Crash
Chapter 1
The constant hum of the engine. Tapping. Her fingers can't sit still. She unbuckles from her seat and crouches to where he's sitting. He grins and turns his head to look at her. The flash of the monitors light up his eyes as if his pupils are powered by electricity. He has enough youthful enthusiasm to trick people into believing that.
"We're about to reach coordinates anyways. Turbulence seems to be gone for the most part; just buckle up if it starts again, ok?" His voice cracks; it's a shaky, insecure voice, but it's a genuine one.
She twirls her hair, happy to be up and standing for the time being. "Doesn't the drone of the wind and engine and stuff get you drowsy?" She asks. "It sure makes me sleepy."
She stands to his side, looming over him. The adolescent fox's eyes settle on her involuntarily. He blushes and turns away.
"I-it's not so bad with other people."
The cockpit lowers. She climbs out, fighting the push of the wind. It's an unsettling change to the calm, quiet interior. Tails gives her one last reassuring glance before the cockpit seals shut. Gingerly, the pink hedgehog wobbles forward. There is a violent gust of wind and she stumbles, seeing the ocean of clouds over the wing below, her stomach leaping into her throat. A shriek escapes her and a firm hand wraps tightly around her flailing arm.
"Watch it. I wouldn't have jumped after you, y'know." His smile is charismatic, his eyes familiarly welcoming despite his heavy sarcasm. He snickers at her disorientation. She smiles faintly, her heart still thudding and her stomach floating back into place. He sees her extreme discomfort and softens his dark humor. "Eh, it ain't so bad up here once you're used to it. I actually prefer riding on the wing. Always have. After all, you can't really see anything form the cockpit." He grins, excitedly taking in the open skies.
She shyly pulls away from his hold, following his stare. Her jade green eyes widen. Now able to get her footing (and to not fall off the plane), she can appreciate the landscape. Before them is an endless expanse of cerulean blue, scarcely decorated by wimpish clouds. Further down, thicker clouds gather like clumped snow. It's dreamlike. Continuing her vision downward, she sees it. Barely visible, a dark silhouette, Eggman's airship, peeks its stern out to eye them.
She tries to keep her calm.
"Wow. Would you look at that view?!" She yelled over the wind's roar.
"Something. En't it?"
She nodded. "Too bad we can't stay still long enough to enjoy it."
A scratchy voice interrupts them from their earpieces, almost on cue.
"We're approaching coordinates. Prepare descent. Over."
The blue hedgehog eyed her. "Ready?"
She nodded again. She'd been relentlessly practicing all summer for this.
Suddenly, she could collect herself.
"GO!"
He heard her scream and then the rushing wind drowned her out.
He followed.
He glanced above him and saw a final glimpse of the Tornado II thrusting away. Static tickled his ear as the communicator came online again.
"Good luck, guys." Tails encouraged them, "Keep my frequency locked in. I'll be lingering close by in case you need me. I'll keep you updated as I gather more information from these readings." The com clicked and went silent.
He loved running, but up in the sky, there were no obstacles in his way. There was no need to move. Only relax. The chilling wind in his face was familiar. He couldn't help but have a good time, even in the middle of a dangerous mission. Below him, Eggman's airship awaited their landing. Its deck approached them rapidly as they plummeted.
He could see that her landing had been smooth. Her pink quills were blowing wildly as she waved enthusiastically at him. He bit his lip anxiously when he saw the effortlessness. Over the years, she had proven herself talented in acrobatics and agility. Now she could keep up with the competition. Now she was the competition.
He fought against the speed to correct his position; he was a bit off. His feet hit the solid ground of the airship deck, but he had come in too fast. He rolled, hopping up as soon as he was able to angle his reddening face away from his companion.
He found a set of fiery eyes capturing him.
"Looks like you were too busy sightseeing to land right." Amy giggled. She still had her brimming childhood optimism. He admired that about her. "Are you ok, Sonic? Seriously, you seem kinda winded."
He coughed. "Of course. The wind." He spread his arms in demonstration. "It's very strong up here. Makes it harder to straighten out, y'know?"
"Mmm." She walked past him, smiling and unconvinced.
"That landing was pretty rough, though. We should have told Tails to bring us in closer."
"Too risky. Turrets. You know that." She fiddled with her watch.
"Tails is an amazing pilot. He would have been fine."
She reverted back to the scene inside the cockpit. The awkward stares. Her face grew warm. It brought weird feelings she didn't really understand or like. "Yeah…"
Sonic smirked, ruffling her quills as he passed by. She sighed, combing her fingers through her tussled hair, disheartened. She wanted more respect from him. He still saw her as the weak girl from Little Planet years ago.
They steadied their way across the deck. Blocking their progress were turrets lined up and down the bridge. Huddling against a wall, they hesitated.
"Do you think they're online?" She asked.
He furrowed his brow. "I'm not taking any chances on it. I can outrun them, but I ain't putting you at risk."
She huffed. "Don't worry about me. Besides, it's our only way-"
"We can reroute."
"You're Sonic the Hedgehog. Since when do you 'reroute'?"
He looked at her small, underwhelming figure worryingly. The last thing he wanted was for one of his closest friends to get hurt on his watch.
"Hey. Quit screwing around, ok?" He chided her. "We're on Eggman's turf. This isn't the time. Just do what I say, alright?"
Her fiery eyes locked with his. One last glance at the turret in the corner of her eye made up her mind.
She bolted.
"Hey! Amy, what are you-!?"
She ignored him and rounded the nearest corner, eyeing the turret. It whirred around slowly to face her figure, clicking in place, its barrel foreboding with its hollow echo. She inhaled deeply. Reaching her arms up, she jumped and grabbed the platform above her. Her fur glowed red as the turret's crosshair settled on her. She hurriedly pulled herself up, rolled forward and turned around. Within seconds she had summoned her Piko Piko hammer, holding it protectively before her. The laser barely scuffed its exterior, smoke rising from the impact. Man, she loved her badass magical hammer.
Barely a moment passed before she had leapt up to meet the metal barrel. The blow was clean. She heard the familiar crunch of the massive mallet wrecking through metal exoskeleton and the sparking or electrical wires beneath. Her heart pounded. The hammer vanished into its pocket dimension. Her limbs were numb and her muscles burned but she felt invincible.