side. "And I'll be sure to-"

"What's that?" Netto shrugged as the Tornado neared where they were standing.

"There's not enough room for them to land here," Tails said to Neptune. She nodded and grabbed Netto's hand.

"Hey, we're gonna have to catch a ride," she said with a half smile.

"Um...how can we do that if they're all the way...up there...," Netto said dumbly.

"Aren't they going too fast?" Katya protested as Tails took her hand in his. He frowned, looked at the ground, looked up at the sky.

"Sooooonic!" Tails called, waving to the plane with his free hand, "slow her down a bit!" Katya sighed.

"Never mind," she mumbled as the plane neared at a slightly slower pace.

"Still a bit fast, but we'll manage," Nepyune said, and Tails nodde3d in agreement.

"Ready?" the orange fox asked Katya.

"For wha-" Katya was smacked in the face by on of the fox's tails as he rotated them around in a helicopter-like motion. To her left, Neptune was doing the same.

"Sorry," Tails apologised. They lifted from the ground and headed toward the plane.
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[CrossFusionStarman]

Nice chapter as usual, Cyclone. I love all the fluff moments with Katya and Netto, even if Netto is really dense at times.
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EXEHQ. Click now, I demand it.

NT Champions. Click!

SERAS VICTORIA OWNS MY SOUL

[Mugen.exe]

I agree, great chapter. And thanks for posting your past, present and future fic. I'll look it over when I get the time. I cannot wait to read the next chapter, and find out where they go next. What are they looking for again? I kinda spaced out over the holidays (too much swag, nowhere to spend it).
Anyways, keep the great chapters coming!! and happy holidays (New Years is a comin'!)
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False Swipe is a great finishing move!
Witty robots, spunky orphans, and invincible pilots, this link's for you! A Gundam RP

[Cyclone EXE]

Chapter Six:

The night air had a breath of something in it that gave everything a feeling of uncertain forebooding and darkness. Tails leapt from the Tornado barely seconds after the plane touched the ground and ran up to the door of a gray building with a door and a few windows. Minutes later, Sonic, followed by Neptune, Katya, Netto, Rockman, and Cyclone, joined him in the hallway of the home, staring in at the place with mixed feelings. "What happened here," Katya breathed.

The whole place had been turned indise out; pots overturned, plants on the floor, couches ripped apart, feathers, cotton, book pages, wood, plaster, sheets, plates, broken glass strewn everywhere. "Someone was obviously looking for something. But what?" Rockman said thoughtfully as Tails stepped over the mess and walked over to a cabinent that was open and nearly emptied

"And who," Tails whispered. "Because whoever it was...found what they were looking for." Neptune also crossed the room and peered into the cabinent with a worried look on her face.

"The Chaos Emerald."

"Wait...I thought there were only seven?" Netto said, puzzled. Neptune shook her head.

"Nono, well...yes...and no." She paused. "Mercury is, in a way, the Eighth Emerald, and...were you listening at all when we told the story?" She and Tails looked from Katya to Netto to Rockman to Cyclone and back again. Sonic stretched, yawned, the only movement among the group for a few seconds.

"You don't expect us to remember the whole thing, do you?" Katya complained hesitantly.

"It only took an hour to explain it," Cyclone ascribed. Tails sighed and shot a sideways glance at Neptune, who shrugged. "And...there was one thing that has been bugging me..." Cyclone bit her lip. "I thought you guys were...older? You look about ten to me...not twenty."

"That story is most definately for another time," Tails said quickly.

"We have our own adventure to go on right now anyway," Sonic said casually, leaning against the wall.

"Yeah, he's right...the sooner we can get home," Katya said. "Not that I don't love it here and all..."

"Okay everyone, where do we go first then?" Tails asked. The persons around him looked at each other, waiting for someone to answer and wondering if that was sarcasm in the fox's voice or not. After a moment, Tails began to ramble, indeed sarcastic and very annoyed. "It can't be that hard though, no, we just have to get that cloud thing to cough up Earth and you guys can get home," he nodded at Netto, Rockman, Katya, Cyclone. "And to do that we only have to destroy it, right? So what're we waiting for! Here, I know-"

"Tails, I think they get it," Neptune cut the orange fox off firmly. He fell silent and an awkward feeling spread over the persons in the room. "We do, however," she shot Tails a warning glance when he opened his mouth to protest, "have a place where we can start looking."

"I have a feeling we aren't going to like it," Rockman muttered. Cyclone sighed and elbowed him.

"There's only one person I can think of who'd want that old Emerald of Mercury's."

*****

The cold air seemed to freeze as the group walked farther away from familiar ground and closer to a place where they would rather not be. Katya shivered and edged closer to Netto. "Damn, sometimes I wish I were just a minor character in some random story and not one of the major ones...," she mumbled. Netto held back a laugh. Not far ahead of them, Tails, Neptune, and Sonic were walking in a group and whispering amongst themselves.

"How do we always get into these types of stories: random people who aren't even our species, epic battles that were fought without us knowing that they were going on that we have to learn about, evil villians that are worse then ours...," Netto mused.

"Heh...sucks sometimes doesn't it," Katya agreed. Meanwhile, a few feet behind them, Rockman and Cyclone were having their own conversation.

"I don't think this temperature is normal for this time of year," Cyclone said, her teeth chattering. She drew closer to Rockman, who sighed.

"What is normal for this place anyway? What's normal even? I don't think anywhere we go there'll be anything that's even halfway normal."

"I suppose you're right." Cyclone sighed, her breath swirling in front of her face like a small block of fog before retreating into the night air above as it grew mercilessly colder around the group of seven.

"There it is then," Tails said softly. Rockman and Cyclone broke away from each other's warmth and comfort long enough to climb up onto their Net Op's backs and peer over the ravine's edge to gaze at the wasteland below.

"I didn't think we'd meet again this soon," an icy voice said. A chill ran through the group as they one by one turned to look back at the figure that stood behind them. The hedgehog stood a few inches taller the Sonic did, its fur a deep reddish black tint with dark blue markings on it's quills and around it's eyes. The most stunning feature about the hedgehog was his deep brown cloak that billowed around his body and hid it from view. "And you brought friends."

Tails's eyes flickered to the bright blue Chaos Emerald that was in the hedgehog's palm and Mercury, sensing his gaze, held it up so that the moonlight reflected off of the jewel and shone on the fox's face. "Haven't you already caused enough pain for a million lifetimes," Tails said, teeth gritted.

"I thought you knew me better than that." An eerie silence filtered throughout the area. There was no wind.

"What'd you do with Earth!" Katya burst out suddenly. Mercury turned his yellow eyes onto her face and the girl swiftly avoided his gaze, looking instead at the Chaos Emerald in his hand as it shimmered in the moonlight.

"That is no concern of yours."

"Oh yeah?" Cyclone stood up and Neptune caught her arm as the coyote tried to lunge at the hedgehog.

"Don't...do...anything...stupid!" the light blue fox hissed into Cyclone's ear as she pulled the coyote back. Boredom that had plastered itself on the hedgehog's face turned swiftly into amusement.

"Don't make me fight you," Cyclone said boldly. Neptune didn't try and hold her back as the coyote wrenched her arm from her grasp and took a step towards Mercury. By this time, everyone was on their feet.

"You are a bold one, aren't you?" Mercury chuckled. Cyclone lunged for him in a swift movement, but the hedgehog held out his Chaos Emerald, which glowed a bright red.

"Cyclone, stop!" Rockman leapt forward and, in a flash of light, they were both gone.

"Cyclone!" Katya screamed. "What the hell did you do with her!"

~~~~~

Action!
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[RazorBlade]

Man I can't believe I didn't read this sooner! Your fan fictions are so cool big sis...mooore! Moremoremore!!
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