Tails observed the massive flying island, the only thing in the area for a good chunk of the sky, well and his trusty blue airplane. It wouldn't take him long to convince a certain red echidna to help him with his crazy plan. Knuckles was famous for being hard headed and not cooperative, especially considering he needed his precious Master Emerald. However, if Tails was proud of something about himself, was that he was quite smart and a trouble solver. That should be enough to convince the echidna.
Soon enough he landed, close to the Master Emerald Shrine. Tails wondered if having the most powerful energy source and the only thing capable of stopping the rest of the emeralds out in such a vulnerable area was a good idea at all but he also remembered that the underground shrine wasn't that much better.
"Hey Knuckles!" Tails shouted, the echidna sleeping on one of the many steps of the giant stair. He opened a single eye, to know who he was talking to.
"What do you want Tails?" Knuckles said without much interest, not wanting to be part of anything he suggested.
"I have something you might be interested in" The fox said, pulling a music reproducer from the plane. He touched the bottom, starting a song that Knuckles knew all too well. Starting with a cool and great sounding saxophone intro, the Echidna instantly opened both his eyes in a panic. By the time it starting playing the corniest rap you have probably ever heard in your life, the red anthro was already throwing himself at the yellow fox.
Tails just put himself away from Knuckles powerful fists. The echidna might be fast and very strong but with his famous par of tails, the fox was fast enough to avoid any serious damage from the red guy. Sadly, not the same could be said about his airplane. "Hey! Watch it! I just paint it!" Knuckles barely paid any heed to his complain, too focused on keeping on the offensive.
A few fast and strong fists where thrown at the fox without connecting but soon, he found himself cornered and unable to dodge the next hit. He did his best to move his body in a way to minimize the impact as well of using his tails as a shield. The hit however was still pretty nasty, crashing against a tree and producing a nasty sound. He was in pain and unable to immediately use his tails to either block or move fast enough to avoid the next. Knuckles knew he already his opponent where he needed him. However, a shout from a female that stopped them.
"What is going on out there?!" Rouge appeared, trying to figure out what was going on. A little glance at the boys was not helping her at all.
"Morning Rouge, I was only paying Knuckles a visit. You know how intense welcomes the good echidna over here prepares." Tails said as if the echidna didn`t have him threatened with his giant fist.
"Don`t talk to her like I am not here!" The red guy complained. He also noticed that the music had stopped, though the music player was still intact.
"He really gets all nervous and excited with each visit. All jumpy and energetic. It is clear he doesn`t know how to be a host." The bat followed his game, having fun for just messing with the echidna.
"I am still here!"
"Anyway boys, I will leave you to your games." She said before distancing from the action. A few more seconds went on before Tails opened his mouth again
"I bet you wouldn`t be able to live with yourself if Rouge ever listened to your rap." These few confident words made Knuckles worry again.
"You brought her here. Don`t you?"
"Knuckles, she comes to the island so often that honestly it is more of a running gag than a plot twist." Tails explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Well, if you dare to give that song to her I will kill you in the most violent way possible." Knuckles threatened, thought he did not sound all that convinced himself.
"That won´t matter." Tails immediately answered without batting an eyelash. "The little of good image you still have will be ruined. So will you cooperate or not?"
Knuckles growled, knowing he was cornered. "Since you date Wave you have gotten worse Tails. Now what exactly do you need?"
"First, I think you should get back the Master Emerald." Tails pointed out. Knuckles observed at the shrine, realizing that the Giant emerald had already disappeared, completely forgetting that`s Rouge main reason of appearing in the Island in the first place.
"Son of a…." Knuckles shouted at the top of his lungs while moving toward the shrine.
Five days later.
Wave was rarely excited for her birthday. Her first years in the battle kukkus ship were never pleasant, as a war entity didn't cared about that kind of stuff. Her years as a Babylon Rogue were much better, and while Jet and Storm gave her gifts and all, there was nothing special about the date for her to remember with great care. They partied, had fun, and caused problems, but with her partners that was nothing out of the ordinary.
She was expecting a somewhat boring day to be honest. But then comes her newest boyfriend Tails and asks her to drop by Angel Island on her birthday. "Not cryptic at all" She thought to herself with sarcasm. However, she trusted the young fox: He played a little too safe for her like but he was sweet and kind. She was also sure that he would never even think of anything that might hurt her in any way, not like other misfortunes she had in the past. She trusted him greatly.
Piloting her extreme gear in a special long-range mode, she arrived alone at the island air area. She immediately knew where to land since Miles had put thousands of lights in the floor that looking from up in the sky that formed words. It said `Happy Birthday Wave´.
She smiled, thinking that it was extremely sweet. Tails was good for details such as leaving messages to cheer her up from time to time and even coming to her with roses. But never with chocolates. She needed to be fit for her races as rider, as she had explained him the first and only time he made the mistake. She had constantly stated to his face that these things were too cheesy and mellow for her like, but Wave did liked them. And no matter how many times she verbally rejected those, Tails didn´t look bothered by that and continued to offer her gifts with a real smile.
It didn´t take long for Wave to land on the island. And, as expected, the fox waited for her around the lights. "Geez, someone is a little desperate for my attention around here." She said in a teasing manner, trying to sound unimpressed. The fox didn`t bought it at all.
Miles had learnt that Wave wasn`t the expressive kind of girl, at least on the expected way. She was usually mean and loud to other people to look confident and strong and while she indeed was very competent, Tails had seen her break a few times by this point. He had also learnt that Wave expressed her real self in small details. Being a little less mean on what she said or even a little difference in her tone of her voice was a lot for her. There was even a tiny difference when she was being sweet if she wanted something form someone or if she just felt like playing nice for a change. Right now, the best indicator that she was happy was that she had a stupid, goofy smile that simply wouldn't leave her face, even when saying mean things. And that had become enough for Tails to know she was very happy.
"Thank you, my lady. You are being too kind." He joked, giving a small vow. "For my next trick, I need the special lady to come with me." He explained in the same tone.
"Whatever." Wave answered with little malice in her tone.
Soon, Tails took her to the top of the altar. Next to the Master Emerald was a bag filled to the brim with rings. Wave wondered what it was all that about. She didn´t have time to ask as Tails moved closed to both objects, put his hands on them. Suddenly, both lit up intensely. Not only that but, at the distance, other seven pillars of light rose from different areas of the island, surprising Wave. A few seconds went by when the lights went off, the only thing remaining were the Master Emerald and Tails, who suddenly had a pulsating golden shine coming from him. A shine she had only seen on certain super strong hedgehogs she had met.
"You can enter in a super form too?!" Wave shouted in disbelief, not believing her eyes at all.
"Under excessively complicated conditions, but I can."
"So is this your next trick for the birthday girl? Simply look a little more yellow?" Wave teased, feinting the shock she just felt. She was also thinking how Tails looked more handsome than usual.
"Noup. I still have one final trick up my sleeve." He said before closing his eyes, apparently exerting some kind of effort and concentration on something. He actually looked like he was trying to poop. Then, with a little light, he disappeared.
"Shorty?" Wave asked, wondering where Tails had gone. However, she felt weird: she felt an intense but not offensive heat all over her body. A quick inspection on herself show her that she had a pulsation shine all over her body, a little brighter than her normal skin color. "What the hell?!" She continued to look at herself. She was sure; she was shining in a stronger tone of her normal color. She stopped however, as some ideas started to come to her. It was more like a hunch, like she should do something but she wasn`t aware what. She balled her fist hard and suddenly, her flames tattoo became real fire. "AAAAAhhhhh. Get it off me!" She naturally acted with panic, but soon, she realized that the fire was harmless. Not even her clothing was affected by it. She proceeded to do the same with her other hand, getting the same effect.
Now, she followed her gut and relaxed. Let the fire control, expand and to move on free will. To not fight it. From the outside, it looked like Wave had been completely swallowed into a giant purple fire. A few seconds passed and the fire started spinning on itself, forming a sphere of fire and it died down. The only thing remaining was Wave standing, fire coming from her wrist, ankles and the tip of her braids. Not only that, but a pair of majestic wings made only of fire arose from her body. A look at herself put a satisfied smile on her face.
"Shorty, you really know how to make a girl special." She told no one in particular.
"You are welcome." Wave froze in place, opening her eyes a lot. She was sure that was Tails but he was nowhere to be found.
"Ok, what is the big joke Shorty? Appear right now." Wave demanded, in her expected tone.
"Believe it or not, I am at your side." He explained.
She gave a quick look at her surrounding but nothing. "Enough. What kind of game are you trying to play? Just appear and stop this."
"I- I can´t." Tails admitted. Wave started to feel a little concern about the actual situation.
"Did you bother to actually test this `trick´ to make sure it was safe for both of us."
Tails took a few seconds before answering. "Kinda"
"Kinda." She repeated in a common manner. "Kinda?!" She shouted. "What kind of half-baked answer is that, you mechanic wannabe!?"
"Look, Super Tails power-"
"You couldn't think of a better name other than adding super to your nickname?" She didn't miss the chance to jab Tails.
"Super Tails power-" He started again, clearly a little upset for her comment. "Works on birds, making them extremely durable, fast, powerful and at my beck and call. However, I had only use this power on non-sentient birds. I had never used on smarter creatures. So all this is new." He explained. Out of all that, Wave only had one thought on her mind.
"Did you wanted to make me a slave that doesn`t complain at all?! What were you planning to do with my body, you naughty dog?" Wave said, with obvious subliminal message.
Tails had never been more thankful that Wave couldn´t see his facial expression at the moment, or the red on his face that he was sure he would have if he were visible now. He cleared his throat. "What I hoped was enabling you to fly without the need of equipment. I had tried it on non-flight capable birds and it worked. And that pair of giant wings are probably not just for show."
Wave looked up to them. Even if she never knew how it felt to have real wings on her back, she knew how to move them, how they felt. "Any advice you might want to give me right now? "
"Don't get too far away from the Island. We need the Master Emerald power to keep the super form together."
"That's all?" She asked, without waiting for an answer she pushed herself into the sky. Flying felt natural, she didn't knew or cared how (yet) but she knew how she needed to flap to rise herself, to gain speed, to reduce it and, well, just about any way she might have wanted to go. She didn't need to think about it. She would just relax and let herself go in the millions of feelings blowing her.
The sense of freedom, like anything could never take her down again; gravity was a joke, no longer a unavoidable force; felt surreal, like so many times, so many years where she dreamed that she could be like the real birds, those she had envied for so long; she in absolute ecstasy for the fun, the experience, how unforgettable it was going to be. Tails had made sure that she would have at least 30 minutes, but Wave barely felt them, feeling too short.
A little time later, the transformation was over, Tails holding Wave in his arms to make sure she didn't fall prey to gravity, using his famous pair of tails to land into safety. The bird woman didn't wait a second before smacking her beak into his muzzle for a long and satisfactory kiss, at least the best way their very different mouths connected. It was awkward at the beginning but they had grown used to enjoy it anyway.
A good while went by before both sides separated, only because oxygen was necessary. "That… was… almost… perfect" Wave commented between breaths.
"Almost?" Tails bit her bait, imagining what she wanted.
"If it only lasted a little longer…" Wave tried to woo her boyfriend into getting her more time flying, but Tails was seemingly unwilling.
"You are not getting another thirty minutes flying. It will ruin how special it was." He said, with a blank face.
"Please. For me" She put her best high pitch voice, exclusively for her most important moments when wanting something.
"You will have to do better than that." Tails commented before the making out continued. When they separated again, the fox had a stupid grin that would not leave his face. "I am still not convinced" On more kiss and he finally gave up. "Ok, it is still your birthday; I should be able to add some extra time."
The Swallow got closer to Miles, and whispered to his ear. "Keep this up and I might have to give you something extra in return."
That sent a really unexpected but enjoyable shiver down his spine, his face turned completely red, a completely exquisite and indescribable expression of surprise taking over his face, his brain too confused to get a proper comeback.
"You guys are not going anywhere before you fix all this disaster!" The lovebirds were interrupted by Knuckles, who was carrying a bag of who knows what at the moment. He pointed out the giant flames that Wave´s super form left behind, the entire island had fire all over it.
"How did we not notice all that?" The boy commented.
"Making out is a good distraction" Wave commented as if it was very obvious and as if she hadn't just a minute ago being distracted because of it.
Knuckles didn't waste a minute a revealed that the bag also contained a huge amount of rings. "Oh ho." Tails just said in a small and scared voice, watching how Knuckles went and turned into Hyper Knuckles, with his pinkish bright color.
"Did you seriously turned pink?!" Wave mockery fell on deaf ears as a bunch of giant rocks started floating around him and went straight toward them. Now the couple was running for their lives, with an angry echidna following them. "How do you escape from Super Knuckles?!" Wave shouted at Tails while running
"It is actually Hyper Knuckles. And I got no idea!" Tails screamed back.
"Huh, not sure if I should praise the name for not being just super or if insult it for being just as silly!"
Wave´s life might be getting crazier ever since meeting team Sonic, but at least it was usually unforgettable.