"You built this?"

"Well, kinda… It was actually Sonic's plane originally… I just kicked it up a notch."

"Looks like more than a notch to me…"

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet!"

The kitsune was grinning triumphantly in the front seat, piloting the Tornado-1, a red plane that he'd had ever since that memorable event from years ago… meeting Sonic. Looking back at the human in the seat behind him, he gave a slight smirk as he refocused on the controls.

He pressed at a button instantly, and the plane jerked. The Doctor gripped the rim of the plane tightly as it tilted abruptly to the left, looking down. Quite a big drop… thank the man who invented seatbelts.

The red plane's front rotor slid into the vehicle, replaced by a sharp nose. The tail disappeared shortly after, ends becoming pointed as another set rose with a podium, and, finally, the wings twisted fluently, spinning until they formed a complete X. The Doctor heard a noise behind him, and glanced over his shoulder to see a rocket booster at the rear of the plane.

"Is that—well, well… don't normally see THOSE often outside the good ol' military, do you? Really decent SRB you got there, fox!"

"Ahaha…" Tails trailed off impishly, then glanced over his shoulder. "Th-thanks, I guess… I had to root around a lot for it."

"And the structure…! Brilliant! Astounding! See, the human race needs to give your kind credit: you're absolutely brilliant! Remind me to give you reference, courtesy of the Doctor!"

"Uh… thanks, I guess…" Tails sweatdropped.

"Very welcome," the man chirped, not seeming feigned by the boy's awkwardness.

Tails did a double-take, glancing forward to where his destination was. His hands tensed around the joystick, before he give an almost baffled smile, before muttering quietly, "…you really understand this, huh… hardly anyone does…"

"Of course I understand it! I'm brilliant!" The Doctor grinned, catching his underbreath comment, then paused, "…or just really, really smart. Never could tell the difference."

Tails chuckled to himself slightly. "It's really weird… you're smart, like I am… but you really remind me of Sonic…"

"The blue one? Yes, he was a bit perky, wasn't he…?" the Doctor mused, looking in deep thought.

"Perky is an understatement. You should see him when he's fighting Eggman. Like, REALLY fighting Eggman. There's anagrams, jokes, and puns flying around and everything."

"Always loved a good laugh; best thing in a dire situation, I say," the man replied with a smile, leaning back in his seat. He looked down at Westopolis below. "Unless you're, you know, certified insane. Then, it's not so good…"

"Uh-huh," the kitsune responded, nodding in affirmation. "That's the time to be unnerved. Unless your laugh sounds like Father Christmas'."

"…Does he really—?"

"Yep."

"Hm." The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's new. I've had alien Santa Clauses and Angels but never evil villains with the laugh itself. He doesn't play Santa, does he?"

"I hope not," Tails responded, shivering slightly. "If he was, I wouldn't look forward to Christmas anymore. I mean, seriously, getting a Make-Your-Own-Gift-Explode fun pack would ward me off the whole thing." He coughed slightly. "…I'd see it coming from a mile away, of course. Totally not be tricked into thinking it's something so fantastically advanced I can tinker with..."

The Doctor smirked slightly at that.

"See, that's my reason for loving all these amazing civilisations," he chuckled to himself. "Your morbid curiosity of things. … You're not a cat, are you?"

"You didn't want to make with a saying, did you?" the fox replied heartily, narrowing one eye. "Because that's Sonic's thing. I'm a fox."

"Shame," his passenger chortled. "But don't think for a second I'm disparaging your genus of two-tailed foxes."

"I'm not offended at all," Tails chuckled, smiling meekly. "If anything, I'm jovially astonished at meeting such a perspicacious individual such as yourself."

His companion smiled widely.

"I'm the Doctor."

"Miles Tails Prower."

"Ooooh, nice name!"

"…I'd rather be called Tails, though… at least, that's what everyone calls me…"

"Oh? Well, Mr. Prower, Tails it is! My humble apologies! Now watch the skies!"

"Skies—?!" Tails jerked the plane a bit; they were almost going to crash into a building. "…oh, yeah… Sorry..."

"Is there usually so much smoke everywhere in America? Last time I came here, I think… old times… Manhattan, I think. Loads of weird things went on there… don't really visit that often."

Tails' eyes widened at below.

The inner city was a wreck, especially in the east park. Trees were scorched, bushes were hardly recognizable, and there was almost destruction at every turn. The landscape itself had been shut off to the public; children were whining behind the barricades to their mothers and fathers that they wanted to go to the park, but ultimately were ushered away by said parents, with promises of candy and other delights. It seemed to persuade some of them. The rest were not so fortunate as to believe even a bit of what their parents were saying, and nagged to the point of screaming. Whether it was for the park, feeding the ducks, or the ice cream, was to be debated.

Police officers surrounded the area, fiddling with their hats and keeping the crowd astray. The south side of the park housed several photographers, eager to get their hands on material, but the officers would not let them pass. Some made a break for it, and were just as easily dragged back to the outskirts of the barriers, getting 'free' rides in cop cars if they were lucky enough.

"It's a lot worse than when I left…" Tails muttered softly.

"All the more to investigate," the Doctor replied gravely. "Let's get down there."

"Y-yeah… Sonic and Shadow are probably already down there…"

The kitsune pulled a few levers, and soon enough, landed the bi-plane on a soft-grassed clearing, jumping out of it and hitting the ground with a gentle thud. He turned around, waiting for his friend, and to his surprise, he was already out and rushing past Tails.

"H-hey!" he yelped slightly. "Wait for me!"

The yellow creature stumbled after him, but caught up eventually; tagging along with Sonic had aided him in this useful ability.

The Doctor stopped at the foot of a clearing, where several bodies were lying, unconscious, and he glanced around with an urgent expression. After a couple or more glances, he frowned and his expression grew stern.

"It's come and gone," he muttered to himself. "It's angry, and it's come and gone… that isn't good… not good at all…"

"Tell me about it," Sonic spoke from behind him, walking towards the clearing's centre. "We missed the party. Well, I did. Fancy that…"

"Were you looking forward to it, hedgehog? There were a lot of casualties," Shadow muttered, stood to the side. He had a solemn expression on his face. "The Commander reported thirty-one thoroughly. He fears there to be more, and so do I."

Tails stumbled upon the conversation, and glanced around, a solid frown on his face. He remained silent, seemingly observant of his surroundings.

"So grim," Sonic replied with a shrug, strolling around the clearing and narrowing his eyes slightly. "We'll find him no problem; no worries."

"Then why are you standing around?" Shadow deadpanned with an almost annoyed expression on his face.

"I'm not. I'm walking," Sonic hummed. "We need more intel on this guy."

"Did you see it leave?" the Doctor asked, furrowing his brow. Sonic shrugged, and the timelord looked to Shadow. "Did anyone see it leave?"

Shadow's expression hardened with concern. "The reports stated it used something akin to teleportation… no one has any idea where it went."

The Doctor's face wrinkled in frustration, and he ruffled his hair as he glanced around, his coat swishing behind him. "Brilliant… that's the bad kind of brilliant, by the way. You don't want to see anyone capable of this on a bad day…"

"Agent Shadow!"

"…? Yes?"

The black hedgehog turned his head slowly towards a man in uniform; it looked like a rookie, in Shadow's eyes, anyway. The young man had almost tripped just walking towards the black hedgehog, rather clumsily.

"We've found something of importance; perhaps even of relevance," the man stated, glancing at the group. "We—…are you authorized to be here?"

The Doctor rooted through his pocket, pulling out a wallet with a window, showing it to the man.

"John Smith," he began as the soldier squinted at his ID. "Reporting for duty. Well, investigating duty, that is—do go on!"

"…right," the rookie replied, nodding slightly. "We have reason to believe we have located an ancient artefact... uhh... very ancient..."

"So?" Shadow queried, lowering one eye ridge. "What is it, soldier?"

"It's dilapidated, at this very moment, but, um… I believe they refer to it as the Scepter of Darkness."

Shadow's eyes widened a tad, and he turned around fully with an almost shocked expression on his face.