Silver, who is covered in blue-green aura, catches up to me, and we race side-by-side. We look at each other competitively.

"I did not know you could fly," I say, flying a tad bit faster.

"Psychic powers," Silver replies. He speeds up as well, matching my speed.

I look down, and I see Sonic and Shadow racing each other, bumping into one another every now and again.

"Do they always do that?" I ask.

"Oh, yeah," Silver replies. "They're very competitive against each other." He then looks like he got a mischievous idea. "Hey, since they're duking it out down there, let's out race them."

"We can do that?" I wonder, still looking down. "I had a pretty hard time keeping up with Sonic."

"Oh, yeah. They're going slower than usual since they're fighting to be first. We can easily beat them." Silver holds out his hand. "Come on, I'll lead you to our place."

I take his hand, and we fly quickly back to their village. We go past houses, valleys, forests, and a temple holding a huge diamond with a red animal sleeping by it, which I point out.

"Oh, him?" Silver shrugs. "He's Knuckles the Echidna. He guards the Master Emerald."

"What is a 'Master Emerald'?" I ask as we zip past him. "What is its purpose?"

"It's the strongest emerald ever," Silver explains. "It's actually the very thing that keeps this place from sinking."

"Why is he sleeping, then?" I look behind me at the sleeping echidna. "If this Master Emerald is so important, why is he not guarding it properly."

Silver gives a short laugh. "Trust me, he'll get you if you even touch that emerald."

I nod, taking his word for it. We speed up, and I hear a grunt behind me. I turn around, and the echidna is smiling in our direction.

We land, and Sonic and Shadow arrive. They look surprised to see us here first.

"What's wrong, Shadow?" Silver asks in a sassing tone. " I thought you were faster than me."

Shadow growls. "What did you say?!" he snarls. "Say it to my face!"

"I said that you were being a bit slow." Silver exaggerates the word "slow."

Shadow snarls again, and just before he lunges at Silver, I stop him by holding him back.

"Please, do not bicker," I beg softly. "I had enough of that when Yuma and Tetsuo..." My words trail off as I remember the first day Number 96 showed himself. Sadness fills my heart. "What...what happened to them?" I ask myself.

The three must have caught my tone because they stop. Sonic pats my shoulder.

"Come on, let's introduce you to the others," Sonic says.

We go into the interior of the town, and we stop by some kind of workshop.

"This is Miles 'Tails' Prower," Sonic says. Miles waves at us.

"Hey, Sonic," he says, his twin tails flowing. "Is he the one you wanted to get so badly? Something about some kind of voice in your head?" Miles chuckles.

Sonic laughs. "Can't defy my sense of adventure, Tails!" He nudges my arm. "Introduce yourself."

I wave shyly. "My name is Astral," I say.

"Wow, that's a cool name," Miles says. "Did you know that it's the base for many words such as astral projection, astral plane..."

I tune out Miles for a while as I take a look at the town. It is a small yet busy place. Such a beautiful place, too.

"Oh, yeah," Miles says, finally stopping. "You can call me Tails."

Tails. That is much less awkward to say. I smile.

"It is nice to meet you, Tails," I say.

We meet everyone there including Knuckles, Amy Rose, Vector (hearing his name made me shiver), Blaze the Cat, Charmy, Espio, and others. They all seem nice. Silver says that Amy has a huge crush on Sonic, and that it would explain why Sonic does not go near. Nevertheless, the pink hedgehog still hugs the life out of him. Honestly, it is...cute. I wish Sonic would at least acknowledge her feelings toward him. Kind of like Yuma and Cathy...

"Hey, Knuckles, do you mind if I show Astral here the Master Emerald up close?" Sonic asks.

Knuckles has to think a while on this one. Apparently, he does not want anyone near. "...Fine as long as no one touches anything."

Sonic, Silver, Knuckles, and I go to the temple that houses the Master Emerald. I look up at the Emerald, and a horrific sight awaits.