Tails was barely aware of anything as he flew through the skies. He paid no attention to the sounds of the city below, for his mind was elsewhere.
"...be careful out there, Miles! Don't do anything too risky! Just come back safe to me."
Those last words Vanilla had said to him echoed in his head. He gnashed his teeth, recalling how conveniently unexpected that phone call from Rouge was. How did she get Vanilla's number, anyway? Soon he was hovering over City Hall. He noticed how the building shared a similar look to the White House in Central City. The only difference here was that it was smaller in size and covered in a coat of gray paint with the letters "S.S." (for Station Square) carved in the structure's gable.
It made Tails feel sick. "Way to be original, guys," he muttered. He shook his head at the building and began looking for a safe place to land. He then spotted a familiar-looking bat girl below. She stood there in her usual getup, leaning idly against a car.
"This had better be important, Rouge."
The speed of his rotatory tails slowed as he drifted down. Once his feet touched the pavement, Rouge looked up.
"Well look who it is. Fox boy!"
"Rouge. What ever could be so urgent that it couldn't wait till tomorrow?"
The bat girl folded her arms at the impertinence of Tails' question. "Is that all you have to say to me? No 'hey Rouge, how've you been'?
I was only trying to make conversation, you know?"
"Conversations are for friends, Rouge," said Tails curtly. "And we...are not friends."
"Even strangers," scoffed Rouge, "can have a decent conversation."
"Perhaps." Tails pointed a finger at the vehicle Rouge was leaning on. "That yours?"
Rouge patted the side of the car. "Obviously."
Tails furrowed his brow at the layout of the vehicle; this wasn't the first time he'd seen it. He recognized the long, white hood of the car, the streaks of pink just above those radial tires. He also realized that the entirety of the vehicle was phallic-shaped. That was when he remembered that day.
"That looks like the car I saw...in the rearview mirror of my Tornado. Yeah! On the day I was trying to catch up to the President in his limo!"
"So you did see me! It was quite a hassle to follow you since Route 280 had more than its fair share of gaps in the road. They really need to get a construction crew out there."
"Why were you following me?"
"I was in the employ of the good doctor. I had no choice but to chase after you, see where you were going! Since then, I've only used this baby to get where I need to go. Notice anything different about it?"
"I see it now has a hardtop roof," said Tails observantly.
"Ooh, you've got a keen eye for details, don't you?"
"Yes, I suppose I do. Hm?" Something in the air made Tails lose his train of thought for a second. His nose had picked up on a scent wafting in the breeze. "That smell. Is that...french fries?"
"Oh, that's right," said Rouge absentmindedly. She turned to face her car and reached in an open window, pulling out a brown paper bag with grease stains on it. "I got you some fast food. Figured you'd be hungry after flying here so late at night."
"Uh, no thanks. I'm not hungry."
The fox's stomach growled in protest. "Seems your stomach doesn't agree with you." She put a hand into the bag and took out a hamburger.
"It's okay, Rouge," replied Tails with a grimace on his face. "I'm not hungry. Really!"
That was a lie. Tails was actually very hungry. The only reason he'd declined Rouge's offer was that he didn't like burgers too much, especially from fast food joints. And this one in particular looked excessively greasy. It even had a bite taken out of it. Rouge shakes her head at him and sighs. Ignoring what he said, she takes the bag and burger over to Tails and abruptly shoves the burger in his mouth.
"I only took one bite out of it," she said. "And you need more meat on those bones! Just take one bite. That's all I ask."
Now with a mouth full of hamburger and the taste of what he suspected to be Rouge's lipstick on his tongue, he couldn't think of a way to say no to this impetuous woman. So he took a small bite out of the burger and began to chew on it as Rouge watched him closely. When he swallowed it down, she took the burger away and put it back in the greasy bag. When she pulled her hand out of there next, she had a couple of french fries between her fingers.
"Now here. Try these."
Though the fries weren't in a box, Tails found them to be much more desirable than the burger. He eagerly opened his mouth and let Rouge feed him one fry after another until they were all gone.
"There", said Rouge. "Was that so bad?"
"So greasy," said Tails after using the back of his arm to wipe off the grease on his lips. "But I will admit...they tasted good. I am kind of thirsty though."
"Thirsty, you say? Let me get you something to wash that taste out of your mouth."
Afraid that Rouge's idea of a drink would be something along the lines of a martini, Tails waved his hands at her in a defensive way. "Ah, no thanks! And besides, don't we have more pressing matters to attend to?"
"Huh. I was hoping we could skip that and go get a drink somewhere. But fine."
Rouge went back to her car. She tossed the greasy brown bag in the window and opened the door. Tails watched her crouch down to get something under the seat. Once she found it, she put it under her arm, shut the door, and brought it to Tails.
"I called you here because of this."
Tails gasped when he saw what it was: the disembodied head of a robot! But not just any robot.
"Whoa! Is that..?"
"Yes," replied Rouge. "This is the head of Metal Sonic. Or to be more specific, an imitation Metal Sonic. I ripped it off from one of the bots running around the city."
Tails took the robot head from Rouge, inspecting it closely. "It is a fake! I can tell by the production model number on the side. It reads...zero point one six. One number higher than the one on that other bot...the number of the one who attacked me."
"You were attacked by one of these?"
"Yeah. It happened a few days ago at Cream's house. I was uh, staying there for awhile. When it showed up, it said it was on a mission to kill me. Not sure who gave it that mission and why, but I.."
"A few days, huh? Wouldn't that have given you more than enough time to take it apart and find the answer to that?"
"I, uh...that is..." Tails was at a loss for words. For the events that took place after the Metal Sonic bot's attack were of a personal nature. The new feelings of love and affection he felt towards Vanilla...the psychotic love Cream tried to unleash upon him...Vector's dumb, waffle-eating face...it was a lot of drama. And it was something he didn't want to talk about to just anyone, least of all, Rouge. He also remembered that Vanilla had already thrown out the robot with the rest of the trash.
"I planned to do that," lied Tails, "but I forgot. And then I...lost track of where I left the bot's remains. But I can at least study this one. The head must contain some data I can analyze for clues on its origin, its creator, and stuff."
"Good," said Rouge. "All we need are your friends to show up and we can get going."
"You mean Sonic and Knuckles?" That's right, Tails thought. On the phone Rouge had called not just for him, but for Sonic as well.
But where was he? He should've been here by now. Just then, a rumbling filled the air. Tails and Rouge wondered where it was coming from until they saw a nearby manhole move. When the rumbling had ceased, the manhole cover was lifted up by two white knuckles and thrown off.
Two friendly faces popped their heads out of the hole.
"You see, Sonic," boasted Knuckles, "I told you I could get us here through the sewers!"
"I still say," said Sonic, the nauseated hedgehog, "we should've run here! We would've gotten here faster! And a lot less sick...er!"
"Yeah. But where's the fun in that? The sewer's an amazing place! Once you get used to the smell, that is!"
With the Metal Sonic head in one arm, Tails waved to his friends with his free hand. "Hey guys!"
Sonic's nausea passed when he saw the smiling face of his buddy. "Hey, is that Tails?"
"Yeah," said Knuckles. "And he's with...Rouge? What?! Why is she here?!"
"She called us here, you knucklehead! Remember?"
"I knew that!"
"No you didn't!"
Putting their debate aside, Sonic and Knuckles jumped out of the manhole, dusted themselves off, and ran over to meet their longtime pal.
Sonic gave Tails a high-five. "What's up, Tails? Feeling better after staying at Cream's place?"
"Yeah," said Tails with a nod, "I'm good to go!" Though he did have some pain left in his backbone, he was feeling better. Nevertheless, he felt it was a detail Sonic and Knuckles did not need to know.
"Hey, don't forget about me," said Knuckles as he raised one of his gloves for a high-five.
But before Tails could high-five him back, Rouge stepped in and said, "Okay, okay. We're all here. Enough with the guy stuff!"
"Come on, Rouge," goaded Knuckles. "Lighten up and give me five!"
Rouge rolled her eyes at the echidna and sneered at him with a raised eyebrow. "High five? That's funny. I thought you needed actual fingers for one of those."
"Huh?"
"And what do you have? Oh yes, that's right. Knuckles. Just...knuckles. It's in your name and it's a fact of life for you! A sad, sad fact." And with a snap of her fingers, she turned her back to the confused echidna and walked away. Tails and Sonic both gave Knuckles a questionable look.
"Hey Knuckles," asked Sonic. "What's going on with you two?"
"Yeah," added Tails. "You were such good friends before. Didn't you say you were going along with Rouge on some of her jewel heists?"
"I was," said Knuckles through gritted teeth. "Then one day, she just changed her mind about it! She didn't want me anywhere near her. I don't know what I did wrong!"
Judging by the growing brashness of his voice, Sonic and Tails could tell he was heading for a serious rage dump.
"And no matter what I say...she refuses to...talk to me! GRAAAAAHH!"
And with that, Knuckles flew into a blind rage, throwing his fists in all directions. Sonic managed to avoid a fist that could've taken his head off.
"Tails, watch out!"
Tails, however, wasn't so lucky; the pain in his spine began to act up, hindering his reaction time. He bit his lip and said, "Tch! That pain again!"
Too late did he realize he was in the echidna's line of fire. In slow motion, he could see Knuckles' fist about to smash into his face. In the seconds before it made contact, a single thigh-high boot blocked the attack. Tails didn't see it, as he had closed his eyes and lifted up the Metal Sonic head to protect his face. When he did not feel the impact of a fist, he lowered his guard and saw that it was Rouge who'd saved him from a nasty blow.
"What the heck do you think you're doing," scolded Rouge. "This guy's the brains of the operation! Are you trying to put him in the hospital?"
"N-no," said Knuckles when he came to his senses, "I was mad about..."
"About what? Not taking you out on a few heists?"
"It's not just the heists! You've been real distant lately, Rouge!"
"Yeah, so what? I don't need a guy like you looking out for me all the time. I can depend on myself!"
"Don't you think I know that?"
Knuckles tried to make a grab for Rouge's hand, but she snatched it out of his reach.
"What's with you? Do I stink or something?!"
But Rouge didn't say a word to the enraged echidna. Instead she went to Tails and placed a tender hand on his face, rubbing the area Knuckles' fist would have hit. "You okay, kid?"
Tails blushed. What was with the special treatment? Rouge never treated anyone like this, not even Knuckles!
"Talk to me! Are you feeling alright?"
"Uh-huh, I'm fine," said a nervous Tails. "Um...thank you."
"Don't mention it."
Knuckles grumbled under his breath and kicked up some dirt. Wanting to get a move on, Sonic chimed in.
"Well that was interesting! So what's the deal with that thing, Tails?"
"Thing? Oh, you mean this!"
Tails brought the robotic head in his arms to the hedgehog and showed it to him. Then he explained what was going on.
"I see. A fake Metal Sonic! Did our friendly neighborhood Egghead build it?"
"I'm not sure," Tails replied. "There are some flaws here that deviate from the doctor's usual robotic designs. If I can examine this thing, I think I can discover who its creator is."
"I think you mean," said Rouge, "WE are going to examine it."
The three boys all made a collective "Huh" at the bat. Rouge shook her head. "As I said, Tails here is the smart one. I too, fall within that category."
Knuckles let out a chuckle. "You're smart? Since when?"
"Here's what going to happen," Rouge continued, ignoring the echidna's rude comment. "I'm taking Prower here home with me so we can study what's inside this head."
The echidna couldn't believe the words coming out of her mouth. "You're taking our buddy back to your pad? Why aren't we invited?!"
"You can come join us once you and Sonic catch one of those Metal Sonic drones. This disembodied head is something special, but it's not enough. We'll need one with a complete body in order to conduct a proper study of its parts."
That was actually pretty smart for Rouge, thought Tails. A full-bodied robot would be a more fitting subject to study. Knuckles wasn't okay with the idea though.
"You can count me out! I don't feel like going on a wild goose chase for someone who treats me like dirt!"
"But Knuckles," begged Tails, "we might need a full body of the robot, like Rouge said!"
"Hedgehog life form data...successfully copied!"
Hearing the robotic voice, Tails swirled his head around to find it. "Who said that?"
"Look there," said Sonic. He pointed at the rooftop of the City Hall building nearby. To everyone's surprise, there was a metallic figure standing there in the moonlight. It watched them with red eyes, recording their every more. Sonic snarled at the robot's presence.
"Metal Sonic!"
"Fox life form data," said the bot, "successfully copied!"
"No, it's not him," said Tails. "It's a drone!
"What's it doing up there," asked Rouge.
"Echidna and bat data...successfully copied!"
"I think it's copying our data."
The drone looked past the three heroes and spotted Rouge's car. "Vehicle, hamburger and french fries data...successfully copied!"
"And apparently the data of anything else it finds to be of use, I guess?"
"Street light data...successfully copied!"
"Has he been watching us this whole time," wondered Knuckles.
"I don't know," said Sonic. "Maybe we should go ask him. Hey, you!"
Registering the hedgehog's voice in its sensors, the drone cocked its head to the left and said, "Target locked on...Sonic the Hedgehog!" Then it lifted its palm and fired a red laser beam from one of its fingers.
"Whoa! Gangway!"
Sonic jumped back, avoiding the killer laser. It left a burnt mark on the pavement. After it failed to hit its target, the bot moved the gears in its legs and leapt off into the night. Not happy at all with being attacked, Sonic waved his fist angrily at the retreating machine. "Get back here, you!"
"Great," said Rouge, "he's on the run!" The bat girl aimed a finger at Knuckles and poked him with it. "Well, tough guy! You can either help us out and catch that drone, or go home! Your choice!"
Knuckles hated it when Rouge put him down. He mashed his fists together and grumbled something under his breath.
"Seems we have an understanding then. Now go catch that drone. If you can, bring it back to me in one piece, got it?"
The echidna growled at her, ready to throw a knockout punch at her pretty little face, when a hand grabbed his arm.
"We're on it, Rouge," said Sonic. "Let's get a move on, Knuckles. We've got a robot to catch!"
"Grrr! Whatever!"
Sonic dashed off, running through the streets with Knuckles in tow. When they were both gone, Rouge sighed.
"Thought they'd never leave. We should be going too, Tails."
Without asking, she took Tails by the hand and led him to her car. She opened the door and pushed him in the passenger seat.
"Go on, fasten your seatbelt for me."
Overcome by Rouge's forceful nature, he quickly fastened his seatbelt. She looked him over to make sure the belt was secure. Then she crawled in, traversing Tails' body as she made her way to the driver's seat. Though the transition only lasted a few seconds, it made Tails feel a little uncomfortable. His face turned red when her tail wagged and hit his face, the smell of her backside filling his nostrils. When Rouge had firmly planted herself in the driver's seat and put on her seatbeat, Tails quickly shut the side door and placed his hands in his lap.
"Sorry," she said with her hands now at the wheel, "but I didn't want to waste any time getting in, you know?"
"Ah, it's okay," Tails replied. His face was flush with embarrassment. "No harm done."
"Shall we go?" Rouge turned the key in the ignition and started the car. As the engine churned, Tails wondered why Rouge was acting in such a strange manner. Feeding him fast food? Protecting him from Knuckles? Making him put on his seatbelt?
He knew it wasn't uncommon for Rouge to be nice once in a while. But this wasn't like her at all.