Chapter 10

The next morning, Sonic woke up and went to Tails room to check up on him. He opens the door but didn't see Tails. Then he went down to Tails lab but he wasn't there either. Sonic then runs to the cave and walks inside. 'The lantern is on so he has to be here.' Sonic thought. He continues walking and gets to the cavern.

He calls out to to Tails and hears some clanking somewhere on the other side. Sonic runs over to the noise and finds Tails scrounging around in a pile of metal. Sonic smirks as he hatches a little prank and sneaks quietly over to Tails.

Sonic then screams, "TAILS!" Tails yelps and jumps out of the pile. He lands ten feet away on his back.

"Hey that's not funny!" Tails yells back. Sonic walks over, laughing hysterically.

"Sorry Tails. Just had to do it." Sonic says wiping a tear from his eye. Tails goes back to digging around. Sonic takes a good look at the metal object in the middle of the cavern.

"So Tails, what is it?" Sonic asks.

Tails responds, "Whats what?" Sonic points at the metal object. "Oh, that!" Tails exclaims. "I don't know yet."
Sonic gets annoyed and yells, "You spent all morning building this and you don't know what it is?" Tails looks at Sonic confused."You did build this, didn't you?" Sonic asks.

"No, er, at least, I don't think so." Tails responds. Sonic becomes worried.

"Do you remember doing anything last night?" he asks.

"Well, I remember the orb and you showing me this place, but that's it." Tails explains. "In fact, I remember waking up in here next to the machine." Tails actually did remember exactly what happened. He was building a new prototype for a battle suit when the Orb stopped him. Tails tried to resist but the Orb proved too strong. Tails fought but fell on a rock and slammed his head into a pieces of metal, knocking him out. But he didn't want to tell Sonic for fear of worrying him more. Tails din't like to keep secrets but if it meant for the greater good then he would.

Sonic walks up to it and kicks it. The object trembles and falls apart.

"Well, not much of a machine if it can't even stay up." Sonic says with a smirk. Tails looks at Sonic, shrugs, and continues digging. He finds what he is looking for and calls to Sonic.

"Hey Sonic, help me back to the house with this stuff." Tails calls out. Sonic walks over and examines the pile of parts. Sonic nods and takes a small armful. Tails grabs some and the both of them run/fly back to the house. They do this a couple times until all of the parts are back at the house.

"What are you planning to do with all of this stuff Tails?" Sonic asks.

Tails turns and replies, "I'm going to completely rebuild the Tornado with all of these parts." Sonic walks to the door. Tails turns and asks, "Hey, do you want to help?"

"No thanks. Not my field of expertise." Sonic says. And with that, he runs to the roof and lies down.

Tails wastes no time in taking apart the Tornado. Piece by piece, he lines them up in order so as to not forget them. Once the plane was completely taken apart, Tails works on a design plan to figure out how he can rebuild the Tornado with the extra parts he found. Tails draws up a plan that will not only make the Tornado faster and more agile, but withstand the orb and its dangerous properties. Tails goes to his lab and starts on a chemical formula to coat the new Tornado.

A couple days later, Sonic walks down to Tails lab and discovers him sleeping on his desk. He walks over to Tails and gently shakes him. Tails wakes up and turns to Sonic.

"Good morning Sonic." Tails yawns.

"Do you know how long you've been down here Tails?" Sonic asks. Tails looks up and is slightly confused.

"Oh the Tornado still needs to be taken apart!" Tails shouts, not remembering that he already took it apart. Sonic catches him before he gets to the door.

"It was taken apart a couple days ago Tails." Sonic says. Tails looks at Sonic and slowly walks back to the desk.

"I can't get the formula right." Tails says sadly, revealing the truth for his "memory loss".

Sonic asks, "What formula?" Tails hands him a piece of paper with a bunch of numbers and equations. Sonic looks at Tails confused.

"Buddy? Can you explain this in a way that even I can understand?" Sonic asks jokingly.

"Its supposed to be a chemical coating that goes over the Tornado and you but it keeps failing." Tails answers, depressed.

"And how have you been testing it?" Sonic asks. Tails looks up and touches Sonic's arm. Sonic jumps back and grabs his arm. There is a burn mark where Tails touched him.

Tails looks back down. "Since the orb and I are physically connected, I have all the same abilities as the orb does. I discovered this a while ago." Tails explains. "This chemical is meant to protect you from me Sonic. I can feel the orb getting stronger everyday. I'm afraid of what may happen if the orb gains complete control over me." Sonic is in shock after hearing. He then thinks of a plan to get Tails back on track.

"Tails I'm really disappointed in you." Sonic says. Tails turns away.

"I'm a failure to you and the world. I know." Tails says as he starts going into depression.

"Tails! That is no way to act in this situation!" Sonic exclaims. "For as long as I've known you, you were always upbeat. Always a step ahead of the enemy and myself. You've never given up before."

Tails shouts back, "You don't understand Sonic! This time is different! I'm not just fighting an enemy, I'm fighting myself as well. I'm turning into this... this thing and I can't do anything to stop it!"

"Yes you can. We can. If I help you, we might be able to get this formula to work." Sonic says inspirationally. Tails thinks for a moment and starts smiling.

"Your right Sonic!" Tails says. "If anyone can beat this orb, we can!"

"That's right!" Sonic exclaims and gives a thumbs up. Tails pulls out a piece of paper and starts scribbling the formula but in a different way.

"Tails what are you doing to the formula?" Sonic asks.

Without looking up, Tails replies, "I'm reconfiguring it. This was my last experiment." He looks up at Sonic. "I'll need your help. Though it might hurt if it doesn't work." Tails gets up and starts mixing chemicals and other stuff. Sonic gets bored and heads for the door.

"Call me when its ready." Sonic asks.

"Its done!" Tails calls.

"That was quick." Sonic remarks as he walks back.

Tails replies, "Yup. Just like you!" Sonic grins. "Now I need you to pour this liquid all over yourself. Try to get it under your fur as well." Sonic takes the beaker and pours the liquid on him, rubbing it into his fur.

"I feel like a drowned rat." Sonic said sarcastically.

"Now I'm going to hit you a couple times and I need you to tell me if there is any change." Tails said.

"Alright just tell me when..." Sonic is interrupted by a blow from Tails.

"Tails I'm not... Tails stop... This isn't... Alright... Enough already!" Sonic finally said. Tails stops and walks over to Sonic, who was lying on the ground, mumbling to himself. Tails helps him up.

"Sorry Sonic," Tails apologizes and laughs nervously. "I guess I got a little carried away." Sonic stared at Tails, annoyed. "Any change in the chemical?" Tails asked.

Sonic looked himself over and said, with a smile, "Nope. I look fine and I'm not burning. I think you've got the right mixture, Tails." Sonic gives him a thumbs up.

"Yes! Finally!" Tails shouted. "Now all I have to do is build the new Tornado and we'll be set." Sonic's smile didn't last long. He knew that Tails had a limited amount of time before the orb completely took over his mind and body.