Tails is a smart kid, but I've always wondered where he got his smarts from. Parents? Genes? School for gifted Fox-Boys? I'm not addressing this in this chapter, the thought just occurred to me, that's all.

Chapter 5 Part 2

When The Fox Is Away…

It was a quiet flight in the newly modified Tornado. The air crackled with tension. The passengers stared nervously at each other as the pilot, Tails, glared grimly ahead trying to ignore the sun glinting off the bright pink airplane. Close by, Chatot flew through the blue sky, watching the airplane with quiet apprehension.

He shook his head. "I'm glad I can fly, Squawk. I'd much rather be soaring freely through the sky than stuck in that time-bomb. "

On board the Tornado, Tails was trying to contact Peach.

"Hello? Peach? I need to speak with you, now. Hello? Anyone? Darn!" He pressed a button on the control panel and gripped the steering tightly. "She's not answering. When I get a hold of her…"

"Uh, Tails. We could just paint over it when we get back. It's not that big of a deal." Sonic suggested hesitantly.

Tails answered without turning his head. "Well Sonic, everything would be fine and dandy, if things were as you say! However, it is not only the paint job that Peach has messed with, but also the controls! I don't know how, but she's managed to turn the energy turret into a flower planter! How in the world are we going to plant flowers in the sky! I don't know what she was thinking. She probably wasn't thinking. She has also highly restricted our speed by putting 5,000 tons of jewellery in the storage compartment! What she thinks we could use jewellery for is beyond me! She even managed to paint the engine! That paint will eventually peel off and clog the carburetor! When that happens, this plane will explode! I don't know why my robot assistants let her do this. They are specifically programmed with my preferences, and trust me, these are not my preferences!" Tails finished, gasping for breath.

Sonic blinked. "Whatever you say little buddy. We'll just deal with it when we get there I guess."

Knuckles snickered silently but stopped when he received a silencing stare from Sonic.

"Speaking of which, are we there yet?" Link asked.

Tails gritted his teeth. "Yes, we have arrived. Feel free to exit the plane at any time. Preferably now."

Link opened his mouth to say something, looked over the side of the plane, and firmly shut it again.

There were a few minutes of silence, then Link spoke again.

"How about now?"

Tails sighed. "We'll be there in a ten minutes. Just… entertain yourself until we get there." He finally said after a pause.

Sonic sat back and closed his eyes, while Kirby watched Chatot do lazy loops in the sky. Link looked around and sighed. He unsheathed his sword and started twirling it around, which was not a very good idea, seeing as how small the airplane was. Zelda was staring at it apprehensively, but none of the others noticed.

"Er… Link, I don't think you should be playing around with that." Zelda finally said.

Link looked at her in disbelief. "What, this? Why not? It's perfectly safe. I have excellent swordsmanship. Wherever I want this sword to go, it will go, and wherever I don't want it to go, it won't." he said with a confident smile.

Suddenly a voice came from behind Zelda. "Hey Tails, is that your lab down there, Squawk?"

Startled by Chatot's voice, Zelda spun around. Her arm struck Link's hand and knocked his sword out of his grip. Link scrambled for it, but it was too late. The sword sailed over the plane's edge and plummeted down to the far off ground.

Link and Zelda looked over the edge and saw the sword disappear into a thick forest below.

Kirby glanced down to, and then looked at Link. "So, master swordsman," he said, "why, may I ask, did you want your sword down in that forest? After all you did say that wherever you want your sword to go, it will-"

"Yeah yeah, I know what I said, thank you very much Kirby." Link grumbled. He then turned to Tails. "We need to land this plane right now."

"Already on it. We've arrived." Tails slowly descended through a huge cloud. When they came out of it, they saw a truly beautiful sight. There was a turquoise ocean that stretched far into the horizon, where they could see the setting sun. At the water's edge, there was a sandy white beach winding its way along the sea line. Farther back, there was a large building on a rocky outcrop. Palm trees surrounded it, their giant leaves waving in the sea breeze. On the sea side of the building was a long stretch of flat ground, with an even line of palm trees on either side.

When they were close enough, to distinguish the coconuts on the trees, Tails pressed a button on the control panel. Suddenly, the flat ground opened up to reveal a cement runway. Tails came in nice and slow, holding the plane steady as he aligned it with the runway. They landed safely and came to a stop a short way from the large building.

"Welcome to my laboratory." Tails said proudly. "Once we're inside, I'll locate the Mushroom Kingdom for you, right after I locate the Mushroom Princess."

Tails rushed into his lab, with the rest of the group following behind.

Knuckles shook his head. "Great, now we have to deal with those annoying robots again."

Chatot glanced at him questioningly, but Knuckles didn't elaborate.

Link was looking over his shoulder at the expansive forest. "As soon as possible, we need to go get my sword. I feel all empty and defenceless without it."

"Relax Link, we'll get it on our way to the Mushroom Kingdom." Kirby soothed.

Link still didn't look convinced. Suddenly, they heard a cry from inside the laboratory. Everyone rushed inside to find the place in ruins. Papers were strewn everywhere, computer panels were broken and sparking, and there were dents in every single thing made of metal. Most of all, there was no sign of Peach. Tails was scurrying around, trying to pick up everything while calling for the missing princess.

"Peach, hello? Anyone? Rob? Tob? Cob? Phillip? Is anyone here?" Tails hung his head. "It's no use, there's no one here."

"Thank goodness for that!" Knuckles gave a sigh of relief.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Who are Rob, Tob, Cob and whatever you were saying?"

Tails sighed. "They're my assistant bots. I had built them recently to help me around the lab. I programmed all the necessary protocols into them, and voila, a perfect robotic assistant. Too many times have I found myself overwhelmed with lab work, and building some assistants seemed like the perfect idea. They were practically flawless! And now they're gone, along with whatever ransacked this place."

Sonic winked. "Hey, we'll look for em', don't you worry. We'll come straight back with Peach and your bots in tow. Then we'll set off for the Mushroom Kingdom. That sound all right gang?" He asked everyone else.

Mario nodded, Chatot leaned over to Kirby and whispered. "Who made him the leader, Squawk?" And Link just shrugged and said. "I need to find my sword anyway. I can look for that on the way."

"I'll stay here, in case those thugs come back. Rest assured that all your scattered paper work and dented machinery will be safe with me." Knuckles said with a chuckle.

Sonic nodded and then turned to Tails again. "You stay here, we'll be back before you know it." He then gestured for everyone to follow, and walked out the lab door. Everyone quickly followed, trying to catch up to Sonic. Zelda tried to follow them out the door, but Link stopped her.

"Er… I think it would be a better idea for you to stay here Princess. It will be very dangerous in there, and I don't want to put you in unnecessary danger."

Zelda crossed her arms, but as her eyes caught the beautiful beach, she gave in. She stood beside Tails as he waved goodbye to them from the doorway.

"Good luck!" He called.

Sonic nodded at them as he waited for the group to catch up. "Now, where do you guys suggest we start looking?" Sonic asked as they all assembled around him.

Kirby rolled his eyes. "Maybe if you spent less time pretending to be the leader, and more time taking in your surroundings, you would notice the trail of papers leading into the woods over there."

Kirby nodded towards the tattered trail of looseleaf leading toward the foreboding woods. At that exact moment, a scream echoed from the depths of the forest, and a group of crows scattered from the topmost branches of their trees. Everyone looked at each other in alarm, and then, as if on a hidden command, took off as one towards the dark wood.

To be continued…