Tails skipped again and twirled to peer back, up at the old fighter plane suspended by thick cords from the ceiling. With mouth agape, he stopped and admired the old metal plating and the bullet-ridden wounds on the exterior.
Dylan glanced upward and shared the feeling for a few seconds, and then he looked around, while waiting for the fox to finish his visual examination. The expansive, open hall was bustling with mobians and humans who were setting up booths and carrying odd pieces, parts, and mechanical somethings he had no idea about. A few tiny robots rolled past him, flashing with blinking red lights.
Dylan stepped back, pulling Tails with him to avoid being run over by three men carrying a massive, heavy box.
"Isn't this amazing?" Tails sort of meant to chuckle, but it caught in his nose and he snorted instead, fists in front of him in delight. "The Station Square Inventor's Exploratory Hall is always hosting way cool events! I'm so happy I got in this one, and that you came with me! Sonic was gonna be here, but he's still being held up in Mobotropolis."
"Hey, don't be downcast," Dylan patted him on the back. "Maybe Sonic will still show up."
"Who knows? Well, I need to get this in line at the end there," he pointed to a connected, very long stretch of bare metal tables lining the entire back wall. Many were filled already with microwaves—so many microwaves. The fox renewed pushing a cart on wheels he'd specifically brought. Upon the top he'd placed a sleek, silver microwave of his own.
Dylan trailed a few steps behind. Just about all of the science-related stuff around him was out of his mental scope. He couldn't help but feel disinterested, but he was glad to be a part of something Tails so intimately loved. If it had been the other way around with his baking, he would have greatly valued a friend who'd take time out to emotionally support him.
So he slid on after Tails, leisurely casting his eye around at the wires, shining metal things, talking people, odd tubes and machinery people were holding.
Tails had been taking him to the chao garden quite a bit, after school, of course. He'd soon after succeeded in claiming a much-coveted member's key, as Tails had also recommended him. Now Berry spent more time than not socializing and growing with the other chao.
The baby's ability to run and swim and fly had noticeably improved already, causing Dylan to further feel like he'd early on been abusing his friend for keeping him away from that nurturing environment.
But Berry was always super excited to see him and Dylan found himself at times spending many hours sitting on the grass to study, keeping a faithful eye on his charge. Still odd to him, some of the others frequented the chao garden too, bringing the long plane ride distances they lived apart down to nothing. In that way, Dylan even saw Shadow and Rouge more than before.
And Tails had strolled in one Sunday just days ago and invited him to this competition. What was it about again? Something to do with modifying a common microwave to outfit the power source with an eco-friendly power ring. As power rings were rare and highly valuable, the criteria for winning involved whichever microwave was the most energy-efficient, warmed the most evenly and quickly, and, of course, looked the best.
He stopped behind Tails, as the boy lean forward and grab his microwave. He strained.
Dylan hurried over, "Let me help."
Together, they grunted and slid the microwave onto Tails' labeled table along the snake of dozens of others.
"What was the prize again?" Dylan exhaled in relief.
"A week all expenses paid at Casino Park, with room for me to bring three people I want," he responded. Then lowering his eyes with a smug smirk, "And a product sponsorship with Eco-Warm Housing Luxuries."
How the words rolled so smoothly off his tongue, Dylan suspected something else was going on. But that was neither here nor there. Like Tails would admit to whatever he was secretly devising.
"So," Tails leaned back against his piece of table. "Are you going to enter Berry in the chao race that's coming up in a few weeks?"
"I didn't realize there was one. You think he'd do okay?"
"Sure. There's no minimal requirement. It's good for our chao to do that kind of stuff. Helps them want to improve themselves faster. It also helps us to see where we've been lacking when it comes to raising them."
Dylan stepped near to Tails so he wasn't blocking the thoroughfare of people, "Is there a fee?"
"Nope. We're all going to do it."
Dylan considered the matter. It would be a fun experience for Berry. His chao had never seemed to be afraid of anything. The acting out and screeching had lessened since Dylan had dropped him into the chao garden, too. So far, none of the chao had managed to intimidate him—including Dusk—and he'd been impressing Dylan with rattlers and scribbled pictures he'd learned from preschool.
"Okay. After this, I'll go enroll him," Dylan decidedly nodded. "But, wait, do the chao win anything?"
Tails was thumbing through his phone, "Yeah. Sweets, toys, money, or seeds."
"Seeds—"
A low rumble started to shake the floor. Tails, Dylan, and all the people around them turned toward the end of the room to the entrance. A massive, rectangular something on wheels was lumbering, somehow, in through the doors. Trailing to the sides of it were a round red robot and a square yellow robot; both Dylan recognized. To finish his consternation, an overweight man with a broad brown mustache, sporting a red jacket and black pants, entered in after the massive item. He puffed his chest out and stuck his face up.
Dylan nearly leaned back at the sight of Eggman strutting their way, but Tails forced him to stand his ground.
"He must have entered the competition," the fox murmured.
"What?" Dylan gasped. "Why would he bother with this kind of thing?"
Tails was already frowning with determination, "It can't be for anything good. Keep your guard up, but don't show any fear in front of him."
Eggman came on casually, his little robotic minions cowering a little by habit more than anything. As the three passed with their cumbersome load, Eggman twitched a brow at the two and snickered, "Oh, look, it's the two-tailed freak and the chaos energy freak. Ready to lose, half-wit?"
Tails clenched his phone tight in his fist, scowling, quiet.
"Did you enjoy my hospitality from a while ago?" Eggman sneered, leaning towards Dylan.
The boy reflexively backed one step away and Eggman laughed at him and continued on.
Over his shoulder, he waved with a snotty, "Why'd you even enter, little fox? We both know I'm going to win!"
Growling, Tails slapped his hand down atop his rather regular-sized microwave, gritting, "We'll see about that."
At the far end of the chain of tables, Eggman pointed to a space big enough for three microwaves to be set out. His little robots strained to push the heavy luggage back against the wall, their master crossing his arms impatiently. The two robots then pulled the black sheet off the thing to reveal a microwave wider than six regular units and taller than Eggman. All shining red with black buttons.
Tails and Dylan stared wide-eyed at the monster, with Tails whispering, "How'd he get that qualified when there's a weight and physical size limit?"
Of course, no one could say, but they both had ideas involving bribery, blackmail, and plain old-fashioned threats to the powers in charge. The reality was that Eggman was standing too close for comfort, staring at the competition with smug superiority. There was nothing to do except keep a suspicious eye on the scheming doctor.
Not long after, three mobian mice walked in, all sporting bow ties and black dress jackets. They stood before the ensemble of awaiting entrants.
The slightly taller one in the middle cleared his squeaky throat and turned a microphone on, "Thank you all for entering this wonderful competition! We're so pleased to be heading this up. It's so nice to see so many people striving to create clean, efficient energy to make the world safer and greener. You all know the rules and the judging criteria, so we'll just say good luck. Stay with your entry while my brothers and I make our rounds."
"You think you'll win, don't you?" Dylan whispered to Tails.
"Pretty confident," came the slightly sassy and smug response.
He marveled a little at the kid, but this was Tails after all: a child who could pilot an airplane and owned a series of workshops scattered who knew where. He built Extreme Gear from scratch and he'd hacked into an endless number of computers. It all made this entry and this task seem minuscule and simple, so Dylan shut his mouth and waited on the judges.
They slowly progressed along entry after entry, opening every microwave, rotating the devices, asking a myriad of questions. Finally, they stepped before Tails, Dylan removing himself to the side to watch and listen.
"This is a very clean and futuristic design," one of the judges commented.
Tails immediately exposited, "Yes. My microwave runs off of a power ring like all the others, but I've modified it to also harvest extra energy from the heat itself generated inside when food is being warmed. This will improve the efficiency of heating up stuff, because the heat harvested is re-exported a second time, thus providing a second boost of heat. What that means is that my microwave cuts down a third of the time of any other of its class because of how it recycles energy: from the ring, then from the heat, back into the ring, then into the machine again. Oh, and even then, there's small amounts of lost energy, but I've installed a battery into the bottom of the microwave that catches that residue of that last wave of energy and stores it, using it the next time the machine is turned on."
All while he explained energetically, Tails tossed in a container of cold lasagna and turned the microwave on. The three judges leaned in to observe the rotating food. Upon beeping, removing it, they in procession took a bite.
The first rose his brow, "Why, it's warmed perfectly through!"
"Not too hot, either," the second one nodded.
"This only took twenty seconds to be this warm?" The third one asked, surprised.
The three talked amongst themselves a little bit more, Dylan humorously watching his friend trying not to break into a triumphant smile. With a few more nods, they handed Tails the remaining lasagna and went on to the next entry.
It was difficult to stand and wait, but Tails remained mostly quiet. Time oozed by, and then a burst of ejaculations rose at the far end of the tables. Almost in unison, all the entrants turned to see what the commotion was. At the same time, the judges were thrown back through the building, landing some place near the entry doors. What had looked to be Eggman's microwave transformed into some tall, squarish monster of a robot that loomed over everyone with long, thin claws for hands. Glowing yellow eyes judged the little people severely.
Eggman pointed right to Tails, "Get that brat and his friend and his microwave! I want it in tact!"
"Why does Eggman want your microwave?" Dylan reached for the device with Tails.
Tails scowled and huffed, "He must be after my battery system! You heard me explain it to the judges: it's super-efficient and the way it works is completely new! I came up with it all myself a while ago. My patent is pending, too—which he most likely wants, as well, to control who can duplicate the system. I can't believe this! I should have realized it as soon as he showed up!"
Before they could make an attempt to escape, the massive robot slammed its hand down, blocking them. They dropped the microwave, but it wasn't heavily damaged.
Dylan instinctively covered himself over Tails, wincing as something hit him in the back. People screamed, running past them for the exits. He gasped up. The robot was standing just steps from him, fists clenched. A large cage extended out of its belly.
"Tails—get up!" Dylan wrenched the fox to his feet, snatching him in his arms and springing aside just in time to dodge the dropping cage. "What do we do? I don't know how to fight that well! But we can't just let him take your invention."
His friend lamented, "This is my fault! I'm sorry!"
"Don't do that right now. It'll be fine." But Dylan didn't know if it would be fine, actually. He hadn't even tried to practice those fancy moves Shadow and Sonic sported in every fight. He could run and curl up, but that was about it, and right then he felt incredibly upset at himself for thinking he didn't have to learn anything like that, since Sonic fought villains. Not him.
What a joke he was. A massive robot was right before him, slamming its hefty foot clear down through the floor. Microwaves crashed all over the place, screeching in protest. Dylan grabbed Tails again to back up further.
As Eggman's badnik reached a claw for the boy's microwave, Tails sprang up to run for it, "No! You can't have it!"
"Tails—Tails!" Dylan took a step to run after him, when a burst of light broke to his left and a dark form sprang from it.
"Get back!" A low voice commanded, a white glove suddenly pressed to his chest.
"Shadow!"
The serious eyes on him, Dylan stepped back to the wall and watched Shadow spring forth, landing in front of an equality shocked Tails, crouch, and shoot his hands up with gold energy blasting up at the robot. It swerved, wires sparking, with Shadow lunging for the legs and driving spears through vital joints. With a creek, the machine began to topple from its hinges, but the torso was still intact, firing massive shot at Shadow.
"Duck!" Shadow scooped Tails up and tossed him with outwardly little regard at Dylan.
"Whoa!" Dylan grabbed the fox and clasped him close. Neither had any desire to assist Shadow. Not like he needed it. His temper ensured they stayed clear, lest he shower anger at them later for getting in the way.
Eggman bristled and grit his teeth upon the entrance of the ultimate life form. "Get him!" He pointed. Not like his robot needed to be steered. It was swinging its arms and trying to pound the hedgehog with its fists.
Shadow swirled around, arms out, and blasted more energy in all directions. Anything that tried to penetrate the circle of energy was shredded, including an entire hand from the robot. Without a second to waste, he boosted up and ran up the torso for the head, slamming a hot, red crackling hand down upon it. With a nasty frown, he concentrated and the entire head exploded. The hulk powered down, with Shadow slipping about the back out of sight.
Seconds later, he skated around the torso, holding a shimmering gold power ring in his hand.
Eggman balked, tone accusatory, "What! I knew I should have built a stronger robot! But there was no way to know you'd show up!"
Shadow smirked.
Eggman continued, fists clenched, "This show of losers stood no chance against my machine! And who are you to steal my power ring? Just because I steal all the time doesn't mean I stole that, too. That's mine—give it back!"
The hedgehog just blinked doubtfully at him, "If you leave peacefully now, I won't take you in to the United Federation's global criminal court for processing."
"You can't do that, period!" Eggman yet turned on his heels and waved to his two little, somehow unscathed minions. To tails, he sneered, "I'll get my hands on that battery of yours, fox freak!"
Typical empty threat. Tails and Dylan and the myriad of everyone else speechlessly watched the doctor preserve his dignity as he walked out of the building. The smoking, sparking hulk of his downed robot sat awkwardly with dozens of smashed microwaves littered about it. As the shock of the event ended, contestants began to sadly moan about the months or more they'd spent building their microwaves.
"Are you both okay?" Shadow expressed a rare word of care, coming to a slow stop before the boys.
"Uh—yes," Dylan responded. "How did you know to come just now?"
"The United Federation keeps tabs on Eggman's movements," he explained. "So, if there's nothing else, I should be going."
"Shadow, wait—" Dylan reached for the hedgehog. "Do you really have to go right now?"
Shadow thought for a few seconds, "No. Is there reason I should stay, though?"
That hurt a little, though Shadow probably had no idea how his innocent words cut into Dylan. It was like he was saying spending time with him was of no import at all, but of course that was all rubbish. They did talk more than he'd ever thought when Shadow happened into the chao garden at the same time he was. He'd even pointed out a few tips when Dylan was struggling over some math problems. Always watching him with silent eyes, but never missing a single breath.
Dylan half-heartedly looked down, "I guess not. Thanks."
Tails felt the downcast mood Dylan was sinking into and he shrugged at Shadow.
Shadow credited himself too little on picking up on mood nuances. He did notice Dylan's mood, holding in a sigh, "I should go now. You'll see me later today, if you go to the chao garden. Bye for now."
Shadow opened a chaos portal and jumped inside and then he was gone.
As Dylan worked to lift his mood, Tails chuckled near him and pricked his attention.
"My microwave was hardly damaged at all! Just body dents. Look, the battery's still in one piece!" He held up a slender purple battery about the height of his thumb. It sported a shimmering golden outline of a lightning bolt on it. "This baby is my new patented eco-energy technology! It makes all the magic happen, Dylan. The power ring may generate energy, but this battery absorbs all that energy, plus the energy from the recycled heat. Also, I didn't tell anyone this—well, I'm telling you now—but this battery can be hooked up for wind, solar, or water power as well!"
Dylan took two seconds to stare in wonder at the battery, "So, you pretty much knew you'd win?"
"Yeah! I mean, if the contest had actually finished like it was supposed to. But there will probably be a rehosting of it in a few weeks." He beamed, squatting and gesturing to Dylan to help him pick up his microwave. "I mean, I came mostly to get free marketing about this. It's going to transform how energy is stored and amplified! You'll be able to do so much more on such less power, it'll be incredible!"
They heaved and strained and brought the microwave up between them.
Tails nearly giggled, "Wow! When I think about it, Eggman's madness has brought a lot of press! Perfect for way more free exposure than even winning could have given me!"
Legitimately rolling his eyes, Dylan huffed and chuckled at the same time. The two were laboriously walking the microwave for the front doors, where a collage of reporters were mingling in. Tails' eyes were absolutely sparkling, and Dylan knew he wouldn't be escaping the fox's side for quite some time further.
Anyone else like Casino Park Original Version song?