A/N: Allo again, friends :D! Drivin', drivin', drivin... Seriously, this is not cool. We are on our way down to Vail, Colorado for a March Break of amazingness. The states are so warm in March :D I'm jealous. It's unpleasantly crowded stuffed in this van with my parents, two kids and a 6'5'' 17-year-old guy... but it promises some good writing time. And it took me fifteen minutes to find the delete button on this laptop's keyboard T.T. So anyways, this story is my project for the six days we're spending on the road. Hooray. Soo... It'll be coming on when I get home :). Hmm... unless the hotels will have internet.

Anyways, umm here ya go :). I've actually got a plot planned out for this one (I know, gasp, eh?) so no obscure improvising this time :3.

--LA

All these gorgeous gals 'n' fellas belong to SEGA, which I plan to overthrow one day.

Sonic had many fans. Countless individuals who idolized, even worshipped him. Unfortunately, it was becoming terribly apparent that Mother Nature was not one of them.

The hail was a sledgehammer on his skull as he tried to trudge through its driving forces. The vicious ice balls pelted his entire body, taking no mercy on the more sensitive parts. The wind was a gigantic, invisible hand holding him back with cruel fingers. And worst of all, he couldn't even run. Knee-deep in the frigid slush that coated the ground, even walking posed a laborious challenge. His beloved shoes soaked and sopping, he had to lift his knees to his chest every step just to move in a forward direction.

"How you doin' over there?" He called over the pounding precipitation to the equally exhausted figure walking at his side, barely visible. Tails smiled weakly in response, his teeth clattering too violently to answer. The hedgehog couldn't help but feel his original irritation towards his friend melt away. After all, Tails had just been true to his shy, cautious self when he had insisted that they land the plane and march the rest of the way. Sonic was suspicious about whether Tails had made the call with their, or the machine's wellbeing in mind.

"Y'know, Tails," Sonic continued, trying to pass the time by making conversation, "I still think your plane could've made it through the storm."

"N-no..." The fox said with a sheepish sneeze, "the wind's v-velocity was too high, and th-the-"

"All right, all right. I got it." The hedgehog said in defeat, reaching out, although his arm was attacked by endless sheets of hail, and ruffling his friend's soggy bangs. "So how much longer do we have to walk?"

"I th-think that we're about t-two-hundred metres away from m-my house." Tails stuttered back, wading through the icy mess.

The duo continued to slog forward, soundless except for the sloshing at their feet and the rattling of Tails' jaw.

At long last, a dim building could be made out through the gray sky. The miserable weather made Sonic's spirit sink. His weather-induced pessimism only made the house seem miles further away.

But finally, after what seemed like eons of fruitless trudging, the boys finally reached the front of Tails' home. As far as Sonic was concerned, it had never looked more inviting.

He didn't stop to think about how the neighbouring houses were seemingly nonexistent, or how the building seemed to flicker oddly every so often, as he jogged towards the house with Tails close in his wake.

"Sonic..." Said Tails uncertainly, halting suddenly.

"Huh?" Sonic asked, glancing over his shoulder, "What's up?"

Tails pursed his lip, looking anxious. "I don't think this is my house..."

"You're just delusional," Sonic said with a dismissive wink, "because your teeth shook up your brain with all their jumping around in your mouth."

Tails smiled nervously. "I guess you're right..." He said, though he was not completely convinced. The fox kept his suspicions about him.

Sonic hopped down the driveway, the pool at his feet growing shallower as he traversed the mild slant to the front door.

"S-Sonic..." Tails whispered, peering around, as the hedgehog reached for the doorknob...

It was then that the fox's waterlogged mind noticed the doorknob.

"Sonic!" He yelped, diving forward to stop his friend.

But he landed a second too late. The moment the hedgehog's gloved hand made contact with the handle, he disappeared, accompanied by an unceremonious flash of dull, white light.

Tails gawked in horror at the spot where Sonic had stood only moments before. The fox backed away from the house with frightened haste, slipping and landing in the icy slush so that his already frozen fur was coated with a new layer of ice. As he struggled back to his feet, his shocked eyes fell upon the house. It had disappeared.

Tails stared with wide eyes, his bottom lip trembling, scrambling over to where the building had stood only moments before. Submerged beneath the sleet, Tails noticed a fist-size cube. Hands already numb, he reached in and lifted it gingerly. It was, he realized without hesitation, a hologram projector. That was why the house had seemed so strange; it was only an illusion. Tails sniffed and, though his entire body was frozen and aching, squirmed away. He flung the projector away in frustration and struggled off.

It was the temperature that first awoke Sonic. A tropical, humid warmth hanging in the air that made him feel drowsy and comfortable. At first, he could have mistaken the plush covering him for his own bed. Casually, he lifted his body and glanced mildly at his surroundings. It appeared to be some sort of oversized hotel room, complete with a large, squishy bed. The walls were completely blank, and an unpleasant, sterile white, except for a huge window, covered by an off-white curtain. He was completely relaxed and cozy until his memory piped up.

The hedgehog snapped his eyes open, and bolted upright. He knew the moment he sat up that he was alone. The room was eerily silent, and he could practically hear dust gathering...

So why did he feel like he was being watched?

Tap, tap, tap...

Sonic's ears perked up. The sound was coming from the window. He hopped to his feet and walked cautiously towards it, noticing soft carpet under his naked feet. Unsure of what to expect, he drew the blinds.

"Having a nice stay, hedgehog?"

"Eggman..." Sonic growled at the huge, spherical figure standing on the other side of the thick glass. "Where's Tails?"

"Now now..." the doctor scolded, furrowing his brow, "That's no hello for the future ruler of the world."

Sonic chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Not this again."

"Oh yes... this again." Eggman grinned wickedly. "But this time, you're the damsel in distress... not that pink rat of yours."

"What are you talking about?" Sonic asked casually, filtering the panic from his voice.

"You heroes are all the same." He said. Sonic sighed, knowing that voice... a triumphant, mocking speech was on its way. "Pathetic and predictable. Right now, the little fox will be swimming like a baby to cry to your little posse. When he gets there, he'll wail about how you tragically disappeared without a trace, and they'll all band together to rescue their precious Sonic. "Sonic would do the same thing for us"" he said, putting on a whiney voice, ""We've gotta save him!"

Sonic smirked. "You do a great impression of Knuckles," He said, stretching his arms above his head offhandedly, "but I'm gonna get out of here."

He backed away from the glass and threw himself into it, curling himself into a spinning sphere. But to his surprise, the window didn't shatter as he had anticipated. Instead, he continued to grind up against it in vain, hearing the doctor's amused laughter.

"Try all you want, hedgehog." He said dismissively. "You can't break through. And besides, your friends should be arriving pretty soon..."

"What are you going to do to them?" Sonic demanded in a growl, returning to his feet.

A massive, maniacal grin stretched across the doctor's wide face. "There's the beauty of it, Sonic... I'm not doing anything. I don't need to do anything... they can take care of themselves."

"I'm not going out there!" Knuckles growled, his eyes jumping between the typhoon outside, and Tails' drenched face.

"Knuckles!" Amy cried angrily, smacking the echidna in the side of the head, "We've got to go after him! We've gotta go rescue him!"

"I'm sure Eggman's behind it." Tails said, pulling a few chunks of ice from his bangs. "Sonic touched some sort of teleportation device that sent him somewhere."

"Well what are we going to do?" Amy demanded, crossing her arms. Tails raised his defensively.

"Well, I'm not sure," he said, looking harassed, "but I should be able to track its trail pretty easily as soon as the storm clears up."

"Well hurry up!" She cried desperately. "You know he'd do the same for us!"

A/N: Well, waddaya know :D? This gorgeous hotel's got internet. Suhweeet. You know, I'm actually getting pretty used to this whole typing-with-two-centimetres-of-elbow-space thing. The twelve-hour days are a bit tiring... but it's not too bad :3. Ermm... I apologise for this chapter 0.o. This is really smelly T.T. I promise that there'll actually be a plot once the next chapters come... and they're on their way. I'm not exactly short on time.

Soo... thank you for checking this out, and some great reviews would make my day :).

--LA