Romancing The Rabbit
Chapter One:
"There." Tails said, tightening the final bolt on his latest creation, the Tsunami.
It was the ultimate land, air, and sea vehicle. Capable of transforming from jet, to speed boat, to sub, to race car, and even a complete humanoid battle suit mode with fully functional arms and legs.
There was nowhere he couldn't go with this thing. It's jet and battle suit forms were even space worthy. It was undeniably the greatest thing he had built within his eighteen years of life. All that was left was to test it.
Laying his tools aside, he hopped in and drove the Tsunami outside in car mode, quickly switching to battle suit mode. He smirked from his place within the Tsunami's belly, then sent the suit charging towards the edge of a cliff, making it jump at the last second and execute a precision dive into the water below. He quickly converted the Tsunami into sub mode, diving deeper and deeper to test it's structural integrity under pressure. The battle suit mode was capable of moving about under water as well, but only above certain depths. The sub configuration was designed to be considerably more pressure resistant.
He continued to dive deeper and deeper into the water at speeds impossible for a sub of any other kind, till finally reaching his limit at record breaking depths. He quickly pointed the Tsunami back towards the surface, ascending with an even greater burst of speed. He soon reached the surface, converting the Tsunami into a speedboat.
He raced along the surface of the water at breakneck speeds that even Sonic would be proud of, then pushed the engine even further! It had taken no less than two chaos emeralds to get this kind of power, but it was more than worth it for the rush he was feeling as the scenery blew by at unbelievable speeds.
The floating island soon came into view as he continued to charge ahead. Converting the Tsunami back to battle suit mode, he launched himself up to the side of the island using the jets on it's back. He easily latched on using climbing spikes deployed from the Tsunami's hands and feet, then began making his way up the side of the island.
Upon reaching the top, he made the suit do a back flip off the island, quickly converting it to jet mode at the highest point in its backwards jump. He flew straight ahead for only a moment, then began executing one aerial maneuver after another, ending with a corkscrew dive towards the water that he somehow pulled out of at the last second, leaving the jet pointed skyward. He smirked yet again and launched the jet into space.
Upon breeching the atmosphere, he lingered in orbit. Memories of his times in space flooded his consciousness, both good and bad. He somehow felt at peace here, despite even the most tragic of memories breaching the surface.
This wasn't simply a place of loss for him. It was a place of beauty, a place for adventure. A place, not simply of love lost, but of love gained as well. A place of endless vastness and possibilities. The greatest hight he could reach! It was with these sentiments and a smile that he turned back to Mobious, thoroughly pleased with the results of the test run.
Upon reentering the atmosphere, he set a course for home at a more casual pace. He had yet to test the Tsunami's weapons systems or the many tools available in it's various modes, but that could wait till later. It's maneuverability and defensive capabilities were most important.
By the time Tails had reached his home/workshop, a storm was beginning to brew. A big one from the looks of it. He could tell just by looking at the sky.
"Better close the shutters." He said to himself, producing a small remote control from the cuff of his sock. He aimed it at the large glass greenhouse behind his home, activating a system of reenforced metal shutters that covered it completely from the inside out. It may have seemed a bit excessive to some, but to Tails it made perfect sense.
He had built that greenhouse a number of years ago, and had always made sure it was kept well protected. For this was where he stored Cosmo 2, a small tree that had grown from the seed left behind after Cosmo's death. The structure housed a number of other plants as well, for his interest in horticulture had grown a great deal over the years, along with his size.
He currently stood both head and shoulders above all but the largest of his friends. The last he had seen Sonic, the hedgehog had joked that he'd better not start calling him little bro. Tails had made a point of doing so periodically for the rest of the day. He smirked at the memory as he set to preparing lunch for himself. He next recalled with some amusement the first time Amy had seen him at his current hight. Her mouth had hung open for a full minute before he was forced to say something to snap her out of it. Being tall was fun.
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, for a fox as busy as Tails at least. He checked on the greenhouse from time to time, did some fairly general tinkering in his workshop, and put the finishing touches on the Tsunami by painting it to match the color scheme of one of its predecessors, the Tornado Two.
Late that night, long after dark, the sound of a loud crash awoke Tails from his slumber. He promptly bounded out of bed, rushing outside to investigate. His efforts were rewarded by the sight of his precious greenhouse in shambles. A large birdlike mech lay embedded in its side, having been brought down by the storm. It had already begun to burn.
He barely had a second to contemplate the implications of the sight he faced before the mech's fuel tanks exploded, taking the mech and the greenhouse along with it.
The blood froze in his veins as he watched the only thing remianing of Cosmo becoming nothing more than fodder for a bonfire. He barely even felt the heat of the explosion as its force bowled him over, causing him to strike his head on a stone. Or the resulting shrapnel that had lodged itself in his shoulder. He simply lay there with a look of total shock and devastation as he slowly sank into unconsciousness.
TBC
(A.N) I've never asked for reviews before. But as an author, they're pretty much like food for me. So any questions, comments, or general shout-outs, would be greatly appreciated.
Also, if you like this story, but you're interested in something different as well. Then check out Valley Of Shadows, a fanfic by my sibling Androclez.
Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic The Hedgehog. I don't pretend to. And I'm not making any money off this story.
