Author's Note: This story is unrelated to the Concepts series. Enjoy.
Chapter 1
Sonic the Hedgehog wasn't sure what made him realize it or how he had taken so long to do so, but as he did, it was enough to keep him awake throughout the night. Still in his bed, the famed speedy hero turned to glance at his best friend with whom he lived, Miles 'Tails' Prower, who was sleeping soundly on the floor mattress. The small fox had wrapped himself up in his twin bushy tails from which he got his nickname, using them as a blanket.
It was indeed a very adorable sight, but if Sonic allowed it, his snarkier side would say that that was all the fox really used those tails for nowadays, although probably not to his face.
The problem – if it could be called that – was that of balance, it seemed. Tails was capable of spinning his twin namesakes like helicopter blades to fly, even catch up with Sonic as he ran, and as weapons too. At the same time, he was an engineering genius, and naturally liked to spend time around machines, especially the airplane they owned, the Tornado. He piloted it better than Sonic did, which made him a flyer in not one, but two ways.
But then it finally occurred to Sonic that it was getting harder to remember that. Before, when the two had first become friends, they mostly got around together on foot, in a manner of speaking. As the hedgehog ran, the fox would be beside or just behind him in the air, both traveling at speeds high enough to appear as a blue and orange blur to others. Back then, they rarely used the Tornado, which belonged to Sonic, due to limited fuel and supplies, reserving it only when Dr. Robotnik repeated his endless schemes of taking over some town or city with large airborne fortresses, or to cross oceans. For the mad scientist's robots on the ground, the duo would simply deal with them head on with their own unique fighting talents.
And that was what awakened Sonic. In the past year or so, they didn't really seem to move around or race each other anymore. Tails spent much more time with the Tornado than he did at first, and was pretty much always in it now even when Robotnik wasn't around. Aside from the plane, there were also other gadgets that he liked to work on in the workshop, and the hours he spent in there had also gradually increased.
There wasn't anything wrong with that, Sonic told himself. It's a perfectly reasonable and even useful interest that had helped saved their lives and the world several times already while dealing with Robotnik. And besides that, fixing or upgrading machines was their main source of income. But in the last several times Sonic fought against groups of armed robots, he found himself doing it all alone, at least until Tails flew in with the Tornado to shoot the last few out and to pick Sonic up.
He had been thankful for that, but at the same time, he couldn't help feeling that those skirmishes would have ended faster if his friend had been fighting them off by his side. Come to think of it, Tails really hadn't been seen flying or fighting with his namesakes for quite a while, outside of a few brief bursts of the former.
And the last time they had gone out on a run like old times was…how many months ago already? Sonic couldn't even remember. He found that alarming, to say the least.
Sonic was pulled back to reality as the alarm clock in the room started ringing. Tails nearby yawned audibly and swiftly got up from bed, feeling fully refreshed. "Morning, bud," the hedgehog greeted good-naturedly.
"Oh, hey, morning, Sonic," Tails said back with a smile. Then, apparently noticing something about Sonic, he added, "You got up earlier than me?"
"Actually, yeah," Sonic answered, sounding surprised. "You can tell?"
"Yeah, it's obvious from the way you're sitting up and the way your eyes look," Tails replied before chuckling a bit. "Sorry, it's just that I can't remember the last time that happened."
The teenage hedgehog was tempted to make a similar remark about Tails' recent physical activity or lack thereof, but he held back. The kid was still his best friend, and he wanted to discuss the matter cordially. Not here, though. "So, uh, what do ya think we should have for breakfast?"
After a while, they decided on having some simple toast. Now in the dining room, Sonic noticed that the weather outside the window looked great. The sun had just come up, and there was wind that rustled the tree leaves and plants. Overall, it simply looked very inviting, at least to the blue hedgehog. "Looks great out there, doesn't it?" he decided to comment.
The fox nodded. "It sure does," he agreed before taking another bite.
Good answer, just what he wanted to hear. Time to be more direct, then. "You think we could go for a run today?" he asked hopefully.
"Hmm…" Tails stayed silent for a moment to think about it. Then he replied, much to Sonic's dismay, "nah, no thanks. I got another idea about another upgrade I could add to the Tornado, something that can make the guns and missiles track better. Maybe I'll improve the laser's power usage too. And finally add that VTOL system. Oh yeah, there's also the Tornado II…so it might take the whole day."
Sonic had to do all he could to prevent his disappointment from showing. "Okay, sure," he said, trying to sound like he was completely cool with it.
It didn't work, though. He wasn't sure if it was his expression or voice, but Tails managed to pick up on his hidden feelings, somehow. "Sonic, anything you want to talk to me about?" he asked curiously.
The hedgehog almost sighed. Tails was so perceptive to certain things, yet not to others. Couldn't he see why? But since the fox had already noticed and asked about it, he couldn't turn back. "Well, there is something, to be honest," Sonic admitted reluctantly.
"Oh? What is it, then?" Tails sat up properly in his chair before continuing, "You can tell me anything. It's okay." The look in his bright blue eyes suggested he genuinely wanted to know.
"I don't know, bud, it's just that…" He began thinking of how to put it so that Tails wouldn't take it the wrong way. "…we haven't really gone out in a while, have we?"
Tails looked confused at the statement. "Huh? Sure, we do. We had to use the Tornado to stop Robotnik the last few times, and then-"
"I know, bud," Sonic interrupted, even though he normally didn't like doing so, "but that's not what I'm talking about."
"Then, what do you mean?"
"Well, Tails, remember what we used to do?" Sonic began as he began to recount his memories. "I mean, just blazing around near the speed of sound? Side by side, past all the trees and stuff? And maybe trashing Eggy's buttniks in the process? The old-fashioned way?"
"Sure, of course," Tails replied quickly and naturally, "it's just that I'm always having so many ideas about the Tornado, how to upgrade it and stuff, not to mention the customers' machines that I have to fix. And when Robotnik attacks, well, the Tornado does come in real handy, right? Besides, slapping bots with my tails starts to hurt after a while, you know."
Sonic had to pause at that long reply. Thinking over it, he saw that Tails did have some rather good points. And it was true that his own quills was naturally more suited to cutting and smashing through hard stuff than the fox's twin tails. The hedgehog still had his own arguments, though. "Got me there…but still, don't you think you go out and fly kinda rarely now? And anyway, it took me a while for my quills to get used to smashing bots too."
Now it was Tails' turn to be silent. After looking away in thought for a few seconds, he replied, "I guess I just haven't noticed it because of all that I've been doing. And I get what you mean, but if I have a way of defeating enemies without hurting myself, I should be using it, right?"
"True," Sonic acknowledged with nod, "but don'tcha think you're being a little too reliant on the plane these days? I mean, I love it too, and would never think of giving it up for anything. I've known it for even longer than I've known you. But you use it so much now that I can't even remember the last time you flew under your own power, that's all I'm saying."
"So, you're telling me to work out more?" Tails asked. He didn't sound defensive or offended, just inquisitive.
"Sort of, yeah, I guess you could say that, but not for that reason," Sonic replied. The fox was still as slim and small as ever despite his decreased physical activity and increased appetite. No, what kept Sonic concerned and awake this morning had something to do with their safety rather than health – his safety. "I was just thinking, you know, what if something happened to the Tornado, or if we both had to go into cramped indoor areas where it had to stay outside. What would you do?"
Tails shrugged. "Well, I'd just follow you, right? And come on, Sonic, I'm not that forgetful, am I?"
"No, not saying that, bud," Sonic clarified, "you've got the best memory out of all the people I've ever seen. But shouldn't you kinda practice once in a while? Otherwise it'll be as if your tails are just for show and being a blanket, and that's not cool, man."
"They're not just a blanket, Sonic," Tails rebutted with a sigh, his face already turning red at the mention of his sleeping habit that thankfully nobody else knew about. "I assure you. You trust me, right?"
"I do, I do," Sonic made clear, "with all my life."
Before they could discuss it any further, a sudden beeping sound intruded the peaceful dining room. It was coming from Tails' minicomputer that he always wore with a strap on his left wrist, under the cuff of his glove. He checked it even though they already knew what the noise meant.
"It's Eggman, isn't it?" Sonic asked unnecessarily.
"Yep. This time he's attacking Central City. The report says it's only a few of his flying bots, though. The Tornado should be able to knock them all down flat in no time," Tails said confidently.
Again feeling slightly disappointed that the attack this time would again probably require them to be in the plane at all times, Sonic nevertheless nodded. "Sounds easy enough. Too easy, actually. But whatever, let's get out there and show it to him!"
A few minutes later, they were already in the Tornado, soaring through the morning sky to the large city in the distance, with Tails in the pilot seat and Sonic standing outside, holding onto the right rear vertical stabilizer. The jet's ramjet engines, powered by the red Chaos Emerald, allowed it to reach Mach 3 and have virtually infinite range.
Only ten minutes after taking off at maximum speed, the skyline of Central City was already visible, along with the outlines of Robotnik's hover units that they were familiar with. The radar showed that there were eight of them.
"Time to test the laser out," Sonic heard Tails announce through the earpiece he was now wearing. It was the most suitable weapon to use here due to the population density and the number of buildings placed close together, and the laser should hopefully be able to disintegrate the bots completely without any debris falling and causing damage. "Firing now!"
A thick yellow laser beam emerged from a port that had just opened at the front of the plane, which Tails had already slowed down considerably. The beam hit the first bot within a few nanoseconds, and as Tails hoped, it seemingly turned into nothing more than a few small pieces of dust. "Yes!"
Feeling even more confident now, he angled the plane in terms of yaw to the right slightly, allowing the laser, which was still on, to burn through two other bots with ease. "Wow, this is so easy!" Sonic remarked excitedly. It helped that the bots themselves didn't seem to be doing much at all other than being flying target practice.
Tails noticed that too, and that was when it occurred to him something was off. "Sonic, why are these bots so inactive?" he asked as he banked to the right to do a loop so that he could aim at the same spot again and hit the rest. "They seem quite old too. As if they were about to be decommissioned or something."
Wondering about this as well, Sonic kept looking in the same direction as the Tornado continued turning, when he saw something Tails didn't yet. "Uh, Tails, one of those bots are glowing."
"Huh?" Finally facing the bots again – Tails also made a mental note to shrink the plane's turning circle – he was now able to see what Sonic had seen first. One of the bots, which remained in the same position in the air, was emitting a blue glow from its apparently decrepit body, and it was getting brighter and brighter.
Before Tails could fire the laser again, the bot, controlled by Robotnik, began to finally unleash its own secret weapon first. The glow suddenly disappeared, and a powerful shockwave emerged from the bot at a very high speed. The duo yelped as it hit the Tornado, jerking it hard.
Immediately after that, the bots in front lost their power and started falling onto the city below. But Tails barely noticed that as he realized that the Tornado's own systems were going haywire. All of the meters and screens on his dashboard were flashing rapidly and fluctuating wildly. Outside, Sonic noticed, with growing nervousness, the engines making sputtering, dying sounds, before they stopped doing anything altogether. Uh oh.
"Sonic, it was an EMP!" a now panicking Tails tried to tell Sonic while trying to get the plane to move, only to realize that the EMP must have also knocked out communications between them. Meanwhile, all of the cockpit's systems finally shut down, never to be turned on again.
Still at an altitude of some five thousand feet, the Tornado, which had been the world's most advanced fighter jet a minute ago, was now its largest falling anvil.
Tails instantly knew that he had to get out of here and fly Sonic and himself to safety. Even though he could fly, he kept the ejection seats in the plane, as he couldn't expect himself to be its only pilot all the time. But it had never been used, and Tails had never faced or even considered getting struck by EMP before. All of this, combined with his panic, caused him to make a grave mistake as he pushed the eject lever. He only remembered exactly how the ejection procedure went right after he did it, which made him gasp and cover his mouth. Sonic!
To eject the seat, the canopy had to be opened, or in this case, jettisoned, as Tails felt there was a smaller chance of the occupants colliding with it that way. At this speed, the whole thing would naturally be flung backwards, and unfortunately, Sonic just happened to be in the way. The hedgehog was holding tightly onto the vertical stabilizer when the small explosive charges blew the canopy off and caused it to fly straight into his face, knocking him off the back of the plane with a loud cry of surprise and pain.
"Sonic!" Tails shouted in shock, but the hedgehog was already too far away to hear him, and the distance between them only grew larger as both he and the plane continued to fall towards different areas on the ground. Sonic had always been very resistant to falling damage, but could he really survive this?
The fox was so paralyzed by his mistake that he momentarily forgot about the danger he was in. When he finally turned to look forwards again, he saw that the Tornado was already going to hit the ground, somewhere deep within the city, but he couldn't see exactly where.
At the last second, Tails got to his senses and, instead of actually pushing the lever further to finally eject the seat, jumped out of the cockpit before spinning his namesakes to fly for the first time in months. His disuse of them, however, caused his flying to be less agile than it used to be. He was already low enough to be surrounded by the buildings rather than above them, and one was very nearby. Near enough for Tails to end up colliding with its exterior wall. Although his namesakes were still strong enough to dig into the concrete, his lack of control caused him to hit his head against it, which normally only happened if he angled his tails wrongly, since when he spun them, the diameter of the circle they formed was longer than his own body.
The pain was already making his vision blur. About the only good news was that he wasn't that high up from the ground now, and he promptly landed in a bunch of bushes next to the building, which softened his fall considerably. Nearby, there was a loud crash, followed by screeching metal noises as the Tornado disintegrated and skidded across some hard surface before it finally stopped. Then, everything fell silent.
Tails lay in the bushes, kept down by the worst headache he had ever felt. He did not pass out, though he really wished that he did. At least until he reminded himself that Sonic was out there somewhere, likely also hurt as well. And it was his best friend's fault.
The guilt was enough to make him change his mind. Gritting his teeth against the pain, the fox planted his gloved hands onto the grass and pushed himself up. Soon he found himself standing reasonably straight again, though the whole world around him was blurry and spinning.
He shook his head, which hurt so much it almost caused him to say some choice curse words that he'd never spoken before out loud, but fortunately it did manage to clear up his vision, so it was worth it. He grasped his burning forehead, causing him to hiss, before looking at his hand again. He was very lucky that there was no blood.
But that was the only thing luck provided him here. Finally looking around, he saw that all the buildings here appeared very old and rundown, abandoned even. The walls were covered with graffiti and many of the windows were smashed. Great, he thought dreadfully, I'm in the slums.
Then he turned to look ahead of him, and what he saw made him gasp. The Tornado was a complete wreck, with one of its wings broken off and the other severely damaged. Parts were strewn all over what had been a basketball court, and the main body itself was broken in several places, lying against the wall of a building. Instantly, his heart sank at the sight. He'd poured so much blood and sweat into this darling of his, and now it was a messy pile of scrap that probably couldn't ever be fixed.
Tails almost mourned the loss of his, or rather Sonic's, beloved plane until he finally remembered what happened earlier, which caused him to freeze again. Sonic! He had to find him and check if he was okay. If he was, the hedgehog was probably going to be devastated by the fact that the plane wasn't, but at least it looked like the work Tails had done on the Tornado II would be more worth it.
The fox was about to take to the sky again and see where Sonic had roughly fallen from up there, but when he looked up, he froze again for a third time. Above him, the bright sky was now full of a large number of robots, probably a hundred of them at least, and these were not the outdated models Robotnik had used as bait earlier either, but much newer and more advanced ones, some of which even Sonic had trouble handling.
And many of them were landing down on the city, ready to take control of the whole place. Some of them landed only a few blocks away from where Tails was. Others, however, continued to stay in the air, presumably for the same reason he himself wanted to.
Tails first looked back at the Tornado wreckage. Then he glanced at his wrist device, which was now inactive and useless. He finally realized that, considering the height at which the EMP detonated, it must have disabled all technology that didn't use vacuum tubes within at least a one-hundred mile radius. Technology that he and many others used every single day.
Technology that he had become reliant on, like Sonic said.
He could not fly up there, lest the robots spotted him, and with his now rusty flying and fighting skills, which were interrelated, he might not last long at all against those things. He had to stay on the ground and sneak around the robots whenever and wherever he could. Unfortunately, he saw that this basketball court had only one exit leading to the alleyway. And the shadow of one of the robots was growing larger there.
Now fully comprehending the gravity of his situation, Miles 'Tails' Prower let out a soft whimper filled with fear and regret. What am I going to do?
Author's Note: Well, I don't know where I'm going with this, but I had to get this out somehow. It might be a challenge for me since I am forced to depict Tails in a way that does not fit how I normally picture him to directly address an issue that has been bugging me about his character in the games. Anyone else noticed how physically incapable or lazy he has apparently become?
So, please, read and review, and I might just get more ideas and motivation for this.
