Catching up
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Chapter 1 - Moving
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Sharp piercing pains shot almost endlessly through his legs. Their intense screaming becoming a dull and accustomed itch. Pushing himself farther, and longer, his legs finally started to give out. With a buzz he gained more speed, as his feet dragged behind him, so close to the ground you could mistake them for touching it.
"I have to hurry, I'm running behind, I need to be faster to keep up." the line drove him forward, even when he would normally be nowhere near this fast, or this close for one of his kind, this wasn't enough.
A few thousand blades of grass were clipped into a substance only suitable to be scattered by the wind as he raced after his target. He kept his head up high, his arms in an odd patter, one in front and the other angled back like his hero to let him be closer to him, but still balance, letting his forward momentum from behind him push yet balance him on the ground. Tails raced onward, his legs no longer feeling the burn, instead his efforts focused on his tails.
Minutes passed into hours as he kept moving, his target still not in sight. First to get out of the musical mayhem of a yard behind him, then to not freeze in the peaks that were so cold he could barely fly, into a sky born canyon with updrafts to relieve some of his efforts. He had avoided all that lay there for him, the traps, the robots, and even the nefarious doctor himself.
He had been so close to him then, close to being with his hero and friend again. Close to having that feeling that was so unique, that useful feeling, the feeling he was a hero. Sonic however, was still running, running forward, running faster, and after Eggman.
"That base up ahead, it looks like Eggman from here even, and I know Sonic was headed this way, if he needs my help, I'll be there!" Tails breathed to himself as he again tried to speed up. He felt the familiar pull at his body, the drag increasing on him as he speed also did. He knew the calculations, he knew how to do it in his plane, he knew there was no way he was even close yet, but he swore he'd break the sound barrier like Sonic.
The world around him became artificial as he passed into the base, it's security seeming lacking along a certain trail. Tails could tell that Sonic was leaving a hole for him if he was still coming.
"You know I am!" Tails smiled as he sped into the base. The outside complex was nothing, nothing at all for Sonic judging from the robot parts scattered about and the small animals quickly leaving the area. Inside proved to be something different.
Tails jumped the small lip of the destroyed door and rushed forward as his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting. He almost didn't see the large spring ahead but jumped and kicked it with all his might to be rocketed skyward. During is accent, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flickering wing-beat, then a small yellow glow. Quickly using his tails and throwing himself downward he stopped dead in the air and dropped quickly below the shot back at the spring. He kicked again ready for what it was, this time, he saw the Buzz Bomber clear as day. Shifting his weight backwards and twisting his tails under him he edged over the shot before dropping down with a spin jump kick, the balled up force of his body helping to dissipate the damage to himself like Sonic showed him.
Bouncing off of the soon to be scrap metal, Tails landed on the nearby ledge and rushed forward again. His feet only carried him a brief distance before his eyes were assaulted with brighter lighting. Almost tripping in surprise he caught himself with some backspin on his tails.
"How does he find the time to build ALL this?" He remarked knowing how long it took him to just upgrade a plane. Tails pushed the question out of his mind as he found himself running across a green pulsating bridge. The next second however, the bridge itself stopped pulsating and dissolved instantaneously.
"Uah" he breathed before his tails kicked in saving him from the fall. No sooner had he touched down on the other side that he was again hurrying. Twists and turns led him down hallways covered with parts and spikes as he managed to follow Sonic's path.
A misstep later and a panel caught him by surprise, before he could recover he felt the ground catch him hard. Standing up quickly he realized the ground was not the only thing that wished to catch him as a few robots raced forward. Without hesitating he jumped at the first one and kicked off it to become airborne. He flipped forward in a spin before righting himself by spinning his tails. The two robots turned towards each other to fire as he passed but Tails knew he wasn't fast enough to do what Sonic did.
Sliding just a bit he turned put his weight on his toes. Kicking off with his other leg he spun his tails as fast as he could. The result as a low spin with his tails sweeping even faster and keeping him in momentum. Their shots now too high, he felt a light sting in his tails as they shredded the robots' lower chassis and freed the animals inside.
Recovering enough from his spin to look up he saw a wheeled robot rapidly approaching from behind. Tails didn't have to stop to think to recover all the way and run. Th robot grew closer, it's tires squealing with the power it's engine was roaring out. Again going full out in his speed, Tails was dismayed to see it still gaining on him. Up ahead he saw the path ending, but above that seemed to be another one, with a wall being all that lead to it. A small curve in the path revealed that it actually ramped upward. With the robot now almost next to him, Tails lifted off with his tails and ascended towards the opening. A engine roar brought his eyes down as he took off and saw the robot speeding up again.
"That was probably built to try and catch Sonic, I can't outrun it, but if I can get up there, I can escape." He hoped. He was so close to the opening, the ledge so close he felt he could make it. Then, as the robot followed the curve and raced up the wall, Tails knew he wouldn't make it in time.
"Oh... What would Sonic do.." He thought as it grew closer.
"What to..." It's smooth metallic body reflected his image with a slight blue tone.
"Do.." Tails smiled as the thought came to him. Emotionless red eyes fixed on him in time to see their target spin forward in the air. As it processed what was about to occur, a heel crashed down onto it's head, the axe-kick combing with the robot's speed to make a otherwise small blow send the robot down in smoke before breaking open to let the animal escape.
Tails landed on his other foot as the pain raced back up his leg. Transferring back to his tails he hoped the cool air rushing past him would help ease the pain. Knowing his kick and quick thinking would have made Sonic proud, he continued his assault.
Racing off a ramp and jumping to a thin rail suspended with more strange pulses, Tails slid down it with his shoes sparking lightly. The downward angle kept his three bangs out of his face till the rail curved to reveal it's abrupt end.
Tails jumped just as soon as he saw a rail higher up to move to, it slipping from his reach by just a small bit. He landed on the rail again and waited for the exact end, jumping with it before tossing his entire body upward even more to land safely on the next ledge.
A light pant escaped his lips just as a yellow glow bounced off the floor at him. Tails rolled to the side with a word of surprise as the laser shot missed him. Pulling himself forward a bit he rolled again to get to his feet. The robot was right in front of him, standing there with it's blaster about to fire again.
"I will Believe in myself!" he chanted as he raced at it and attempted to slide under it like he'd seen Sonic do. A split second later and Tails found himself under the robot, having stopped just short. Before his lips could mutter a word that he was sure he should avoid, he thought to spin his tails, and thus rotated his body till his leg connected with it's leg, and managed to trip it.
"AAAH" Tails let out the wordless cry as he punched and kicked at the robot as it went to fall on him. With soon to be growing pain in his limbs, he battered it off managing to break the arm holding the blaster. The burning sensation in his foot returned as if he had kicked the earlier robot twice as he brought it down on the robot's mainframe.
"Phew..." He breathed letting his shoulders drop forward as he caught his breath. He wanted so badly, to stop for a bit, to be allowed to rest, but he knew Sonic might need him. He would continue, he would push on, and help Sonic stop Egg-. His thoughts were interrupted as a thudding behind him alerted him to someone coming. While his brain yelled to run or hide behind something he didn't move. A figure quickly came into view, and her long strides brought her very close just moments after that.
"Excuse me!" she called as she drew closer, not slowing down.
"Choo, Choo!" another cried as he flew next to her.
Tails watched as she ran past, her dress and ears flying back behind her, her face set and determined with a cheerful smile underlying it. The tired and burning from his body seemed to freeze as did his breath.
"Let's go Cheese!" she called back to the blue chao floating after her.
Only after the light thud of her feet on the metal floor faded did Tails move. His legs pumped, his eyes set on his goal. Picking up speed he returned to his tails, propelling himself even faster towards his destination. He knew what he had to do, he knew why he was hurrying, he knew the dangers he might face continuing, but what he didn't know, was who that just was. It was time to get moving.
(…) Lets see... how long has it been since I posted... oh... nearly a year or at least half of one? Heh... oh.. .uh... you see... well... I ran out of ideas and College is keeping me busy.
Anyway, not like most of you care about the excuses I make, you're probably just trying to kill time.
So now, my newest project is in motion.
Sadly, I can't promise any frequency with updates, again the college thing, but now that I have this going... I might be able to get more into it.
Anyway, this story is going to be more Action/ adventure oriented than my normal fare, but well... if you're reading this part... you can probably tell what else I have planned.
So yes... I'm Back, and I'm planning... oh... What a dangerous thing for me to do.
See you next time, with chapter two.
(…) One Psychopathic Good-To-Be-Back Fox