"Hey, Sonic. Any, uh… any reason you're still glowing?"
Sonic checked his body. Just as Tails noted, he's golden. So he felt for his quills, and they still remained fixed skyward.
"Huh, I guess I'm not outta rings yet." He shrugged the oddity off. "So what was that you were sayin' about Eggman?"
"He's brilliant!" Tails went on about how impossible it should have been to create an intangible mech, about how the chaos wave fluxuations needed should have destroyed Eggman, about how Eggman was becoming too smart for his own good. Credit was given where it was due, and Sonic applauded the persistence of the machine. But the ass-kissing went on all the way back to Tails's workshop.
Brow raised, Tails said, "Okay, Sonic, something's wrong."
It's not that Sonic was worried, but he still forced his aura into his body faster than needed. Though he strobed between blue and gold, the chaos energy's glow never left him.
"Tails, help me out 'ere!"
The fox stroked his chin, examining at his friend from quill to sneakers. "Y'know, I have some equipment in my workshop. We should be able to get to the bottom of this."
Sonic smiled.
It was baffling!
Tails tested Sonic biometrics, observing the raw data rushing from electrodes into a computer. Petabytes worth of information loaded into .dlr and .med files. When they determined enough information had come in, bots swarmed over the files, scouring with superhuman proficiency all bits, hunting with virtual bloodlust for anomalies.
Nothing. Chaos energy lined up with expectations. Bioelectricity came in at 72 terawatts, well below the super form's maximum output; Sonic assured Tails he was suppressing energy.
Then came the blood samples- at least, what Tails could get. Every syringe snapped upon piercing Sonic's epidermis, even when the hedgehog lowered his energy to the point of his quills falling. Sonic wiped his forehead when Tails stashed the needles away, but his face contorted and assumed a funny shape when he was led into a chamber where four Tesla coils pointed at his face.
"Just relax," he thought he heard. Not easy to listen with a death ray in your face. A million volts ripped through his body.
The first sign something was wrong was when Sonic noticed he didn't react. Where any other creature should have danced death's steps, if not exploded, he stood with passiveness to spare.
He braced his muscles, squeezed his eyes, and shouted, "Anytime, brah!"
"It's at maximum power!"
Sonic's eyes opened wide. "I don't feel nothin'. Sure it's at max?" Why would Tails lie?
He heard, "Yeah!" and sagged his arms.
"Crazy." The lightning died and the room took on the colors of evening again. Tails came in, reading data from a holographic pad. Sonic turned to him, pointing at himself and shrugging, and said, "I guess I am stuck as Super Sonic."
No matter how many time his eyes followed lines of data, Tails could not find an answer. "This is so weird!"
"You're tellin' me." Sonic rubbed his fingers through his golden fur, feeling the silky hairs sizzle. It felt good.
"I'll dig deep into the data tonight and call you when I'm finished." They waved each other goodbye. Tails shut his door. Sonic took his first steps into the night. He let his legs take over and sped into the mountains.
He remembered that he can fly. But why? Where's the fun of exploring places if you could just fly?
Wait.
He's never explored the sky. No, not without help.
Liftoff. There goes the moon, the billowing clouds, the volcanoes- next stop, wherever the hell he wants. The air tasted like freedom.
But his adventure ended- or perhaps it truly began- over the Quicksand Desert when he saw someone in distress. As he approached, recognition snapped through his mind. A Rockette! Half its body was submerged, and oblivion surely welcomed it.
Then warred his conscience. Should he save one of those tin cans? Why bother? Why not?
It slipped below the surface, but Sonic dove under and pulled it out. What a wussy he was. He set it down at an oasis some distance away.
"Tell Eggbuttnik he's welcome!"
Then he was nothing more than a shooting star.