Hi, everyone! I've made it through my first test of the semester, and I'm finally back for more SonTails brotherly fluff, … or, should I say, … suspense after an unexpected distress call! Will Sonic and Tails make it back home in time?
Their worries were soon thrown away by the sound of Tails' phone, with its "Believe In Myself" ring tone.
"Oh, thank goodness!" said Tails.
"This must be good news," added Sonic as Tails pressed the "answer" button and brought the phone to his ear once again.
"Hello?" the fox greeted.
"Um, hello," came a rather unfamiliar voice, much to Tails' confusion.
"Uh, … who is this?" asked Tails, feeling dumbfounded.
"Well, … actually, … you're speaking to a beaver who's unfortunately suffered from extreme cowardice," the voice replied.
"Fastidious Beaver," thought Tails, realizing who it was.
"Well, why did you call me, then?" the fox asked.
"Actually, I'll just hang up instead of being such a bother to you," replied Fastidious Beaver.
"No, no, it's okay. Is there something you wanted to tell me?" said Tails, trying to keep the beaver calm.
"Actually, I was ordered to call you. He wanted to tell you that there's something waiting for you on your couch table."
"Well, we'll be home first thing tomorrow morning," said Tails, before more thoughts spurred into his head, "Wait a minute. Did you just say there's something on my couch table?"
"Actually, he wants you to read it the first thing after you come back home," said Fastidious Beaver.
"Who?" asked Tails.
"Actually, he told me that he wished to remain anonymous," added Fastidious Beaver.
"Can you even describe him?" asked Tails, feeling desperate for information.
"Actually, it's a tall man with a brown mustache and a red jacket."
Tails gasped and nearly dropped his phone. His heart nearly stopped as he realized whom Fastidious Beaver had just referred to. The fox's eyes were as wide as ever, his mouth was open with shock and his body was practically motionless.
"What is it, buddy?" asked Sonic, worrying for his brother.
"E-E-E-Eggman!" shouted Tails as he shook in panic on Sonic's lap.
"What about Eggman, Tails?" said Sonic as he cuddled Tails tightly.
"Sonic, … it's not good at all," said Tails as his heart raced even faster.
"What's wrong?"
"Actually, I'll just hang up and leave you to settle for the rest of your relaxing vacation. Sadly, who knows how long this island will last without you?" spoke Fastidious Beaver on Tails' phone before a static went off, indicating that he had hung up.
Tails nervously pressed the "End Call" button on his phone, and he began to take deep breaths in panic.
"Tails, what was that call all about?" asked a worried Sonic.
"Sonic, … a beaver just mentioned that there's something Eggman left on my couch table," replied Tails, "He wants me to come home and read it."
Hearing that forced Sonic to take a small gasp. He knew this was never a good sign.
"Man, that idiot never rests, does he!?" the hedgehog shouted.
"The beaver even mentioned that the island may not last much longer," added Tails, "This was a distress call!"
Sonic's heart nearly stopped.
"He couldn't have possibly taken advantage of us being away from home, did he?" asked Tails worryingly as he got off Sonic's lap, put his cell phone back into his backpack and unplugged the hoverboards from the charger.
"No time to jump into any immediate conclusions just yet, pal," replied Sonic as he jumped onto his blue hoverboard, "We gotta get home … and fast! Our home may be in great danger!"
"I sure hope it's nothing we can't handle!" said Tails as he put the charger in his backpack, slid his backpack on and jumped onto his orange hoverboard.
With their hearts racing with worry for the safety of their friends and their home, the two brothers quickly turned their hoverboards on and sped back onto the pathway, going in the opposite direction where they came from.
Once again, the duo enjoyed the thrill of speeding up the Shuttle Loop, but it didn't quite feel as thrilling. This wasn't just for fun. This was for a real purpose. They had to rush home quickly. Who knew what could happen if they were too late?
Within just a few minutes, Sonic and Tails had jumped off the coast of Green Hill and were once again floating over the ocean at high speed.
Sonic was again worrying for his own life as he found himself once again just inches above a giant body of water and no land ahead for miles. This was always his worst nightmare.
"Can't … lose … balance," the hedgehog whispered to himself as he kept his eyes fixed on what was ahead, which still appeared to be nothing.
He turned to Tails.
"How long do you think we'll stay above the open sea, buddy? I sure hope Bygone Island isn't far," said Sonic.
Tails turned on his wrist gadget and activated a radar.
The fox brought his wrist to his face as he kept one eye on what was ahead and the other eye on his radar.
On the green circular radar screen, Tails noticed a familiar-shaped island which appeared to be just two horizontal lines away from where they were. He looked at the distance markers and found that each line marked a distance of 25 miles.
"Fifty miles," thought Tails nervously as he turned his wrist gadget off and brought his main focus back to his "surfing".
"Bygone Island's fifty miles away!" Tails called to Sonic, much to the hedgehog's dismay.
"How fast are we going again?" asked Sonic in a dreadful tone.
"Two hundred miles per hour!" answered Tails, "That means we'll be there in about fifteen minutes!"
"I'm not sure if I can take another quarter of an hour out in this blue wilderness!" complained Sonic.
"Don't worry, Sonic! Fifteen minutes doesn't sound like too much for these hoverboards!" said Tails reassuringly.
But only ten minutes later, there was worse to come …
"Fifteen miles left," said Tails, "It'll just be another five minutes."
Suddenly, an alarm went off on Tails' hoverboard.
The fox heard the alarm and looked down at his board.
A red light next to the battery compartment was blinking.
Tails was extremely shocked.
"Oh, no!" yelled Tails, "My battery's running out of power!"
Just then, Sonic's battery alarm went off, too.
"So is mine!" the hedgehog panicked, "What are we gonna do, Tails!?"
Sonic's heart was skipping beats as he feared for the worst. He and Tails were going to drown in the middle of the ocean any minute. Their hoverboards were going to sink, and nobody was there to help them.
Tails could see Bygone Island ahead.
"Just fourteen miles left," he said nervously.
The boards began to slow down. One moment, they were going two hundred miles per hour. Suddenly, they were traveling at 170 miles per hour.
"We're losing speed!" called Sonic.
"I should've let these charge a little longer!" said Tails, scolding himself, "What was I thinking!?"
"Don't take it so hard on yourself, buddy," replied Sonic, "We'll get there, … I hope."
Thirteen miles to go, 150 miles per hour.
"Let's add a little extra boost, … if there's any available," suggested Tails.
"Uh, … okay," agreed Sonic reluctantly.
Tails pushed the "Boost" button on his hoverboard, … but none would spray out.
"It's not working!" screamed Tails.
Sonic tried his "Boost" button …
"Mine's not working, either!" the hedgehog yelled.
Twelve miles to go, 135 miles per hour.
"Don't you have any other ideas, buddy?" Sonic asked Tails.
"That's the last one I can come up with other than adjusting the power limiters," replied Tails with sweat running down his face.
"Wouldn't that slow us down even more!? It'll take us even longer to get off this ocean!" said Sonic, feeling reluctant about the idea.
"It may be our last resort, Sonic. Time advantage or not, we must do this!" said Tails as he adjusted his power limiter to 70%.
Sonic did the same thing.
Eleven miles to go, … one hundred miles per hour.
Ten miles to go, … sixty miles per hour.
"I think these boards aren't gonna survive the rest of the journey," said Sonic.
Then, …
"I'M SINKING!" screamed Sonic.
Tails looked back and gasped in horror.
Sonic's board had sunk into the ocean, pulling the frightened hedgehog down with him.
"TAILS! HELP ME! I CAN'T SWIM!" the hedgehog roared in terror as the water rose up to his chest.
"SONIC!" screamed Tails as he turned his hoverboard around and floated towards his big brother.
The fox stretched his arms out and offered his hands to Sonic.
"Gimme your hand!" shouted Tails.
Sonic tried to reach for Tails' hands, but the weight of his hoverboard quickly pulled him further down into the ocean, … until the hedgehog was completely sunken underwater.
"SONIC! NO!" screamed Tails in horror as he shut off his hoverboard and dived down into the ocean.
The fox held his breath and spun his twin tails as hard as he could to reach his drowning brother.
Sonic slowly opened one of his eyes and caught a brief glimpse of Tails swimming towards him.
Then, … pitch black.
Next thing he knew, he could feel something holding onto his chest. In his mind, he could only guess it to be a vicious octopus or a shark wanting to eat him. All he could think now was that he was going to die right then and there. He could ponder no other thoughts than seeing himself among those lost at sea.
Suddenly, he felt himself being lifted out of the water by something.
As soon as air began to enter his lungs again, Sonic began coughing all of the water out of his throat as the sunlight disturbed his eyes.
The hedgehog turned his head away from the sun and slowly opened his eyes.
He saw that he was floating in midair, fifty yards above the ocean. He looked ahead and found that Bygone Island was drawing nearer and nearer.
"Sonic?" said a voice just above his head.
Sonic recognized that voice immediately.
"T-Tails?" the hedgehog spoke weakly.
"Saved your life again, buddy," said Tails.
Tails had pulled Sonic out of the water with his twin tails, and was now gliding over the ocean to complete their journey back home, carrying Sonic with him.
"Are you okay, big bro?" asked Tails worryingly.
"I'm okay, little bro," said Sonic, "Thanks a lot."
"Don't mention it," replied Tails with a wink.
Sonic returned the wink as Tails kept on propelling them back to Bygone Island, which was now just a few miles ahead.
Tails was determined to get them home, even if his twin tails would wear out again, just as they did when they landed on Angel Island to start their vacation. Sure, he was unhappy that their vacation had to end abruptly, but he felt ready to tackle Eggman again … for the first time in weeks.
It took several more minutes for Tails to finally reach the coast of Bygone Island, the stress on his tails nearly forcing him to drop to the ocean again, with nearly jolted Sonic once more, but the fox was ultimately successful at bringing their shadows off the surface of the ocean and onto the yellowish sand of the beach where Sonic's shack was situated.
"Whew! Home sweet home," commented Sonic as Tails stopped spinning his tails and brought them down to the sand.
The hedgehog pulled the straps off his hoverboard and lifted it just before his feet touched the ground.
"Man! That was exhausting!" panted Tails as he released Sonic and jumped off his hoverboard.
"Better drink something quickly, little buddy. Wanna have some energy if Eggman's up to no good," replied Sonic.
"I will," promised Tails.
The duo put their hoverboards back into their backpacks and sealed them shut.
Then, the hedgehog picked up his fox brother and carried him on his back, then he started running through the forest at his supersonic speed.
"Better make sure your place is okay!" said Sonic.
"It had better be!" replied Tails as his heart began to beat faster again, with worry about his home.
Within seconds, Sonic's speed had brought them right to the front door of Tails' house.
The fox jumped off Sonic's back and ran straight to his workshop door.
"Hey! Where are ya going!?" called Sonic with concern.
"I gotta see if my workshop's okay!" Tails called back before opening his workshop door.
The fox peaked into the workshop, and, much to his surprise, … everything was perfectly okay, as if nothing had been touched over the last two days.
"Hmm, everything looks okay," Tails said with a calm tone, "Maybe, I better take a closer look at everything and make sure nothing suspicious is going on here."
Tails walked around his workshop and searched through every drawer and every tool chest. Then, he jumped onto the Tornado and checked every inch of the cockpit, including the controls.
"Everything appears to be just fine," said Tails as he jumped off his plane and headed out the door.
As the fox closed the workshop door and ran back to his house's front door, Sonic was still waiting anxiously for him.
"Workshop's still perfectly in order," said Tails, "Nothing suspicious in there."
"Okay, buddy. Good to hear," replied Sonic, patting Tails' back.
The fox opened the door and stepped into his living room, followed closely behind by Sonic, who closed the door behind them.
The two brothers slid their backpacks off and set them on the couch table, where a black envelope with Eggman's red symbol was sitting.
The duo noticed the envelope and gasped.
"This must be what the beaver was referring to," recalled Tails.
As the fox opened his backpack and pulled out the six "Sonic X" DVDs they had purchased at Station Square, Sonic took the envelope and slowly tore it open.
Just as Tails set the DVDs on the shelf below his TV, Sonic gasped, much to Tails' shock.
"What is it, Sonic? What's in that envelope?" asked Tails with a look of worry on his face.
"I don't know if you wanna read this or not, … because I don't wanna read this, either," said Sonic as he held the note in front of Tails.
The fox cautiously took the letter with a shaking hand and stared into it.
"What the heck is this?" Tails said as his eyes grew wide in horror.
"Don't ask me," replied Sonic.
Tails reluctantly began to read the note …
"Sonic and Tails:
How are you two doing on your fine vacation? Perhaps such a lazy idea to do so. Did you really think it would be so nice to take some time off just so you could help yourself in regaining self-confidence? Well, you just might regret such an idea. I have captured every living soul on this island, including your closest friends, and I have the perfect new robot that is more than prepared to exterminate you upon your arrival, should you dare infiltrate my lair at your own risk! If you once thought that heroes don't take vacations, that certainly is correct! I'm never resting, fools! Even if you're away, I'm always at full swing with my schemes to take over your miserable little island and destroy you! Have fun while you can, because soon you'll be dedicating the rest of your lives to regretting your stupidity! Vacations are nothing more than an excuse for lazy people to sit on their butts and weaken themselves to the point where they're nothing more than big sacks of potatoes! Oh, and Tails, good luck on your mechanical stupidity upon your return. NOT! You wouldn't stand a chance, and neither will you, Sonic! You two have proven yourselves the worst fools on Bygone Island, and even your friends may be willing to take it out on you for leaving them helplessly behind with no one to protect them!
Sincerely and evilly yours,
Doctor Ivo Robotnik (a.k.a. Doctor Eggman)"
Sonic and Tails looked at each other with distraught faces. They could only ponder such depressing thoughts after realizing that the worst had happened.
"Eggman did take advantage of us being gone," thought Tails as he lazily walked over to the couch and sat down like a lousy couch potato.
"What was I thinking, leaving everyone behind like this?" thought Sonic sadly, "I've just made one of the worst decisions of my life right here. Few will ever forgive us after this."
Sonic sat down next to Tails on the couch, then the two looked at each other with disturbingly unhappy faces. They couldn't even speak to each other. They couldn't find the right words to put in. All they could do was sit in silence and suffer from the negative thoughts that filled up their minds.
Then, after four minutes, Sonic finally broke the silence …
"Tails, … this is my fault," the hedgehog said, "Perhaps, I was right in believing that heroes don't take vacations. The whole thing was my idea in the first place. I was so foolish that night. I'm so sorry, buddy. I've let everyone down."
Tails thought over what Sonic had said, … then he remembered that he had spent six straight days of endless work in his workshop with no rest.
"No, Sonic," said Tails, "The fault is mine."
"Tails?" said Sonic in shock.
"I'll take the blame," added Tails.
"What? Tails, don't," said Sonic, "You'll only make yourself feel worse."
"I spent six days in the workshop with no rest, … because I was struggling to come up with a replacement for UT. Like I said, ever since Sticks threw UT into the sea, I had been working desperately for days, trying to come up with a good replacement."
"Then, you're not to blame for that," said Sonic.
"Yes, I am. I was the one who built UT in the first place. Eggman had spied on us and came up with a plan to cause further tension between us. Sticks got mad because she hated the way UT could read peoples' minds. Sonic, … this is completely my fault!" finished Tails, "I'm the one who should be sorry!"
Tears began to stream from Tails' eyes as he gradually fell into an emotional breakdown.
"I'm taking the blame, Sonic! I deserve it!" the fox cried as he finally collapsed right into Sonic's lap and bawled onto his chest.
Sonic gently lifted his little brother into a situp position and cradled him into a bear hug.
"Tails?" whispered Sonic.
"Go ahead and be mad at me, Sonic," sobbed Tails miserably.
Sonic's heart fell deeply for his brother as he heard him cry horribly.
"Tails, … I'm not mad at you," said Sonic.
"Why aren't you mad at me?" asked Tails as his crying grew worse.
"Tails, … my little brother," continued Sonic, "I know no mechanical genius who is one hundred percent perfect. Everyone makes mistakes every once in a while, little buddy. You shouldn't be so torn up because your inventions haven't been doing so well lately. You just have to take a little breather and spend a little more time thinking about it before you keep fiddling with your tools. The more you think about it, the more likely you'll succeed, pal. I'll always have faith in you, Tails."
Tails finally looked up at Sonic, but he could only let out more tears instead of a grin, even if it was the faintest grin.
"You have nothing to be ashamed of, Tails," added Sonic, "Think about the bright side of things. The vacation helped you out with your self-confidence, didn't it? Do you feel any better about your self-confidence now than you did before we left?"
Tails could suddenly feel a happy thought in his head. He could picture himself walking right up to Doctor Eggman and taking a stand against him and his robots, with Sonic by his side.
"You know, Sonic, … I somehow feel a little better after hearing that," the fox replied weakly as tears continued to mess up his face.
"We've relaxed in the many peaceful places we planned to visit, we got plenty of exercise while at it, and we got plenty of time to ourselves while we could. I'm sure that after a few days of rest and exercise, you'll be ready to fight Eggman and his lackey robots," said Sonic.
Tails could feel Sonic's words warming up his chest. His heart began to pound with determination for redemption; not just for himself, but for Sonic, too. Every second, the fox felt more ready to jump into his Tornado and blast Eggman's lair to smithereens.
"Sonic, … your presence always seems to encourage me at times like these," said Tails as he finally stopped crying so hard, "There's no other way for me to describe the way our togetherness takes my sadness away and replaces it with happiness."
Sonic grinned at Tails and stroked his hair affectionately.
"Even at times like these, you're such a wonderful big brother, Sonic," added Tails, "I love you so much, big brother."
"Aww, Tails, I love you so much, too, little brother," replied Sonic as he tightened his hug on Tails.
"I'm sorry I took this so harshly. I shouldn't have done that. I was just so mad that I wanted to knock myself out," said Tails.
"Now, Tails, let's not put anymore negative thoughts into this matter, okay, bud?" said Sonic.
"I'll try, buddy," replied Tails.
"Why don't we have a little something to quench ourselves before we take this to Eggman?" offered Sonic.
Hearing that suddenly forced Tails to stick his tongue out and lick his lips. He felt so thirsty for a drink. They hadn't had anything to eat or drink since they left Windy Hill this morning. Given that they were home now, Tails could help himself to anything he could possibly think of.
"I'll go look in my refrigerator right now," said Tails as Sonic wiped the tears off his brother's face.
The fox jumped off Sonic's lap and ran over to his refrigerator. He quickly opened the door and searched every shelf until he found something that looked very promising as a REAL thirst quencher …
"Sonic Power Drink! This oughta do it!" said Tails eccentrically as he pulled the can labeled "SONIC POWER DRINK" from the second shelf and closed the refrigerator.
Sonic heard Tails mention the name of the drink, and he got himself off the sofa and sped into the kitchen, where Tails was already pouring said drink into two glass cups.
"Wow, Tails! You really are prepared for just about anything, aren't ya!?" commented Sonic joyfully.
Tails finished pouring the cups up to the brim with "Sonic Power Drink" and grinned at his big brother.
"There's nothing I'm not prepared for!" the fox replied happily, "Just a few sips of this, and Eggman won't stand a chance!"
"I hear ya, buddy!" said Sonic as he took one of the cups.
"Cheers!" said Tails.
"Cheers!" replied Sonic.
The two brothers tipped their cups against each other and brought them to their mouths.
Within just one huge gulp, each of them began to feel such wild sensations in their bodies that made them feel a little stronger both physically and mentally.
"Ooh yeah! I feel like the strongest two-tailed fox on Mobius right now!" said Tails happily as he finished his drink.
"I feel like I could run for many hours at a time!" added Sonic as he took his final sip.
"Come on, Sonic! Time ta bring Eggman down!" said Tails.
"Time to save our friends, too! We gotta bring this island back to peace!" said Sonic.
The brothers set their empty cups on the counter and pumped their fists together.
Then, with the new energy inside them, Sonic and Tails rushed out of the house and ran straight into Tails' workshop.
"Time to rev up the Tornado, Sonic!" shouted Tails as he gave Sonic a thumbs up.
"I'm right with you, buddy!" replied Sonic.
Tails spun his twin tails and propelled himself into the Tornado's cockpit, while Sonic jumped on one of the plane's wings.
"Ready to go, Tails!?" called Sonic as he looked down into the cockpit.
Tails turned the ignition switch, and the Tornado's engines quickly burst into life for the first time in many days.
"Good to go, Sonic!" the fox called back as he pressed another button which lifted the huge garage-like door of the workshop up so that the plane could fly out into the open area, "HERE WE GO!"
Finally, Tails opened the throttle, and the Tornado quickly sped out of the workshop, past the house, and it gained height as it rocketed over the ocean towards Eggman's lair.
This may be the end of their vacation, but these two brothers won't be resting until redemption is gained. Will Sonic and Tails succeed in defeating Eggman and saving Bygone Island?
We'll be finding out in chapter twelve! See ya then! :)