Chapter two
The good old days...
He felt free...
Wind rushed past him as he sped by, his body slicing through the air like a knife. objects and places, people, mere blurs of color as he blurred past. The world was beautiful, all the colors swirling together and blurring in a kaleidoscope of brilliant light. He had tried to explain it to his friends , to show them. He tried painting it once, tails liked it, Knuckles just said it looked like a mess. And always there was the thundering sound of the wind drowning out the world in a triumphant roar. It was his escape, how he could get away from the troubles around him, when he could really clear his mind and focus on nothing. It was a unique feeling, something he couldn't quite describe to people when they asked him.
"What's it like, when you run that fast? what do you see?"
All he could ever say to them was that, "It feels like,... freedom." Moments like this were getting rare these days. Sonic skidded to a halt, his shoes squealing against the concrete floor of Tails' workshop. The blue blur turned to look out at the scattered heaps of junk and twisted metal covering the landscape before the hanger door lowered behind him, leaving him in absolute darkness while the halogen lights hummed slowly to life. Sonic sighed as the door slammed shut, wishing he could just run forever, like the good old days. He hefted the sack over his shoulder and his features hardened into a look of determinaition. The good old days were over, things had changed so much since then.
Sonic looked up as the lights finally came to life, illuminating the dark room. Shelves lined the walls of the room, covered in hundreds of tools laying neatly organized. The hedgehog frowned as his eyes settled on the plane dominating the hanger.
The Tornado!
Tails' beloved plane sat, it's vibrant red paint hushed beneath a thick layer of dust, making the plane seem dead. 'No, not dead.' Sonic thought as he approached the machine. 'Just sleeping,.. for now.'
Age had begun to creep in on the machine, as spots of rust were clearly visible on the surfaces of the plane that weren't painted. Sonic was flooded with a feeling of nostalgia as his fingers brushed against the Tornado, leaving streaks of brilliant color through the thick dust. Memories of days past crept into the blue hedgehogs mind, bringing a smile to his tired features. Suddenly he was in another world. Images, thoughts, memories, the wind whipping through his quills, his fingers brushing the clouds as he balanced dangerously on the wings, hurtling through the sky as they narrowly avoided Robotniks' traps, a look of fierce determination in his eyes. He pressed his palm against the smooth metal and wiped it across the tornados symbol, smiling to himself as the dust was cleared from the familiar emblem.
Sonic was brought back to the present at the sound of a metal door being opened. The hollow sound echoed around the room, making Sonic turn as a familiar shape stepped through, his own small steps echoing distantly throughout the room, making him seem so much larger, older somehow.
Sonic smiled as his friend walked over to him, wiping oil absently from his white gloves on his lab coat. "Hey buddy." Sonic tried to keep his voice cheerful, but failed to keep the exhaustion out of his voice. Tails smiled up at Sonic, his face etched with the effects of the sleepless nights spent fighting Robotnik in his most recent campaign.
"Hey Sonic." Tails walked over to his friend, a tired smile plastered acrfoss his face. He looked up at the Tornado and came to a halt , his hands buried in his pockets as he too, became lost in memory. The two friends stared at the plane for many moments, sharing each others company in silence, finally the young fox tore his eyes away and looked over at his speedy friend. Finally he sighed. "Well, we did it."
Sonics' own tired smile turned into a smirk as he turned to regard his friend, his fingers seemingly unable to detach tnemselves from the dusty relic. "Yep, we did it again. Hopefully Ro-butt-nik'll stay down for a while this time."
Tails only nodded in agreement. Sonic noted this wth a little concern, in the old days his young friend would've bust out giggling at Sonic's play on words. 'When did he suddenly grow up?' Sonic already knew the answer, when he joined the fight. Sonic sighed and watched his friends young face as he studied the rusting Tornado, regretting in a way that he had ever let the young fox join him in his fight against the insane Doctor Robotnik. Sure it had been fun in the beginning, exciting, but after a while things started getting dangerous. But Tails had always been a great help to him, never a hindrance. He knew he would have never gotten this far without his friend. Sonic knew they had both changed, his own cocky attitude had been weathered over the years, but not his determination, He always rushed headfirst to stop Robotnik, though nowadays he used a little more caution. The doctor long ago began bending the rules on 'fun', now his traps were just plain dangerous.
Tails finished his inspection of the Tornado and went over to a small desk sitting near the door. The young fox wheeled out the chair and turned around before sitting in it with his arms crossed over the back. "You think we'll ever get rid of Robotnik for good?" Tails placed his head atop his folded arms and closed his eyes, already making plans for the future.
Sonic stared sadly down at his young friend. 'He shouldn't have to worry about things like this, he's just a kid.' Somic's determined smirk returned. "Of Course we will."
Tails lifted his head surprised at Sonic's lighthearted tone. "Really?"
Sonic nodded and went to lean against the desk, dropping the bag over his shoulder and bending over until he was eye level with Tails. "Yeah, I mean eventually he's gotta run outta money right? The guy probably spends a fortune just waxing his stupid moustache!" Then Tails laughed, just a single 'ha', but Sonic knew he had broken through to his friend. Sonic stood, lifting his head and placing one hand behind his back in a perfect mock of Robotnik when he's explain ing his devious plans.
"Once I conquer the world...!"
Tails was amazed at how close Sonic could mimic the insane doctor. He cupped a hand over his mough to stifle his laughter when the blue hedgehog began twisting at his imaginary moustache.
"I will build my marvelous city, Robotnikland, and there I will build factories to make wax for my Beautiful Moustache!"
Tails' cupped hand clenched into a fist and pressed tightly to his lips to keep from laughing out loud.
"So that it will never be limp!"
Sonic finished by pointing his finger into the air in a victorious manner, all the while his face a mask of seriousness. It was just too rediculous. Tails sputttered for a moment before the floodages opened. The young fox couldn't hold back any longer. Bouts of laughter echoed around the room as he held his sides, tears already beginning to form in the corners of his eyes.
Sonic turned on him then. "What's this! You think this is a laughing matter, how dare you! I will personally ensure that you will be the one brushing and waxing my moustache until the end of time." Now it really was getting rediculous. Sonic lost it then, his mask cracking until he too was bent double laughing, his hand slapping madly at the desk.
Laughter echoed around the room for several long moments and the two friends continued laughing, longer than either of them could remember ever laughing before.
Finally the laughter subsided, Tails managing to reign it in until he was sitting there with a hand over his mouth, mashing in his mirth.
Sonic smiled and looked at his youg friend. 'There we go, that's the Tails I know.' The blue hedgehog leaned down, once again meeting the young foxs' gaze. "Things are getting way too serious around here. I think we need to blow off a little steam." The blue hedgehog turned to look at the rusty plane. "And I think I know a pretty good way to start."
The young fox turned to regard the plane again, cocking his head to the side as he caught onto Sonic's meaning. "Yeah, it has been a while hasn't it."
Sonic looked over to his young friend. "It's been way too long. We need to get that thing up in the clouds again."
Tails nodded and mentally began piecing together the parts and tools he's need to fiix the plane. Suddenly Sonic's arm wrapped around his neck and pulled him in close to his side, his other hand bunching into a fist and scrubbing across the young fox's scalp.
"Cut that out, I know that look on your face." Sonic released his friend and flicked the chair casually, spinning the young fox wildly around. "For now you need to get some rest little buddy, we'll get started in the morning."
Tails managed to stop himself from spinning and nodded dizzily at his friend. "O-okay Sonic." The young' foxs' gaze dropped to the bag resting against the side of his desk. "Whatcha got there?
The blue hedgehog turned to look at the bag as if he had forgotten about it, (Truth was he had.) "Oh, that? I dunno." Sonic reached down to untie the drawstring and pulled out a round cylinder, capped on both ends and filled with what looked like fine grains of grey sand. "Just somethin' Robotnik was cookin' up." He held it up, watching the sand 'wash' back and forth as he tilted it between his hands. "Check this out!" Sonic balanced the tube on one finger and gave it a casual flick, sending it into a chaotic spin. Instantly the cylinder begn to glow, filling the small room with soft blue light.
"Whoah! That's waaay past cool Sonic!" Tails leaned in until his nose was almost touching the object. "I wonder what it does!"
"I got no Idea, but it was like this when I found it." The two friends watched the mesmerizing lightshow, soaking in the beautiful sight. "It looked important, so I snagged it, and lemme tell ya, ol' Butt-nik was really mad when I took of with it." Sonic placed a hand atop the spinning device, stopping it instantly. Tails watched intently as the grains of sand slowly lost their glow and settled at the bottom of the canister.
"Cool Sonic, hey lemme see it!" Tails reached out his hands to take the device from the hedgehog, but was stopped by his friends upraised palm.
"Nope, now way buddy. Once we get the Tornado up into the air and have a little fun I'll let you take a look at it, but first we need to relax, we've both been working waay too hard."
The young fox hung his head forlornly, looking up at his hero. "OOOkay."
"Good, I'm glad you agree." The blue hedgehog tossed the object into the air, then scooped up the bag and caught the mystifying device before it had barely begun it's descent towards the concrete floor. "Get some sleep, Little buddy, I'll see you in the morning"
Before the young fox could reply the metal door was slammed shut and Sonic was nowhere in sight.
Tails sighed audibly as he pulled himself to his feet. "Goodnight Sonic."
