"So why are you doing this again?"
"I don't want to go on thinking 'what if'. I want to try everything I can before I officially give up. If this doesn't work, so be it, but I think this will really work Marine."
It had been a few days since Tails met Wave's dad. After mulling it over for a few days, Tails ultimately decided to try everything he could before raising the white handkerchief.
"So you think this'll work, eh? Thank you for trusting my abilities!" She leaned on the Sonar machine and smacked it a couple times, proud of her work. While Tails had been moping away, Marine worked on a sonar machine Tails could use. She herself was of the mindset that even if Tails decided against using it, it would have been good practice.
"I trust you to follow my instructions well with your own ideas." Tails smiled, slapping his own creation in response. The Tornado was back to its original, handsome form. Tails sighed, happy to know that his most prized possession was no longer broken down and dysfunctional.
"So, now we only need to add the sonar onto the plane and then finish up the programming, right?" Marine lifted the machine up by bending her knees and placed it on the hood of the Tornado.
"Yes, I have written out the instructions for the basic stuff, but I'm sure you can help me, right?" He handed her a sheet of paper he had typed out. That was another thing he learned. Typing was much better at conveying information. Autocorrect doing its job for once.
"Piece of cake, luv. Why don't you let me do this while you take a break?" Marine's Downunda accent slipped again, causing a slight smirk to appear on the fox's face. "Sure thing, mate." He teased, leaving the workshop with his umbrella.
Tails made his way towards the kitchen, preparing himself a cup of coffee with the coffee machine he got as a gift from Vanilla a couple days ago. After a very unsettling accident that involved a teapot, a boiling cup of tea, and a mess on his precious robe.
"Hey, Tails?"
"Gah!"
"Oh, sorry."
Tails dropped his coffee mug after he was caught off guard by Knuckles greeting him.
"I just washed this after I got into a mess with it…" Tails pouted, taking the robe off and placing it on a chair near the kitchen table.
"Sorry about that. Is it hot?" The red echidna grabbed a handful of napkins and handed it to Tails.
"It's fine. I just… Ugh. What are you doing here anyway?"
"I got a message from Silver and Blaze. They found out a way to turn their war around."
"That's excellent, but what do they want from me?" Tails said as he finished wiping his fur and tossed the napkins in the wastebasket.
"Well, you see, they don't have a way back to the mainland. Bygone Island doesn't really have a boat that goes to the mainland, and the ship that comes from the mainland only visits once a month to make trades. They're going to have to wait three weeks to come back, and they really don't want to waste time like that on an island full of idiots." Knuckles crossed his arms and huffed.
"Don't be rude, Knuckles."
"No, seriously. It was in the news about a month ago. The well they use in Bygone Island was contaminated with lead. Haven't you heard about it?"
"I've thrown my television away a long time ago, don't you remember?"
"Right... Anyways, they would really like for you to offer them a ride back with the Tornado. Have you made any progress on flying in your current condition?"
Tails stayed silent, grabbing his left arm with his other arm and looking away. He really wasn't ready, but his friends needed him. "I… I'm not really ready yet."
"Can't Sonic fly a plane?"
"He used to be able to, but he hasn't flown one in so long that I doubt that he will be able to. And especially something as complicated as the Tornado-1... Wait a minute, you can fly a plane, can't you?" Tails pointed towards the guardian in an accusing tone. "You even have an earlier model of the Tornado!"
"Yeah er… I broke it. Well, to be honest, I crashed it while flying it around and I haven't asked you to fix it since. You being so busy and all..." Knuckles blushed slightly and scratched the back of his head in shame. "I had to carry it all the way to my garage."
"Knuckles, you know there are other mechanics out there in the world, right?"
"Well, I don't have a lot of money. Besides, Eggman's been quiet for quite some time now, and I haven't really had a need to go back to the island.
"Well, that's fine. I have several more versions of the Tornado in my underground that you can use, or you can use my current plane!"
"Tails, I can't even think of flying your plane. The plane you made for me was to be as beginner friendly as possible. Besides, Angel Island is a thirty minute flight from here, and Bygone Island is more than a six hour flight. I'm not ready for that kind of stuff!"
Tails had to think deep and hard for this. On one hand, this was a perfect opportunity to show that he was still capable. But on the other hand, this was a very important matter for Silver and Blaze, and failing would be a great detriment for them.
Even still, he needed to do this. He needed to prove to himself that he could fly and that he wouldn't be a burden nor a waste to his friends. He needed to prove that he was useful.
"Tell them that I'll be there in a week. I'll need some time, okay?"
"Silver wanted me to tell you that he misses your couch."
"Fuck that time traveling bastard."
Another short chapter, but I really want to get something out. I've been spending a lot of time thinking of the details of this story since the main framework and skeleton was planned out since the beginning. I have a pretty good idea of how this entire story will unfold, and I predict that there will be 4 chapters? Just a guess, but I think it will be something like that.