Blue Star

Part 12: Ocean Views and Golden Stars

The clouds drifted past the small, red biplane as it flew through the sky, followed by a flock of bluebirds. The pilot turned the stick and the plane followed his command, diving through the air, before turning upwards again in a loop. The Alta birds kept going forwards on their migratory path, so the plane ended up behind them, following them for a short while, before it turned to go back the way it had come. It flew low over the ocean, and a pair of dolphins leaped out of the water alongside it. The pilot laughed at the splashing animals, shaking water they spat at him from his quills, and tossed the Aquas a ball. One of them dived below the water and slapped it back at him with its tail.

Sonic put up a hand to knock it towards them again, keeping the other on the controls of the plane to keep it steady. The other dolphin jumped out of the water to flick it airborne again with its beak, then passed through the gap between the wings of the plane before landing with a splash back in the water. The first dolphin mimicked the action on the other side of the plane as Sonic caught the ball again, resulting in an alternating pattern of splashing that raced along after Sonic's aircraft. The hedgehog may not have liked water much, but dolphins were amusing. And a playing with them was great way to relax. Sonic went out there regularly to hang around with this pair in particular, as they often broke away from their pod to join him. The others weren't so keen on the biplane.

Sonic waved goodbye to his aquatic friends as he flew off towards the shallow reef around the northern edge of South Island, and they flipped in mid-air before splashing off to head back towards their pod. The hedgehog watched them leave over his shoulder, then pulled back on the plane's controls to take it higher, allowing him to fly above the eastern side of South Island, and letting him observe it from the air. It had been over a year since he'd left the Green Hill Zone, and in that time a lot had changed. He watched as he passed above the remaining wreckage of the Scrap Brain Zone. Robotnik hadn't decided to rebuild it, so his robots were clearing up the Zone's mechanics to be put to use elsewhere. The few remaining villages on the east side, including the Marble Village, were going to use their own power sources, so the Scrap Brain was no longer needed. Sonic frowned at Starlight and Spring Yard as he passed them, knowing they were both going to be incorporating generators into their builds. The computer that he'd found on his travel had turned out to be Porker's, one of the people who'd helped him after Scrap Brain exploded on him.

Sonic couldn't remember most of what had happened after he'd entered the Zone, he wondered if he'd been running through it asleep or something. The only thing that he knew afterwards was that he had really wanted to take to the skies. It took a while, but with Johnny's help he eventually got hold of his own aeroplane, and promptly modified it to make it easier for him to pilot. When he wasn't running, he was flying, and he never tired of the view above his home island. He often tried to get Johnny and Porker to come along, but Johnny was usually doing something with his family or travelling elsewhere, and Porker was scared of heights. Sonic often wondered how he'd repay them for their help since he met them, but it was hard to think of something appropriate. The hedgehog looked down at the Zones below, he was passing the Marble Zone and from his position he could also see the Hill Top Zone. The volcano Zone was too dangerous to land the biplane on, but Sonic intended to visit there sometime, as the people that lived there looked interesting. He turned his attention back to the sky ahead, and the other aircraft in it. It was over the ocean past the Green Hill Zone. Sonic sighed as he looked at the green fields and crystal rivers below. He wouldn't set foot there again, but it didn't stop him missing his family as he passed above it. He continued past the Zone, heading towards the large airship ahead.

The airship was an enormous air bound craft the size of a village, though it was still in construction. There was a narrow landing strip at the top, where Sonic landed the biplane, skidding to a stop near to a crane. He climbed out, and grabbed a cable from nearby, attaching it to the framework he'd affixed to the bottom of the plane to prevent it sliding off the airship. Stretching, the hedgehog jumped up onto the top wings and reached down into the cockpit to fetch out a small box with ring patterns printed over it, then dropped back down and started walking along the small runway towards a door in the nearest wall. The strong winds weren't much of an issue for him, and his new shoes gripped the surface well, allowing him to walk with minimum compensation for the winds caused by the movement of the ship. He was pleased, the majority of the aircraft was his own design, and the rest was Porker's. The pig was good at actually knowing all the technical stuff, while Sonic worked by whim. Most of the aircraft was a steel grey, as it hadn't been finished, but the parts that were; mostly the wings and the fins; were being painted a golden yellow colour by little spider like robots he'd made. He grabbed the handle of the door and slid it sideways, dislodging one of the small spider robots from the frame as he did so. He nudged it aside with a foot, and went inside the ship.

Inside was much the same as the outside, and Sonic had to dance around his spider robots to avoid stepping on them as they dragged cables around the floors. Porker had wanted the ship to be finished completely before it took off, but Sonic was only patient until the mechanics and main structure had been completed. Most of the remaining work was finishing touches, and panelling the internal walls, and that was half finished by then anyway. Sonic chuckled lightly as he ducked a swinging robot, and walked through into a wide room, where a pair of larger monkey shaped robots shifted furniture around. The hedgehog hadn't originally had an idea for what would've been inside the ship, but Johnny and Porker both had their own thoughts on what it could have, so Sonic had run with it. It would have to do as part of his thank you, making his sky bound dream partly theirs too.

Sonic strolled past the monkeys and through one of many doors on the other side of the room; which was looking more and more like a comic book hero meeting place, and would continue to do so if Sonic had his way; into a different, smaller room. The cabin had a simple bed in it, and Sonic dropped onto the white sheets calmly, lifting the patterned box over his head to examine it. Next to the bed was a table covered in pieces of scrap and a gold ring that he had found that hadn't vanished on contact, as well as a few large, rolled up sheets of planning paper.

The box itself was nothing special; a simple wooden container with engraved rings that had been painted gold, but Sonic liked it, he took it most places with him. Inside it were some of his favourite tools, and trinkets that would seem trivial to most people that he'd gathered from places he'd been to, such as pressed flowers and leaves or pieces of driftwood. He sat up and opened the box, digging amongst its assorted contents to fish out a green handled screwdriver, which he tucked behind his left ear, then carried on digging. A knock came at his door, and Sonic gave a slightly irritated huff as he looked up at it.

"Come in, it's open." he said, finding a pair of green glasses from inside the box, putting them on as he shut the lid. He slid the container out of sight behind the pillow as the door opened.

"Sonic, you're wanted on the bridge." Johnny smiled from the doorway. "Playing with your stuff again?"

"Hey, it's more than just stuff!"

"It's stuff."

"Yeah, but it's special stuff."

"Whatever you say, Sonic." The rabbit chuckled and made a wave out of the cabin. "You'll be late."

"Johnny, I am never late." Sonic grinned and jumped off his bed, walking up to his friend in the doorway. He stood up tall, trying to make himself look bigger, but Johnny still towered over him at almost twice his height including the ears. "Race ya."

"That's not fair."

Before Johnny had finished his sentence though, Sonic had started running. He skidded on a sharp left as he exited his cabin, bolting through a different door and down a long corridor, knocking spider robots everywhere as he passed. He laughed and apologised to them, sliding around a right hand turn that brought him into another large room. This resembled more of a ballroom, complete with sweeping staircases at the edge that curled upwards to another floor. Sonic knew it was mostly a storage room though, and the huge crates under the balcony-like floor contained most of the remaining parts of the ship. He turned to run up one of the staircases, finishing the flight with a backflip that allowed him to put his feet on the roof, before he pushed back off and charged along the balcony to pass through a wide doorway at the end. He skidded left, then right again to go through another large door frame, and charged along the corridor towards the front of the airship. This corridor was the longest uninterrupted one on the ship, and was mostly finished, to the extent that electric scooters had been provided at both ends for anyone who needed them. Sonic used the room to run.

He charged towards the wall, leaping at it to run along it with a clattering of metal for a few moments, before he dropped back to the floor and sped full pelt towards the doors at the end. He stopped running, sliding on the metal with a screech of rubber, and came to a halt inches from the door. Straightening his spikes and glasses out, he pushed it open and walked through onto the bridge.

"Ah, Sonic my boy, I expected you to get here sooner!"

Sonic grimaced. The ship may have been his concept and design, the robots working on it were hand built by himself, but Doctor Robotnik had provided the funds and materials to get it airborne, in exchange for being allowed to captain it when Sonic wasn't available. The hedgehog had reluctantly agreed, since the scientist had insisted upon helping him recover from his 'traumatic experience'. If he had been alone, Sonic would have ignored the offer since he was sure that he was right, but Johnny had stood by him and encouraged him to accept. The rabbit had a trustworthy face, and a habit of putting himself in harms way; when Sonic had been told he'd hurt him, and Sonic had found himself unable to remember, Johnny had told him not to worry about it; so the hedgehog did it for his sake, not Robotnik's. The rabbit hadn't left his side after Scrap Brain, and Porker was just as reassuring, though in his own way. He didn't seem to like being too close to Sonic, though the hedgehog wasn't surprised, he wasn't the first person to act nervous around him and he certainly wouldn't be the last. Sonic sighed and pushed his glasses back on his nose as he looked at Robotnik, sitting in the captain's chair amongst several more monkey robots that worked the controls of the aircraft.

"What do you want this time?"

"No need to be so abrupt, Sonic, I just wanted to see your input on a few modifications to the power systems in the Metropolis Zone."

"Again? I only gave you some suggestions last week!"

"I know, I know, but your plans are difficult to comprehend and my robots cannot work if they are unsure how."

"I don't do blueprints well, okay? I work from what's in here-" Sonic tapped the side of his head. "- you're the one who's supposed to do the blueprints, I only tried that time because you were busy or whatever."

"You did well, you just forgot some details, otherwise it's pretty much sound. Come over here and we can sort this out."

"Yeah yeah, I'm coming."

Sonic walked over, scowling and pulling the screwdriver from behind his ear as he peered over at the blueprints on Robotnik's table. One of the robots noticed the tool, and bounced over towards Sonic, rattling. The hedgehog rolled his eyes, and grabbed the monkey robot by its arm, starting to tighten some loose screws. Robotnik chuckled.

"These robots of yours are fascinating, my boy."

"Whatever."

"No, really. What do you call them?"

"Coconuts."

"And you build them-"

"All without blueprint stuff, yeah. Why are you asking? Wanna steal them too for your cyborg bots?" Sonic turned a glowing glare on the scientist, who put his hands up.

"Heavens no, I was merely admiring them. You have a real eye for perfection in your designs."

"Eh." Sonic let go of the Coconuts arm, and it handed him the other one to fix.

"And some magnificent artificial intelligence too."

"Sod off, you ain't having my program."

"Oh I wouldn't dream of taking it my boy." Robotnik watched Sonic repair the monkey. "But how did you come up with all the coding without any experience?"

"I told you before, and my answer's the same. I just know."

"Very well. How many of these Coconuts did you make?"

"Enough. And I know exactly how many there are, so you better not go stealing one."

"Would I do such a thing?"

"Yes."

Robotnik grunted his displeasure at how shortly Sonic was answering him, but the hedgehog was a teenager, it was to be expected. The scientist had done some research about him, and Sonic had confirmed it in unwilling answers when asked. The fact that he turned blue after some explosion underneath the Emerald Hill Zone had fascinated him, but the hedgehog wouldn't say anything more than confirming it was true. He would say nothing about his dazzling speed however, the aspect of the boy that Robotnik was most fascinated in. Sonic could cross large distances in minutes that would take other people hours to complete on foot, so Robotnik knew there was something amazingly logic defying about his anatomy, but Sonic wouldn't consent to him testing it. As far the hedgehog was concerned, he ran fast, and that was that. Robotnik didn't waste any opportunity to observe the running however, and Sonic running the length of the airship he called the Gold Star on request of his friends was often a good measure, on the occasions that he didn't slow down to spite him.

Sonic finished repairing the Coconuts and sent it back to its station, before turning back to look at Robotnik. He glared over his glasses and growled.

"Stop staring at me. It's rude."

"My apologies, I can't help but try and place the shade of your fur."

"It's blue, does that help?" Sonic snatched the blueprints from the table and walked over to a spinning chair near one of the Coconuts' consoles, dropping into it as he read over them.

"Really now, is the attitude necessary Sonic?"

"Yep."

The exchange continued for a while, with Sonic snapping back at any questions Robotnik asked him, before the hedgehog handed back the blueprints with some hastily scribbled notes on the edges of them. He stretched, then shook, scattering loose quills over the floor and the scientist, and grinned wickedly as opposed to apologetically when Robotnik ended up with half a dozen blue needles sticking out of his nose. Sonic started walking towards the door while Robotnik started plucking the quills from his nose, wincing. Johnny stepped into the room at the same time, almost bumping into Sonic, who grinned at him and tugged his arm.

"C'mon Johnny, I'm all done here. Let's go check on the Darters on the wings."

"But Sonic?"

"What?" Sonic tilted his head, frowning at Johnny. "What's wrong now?"

"There's a problem in the engine rooms now, one of the Coconuts got itself tangled in the machines."

"Couldn't you pull it out?"

"Not really, it's stuck. I did try. You and your robots, I don't understand those."

"Neither do I. But at least I don't use them for evil." Sonic cast a glare over his shoulder at Robotnik, who was putting the quills in a neat pile on the arm of his chair. "You better throw those away when you're done, Eggman!"

"My boy, what could I do with these? They will be thrown away, don't you fret. I wouldn't leave them to clutter up the bridge."

"Good. Keep an eye on him Coconuts." Sonic stared at one of the monkey robots as it squeaked a reply. "Awesome. C'mon Johnny, let's go get that engine fixed."

Sonic led Johnny back along the corridor, at a slower pace than he'd come to the bridge so that the rabbit could keep up. They walked calmly, their feet clanking on the metallic floor, and chattered. Sonic explained why the Coconuts were prone to falling into the engines, there seemed to be a glitch in their programming that could sometimes override their sensors, though one seemed more likely to do it than the other. Sonic realised that it was probably the same one that had done it again, and was tossing the screwdriver in the air as he walked alongside Johnny, who confirmed his suspicions. A Coconuts came running up after them, squeaking and carrying a rolled up mass of paper, which it tapped Sonic with to get his attention.

"Huh? Oh! I forgot Eggy was gonna bring that up with him this time. Thanks Coconuts."

Sonic took it from the monkey robot, who saluted and ran back towards the bridge. Johnny chuckled at the programmed display of respect, and Sonic stuck his nose in the air indignantly. Though that only made him look up at the rabbit, but to Sonic a display of being insulted was the same whether the person was taller than you or not. Johnny patted Sonic on the head playfully, and the hedgehog laughed.

"He remembered it after all Johnny."

"What?" Johnny blinked as Sonic unrolled the paper, then laughed. "Oh, that."

"Whaddaya mean 'that'? This here," Sonic swiped the unrolled comic book with a hand, "will be regarded as a classic one day!"

"I'm surprised it made it past the first issue."

"Hey! Killer Zombie Penguins is epic. You don't really think they'd have axed it after the first issue do you?"

"Well..."

"Oi! Do I say 'Carrots Monthly' needed axing?"

"Yes."

"No I don't!" Sonic paused for a moment, thinking. "Okay, maybe I do, but that's because it's awful."

"And zombie penguins makes no sense."

"Sure it does! More than a flipping carrot recipe magazine!"

"At least my magazine is useful."

"KZP is useful too! It tells us how to be prepared for the zombie penguin apocalypse!" Sonic flailed his hands in the air dramatically.

"... Yes, whatever you say Sonic..." Johnny rolled his eyes and started walking ahead.

"See? You have it now!" Sonic laughed and jogged after him, tucking the comic under his arm.

They carried on walking, heading down a corridor that lead back towards the middle of the ship. It was much the same as the rest in the ship, and Sonic wondered if he should think of different things to put in each one to make them look unique, so that he wouldn't get himself lost in it. He asked Johnny, but the rabbit shrugged, saying that the Gold Star was Sonic's ship and he could decorate it how he wanted. They made their way downwards towards the engine room that kept the ship airborne, passing great cables and controls for the turbines that were built on the external hull, until they stepped into the engine room. The doors opened and the sheer noise and heat of the working turbines and jets below the ship assailed their ears and faces. Sonic wasn't bothered by the noise, but Johnny put on a pair of mufflers to keep his sensitive ears from being hurt.

The engine room took up the majority of the lowest deck and was the main location to work on the maintainence of the jets, though there were alternate rooms for the engines at the back of the ship. The floorspace was taken up primarily by giant pipes and axles, enormous fuel tanks, and various temporary work stations which were set up near cabinets full of fiddly mechanics that Sonic hadn't quite been able to figure out himself; he'd left it to Porker to get the ship airborne. There were Coconuts robots climbing around the room, using their complex hands to reach inside mechanics where it was too dangerous for Sonic to. The ones programmed to work in the engines had no tails, unlike the ones across the rest of the ship, to minimise the risk of them getting caught in the machinery. Their feet were modelled like their hands to compensate and help them climb around the room, Sonic called the engine room models Coconut-C, though he was often prone just to calling them 'bots' when he was in a hurry.

One of the Coconuts was watching something behind a fuel tank, and Sonic walked up towards it, while Johnny stayed back near the entrance where it wasn't quite so loud. The hedgehog snorted as he rounded the fuel tank, glaring over the top of his glasses at the tail sticking out of one of the troughs of mechanics that were at the back of the ship. The protective cover had been moved so that one of the C models could carry out some maintenance, but this normal Coconuts had wandered into the room and gotten caught. It was supposed to be an odd jobs robot, one that ran around the Gold Star and did miscellaneous tasks that it found. Sonic could never figure out why this one always hung around the engines though. No matter how many times he tried to reprogram the thing, it kept falling in the machinery. He decided that when he got it out, he'd scrap it and make a new one. Sighing, Sonic walked over to a nearby control panel, and pressed a button for the intercom.

"Coconuts on the bridge," Sonic yelled into the console, "Shut down the systems for turbines five and six!"

Releasing the button, Sonic watched as the mechanics in the trough stopped, but the Coconuts that had been stuck in it remained stuck. The hedgehog gave an annoyed snort, stepping back across the trough to grab the Coconuts' tail. He put his heels against the raised edges of the machinery, and used it as a support to help him get extra leverage on it. Pulling hard, he started to drag the robot out of the pit, wincing at the sound of grating metal and the smell of leaking lubricants. Yeah, this robot was definitely getting scrapped. He turned around and lifted the tail over his shoulder, then started running. It didn't take much of the extra force from his running before the mangled machine was freed from the trough. Sonic dropped the lump of metal, and walked back across to the communicator, ordering them to start up the turbines again. The machinery in the trench rumbled back into motion, so Sonic watched it for a moment to make sure it was working fine, before he walked over to the robot wreckage and gathered it up. Johnny watched him walk back with the robot slung over his shoulder and leaking oil down his fur, and took his ear mufflers off as he followed him as he started walking back up the corridors.

"Let's take this to the scrap room and then I need a shower. After that, then we'll go check on the wings."

"Ah, actually you might want to skip the shower, there is one other issue."

"... What." Sonic stared at Johnny, waiting for his response.

"Well, in some of the corridors back up, the Coconuts and the Darters aren't exactly co-operating."

"... In what way?"

"Well..." Johnny opened a notepad that he pulled from his pocket, and flipped through. "... Paintball, I think."

"Paintball? They're not programmed to play paintball."

"Well, it's not paintball, so much as the Coconuts grabbing the Darters while they work and throwing them at eachother."

"... Great, more maintainence."

"You don't like to repair them, so... Why did you build so many anyway?"

Sonic shrugged. He hadn't built the first few robots for much reason other than he'd been bored, but when Robotnik had found the concept designs for the Gold Star and agreed to help him build it, Sonic had made more Darters and Coconuts to help, and had ended up with a veritable army of them before he knew it. The initial programming had been easy, since he'd saved the coding separately, but when they broke down, they had a tendency to break down all at once. Sonic sighed and opened a nearby door, tossing the wreckage into it amongst a small pile of assorted scrap, and shut the room up again. He looked at Johnny, and shrugged again.

"Well, do you want me to let them have their fun?"

"You better fix them, they're not finishing the work on the ship and they may end up wrecking it otherwise."

"Mmm, I suppose... Which corridor are they in?"

"The ones that are acting up are on the top deck."

"They aren't scattered are they? Because I really don't wanna go running around gathering them up. They're heavy."

"No, they seem to all be in one room. I locked the doors for now but I dread to think what state that room'll be in."

"You're too tidy."

"Nothing wrong with that, Sonic."

Sonic grinned and wiped an oil stained glove down Johnny's arm, provoking a slightly irritated 'hey' from the rabbit as the glove in turn stained his grey fur. Johnny grabbed the tip of one of Sonic's ears and tugged it in revenge, getting a little yelp back. They both laughed at each other, and made their way to the upper decks, joking about everything from each other's flaws to their favourite books. Sometimes Sonic would stop to fiddle with cables in wall panels, or to tighten the screws on a nearby robot, but Johnny kept walking as he did, because Sonic could catch up in a second no matter how long the tasks took. And if he did stop, the hedgehog would only complain that they weren't getting anywhere fast. The rabbit chuckled during one of these moments, thinking about Sonic's rather contrary nature, and the hedgehog had been quite indignant when he caught him doing so. But Johnny had heard it all before, they'd had that debate of sorts multiple times in the year since Sonic had recovered.

The hedgehog's temper towards Robotnik hadn't waned, but he was quite happy to let the scientist pay for the materials for his robots. Johnny knew that Sonic thought it was his idea, but all the rabbit had suggested was that he let Robotnik help him out, not pay for everything. The hedgehog was really quite spoilt; Robotnik gave him almost anything he asked for, and when Sonic couldn't have something, usually for a very logical reason, he sulked. Which was when Johnny had to talk him out of things that he wanted. Porker had made the comparison between Johnny and Robotnik acting like the stern and fair parents once, and Sonic had given him a black eye before Johnny had been able to catch him. The pig had insisted that he was fine and Sonic had apologised, but Johnny could see that Porker was more anxious than he normally was when he was around Sonic. They'd agreed when the hedgehog was elsewhere that no one should make even light-hearted jokes about family in front of him. Johnny followed Sonic through the corridors, thinking about his temperamental friend, until they reached the room where the malfunctioning robots had been locked in.

"In here, Sonic."

"What?" Sonic stopped mid step, and twirled to face Johnny as he pointed at the door. "In my gym? Why did you lock them in there?"

"The room was already trashed when I got here, it wouldn't have made it any less wrecked to move them somewhere else."

"Aww Chaos, I'm going to trash them!"

"I'd fix their coding, or the others might do the same." Johnny didn't really approve of the way Sonic could casually throw his robots aside, and Sonic knew it.

"Yeah yeah, whatever."

"C'mon Sonic, you need to think a bit more economically."

"I recycle them."

"Yeah, but you use more fuel to do the welding and stuff again."

"... True."

"So fix their programming and stop just scrapping them."

"You do it if you're so smart." Sonic folded his arms indignantly.

"You know I can't, I don't understand that sort of stuff."

"Well then let me do what I want with my robots."

"I do, but I'm just giving you some useful advice, that's all."

"I suppose. But for that you can go in there first, Johnny."

"Oh. Thanks Sonic, really."

Johnny grabbed a long metal pole that rested against the side of the door as he unlocked it and it started to slide open. When Sonic have him a questioning look, Johnny stepped sideways and swung the pole, knocking a flying Darter back into the room before it could hit the floor in the corridor. Sonic cheered as the spider robot bounced off the head off a Coconuts and into another Darter, before he followed Johnny into the room. The rabbit's earlier statement of 'wrecked' didn't even come close. Everywhere gym equipment had been collapsed by robots jumping on it, Coconuts were standing all over the room, or hanging from panels that had been ripped from the ceiling, and every one of them was holding at least one Darter. The room and Coconuts were covered in randomly placed yellow and white paint where the spider robots had been thrown around it. A few Darters were laying bashed up and emptied in a corner, and the Coconuts were adding more as Sonic and Johnny watched. The hedgehog bristled, and Johnny stepped to one side; still holding the staff ready to deflect wayward robots.

"RIGHT! You lot! STOP RIGHT NOW!" Sonic yelled at the robots, who froze in their positions. One Coconuts fell over, having been standing on one foot, and the airborne Darters followed their paths until they hit a wall or another robot and fell to the floor, but the rest remained stationary. "What it the meaning of this?"

"Sonic, you didn't give them a speech program."

"No excuse. You!" Sonic pointed at the nearest Coconuts. "Come here!"

The robot didn't respond, so Sonic growled at it. He dashed forwards into the room and grabbed the robot, but the rest of the Coconuts started throwing the Darters at him instead. Sonic swore at them, and ducked one of the flying spiders, sidestepped another, jumped a third, and continued dancing on the spot to avoid the rest. Johnny repelled some wayward robots with the staff, knocking them back at the Coconuts that threw them. Sonic yelped as one bounced off his head, making him let go of the robot he'd grabbed. The Coconuts skittered into a group together at the wall of the room, gathering up Darters and holding them, all of them focused on Sonic. The hedgehog took his glasses off and tossed them and the screwdriver to Johnny, who put them into the pocket of the vest jacket he was wearing.

"You wanna play rough now, do you?" Sonic addressed his robots. "Well fine then..."

"Sonic, what about repairing-"

"I'll repair them AFTER I shut them all down, okay?"

Sonic didn't wait for Johnny to remind him that his definition of shutting down usually entailed smashing them, but ran directly towards the line of robots. He spun away from more thrown Darters, and jumped on top of the nearest Coconuts' head. It paused for a moment as the hedgehog stood there, but reached up once it registered the change in weight. By that time, Sonic had flipped back off and was reaching into a panel on its back, yanking a cable out of it. The Coconuts fell to the floor, offline, and Sonic dropped the cable onto its head. He turned to face the rest of them, leaned aside to avoid more surprisingly accurate spider throwing, before running at them, repeating the process until they were all offline. The Darters that were still mobile started walking back towards the walls, and resumed their previous painting task without Sonic needing to stop them too. Johnny walked into the room and leaned on his staff, watching as Sonic walked around the inactive Coconuts and picked up the cables he'd removed.

"How long'll it take you to repair them?"

"I just need to reprogram one, then copy the changes over to the others. The Darters aren't in such good condition though, did you see what the Coconuts did to them?"

"Mhmm, those monkeys of yours have a good arm. Ever thought of making them available to baseball teams?"

"No."

"Why not? They'd be good."

"They'd also cheat. And besides, no one's allowed to know I can build robots. You know that."

"I don't get why not, there's no reason people'd dislike it?"

"Johnny..."

"... Yeah, okay. I'll be quiet. Just try think of something more practical for your robots to do when they're done working on the Gold Star though, they're nearly done and it'd be a shame to scrap them all."

"Yeah, I guess." Sonic shrugged. "Maybe I can hire them out to building companies or something, once I get the bugs out."

"I thought you said you didn't want to be associated with them?"

"... Good point." Sonic frowned thoughtfully as he took his glasses off Johnny again. "Eh, I'll think of something. But first, I need a shower. I'm covered in oil and paint Johnny."

"Yup. You look like someone's garage exploded on you."

"Why thank you, it's all the rage lately." Sonic tried brushing the paint splatters off his arms with his hands as they headed along the corridor to the showers a few doors down.

Later Sonic stretched, standing next to his plane, waiting for Johnny to turn up so they could go down to the Emerald Hill Zone. Sonic refused to go to that Zone on his own, though he did want to go back again, just to see if it had changed since he was last there, so Johnny had offered to show him around, as it transpired that the rabbit called that Zone his home when he wasn't out travelling. Sonic yawned for probably the fifteenth time since he'd started waiting. Johnny could walk really slowly when he wanted to. And knowing the rabbit, he was probably making sure things were off or locked as he headed up to the flight deck. Sonic found Johnny's obsession with making sure things were in order useful, but tedious, it just took so long, especially in a place the size of his airship. After a few more minutes, however, Johnny arrived, a little less sure-footed on the deck than Sonic was, but using his staff to help him balance. He made his way across to the aeroplane, smiling.

"The Tornado ready to go?"

"Yeah, is her stand-in pilot?"

"Yup."

"Cool." Sonic jumped up onto the wings, and tapped his foot impatiently. "Well? You climbing in Johnny?"

"Give me a moment!"

Johnny frowned up at the teen hedgehog as he climbed into the cockpit, nudging Sonic's glasses and screwdriver to the side of the floor so he had room for his own feet. He didn't really hold much faith in Sonic's wing walking, or his own ability to catch the hedgehog if he fell, but Sonic refused to install any restraints to support him, nor would he wear a parachute, though he wore the backpack Johnny had first seen him with to gather things up into. The hedgehog was a little hoarder. Johnny called up to him to check he should start the plane, and got a thumbs up response, so he started the engines. They warmed up, and the Tornado rolled forwards, before flying off the edge of the Gold Star. They dived through the sky, and Sonic didn't flinch at the rush of cold air, simply adjusting the position of his feet to minimise the chance of him being blown off of the plane. He waved a hand as they levelled out, indicating that he wanted Johnny to fly the plane in a loop, but the rabbit shook his head, refusing. Sonic folded his arms and pouted.

They slowly descended, heading towards South Island across the ocean. The Gold Star was usually on the move, and today it was over the Mystic Ruins beyond Station Square on the mainland. The Tornado was built for long distances, at least compared to other bi-planes Sonic had seen, so it could cross the ocean easily. Sonic chuckled, and asked Johnny to take it lower as they approached the island, so his dolphin friends could join them. This the rabbit agreed to, as it was distinctly safer. The dolphins failed to appear, however, so Sonic sat down near the end of one wing to look down into the passing water. The rushing waves obscured much of below the surface from view, but occasional dark shadows below it showed creatures swimming. There was a pod of dolphins, but not his ones. A much larger dark shape was further along, which made him shudder and edge back towards the centre of the wings, but Sonic couldn't think what it could be. Sonic looked away from that ominous shadow, and towards the approaching shape of South Island.

"Okay, um, can you take up up a little bit Johnny?"

"Why?"

"Well my dolphins aren't going to show so-" Sonic was interrupted by a whole pod of dolphins leaping out of the water near the plane, apparently in a hurry to get somewhere. "- what?"

"There they are!"

"No, those aren't my dolphins Johnny..." Sonic watched as the dolphins veered off in a different direction, leaping the waves. "... Looks like something spooked them. I wonder what-"

Johnny looked up as Sonic froze, unable to finish his sentence. "What's up Sonic?"

"J-Johnny! Pick up the pace! Do it!"

"What? What's wrong?"

"Just get this plane moving as fast as you can!"

The rabbit frowned, confused, but increased the Tornado's speed anyway. It was Sonic's plane after all, If he wanted it to go faster, it went faster. Sonic was facing the tail of the bi-plane from his perch, and despite having the wind blowing his quills in front of him and hitting his face, the hedgehog was standing rigid, watching something behind them. Johnny flicked a switch on the board in front of him to put the plane in auto for a moment, allowing him to glance over his shoulder. He had to look twice at what he saw there, and even afterwards he didn't believe it. Sonic started running side to side on the wings, with his hands on his head, yelling something like 'no not again', which drew Johnny's attention back to his controls. He flicked the auto off, and started to pull the plane upwards.

The giant orca leaped through the air, and over the top of the Tornado, forcing Johnny to alter the angle of the flight to pass beneath it instead. The killer whale's water trail crashed down on top of them, soaking them both, and Sonic slipped over on the wet wings. He grabbed the edge to stop himself falling off, and just managed to avoid the end of the orca's fluke. Johnny have a startled gasp at the cold water splashing him, and shook his head to clear it from his ears. Sonic looked over the side the orca had landed on, and saw it swimming alongside at the top of the water.

"Argh, not you!" He spluttered, spitting salt water from his mouth.

"Sonic? What's wrong?"

"I know that whale and I think it remembers me too. Get us into the air before it jumps again!"

"Gotcha!" But as Johnny tried to fly upwards, the orca jumped them again, forcing them back down. "Oh bother! Sonic? Any ideas? Because the cockpit's getting flooded here!"

"Just don't crash into Emerald Cliffs or Forest and we'll be fine! Get us to the beach, it won't follow us onto land!"

"Right, but what did you do to it?"

"Long story. Explain later. Land first- argh!"

Sonic clung on as the orca leaped them again, jumping ever closer to the top of the wings. Johnny dropped lower to avoid letting Sonic get knocked off, but the wheels caught a wave, splashing water up with a cracking noise as it hit it hard. The rabbit pulled up again, trying to get higher than the whale could jump, but it forced them down once more.

"Sonic, I think it's after you!"

"No shit Sherlock! Floor it!"

"I don't think the Tornado can go any faster, Sonic!"

"Hit that switch on your right!"

Sonic was too busy holding onto the wing for dear life to show Johnny where exactly, but the dashboard was pretty sparse in terms of buttons, so he hoped Johnny would realise where it was. His fears were diverted as the Tornado lurched forward, pushed by the jet he'd installed into it to satisfy his need to go fast in the air. The orca's teeth slammed shut just short of the Tornado's tail as its next bound didn't take it over the speeding bi-plane. As the whale crashed down into the water, Sonic and Johnny grinned at eachother with relief. The feeling was short lived, however, as there was a wrenching crunch as the Tornado's wheels caught a few large rocks, sending it tumbling forwards and throwing Sonic free from the wings.

"Whoaaa!" Sonic cried out as he sailed through the air between the trees nearby.

"Sonic!" Johnny called after him, following it up with an "Oof!" as the Tornado landed hard upside down on the dune grass.

Sonic's free flight stopped as quickly as it had started, once the hedgehog crashed into a tree. He gave a pained yell on impact, before sliding down the trunk and falling backwards to the ground in a daze. He lay there, trying to recover for a few minutes, just staring blankly up towards the canopy as he slowly regained his senses. Once he remembered how to blink, he did so, then sat up, rubbing his head. He glared accusingly at the tree, but didn't stand up to kick it, still feeling dizzy from the impact.

"Urgh. It jumped out in front of me..." Sonic groaned, then remembered about his friend. He hadn't seen the Tornado flip, but Johnny hadn't shown up yet so he worried. "Johnny? You okay?" He yelled out towards the ocean, where he could see it through the trees.

When the rabbit didn't answer, Sonic groaned and put his hands on the tree, using it to haul himself to his feet, thanking himself for having such a hard head. The dizziness slowly subsided, and Sonic shook the rest away, before starting to run back towards the beach, calling for Johnny. He kicked leaves up in a cloud behind him, and the rustling masked the surrounding sounds, including any calls Johnny might be making back. As Sonic approached the place where the forest gave way to the dunes, he slowed, seeing the wheels of his biplane before anything else. He stopped atop the hill and grimanced.

"My Tornado! ARGH damn that whale!" He skidded down the bank and ran over to the upside down biplane. "Johnny? You okay? Where are you?"

"Augh, still here, Tumbleweed." Johnny waved an arm out of the cockpit, as he started digging himself out from underneath the aircraft. "I think your booster needs some work."

"Yeah... Looks like. Might need to make an anti-orca shield or something too." Sonic held out a hand, and helped pull Johnny free when he grabbed it. "Maybe I could suspend Porker from the tail to distract it from trying to eat me, what do you think?"

"Sonic."

"Yes?"

"No."

"Spoilsport."

"Yep." Johnny stood up once he was free from the plane, and dusted the sand out of his fur. "So how're we going to turn the Tornado back over?"

"Not easily with just us two. Is the Emerald Hill Village close?"

"Umm..." Johnny looked at the forest. "It's past the forest, towards the hills. Quite far. But no one comes to this part of the beach really, the Tornado should be okay if we leave her like this?"

"I'd rather not leave my plane alone. If you can stay here, I'll run up towards the village and grab some help. I am the fastest after all."

"I suppose that makes sense." Johnny nodded, dropping down into the shade beneath the wings. "Go ahead, just try not to get lost this time."

"Me? Get lost?" Sonic snorted indignantly. "Never!"

"Always."

"Never I say!" Sonic pointed dramatically to the sky, but raised a foot. "Be right back, Johnny!"

"Yeah, I'm not going anywhere. Just don't get yourself in trouble."

Sonic had already run back into the forest, trailing clouds of sand behind his feet, before Johnny could finish his sentence. So the rabbit shrugged and settled down for a nap in the shade of the Tornado's wings instead. Sometimes talking to the hedgehog was like talking to a brick wall, except that the wall listened.

Sonic would be back in a few hours, at most, it was just a run through the wide, inhabited by harmless creatures, forest, and a bit of talking in the village. Not even that hedgehog could get in trouble in that short a time span.

Sonic growled as he thought about that, while hanging upside down from a rope that had caught his foot and hauled him into a tree.

"Oh for Chaos' sake!"

-TBC