Chapter 12: Mission Briefing:
Back at the mansion, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were all lounging in the living room, collectively bored now that they had no adventure to embark on. The entire room contained crumpled snack bags and beer cans scattered everywhere, with Sonic and Tails slumped lazily on the couch while Knuckles was lying back on the recliner, with the back of the chair parallel to the ground.
"What do we do now?" Sonic whined.
"Why the hell are you the one whining?" Tails asked, "It's your fault we're stuck here while the kids are all out there probably having the time of their lives!"
"Well, while we're waiting for something to happen, why don't we play So-" Knuckles began.
"No, Knuckles! We're not playing Soggy Biscuit!" Sonic sternly cut him off.
"Boy, do you have a dirty mind!" Knuckles retorted with an eye-roll, "I was just gonna say Sonic Shuffle."
"If we're going to play a party game on a fifth generation console, it might as well be Mario Party 2." Sonic replied, "Because not even what remains of our fanbase likes Sonic Shuffle."
"But playing a Mario Party game would be treason." Knuckles continued, "Besides, I thought we agreed to only buy a console if you appeared in at least one game in its library, cameo or otherwise. Are you trying to tell me you bought a Nintendo 64 behind our backs?"
"What?! Of course not, Knucklehead!" Sonic retorted, "I simply bought it on the Wii's Virtual Console. I figured that would've been in the gray area, given how many Sonic games that console got."
As he watched his friends argue, Tails groaned and rolled his eyes.
"Bring us another round, Metal." He said.
Soon enough, Metal Sonic appeared in the door to the hallway, carrying a tray with three bottles of beer on it. This was enough to make Sonic and Knuckles pay attention.
"Gah! Metal Sonic!" Sonic exclaimed, he and Knuckles leaping into a fighting stance.
"Guys, calm down! He's as harmless as a caterpillar now." Tails explained, "See, shortly after you arrived back on Mobius after you killed Eggman, these parts fell from the sky and landed in the backyard, so I thought I'd reprogram him into our servant."
"Wow, pretty nifty, Tails!" Sonic praised, patting his best friend on the back with one hand and accepting his beer with the other.
"I was also considering reprogramming Gemerl into our house chef, but I ultimately decided to donate his parts to GUN after I heard they were trying to develop a super-soldier." Tails continued, before his ears twitched at the sound of some beeps emanating from his bedroom, "Be right back, guys!"
Neither Sonic nor Knuckles said a word in response, giving Tails the chance to retire to his room and answer his call. Sitting down on his bottom bunk, he tapped the screen on his Miles Electric, revealing a live video feed of Tyco piloting the Tornado-2.
"What's up, Uncle Tails?" He asked casually.
"Uh, Tyco? Maybe you shouldn't Skype while flying. I'll take that." A voice replied.
Tails watched as the screen moved before settling on Junior's face.
"Hi, Uncle Tails!" He said.
"Hey, guys! How's the emerald hunt coming along?" Tails asked.
"Well, we've already gotten our first one! And it was the one you grown-ups said would be the trickiest to find!" Junior replied, showing Tails the green chaos emerald, "How's that for a first heroic accomplishment?"
"That's awesome, guys! Great work! I'm sure your father will be proud!" Tails replied, "And what's next on the agenda?"
"Well we've only just left the Genesis Isles. There are two countries roughly the same distance from our current location, and we're still deciding on which one to tackle next." Jade said, scooting up next to Junior so she was visible on the screen too.
"Well you'd better make that decision quickly. The longer those emeralds remain in Eggman's hands, the more damage he could do." Tails said.
"Speaking of which, it turns out that there might actually be more than one Eggman." Tyco butt in, his voice clearly audible to Tails despite him not being visible on screen, "After we confronted the one at the Genesis Isles, he claimed that he was unaware of what else was going on in the world. And he didn't say another word before we fed him to the sharks."
"Oh! But uh, before we forget, we also found some other interesting information." Junior said, "So while we were in the Genesis Isles, we got roped into some quest to find three pieces of a tablet that would unlock a temple underwater. And that temple just so happened to be where Eggman set up his base."
"Yeah, and both the door and the walls inside were covered in murals and mosaics depicting Uncle Sonic. Almost as if he's considered some type of legend." Jade added.
"Speaking of which, mind if we talk to him?" Junior asked.
"Er... sorry, but he's a little busy right now." Tails replied.
"Ah well. Anywho, we also came across his family who still lives there even after all these decades." Junior explained, "I'm not gonna go into depth about all the drama within them, but they were able to give us a very detailed background on Dad, and how he became a hero. Apparently his incredibly fast speed is actually a birth-defect caused by his mom drinking during the pregnancy."
"Wait, what?!" Tails asked.
"He's not joking!" Jade butt in.
"Alright, if you say so... WHOAH!" Tails replied as he was intercepted by Cream.
"Uh, what's going on over there?" Junior asked.
"Oh, nothing. Just... the ol' fiancé's getting a little frisky, that's all." Tails replied, blushing.
"What can I say? I'm a rabbit." Cream butt in, a sultry edge to her voice.
"Yeah... well, good luck on the rest of your journey, you three. And be sure to keep us posted!" Tails said.
"No problem, Uncle Tails!" Junior replied, tapping the tablet's screen to end the call before reinserting the tablet into the dashboard.
"Okay, so with that out of the way, I vote we head to Spagonia next." Tyco suggested, "If we're gonna go into the specifics of it all, then that continent is slightly closer to our current location than Holoska."
Jade and Junior simply shrugged in response.
"Alrighty! Sounds like a plan, then!" Tyco finished, increasing the plane's speed and changing his team's route accordingly.
After a few more hours of flight, however, someone on the ground spotted the Tornado-2 flying overhead. A small green duck lowered a pair of binoculars from his narrowed eyes.
"Yo, Ray!" He called over to a yellow flying squirrel with shoes that greatly resembled Sonic's, who was lounging on a bench nearby, "Some asshole's discovered us! We can't let our secret get out! C'mon! Let's shoot 'em down and blow 'em straight to hell!"
"Gah! What do we do, Bean?!" Ray asked in shock.
"Don't panic! Just help me load the cannon! I never miss a shot! Especially with explosives!" Bean replied arrogantly.
Obediently, Ray arrived with crates upon crates of bombs, while Bean aimed a fairly large cannon upwards at the passing plane. He attached an infra-red telescope onto the cannon and leaned in so he could peer through it.
"Ray! Light the fuse!" Bean ordered, "We're gonna hit 'em good with... the alphabetized bombs!"
"Aye aye, sir!" Ray replied, tossing Bombs A-E into the cannon.
Up in the sky, the trio was taken by surprise at the sound of the cannon firing from below.
"What in the hell is going on down there?" Tyco asked, tilting the plane so he could see the area below them, "Oh shit! DO A BARREL ROLL!"
Thanks to that last-minute maneuver, Tyco managed to swerve around the first two bombs.
"What's wrong, Tyco?" Jade asked.
"Yeah, traitor!" Junior butt in.
"Someone's shooting at us! It might be Eggman! Or one of them at least!" Tyco replied, "Gah!"
He quickly swerved around the third and fourth bombs.
"Can't you switch to battle mode and take them out from up here?!" Junior asked in an obvious state of panic.
"I could, but they're shooting too frequently! I'm too busy dodging them!" Tyco replied.
"Aw, damn it! Their plane's too swift! This calls for the heat-seekers!" Bean demanded.
Bean proceeded to fire off multiple missiles which homed in on the plane.
"Eek! Guys! We have to do something!" Tyco said, "I can't switch to battle mode so long as they're firing so constantly!"
"Alrighty then! C'mon, Jade!" Junior replied, opening the glass dome on the cockpit and hopping onto the wing.
Jade followed suit by leaping onto the opposite wing. Junior eyed a couple of missiles zeroing in on his side of the plane and proceeded to knock one into the other with a homing attack. Jade fired off some chaos spears to neutralize the two on her side. Soon enough, more missiles came along, which Junior and Jade worked together to fight off. It was then that a much larger one appeared.
"Guys, if that thing hits us, I swear to God... !" Tyco started.
"Relax, dude! We're all over this!" Junior replied, "Jade! We'll have to pair up for this one! It's big!"
Jade blushed a little, before adopting a serious look and proceeding to charge up a chaos lance. Without even thinking, Junior jumped to the other side of the plane and curled into a spin-dash.
"Quick! Fuse that with me!" Junior ordered, "It'll work! I know it will!"
"Rrgh! Junior, you're doing that thing again! You can't be reckless here!" Jade replied.
"JUST DO IT!" Junior demanded.
With no other choice, Jade fused the massive energy projectile with Junior's curled-up body, and the even deadlier projectile launched itself full speed at the missile, triggering a massive explosion which the Tornado-2 effortlessly flew through, catching Junior on its wing as it passed.
"Heh! Either I'm too reckless, or you're too overbearing! One of those two!" Junior said snarkily, eliciting an eye-roll from Jade.
"Gah! How do they keep doing this?!" Bean asked angrily, "Rrgh! That's it! Ray, get over here!"
Ray didn't have time to reply before Bean grabbed him and stuffed him into the cannon, before launching him directly at the plane. By this time, Jade and Junior had reentered the cockpit, seemingly having warded off the attackers. That is until they were taken by surprise when Ray landed on the windshield, covering it almost completely thanks to the membranes under his arms. He adopted a cocky grin as Tyco tried in vain to shake him off with various aerial maneuvers.
"Ugh! Goddamn it! Why didn't Tails put windshield wipers on this thing?!" He groaned, frantically searching his dashboard for something useful.
Suddenly, the plane's left wing was hit with Bomb E, causing it to spiral out of control. All three of its occupants were screaming in terror as they plummeted towards the ground.
"What the- GAH!" Tyco exclaimed as Bomb F hit the nose of the plane and sped up their descent.
Ray, who was still on the windshield, let out a mischievous chuckle as he eyed the sense of panic between the plane's occupants. Junior, Jade, and Tyco could only keep screaming and brace themselves for their eventual impact.
