Chaos Uncontrolled

Chapter 6

Tails was worried. Ok, no worried wasn't a strong enough word. Tails was panicking. Sonic was missing, and no one had a clue as to where he'd gone. First his brother had been acting strange, keeping things from them. He'd thought maybe Amy could get something from him, but instead Sonic had bolted after Amy had just asked if he was ok! It hadn't taken long for Tails to resort to tracking his communicator, but that had only led them to the device itself which was hung carefully in a tree. Basically they now had no reliable way to track the blue blur. Sure Tails was an expert at hunting his brother down, but Sonic had been doing a good job at avoiding doing the normal things that made him trackable. Mainly running.

Which absolutely baffled Tails. Sonic loved running and often got impatient and cranky when he couldn't run for long periods of time. For him to intentionally not be running probably meant one of two things. One, he was hurt somehow and couldn't run. Tails found that theory unlikely even despite the fact that Sonic had gotten off Angel Island somehow without using the Tornado or the emeralds. Which very well could have resulted in some sort of injury. The second option, and more likely one despite how crazy it seemed to him, was Sonic was intentionally not running around so they couldn't find him.

Why would he be doing that though? Tails wrung his hands sadly as he sat dejectedly on the steps of the master emerald shrine. If Sonic didn't want to be found... should they even look for him? Clearly he was doing everything he could to avoid them. Wrapping his arms and tails around himself he took a shaky breath. Maybe he should just leave it. If Sonic wanted to come back he would. Simple as that. The hedgehog had vanished for days at a time before and always came back. Why should this time be any different? He sniffled and felt tears well up in his eyes. Sonic would come back... right?

"Tails?" Tails whipped around to see Knuckles looking at him with concern.

"Oh, hey Knuckles." He greeted, sniffling and rubbing his eyes to clear away the tears.

"Are you-" Knuckles shook his head as he cut himself off. Instead he came over and sat down next to the fox and slowly went to drape an arm around him. It gave Tails plenty of time to pull away if he wanted, but Tails leaned into the touch. Burying his face into Knuckles' shoulder he let himself cry. Let himself acknowledge everything he was feeling. Knuckles remained a solid presence next to him the whole time and Tails was thankful for it. "We'll find him." Knuckles said after Tails' sobs had changed into quiet sniffles. "I'll drag him back kicking and screaming myself and make sure he apologizes for putting you and the rest of us through this."

Despite himself Tails chuckled at the mental image of Knuckles dragging Sonic against his will by the leg. "Thanks Knuckles... I-I needed that."

"I'll bet." He grunted. "This has been a lot for all of us." Knuckles shifted to ruffle the top of Tails' head. "We'll make sure to find that idiot and figure out what's going on."

"A-and help him." Tails added quietly.

"Yeah yeah, and help him." Knuckles added after an exaggerated sigh.

"I think we're gonna need more help." Tails sat up a bit straighter, still staying glued to the echidna's side. "Amy is already on board but..."

"We'll need all the help we can get." Knuckles finished. "I assume you have people in mind?"

"A few yeah..."

---

"Hey hun, this is a pleasant surprise." Rouge smiled at the duo. Tails waved shyly as Knuckles looked like he'd rather be anywhere but there. Rouge glanced around and frowned. "And where's big blue? Can't say I've ever seen you come around here without him Tails."

"W-well that's kinda why we're here." Tails wrung his hands.

Rouge's whole demeanor changed as she took in Tails' behavior. "Come on in boys. Tell me what happened and what I can do to help."