Hover Beyond Chapter 2, a sonic the hedgehog fanfic

BEFORE YOU READ THIS CHAPTER, please go back to Ch.1, as I have polished it and added another scene.

Chapter Two

Antoine rushed to the hill as fast as he could, though it didn't take him long since it was naught but a minute's jog. Tails and Kaolin noticed Antoine on his approach, as well as his concerned facial expression, and knew that something was up. Tails reluctantly decided that his proposal should wait until another day, and prepared himself for the impending report. Antoine alerted the foxes of the dire situation, and they quickly joined the rest of the team on their journey to the blast site.

During the flight, which would take a decent amount of time, Kaolin thought back to the adventures Tails took her on over the prior four years, and each memory brought a happy grin. Tails saw her smiling and put an arm over her shoulders, and they enjoyed each other's company for the remainder of the trip.

Upon arrival, the craft was set down in a clearing, and everyone hopped out to survey the wreckage. A large, smoking crater was all that remained of where the silo once lay in the ground.

Julie Su stared at the crater in awe and said, "Whoo, that is some crater," as she planted her hands on her hips.

Next to Julie-Su stood her lifemate, Knuckles, who added, "The result of high-grade ballistic missile fuel. Look at how the ground was glassed, even at a good distance away."

Mighty was signing some documents when he noticed his allies. He smiled and began to make his way over to the heroes.

"Greetings Mighty," said Rotor as he looked at glassed ground. The faint sound of crackling could be heard due to the temperature variations amongst the large sheet of solidified sand.

Mighty grinned as he clasped his hands behind his back, and replied, "Salutations, fellows. We're making some progress, but so far, there's no solid evidence of the faction's hand in this."

"Which faction are you referring to?" Tails asked.

Mighty's expression grew more grave, "It's the one led by Fiona...well, she used to lead it. She went missing a few months ago, and we have evidence which shows, and you probably won't believe this, that Big the Cat has been appointed as the new leader of Ferox Mandatum."

Everyone looked at him as though he was insane.

"Ehm...Big's...kind of...an idiot. Like, a colossal idiot," commented Knuckles with a befuddled tone. The others silently nodded their agreement, and Sally flinched because the idea sounded so absurd.

"It appears as though he was just playing dumb all these years. Recent intel points to him being a drug lord as well," replied the armadillo.

"I seriously...did not see that coming," commented Sally with wide eyes and a raised eyebrow.

Still in disbelief, Sonic added, "Whoa, so, wait, how could someone keep up such a ruse for THAT long? We've known him for years!"

Mighty continued, "Some people will go to great lengths when it comes to protecting something valuable. We also have evidence that he treats people who 'know too much' very brutally, more so than Fiona did. It wouldn't surprise me at all if he had her knocked off. What better than to have a sizeable militia to back your drug empire?"

A nervous Kaolin put a hand on her holstered gun and ran her fingers along the cold, dark-gray steel. The thought of brutality brought back distressing memories of her run-in with Bean the Dynamite four years prior.

"Hmm...wer wud ze clue be hiding...wer wud I hide eef I waz a clue... " Antoine speculated.

Shortly after Bunny began her part of the search, she literally stumbled upon a clue -- one big footprint. "Guys, Ah reckon Ah found sumpthin' here. Looks ta be a footprint of sorts. A really...REALLY big one."

Mighty approached Bunny with a pleased demeanor and said, "One made by a 616-pound feline, apparently. Looks like you found our first clue. The question is, why is there only one?"

Kaolin added, "Perhaps Big did it on purpose. As a signature, so to speak."

"Good point, Lin. He could've flown in with a hoverpack and intentionally left a single footprint," Tails said as he lovingly placed his arm around the small of Kaolin's back.

Some of Mighty's associates quickly took samples of the dirt in the footprint, analyzed them, and concluded that Big's DNA was indeed present. Again pleased, Mighty said, "The next question is, where are they holed up?"

Sorry for the MASSIVE delay. One distraction right after another. This chapter was very short as well, but the next chapter will most likely be longer and contain MUCH more action. I hope it won't take another month, or even two weeks. It might be less than a week if I put my mind to it, but I can offer no promises. Thank you for reading, and keep a lookout for chapter three!