- - - -
Chapter Six
Disaster in Knothole
by John Wainscott
- - - -
Timeline - The next morning.
- - - -

     Nothing. There was no light, but he could see himself. Noiseless,
weightless, but he was still standing. But what is he standing on? A chill
swept across his body. He wasn't thinking of anything but of where he was and
why he was there. He looked around for a second, but still nothing. Oddly
enough, he wasn't scared, but just curious.
     "Tails." A familiar voice spoke out from nowhere and the a long pause.
"Tails." The voice spoke again. He started to look around then realized who
the mysterious voice belonged to: Elrond Prower, his long-lost father.
     "Dad!" He yelled but nothing he said could be heard. A tall, silhouette
of a fox appeared five feet in front of him.
     "Tails." A light, from nowhere, illuminated Elrond's body, clearly
showing every single detail of his face.
     "DAD!" He yelled again, but was no longer in the nothingness, but on the
floor next to his bed wrapped in his blanket, sweating.
     "Tails, are you okay?" Sally asked as she came running in from outside.
Tails looked around, confused. "I heard you yelling." Tails stood up and
looked around the room. "You just had a bad dream." Sally sat him back on his
bed.
     "It wasn't a bad dream, I saw my dad." Sally sat down next to him.
     "You did?"
     "Yeah, but it was... weird. It wasn't like a dream. He was really there.
     "Where was this?" Sally became more curious.
     "Well... I'm not sure. I forget." Sonic walked in and saw Tails and
Sally.
     "Hi, guys. Wassup." Tails jumped up off of the bed and ran to Sonic.
     "Sonic! Can we go to the tunnels today? Like you promised!"
     "No prob! I'm leavin right now. Get your shoes on and lets juice!" Tails
put his shoes on and gave Sally a hug.
     "Bye, Aunt Sally!" Tails said as he took Sonic by the hand tugging him
out the door. Felix was still asleep.

- - - -

     "Hey, Rote! How's it commin?" Rotor was eating a candy bar and hid it
behind his back before Sonic could see it.
     "Oh, hey Sonic. I'm just finishing up on the descender." Rotor picked up
a wrench and tightened a bolt trying to look inconspicuous.
     "I'm gunna show Tails around for a while. Can he borrow your helmet?"
Rotor lifted the helmet off of his head and a handful of candy that had been
stashed under it fell to the ground. "Now, Rotor. What did Bunnie say?" Sonic
said as he crossed his arms and tapped his foot.
     "I know, I know." Rotor picked the candy up off of the ground and gave
it to Tails.
     "Thanks, Rotor!" Tails took the top off of the sucker and began eating
it.
     "Bunnie wanted you on a diet! Now we can't have you sneaking around her
back, can we?" Rotor pushed a button on a panel and a small train car pulled
up next to them. Tails took the helmet from Rotor and put it on.
     "See ya later." Tails happily barked.
     The train car started it's decent with a slight jolt and everything
slowly became darker as they rolled into the tunnel. Sonic reached for Tails'
helmet switching on a small light.
     "Whoa!" Tails was amazed. "And you come down here all the time?" Sonic
was sitting down with his hands behind his head relaxing.
     "Just every three days, that's when my shift is. Sit back and enjoy the
ride." Tails just stood there looking at the gigantic walls around him. After
about a three minute ride, the train car suddenly came to a stop, making Tails
fall down and hit his head with a muffled clang.
     "Wow, good thing I'm wearing a helmet!" Tails jumped out of the train
and started to explore. Before Tails could run out of reach, Sonic grabbed his
tails and stopped him.
     "Hold on, bro. It's kinda dangerous down here." Sonic pulled a thin
cable from the cart and clipped it to his belt. "These tunnles fork out. This
is so we can find out way back."
     "Why is everyone working in the tunnles?"
     "So we could use them for under-ground commuting. Packbell knows that
the Doomsday project took a dump before it finished, so he just left it
alone."
     "He doesn't know about these anymore?"
     "Guess not."
     Sonic and Tails walked around for about ten minutes before they heard
the music of a trumpet.
     "Felix!" Tails yelled. The trumpet stopped and a voice yelled back from
a dark tunnel.
     "Tails? Is that you!" Felix appeared out of the shadows and greeted
Tails and Sonic. "Hey, guys. What brings you down here, Sonic? Your shift is
tomorrow."
     "I know. I was just showin Tails around." Sonic and Felix looked at the
eager little fox.
     "Oh, cool. I just came down here to play my trumpet. The tunnels echo
everything so it sounds kinda like a symphony hall." Sonic, Tails, and Felix
continued with various conversations and tunnel explorations. This will
continue for a good five hours.

- - - -

     "I wonder what he looks like." Sally said as she sat down with Bunnie
sipping at a mug of hot chocolate.
     "Ya know, I never really thought about that. Ya wanna see if Nicole has
a picture of him somewhere?" Sally looked at Bunnie and then at Nicole sitting
on her desk.
     "Nicole, do you have any information on Elrond Prower of Bluebrook
Village?"
     "Yes, Sally."
     "Display a picture of him." In almost an instant, a hologram appeared of
Tails' dad in front of them.
     "Oh, he's so handsome!" Bunnie giggled.
     "He is. Sonic would be so jealous."
     Tails' dad, Elrond Prower, looked much like his son. He had big, blue
eyes, a perfect smile, and a long silky tail. It was no wonder where Tails got
his good looks.
     "I think I have a crush on him." Sally said as she looked into the
hologram's eyes.
     "How old is he?" Bunnie asked.
     "Thirty-two."
     "Are you thinkin of what I think you're thinkin about?"
     "No, of course not... I'm just curious."
     "Yeah, right. Nicole, is he still alive?"
     "Unknown. Elrond Prower was last seen at the destruction of Bluebrook
Village. No other information available to this date."
     "That's when we found Tails." Bunnie sat closer to Nicole and asked,
"What about his wife, Sarah?" Bunnie and Sally stared at Nicole and waited.
     "Sarah Prower, age thirty today. Last seen at the destruction of
Bluebrook Village. No other information available to this date." There were
two other people standing next to Elrond in the picture.
     "Nicole, who are the two other people standing next to him?"
     "Riff Underwood, village leader. Second person cannot be identified."
     "Is Riff still alive?"
     "Unknown." Sally closed the panel on Nicole and placed her back on the
desk.
     "Should we show Tails?" Asked Bunnie.
     "I'm not sure. He's been going through a lot lately."
     "So?"
     "...I guess."

- - - -

     Late that afternoon, Sonic and Tails got back from the tunnel tour and
was hungry.
     "Chili dog makings, and... ice." Sonic leaned back from the inside of
the refrigerator and looked at Tails waiting for an answer.
     "Duh! Lets have chili dogs." Sally and Bunnie walked in and saw Sonic
throw a couple of hot dogs in the microwave.
     "Hi Aunt Sally! Hi, Aunt Bunnie!"
     "Hi, Tails. Hi Sonic." Sally said as she walked over and kissed Sonic on
the cheek. "Um, Tails?" Sally hesitated.
     "About this morning, your dad..." Tails sat back down at the table and
looked at the queen. "...Bunnie and I did a little looking around and found a
picture of him."
     Tails' eyes widened as he jumped out of the chair.
     "Really!!! Where? Where is it? I wanna see it!!!" Sally and Bunnie were
a little relieved knowing that Tails was more enthusiastic over the situation
than they expected.
     "Nicole, display a picture of Elrond and Sarah Prower, full size." A
beam of light shot out of Nicole in front of Tails. A perfect hologram of his
parents stood before him as if they were really there. Tails was amazed, but
calmly walked towards them.
     "Mom... Dad..." Tails, forgetting that it was a hologram, jumped into
his mother's arms, and landed on the floor. The projection was just a still
picture of his parents and didn't react to him at all. Tails sat up and
started crying. Not because of the fall, but because of the sight of his
parents he hasn't seen in so many years. Bunnie sat next to him and put her
arm on his shoulder.
     "Are you okay, sugar?" Bunnie asked in an attempt to comfort him.
     "I don't know... it's just... that I haven't seen them for a long time."
Tails said as he tried to hold back his tears. The microwave beeped a few
times and Sonic pulled out the hot dogs.
     "Still up for some chili dogs, bro?" Tails shook his head and looked at
the hologram as it quickly faded away. Tails sat and looked at the ground as
several tears fell from his eyes.

- - - -

     A good twenty-minute flight away from Knothole in the Great Forest,
Tails is sitting under a fairly large tree in deep thought about his parents
and what fun games they've played when they were together. He laid down and
stared at the leaves blowing in the light wind directly above him.
     He thought about Bluebrook never being attacked. What would his mom and
dad be like today? But if the village was never attacked the relationship
between Sonic, Sally and everybody else in Knothole would have never existed?
Sonic would still just be stories that the traveling story teller would talk
to him about. Lots of other considerations passed through Tails' mind as the
hours passed.

- - - -

     "Hey, Mom, when's dad commin home?" Tails asked as he tugged at his
mother's skirt.
     "He should be back any time now, Tails. Why don't you go and wait for
him in your tree house again." Tails ran off and soon approached a tall oak
tree. He flew up to the entrance holding a water balloon in his hands that was
going to be used to surprise his dad with. After all, he did have scuba gear
on because he was working on some flooded underground water pumps.
     His tree house was like any kid's tree house, only that it didn't have a
ladder or rope. Only kids who could fly was allowed inside.
     After a few minutes of waiting, he finally heard someone coming. He
picked up the water balloon and held it out the window.
     "BOMBS AWAY!!!" Tails yelled as he saw his father walk by under him.
Hearing Tails, Elrond looked up and saw a small red dot get bigger, and bigger
and before he could really do anything about it, the water balloon hit him
dead-on in his face.
     "Tails!" He yelled as he shook his head dry.
     "Hi dad!" Tails descended from the tree landing in his father's arms.
     "You got me again! That's the second time this week." Tails gave him a
hug. "So, what do you want to do today, son?" Tails jumped down and grabbed
Elrond's hand.
     "I want to show you something!" Tails started running followed by his
dad.
     "Slow down! I'm getting too old for this!" Tails and Elrond stopped in
front of a large hole in the ground and stepped up for a closer look.
     "I found a cave! Can I inside?" Elrond grabbed Tails' arm and knelt down
beside him.
     "Did you go inside yet?" He asked in a nervous voice. Tails looked up to
him and wondered what was wrong.
     "No, why?" Elrond stood up with Tails and started running back to
Bluebrook with him in his arms. "What's wrong!"
     "That's one of Robotnick's tunnels!" Tails looked back and he began to
shiver.
     "Dad, I'm sorry!" He said nothing and continued running. By the time
they arrived back home, Sarah saw that they were both shaken.
     "Is everything all right, honey?" Sarah asked as she picked up Tails.
Tails hugged his mother and realized that she became much colder. Tails looked
up and everything was dark. He was laying under the tree and it was night
time.
     "Oh, no! It was a dream!" Tails stood up and looked around to confirm
that he was really in the forest. "Aunt Sally! Oh, man. I'm in it deep!" Tails
flew off for home and arrived in ten minutes. By the time he walked up to
Sonic and Sally's hut, he looked through a window and saw Miles asleep on the
bed, and Sonic and Sally pacing in circles with Julayla in her arms.
     "Tails, where are you?" Sally asked to herself. Tails looked at the
alarm clock next to the bed and saw that it was 2100 hours.
     "Ohmygosh." Tails sat down and started to think of an excuse to give to
Sally for him being gone for so long. After about a one-minute wait, which
seemed to last for eternity for him, he decided to just tell the truth. He
slowly stood up and walked inside.
     "Tails!" Sally put Julayla on the bed and hugged Tails. "Where were
you?" Sally angrily asked.
     "I fell asleep in the forest. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stay away that
long." Tails wanted to try to get her in a better mood, but knew that it was
impossible at that point.
     "Go to bed." Sally turned around and picked Julayla up again. Tails
lowered his head and walked back to his hut. He opened the door and noticed
Felix sitting on his bed playing Doom II on his laptop computer.
     "Felix! What's that?" Tails looked at the blood-filled screen.
     "Tails!" Felix quickly closed the screen and set the computer aside.
     "Nothing, where have you been all this time?"
     "I got... lost in the Great Forest." Felix didn't believe him.
     "What are you talking about? You know this forest better than anybody in
Knothole, you couldn't have been lost. Where were you really?"
     "I fell asleep and didn't wake up until just a few minutes ago."
     "Were you tired?"
     "No."
     "Whyja fall asleep then?"
     "I don't know. I had a dream about my father though." Felix was
beginning to become more curious about his dream than his disappearance.
     "Oh. How come I've never heard you talk about him before." Tails sat on
his bed and began telling Felix about his life back in Bluebrook and his
parents. He also told him about the attack by Robotnick and how Sonic and
Sally found him. Felix understood.
     "Don't feel bad, I don't know where my mom is, and I've been looking her
for a year."
     "If only Aunt Sally knew what I was dreaming about. Maybe then she
wouldn't be so mad at me."
     "Is she that mad at you?" Tails shrugged his shoulders and nodded his
head, "Hey, why do you call her Aunt Sally anyway? She's not your real aunt,
is she?"
     "No." Tails looked like he was trying to remember something important
from a long time ago. "I forget why, but I think it's because she is like an
aunt to me. It's not like I can call her Mom, or anything like that."
     "I guess. Well, it's getting late. We gotta get to bed. Tails jumped
into bed and Felix put his computer away.
     "G'night Felix."
     "Good night, Tails." Felix fell asleep almost right away but Tails
wasn't tired. He turned against the wall and looked out the window at the
black sky. "I love you, Mom and Dad." He whispered and continued to look at
the stars..

- - - -

     Tails woke up to the sound of the Felix's trumpet coming from the center
of the village again. He sat up and shook his head. He was extremely tired
from last night.
     "Well, it is seven o'clock." Tails moaned. He put on his socks and shoes
and met everybody outside. Sally stood up on a large rock and announced a new
schedule change for tunnel maintenance.
     "Due to a small earthquake last night, we need to make sure no damage
was done to any of the tunnels. From now until further notice, nobody except
me and a selected few can enter. But right now, Sonic, Felix, Rotor and I have
to check for structural damage. There will be another meeting after we get
back. Dismissed." Sally jumped down and everybody went back to their huts for
breakfast.
     "Aunt Sally, about last night..." Sally turned to Tails and interrupted
him.
     "Tails, I'll talk to you about this later." Sally turned around and left
with Sonic and Felix. Tails was disappointed and left for his hut.

     Finishing his last chili dog, Tails put his plate in the sink and
everything slowly started to shake. Tails looked around and saw things fall
down from shelves and cupboards.
     "Felix!" Tails yelled and noticed he was alone. "The tunnel!" Tails ran
and flew for the entrance of the tunnel and saw that nobody was there.
     "Help!!!" Sonic screamed from inside. Tails was the only person there so
there was no choice but to grab a light and fly in.
     "Sonic! Where are you!" Everything was still shaking. "SONIC!!!" Sonic
didn't answer and Tails flew deeper into the dark. The earthquake slowly
stopped and everything became dusty and silent. It was hard for Tails to
breathe. The flash light emitted a ling cylinder of light through the dust.
"Sonic! I can't see!" There was still no answer and the walls started to flake
away. Tails didn't know what to do. Save Sonic, or save himself. Taking only
enough time to ponder his friendship with him, he darted deeper into the dark
tunnel.
     "Tails!" Sonic yelled in a weak voice. Tails could see Sonic's helmet
light coming from under the ground. Tails ran to the light and started
digging. The walls were caving in and Tails continued to dig. He was getting
nowhere.
     "SONIC!" Tails yelled as he started to cry. The walls finally fell and
caved in on top of them. "SONIC!!!" Tails kicked and screamed as Sally pulled
the blanket off of his head. Tails' eyes were still closed and didn't know
that he was still in his hut. Sally picked up Tails and sat on the bed. Tails
grabbed on to Sally and cried.
     "Tails! It's okay! I'm here now." Tails loosened his grip but continued
to cry.
     "Do you guys wanna be alone?" Felix asked as he looked under his bed to
see them. She nodded her head and Felix left.
     "It's okay, Tails. Everything's fine." Sally started singing to him and
Tails slowly stopped crying. "What happened Tails? Did you have another
nightmare?" Tails wiped his eyes and nodded his head. "Will it make you feel
better if you tell me about it?" Tails said nothing. "You'll be okay, Tails."

- - - -

     Everybody assembled in lines in the center of the village for an
announcement Sally was about to make. Sally jumped on to a large rock and
everybody silenced to listen to the queen. 
     "Due to a small earthquake last night, we need to make sure no damage
was done to any of the tunnels. From now until further notice, nobody except
me and a selected few can enter. But right now, Sonic, Felix, Rotor and I have
to check for structural damage. There will be another meeting after we get
back. Dismissed." Sally jumped down and everybody went back to their huts for
breakfast. Tails heard the announcement and remembered that it was exactly the
same one from his dream. Tails pinched his arm to make sure that this wasn't a
dream. He pinched himself pretty hard then rubbed his arm.
     "Aunt Sally! I need to talk to you!" Sally turned around and knelt in
front of Tails.
     "Tails, I'm busy. I'll talk to you after I get back." Sally stood up and
was pulled back down by Tails. "Why did you do that?" Sally was angered by
what Tails just did.
     "I need to talk to you right now!" Sally realized that what Tails had to
say was important so she let Sonic know she would catch up in a minute. Sally
stood up and walked with Tails for some privacy.
     "Okay, Tails. What's so important?"
     "I... I don't want you to go inside those tunnels today."
     "And why's that?" Tails looked at the ground.
     "Something bad's going to happen."
     "Like what?" There was a short pause.
     "...Something bad..."
     "Does this have anything to do with those dreams you've been having?"
Tails nodded his head.
     "I'm sure it's nothing."
     "NO!"
     "What?"
     "You know your announcement you made a minute ago?"
     "Yeah. What about it?"
     "That's what you said in my dream, word for word!" Sally became
concerned.
     "Then what happened after that?"
     "...The tunnels caved in... and... Sonic..."
     "Tails, all right. I'll have everyone wait, okay?" Tails gave Sally a
long hug and they both walked back to the small group of Freedom Fighters.
     "Lets go, Sal." Sonic put on a backpack, and Felix put on his helmet.
     "Change of plan guys. Were going to wait a couple of days before we
enter the tunnels." Tails looked at Sally and smiled.
     "Why? What's wrong?" Asked Rotor.
     "There might be some after shocks. It's too dangerous right now."
     "But..." Sonic whined.
     "That's final!" Sally walked off with Tails holding her hand.
     "Thanks, Aunt Sally."

- - - -

     That evening, Tails was sitting on his bed anxiously waiting for an
earthquake.
     "Well, Tails?" Yawned Sally.
     "Nothing happened today. Are you sure that's what happened in your
dream?"
     "YES!" Tails barked at Sally. "I'm sorry." Tails calmed back down.
     "That's okay. I know exactly what you're going through." Tails looked at
Sally. "When I was about your age, I had nightmares too." Tails began to feel
a little better.
     "You did?"
     "Yes, and they were scary too."
     "What did you do?"
     "Nothing. I just had to wait until they stopped, and that took months
for me to get over." Sally sat next to Tails on his bed.
     "What were they about?"
     "...My father." Tails lowered his head. "Every night... I had the same
dream over and over again. My father would be talking to Robotnick, like he
always did before the war. My father was so proud of him. He turns around to
get a map off of his desk, and, he pulls a pistol on him. Every night I woke
up in a puddle of sweat." Sally wiped a tear from her eye.
     "Last night, when I came home late,"
     "Yes?"
     "When I fell asleep in the forest, I had a dream about my parents... and
Bluebrook. It was like Robotnick never attacked that day you found me. Life
went on as it usually did. I played with my dad, my mom, I was even playing in
the tree house Dad made for me. When I woke up, I realized that it was just
another dream, and my parents were still gone." Tails hugged Sally and cried.

- - - -

     Bunnie and Rotor were in their hut doing exercises. Bunnie was doing
one-armed push-ups without the help of her robotic arm, and Rotor did a
push-up.
     "Forty-eight... forty-nine... fifty! How's it commin, sugar?"
     "Two--" Bunnie sat up and crossed her arms.
     "C'mon, you can do better than that!"
     "When do we eat?"
     "Is that all you think of? Food? That's why I put you on this little ole
diet." Bunnie patted Rotor's stomach and smiled.
     "Little!?" Whined Rotor.
     "Ready for sit-ups?"
     "No."
     "Come here."
     "No."
     "Rotor."
     "No."
     "Do you want to get rid of that gut, or what?"
     "...No."
     "Git over here!"

- - - -

     "So, Sal. What's with the hold up about the tunnels?"
     "It's a long story." Sonic leaned back in his chair and crossed his
arms.
     "I got all day."
     "Okay, but don't tell Tails I told you about this."
     "Huh?"
     "He's not real comfortable with what's going on."
     "I still don't get it."
     "Tails has been having nightmares about the tunnel caving in with
someone in it, and I just want to make him feel a little better knowing that
we're not going down there."
     "Can't we just go down there without him knowing?"
     "I promised him. As soon as he gets over these bad dreams, we'll get
started on the tunnels again, okay?"
     "Sure, I guess. But why didn't he tell me about this?"
     "I've thought about that. And the only thing I can think of is that
whenever a small child has a nightmare, he only cries for his mother. And at
this point, I have to fill in."

- - - -

     "Hey, Tails, wow's it goin?" Tails was sitting in the garden under a
tree playing with a fallen leaf and thinking.
     "Hi, Sonic." Tails said drily.
     "Whatcha doin?" Sonic walked up and sat in front of him.
     "Nothing."
     "Thinking about your dad?" Tails looked up at Sonic.
     "Yeah, how did you know?"
     "Well, ever since Sal showed you that picture the other day, you haven't
been yourself." Tails looked back down at the ground. "Hey, bud. You'll find
them one of these days." Tails crushed the leaf and looked at Sonic.
     "That's what everybody says!" Sonic was surprised at Tails' outburst.
     "Hey, sorry." Tails stood up and began walking away. Sonic got up and
caught up to him. "Hey, what's wrong?"
     "My family's gone and I'm never finding them again!" Tails flew away
into the dense forest.
     "You're right, Sal." Sonic said to himself.
     "These dreams are never going to stop." Tails whispered to himself as he
sat at the top of a tree.
     "What dreams?" Nina asked as she hung from her legs from a branch above
him.
     "Aah!" Tails screamed as he lost balance and fell. Instinctively, Tails
spun his tails and flew back to Nina. "Nina! What are you doing here?"
     "Just playin around. How did you find me?" Nina jumped down to the
branch Tails was sitting on.
     "I don't know. I wasn't even looking for you." Tails scratched his head.
     "Yeah, right. What are the chances of that happening?"
     "Ida know. Must have just been lucky. Hey, how did you get up here any
way? That's gotta be at least a hundred feet!"
     "I climbed."
     "Really?"
     "Yeah, robots have perfect balance." Nina stood at the end of a branch,
closed her eyes and held out her arms. "See?"
     "Don't do that!"
     "What?"
     "You'll fall."
     "No I won't."
     "Just... don't do that!"
     "Okay." Nina walked back to Tails and sat down. "Hey, what dreams were
you talking about?"
     "Nothing."
     "Why did you come all the way out here just to think about nothing?
     "Okay. I've been having dreams about my family."
     "Well, why don't you like them? I'd like to see my parents if they've
been lost for a long time."
     "No, it's not that. I've also been dreaming about the Doomsday tunnels.
I think someone's going to get hurt."
     "How?"
     "An earthquake. I don't want those tunnels caving in on anybody."
     "What makes you think an earthquake is going to happen?"
     "...I just do."
     "I hope you're wrong."
     "So do I."
     "I gotta go home now." Nina climbed down. Tails sat there for about an
hour then he left too.

- - - -

     "Hi, Tails." Greeted Felix as Tails walked into his hut.
     "Hey, Felix." Tails walked over to his bed and jumped in.
     "Bed time so soon?" It was only seven.
     "No, just tired."
     "Okay, good night." Felix turned back to his computer and continued
writing his story he's been writing for about a month. About an hour later, it
finally got dark, and Tails was sleeping with his pillow over his head.
     "Felix?" Whispered Sonic from outside the window.
     "Sonic, what's up?"
     "Can you do me a favor?"
     "Sure." Felix closed his computer and walked outside. "What do you
need?"
     "I need you to babysit while Sally and I go to Robotropolis and steal
some parts for Nicole."
     "Okay, Sonic." Felix smiled to himself and walked over to Sonic and
Sally's hut.
     "Felix, we'll only be gone for about two hours."
     "Okay." Sonic and Sally left the hut and ran into the darkness.
     "She forgot Nicole." Felix laughed and began playing with the babies.

- - - -

     "Uh, oh." Tails said as he stood inside the dark tunnel. "Now I know
this is a dream. What am I doing here?"
     "Tails." Tails' eyes widened and he turned around to see his dad.
     "Dad!" Tails ran up to him and jumped into his arms. Just as quick as it
took him to feel happy to see his dad, all of his emotions turned upside down.
"Too bad this is only a dream." Mumbled Tails.
     "Son, there is something I have to tell you." Elrond put Tails down.
"There is going to be an earthquake tomorrow and Sally is going to be down
here. You need to keep her out. If you don't, the earthquake will take her
life."
     "Aunt Sally? Why her?"
     "Just keep her out of the tunnel." Elrond turned around and began
walking away. Tails grabbed his father's arm and raised his voice.
     "Why Aunt Sally?!"
     "What about Sally?" Asked Felix. Tails sat up in his bed and looked
around.
     "Oh, great!" Tails ran to Sally's hut and pounded on the door. A few
seconds later, Sally opened it. She had the robe on that Tails gave to her for
a wedding present. Her hair was a mess and Sonic was still asleep in bed.
     "Tails? It's three in the morning."
     "Aunt Sally! Don't go down there today!"
     "What? Go down where?"
     "The tunnels."
     "Tails, I don't intend to. Did you have another one of those dreams
again?"
     "Yes. Are you sure you're not going down there today?"
     "Yes, I'm sure. Now get back too bed." Tails lowered his head and slowly
walked back home.
     "Felix, did I wake you up?"
     "Yes, but I'm sure you didn't mean to. Now lets get some sleep." Tails
went back to bed and Felix fell back to sleep immediately. Tails wasn't tired
anymore. Besides, even if he was, he wouldn't be able to sleep. He talked to
his dad. He didn't care if it was a dream or not, he met his dad again.

     The sunrise woke Felix up and he noticed Tails laying down staring at
the floor. He hasn't slept since he had that dream.
     "Tails, you still up?" Tails didn't respond. "Tails?"
     "Huh? Oh, yeah."
     "That's strange, you even went to bed early cause you were tired."
     "I know."
     "Why were you asking about Sally this morning?"
     "Oh, another dream." Tails looked back at the floor.
     "Was she in this one too?"
     "No, I don't really want to talk about it right now."
     "That's fine. I don't want to pry into anything."
     "Thanks." Felix grabbed his trumpet and walked outside.

- - - -

     Late that afternoon, Mindy and Jessica went to play with Nina by the
ring pool. After about a half hour, they got bored and decided to go
exploring. They walked towards the tunnel entrance and peeked inside.
     "I don't think you should go in there, Mindy." Nina said.
     "Oh, don't worry. I won't go far." Mindy stepped inside the tunnel.
     "Sally said no one's supposed to go down there." Before Mindy could
continue, she slipped on a small puddle of water and slid the entire way down.
She found herself in complete darkness.
     "Mindy!" Screamed Jessica.
     "Help me! I can't see anything!" Nina ran back to Sally's hut to get
help.
     "Sally! Mindy fell in the tunnel! Help her!" Sally jumped up from
reading a book and ran of with Nina.
     "What were you doing near the tunnels?"
     "We were just looking around. I didn't mean for this to happen." Sally
and Nina returned to the tunnel to hear Mindy scream in fear.
     "Hand me that rope!" Commanded Sally as she pointed to a long rope hung
on a door. "I'm here, Mindy! I'll be right down!"
     "Hurry! I'm afraid of the dark!" Sally quickly descended into the tunnel
completely forgetting about the promise she had made to Tails. Sally finally
reached Mindy and grabbed her. Before she could give her any instructions, the
ground began to tremble. Mindy screamed and Sally froze with fear.
     "Lets go!!!" Mindy and Sally quickly climbed for the top when Sally lost
her grip and slipped back down. "Keep going!"
     Tails felt the ground shake below him and heard someone scream. It was
by the tunnel. Without hesitation, Tails flew as fast as he could to see Nina,
Mindy, and Jessica pull the rope Sally held on to.
     "Aunt Sally!" Tails cried. He could see Sally come into the light when
the walls finally gave away and caved in on top of her. "NO!" The dirt buried
Sally alive. Tails, Nina, Jessica, and Mindy started to dig. Nina was the most
efficient digger because she was a robot and was a hundred times stronger than
any other ten year old kid. After three minutes of frantic digging, the
earthquake finally stopped. Nina uncovered Sally and pulled her out. She was
unconscious. Tails tried to shake her to wake her up, but nothing worked.
     "Get her to Bookshire!" All of the kids picked Sally up and ran her back
to the village.
     "HELP!!!" Sonic saw Sally being carried back and ran to help her. Sonic
said nothing because he couldn't find anything to say. They all ran to
Bookshire's hut and ran inside.
     "What's going on?" Sonic laid Sally on the bed and Bookshire hooked her
up to an assortment of medical computers. "How did this happen?" Yelled
Bookshire.
     "Aunt Sally was in the tunnel when it caved in!" Bookshire turned the
heart monitor on and got a flat line.
     "She has no pulse!" Sonic grabbed Sally's hand and shook her arm.
     "Come on Sally! Don't do this to me!"

- - - -

     "It isn't your fault, Tails." Bunnie sat down next to Tails outside
Bookshire's hut.
     "I could have been there."
     "You did what you could. Nothing could have been done."
     "I told her not to go down there."
     "She went down there to help your friends. If you didn't tell her about
those dreams you've been having, more people would have been down there."
     "I still could have been there."

- - - -

     "Sonic!" Sonic walked around the corner with Miles in one arm and a
dirty diaper in the other hand.
     "Yes?" Sonic faintly asked. He has gone through two days of babysitting
without Sally's help.
     "I'm done with this book, can you get me another one?" Sonic attempted
to smile.
     "Sure." Sonic put down Miles and walked into the bedroom. A few seconds
later, he walked out with a small, blue book and handed it to her.
     "I've already read this one." Sonic took the book back and got another
one for her. "This one too." Again, Sonic got another book for Sally and gave
it to her. "I've already read this one too." Sonic took the book back to the
bedroom and came out with a box full of books and placed it next to her and
walked outside. Just then, Tails walked in to see how Sally was doing.
     "Hi, Aunt Sally. Are you okay?" Sally dropped a book back into the box
and reached for Tails.
     "Oh, Tails! Come here!" Sally gave Tails a hug and Tails tried not to
touch her bandages. "I'm fine." Tails flew up to Sally and sat on her lap.
     "I was right, wasn't I?"
     "Yes, you were. You saved my life, Tails." Tails gave Sally another hug
and thought to himself,
     "No, my Dad did."

     The tunnels were turned into canyons by the earthquake, running between
many different villages in the great forest. There has been some after shocks,
but none that did any damage. Tails' dreams have stopped bothering him, and
received a metal from King Sonic for bravery. Mindy learned her lesson about
going into places she shouldn't be in, and Rotor's diet was a very slow one
that seemed to him to take forever. But it was finally a success. He lost four
pounds.