Still no reviews yet, so please give me your thoughts!

This is my favorite chapter so far. I love how the training fight scene between Sonic and Tails played out, although I believe their conversation beforehand is a bit cliche - which makes me feel like a hypocrite, because I said the same thing about a part in one of my sister's stories... eh, enough about me - but otherwise I don't think there are any problems with this.

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The moon was perfectly round and especially luminous on that night. The sky was completely clear, so the moon was the only visible object in its wake; bathing the city in a florescent, almost ghostly; light source. Tails sat on the top of the building he lived in next to Sonic, something they did on suitable nights. Usually these moments were full of conversation, but tonight talk was scarce.

Sonic shifted suddenly. "You know, I hear that rumors are floating around town about two strange figures that can be seen at the edge of the abandoned building on certain nights."

Tails grinned. "Yeah? I don't believe it."

They were silent for a few more minutes, transfixed on the shiny surface of the moon. Then Sonic said, "You all right?"

Tails turned his head. "Yeah, my back feels fine now."

"I mean you."

Tails was surprised by that. "What do you mean?"

Sonic still gazed at the moon. "You've been really quiet lately. You never really talk unless someone addresses you. Besides that, you seem…uneasy." Sonic looked at Tails now, studying his face. "I know when something's bothering you, Tails. What is it?"

Tails didn't know why, but he was embarrassed. He looked down. "I can't help but think…" He trailed off. "I can't help but wonder…if Eggman's really up to something huge now. He's been…I don't know…monotonous?...He's doing the same things every time, and I'm starting to wonder if it's all just a cop out. Is he hiding something?"

Sonic laid back against the hard and cool steel surface of the large building. "I don't think Eggman's that patient. 'Sides, you worry too much."

"Yeah, I know."

"Hey." Sonic punched him in the arm lightly. "You're taking all of this way too seriously. Stop stressing out so much."

Tails said nothing. He glanced at the moon again. "I'll try."

Sonic sat up again. "Let's do something to take your mind off of it. Do you feel like sparring tonight?"

"Sure, that's fine with me."

They leapt off the building and landed softly on the ground. They were in the large backyard, with the moon poking above the trees; which provided perfect light. They paced backward to widen the gap between them and then stood perfectly still. "Let's see if you've learned anything from last time. Give me all you've got!" Tails nodded, and abruptly dashed at Sonic. He hopped, turning his body backward in mid-air and straightening; both legs stretched out in front of him; and began spinning. Sonic jumped out of the way of the screw kick and curled himself, revving up as he did so, and careened into Tails as he was recovering. Tails twisted in mid-air to land on his feet and dove to the left as Sonic revved at him again. Tails then sprinted at Sonic again, this time rotating his tails very quickly until he lifted off of the ground. The head-on tackle caught Sonic off guard, and Tails rammed into him. Sonic rocketed backward, but Tails wasn't finished. He ran as hard as he could and caught up to Sonic quickly, hopping over him and grabbing him. Sonic's momentum pushed them far backward, and once they finished sliding, Tails launched him into the air, leapt after him, and sent him plummeting to the ground with a downward snap kick.

Sonic slammed into the ground with a giant thud but picked himself up swiftly before Tails could assault him any longer. This time Sonic charged Tails, but did so slowly to confuse him. When he approached the fox he abruptly sped up and smote Tails in the gut with a flying kick. Tails slid and bounced across the grassy expanse, buffeted in the back each time he hit the ground. He finally stopped, dirt spraying into the air, and kicked himself up, countering Sonic's attempted grab. Tails promptly threw his fist sideways and caught Sonic on the side of the face, which he followed with a knee to his chest; and finished the combination with a roundhouse. Sonic handsprung as he fell and threw a side kick at Tails, which he blocked, but then hit Tails with an uppercut, sending him into the air a few inches, in which Sonic vaulted - rolling violently as he did so – into Tails, catapulting him into the sky.

They both were flying through the air when Sonic finished the homing attack. Sonic grabbed Tails's legs and began to wind up, whirling him through the air. Sonic let go, and Tails soared to the ground. Tails regained balance and landed upright, but then pushed off hard. The two were headed at a collision course in mid-air. Tails thrust his arms out in front of him and began to revolve, preparing a drill attack, while Sonic seemed to take no offensive action at all. As Tails was about to slam into Sonic, he somersaulted and moved to the side, Tails missing him by a few inches. Then as he passed, Sonic finished the flip and stomped both legs out, blasting Tails in the stomach. He was unable to react and hit the ground hard, Sonic landing gracefully.

Tails wasn't done yet, but he stood up gingerly, coughing as he did so. Sonic ran at him when he stood up and leaped forward. Tails knew this move well. He jumped as Sonic began to throw out his leg and spin. When he saw Sonic was coming dangerously close to landing the Windmill, he curled backward and rolled out of the way of the attack. Tails landed with his back to Sonic, who tried to get off a running kick, but Tails clotheslined him by snapping his elbow behind him. Sonic worked his way back to his feet and the two friends stared each other off for a second, panting hard.

Tails jogged at Sonic and sprung at him, pulling off a butterfly kick. Sonic sidestepped the move. After landing, Tails dashed at him, reared up, and punched, only to be blocked. Desperate, he did a low jump, spun around, and tried to land a spiral kick on Sonic's head. Sonic ducked and grabbed Tails's leg as he was descending. He hurled Tails over his body and slammed him into the ground. Tails slowly got up again, planted his hands on the ground, and swung both of his legs at Sonic; but he leaned backward to avoid the attack, stepped forward, and unleashed a devastating high kick. Tails whizzed through the air for a second, and twisted across the ground, ending on his side. He laid on the ground for a few seconds, and took an effort to heave himself up again. He succeeded, and tried to gather himself, breathing heavily. It wasn't to be, as his strength failed him and he swayed, collapsed onto his knees, and finally dropped forward.

Sonic kneeled by Tails and helped him up. Tails bent forward and leaned on his knees, gasping for air. "You're leaving yourself too many openings. I get the feeling you're just trying to be fancy rather than bash my head in."

Tails smiled faintly. "I guess I was a little slow…"

"I can see how you're thinking. Those technical attacks would work on a slower opponent or one who doesn't think on his feet, but your moves are too easy for me to predict. You need to surprise me with quicker, more outright ones so I don't have any time to counter."

Sonic looked at Tails for a moment, then said, "You're really improving. I like the way you're mixing moves and techniques the way you do. But you have to stop fighting mindlessly, or else your opponents will find openings."

Tails nodded, and stumbled. "Could you help me inside? I need to rest."

"Sure." Sonic put and arm around him and helped him hobble back into the house.

\../

Tails was standing in a very large and dark room. It appeared to be mostly empty except for what looked like a giant computer and many panels taking up a small portion of the left wall. He scanned his surroundings, and noticed Sonic sprawled on the floor to his right. He rushed to his side, and noticed blood pouring out of a wound in his gut. He was still alive, but his breaths were short and pained.

Suddenly Tails saw something move out of the corner of his eye and jumped up. He whirled around and was facing the dark, shadowy outline of a creature. It was holding a pistol in its right hand. Suddenly feeling bold, Tails yelled, sprinted at it, and threw a mighty axe kick. His foot went right through the figure, and it disappeared. Tails's eyes flitted about the room, searching for the strange creature, but then he felt an excruciating pain coming from his side.

He yelped loudly and his knees buckled, seemingly on their own. He hit the ground and remained there on his back. He couldn't move, and breathing was becoming hard. He knew nothing but pain, nothing but the bursts of agony pulsing through his entire body. Suddenly the dark figure appeared over him and stood there for a moment. Fresh smoke was seeping out of its gun. Then an awful sound erupted from it. A short, violent sound that Tails recognized as his vision began to fade away.

The person was laughing.

Tails awoke with a start and bolted into a sitting position. Aches and pains immediately coursed through him after the sudden movement. After a few hard gasps, the feeling of relief washed over him as he realized he was simply dreaming. But a feeling of fear and uneasiness also beset him.

I've never had a dream that felt that real. Tails inched off of the mattress and stretched. He decided that his collarbone hurt the most from Sonic's high kick, followed by his gut where Sonic rent him with the mid-air stomp. Tails grimaced and staggered out of the doorway of his room.At least I can walk without any pain. Tails ran off some of the tap water into a glass and drank it, welcoming the smooth sensation of the icy water that ran down his throat. Peering into the living room, he noticed it was empty. The girls are probably still asleep.

He stepped outside and was blinded momentarily by the rays of sunlight that glittered down upon him. Ignoring the protests that assaulted his body, he leaped up to the roof to look over the city. Sonic was already up there, assessing the mass of buildings and roads that lay tangled in front of them. Sonic greeted him with a warm grin. "Feeling better?"

"Well enough." Tails sat next to Sonic and they watched as the city steadily came to life. The number of cars on the road rapidly increased and people began to emerge on the sidewalks.

"Good ol' Station Square," Sonic said absentmindedly. Looking up, he observed, "Looks like a storm's coming."

Tails adjusted the metal bands on his gloves and followed his gaze. Immediately he knew something was wrong. "What the hell?" He promptly stood up and began rotating his tails quickly to begin hovering. He flew to the mini skyscraper near their building. He knew people would see him, but they were used to seeing Mobians by that time. He studied the wide expanse of clouds looming in front of the city and was deeply puzzled.

The clouds were jet black and rapidly threatening to overtake the sun in the east. Blue strands of lighting constantly snaked across the thunderheads, creating a faint rumbling sound. However everything about the approaching storm seemed fake, and Tails knew that's exactly what it was.

He jumped back onto the roof of their building, using his tails to soften the descent. "That's an artificial storm. It wasn't naturally created; someone spawned it."

Sonic gave him a blank look. "That's impossible. How could anyone create a storm?"

Tails faltered. "I don't know. But I've researched these. All I could find was that they're visually similar to real storms, but they're more intense."

Sonic stood up and examined the approaching clouds. "Eggman."

"It's possible…but I'd imagine this would take lots of technology, and lots of money."

"He has been doing the same things each time," Sonic realized, "to save resources, so he could come up with this! But this looks like a pathetic result."

"No, Sonic." Tails was becoming exasperated. "I also read that artificial storms upset the magnetic polarities of the areas they cover. When this storm hits Station Square, the very lifestyles of these people could be turned upside down!"

"What do we do?"

"We have to stop it somehow." Tails looked away, racking his brain, and his face brightened as he remembered. "The center."

"What about it?"

"The artificial storm is fueled by a type of generator. The generator is always placed in the center of the storm. But..."

"But what? So we have to fly in there and destroy that thing."

Tails pulled at his bangs rigorously. "Are you insane? We can't just fly into an artificial storm with a modified biplane! It wasn't – "

"Tails," Sonic said, fixing him in the eye. "You said yourself the lifestyles of these citizens is threatened by this thing. Hell, they're probably planning to just wait it out in their houses and it'll blow over in a few minutes!"

Sonic dropped to the ground and shouted "Come on!" before taking off at a blur towards the hangar. Tails paced across the roof for a few seconds, panicking silently, and jumped off of the building after him.

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C + C would really make me happy panda.