Sonic and Tails: An Origin Story
by milesprower06
Right Time, Right Color
"No, no, please don't! Leave it alone, you guys!"
The twin-tailed fox struggled against the pair of arms holding him several feet away from where another two students were laughing at him as they mock swung an iron bar at his science fair submission which they had set down on a nearby boulder.
Having grown tired of their teasing, the bully holding the bar raised it above his head and swung it down hard towards his portable cartographer.
"No don't!"
The metal rod shattered the glass dome, and bent the aluminum casing inward towards the center.
Weeks of work, gone in an instant.
The older monkey holding him back finally released his arms and shoved him down to the dirt, and the three of them laughed as they started to walk away.
"What a nerd. I betcha he's gonna turn out just like that Eggman tyrant."
"Good luck at the science fair now, freak."
Another round of laughter let the fox know that they had lost interest in him and had started down the path back towards the school.
Miles Prower slowly got to his feet, brushing off the dirt from his gloves and knees, and slowly stepped towards the boulder which held the remains of his science project. A lump grew in his throat as he took the two broken pieces of the device into his hands, turning in the opposite direction the bullies had gone, and began to walk away from town, and away from the science fair, deeper into the forest. He fought back tears as he looked down at the non-functional remains of his cartographer. It was supposed to provide hours worth of periodic pulses which would provide topographic data for the surrounding area. It would make archaeology and distant nature hikes much less risky.
Now, it was basically scrap. There would be no repairing it, he'd have to start all over.
Hot tears threatened the corners of his eyes as he continued walking, trying his best to just let the rising anger vent away. As much as he wanted to get back at his tormentors, the last thing he wanted to do was prove them right.
But it honestly made him wonder if this Doctor Eggman that had been terrorizing Mobius with his machines for some time now hadn't gone through something very similar when he was younger.
Miles lowered his arms as he stopped cradling the device pieces front and center, holding them carefully in each hand at his sides so he wouldn't accidentally cut himself. He wasn't sure how long he had been walking, but his ears perked up when he heard... Footsteps?
Very, very rapid footsteps.
When he turned his head towards the source of the noise on the main path, the impossibly fast footsteps had stopped. Looking through the trees and shrubbery, he squinted his eyes to get a glimpse of a blue hedgehog. Wearing white gloves and red sneakers, he took a quick glance around, and sniffed the air for a moment. Then, with a smile, he leaned forward, and was off like a shot down the path.
Miles' mouth dropped open, along with his hands, dropping the remains of his past month's work into the dirt at his feet.
"Wow..." He said, awestruck at what he had just seen. The hedgehog had already vanished over the next hill. The fox stepped through the trees and shrubs onto the path, and saw the impossibly fast shoe prints in the dirt path. Looking down the path at the trail this hedgehog had left, he found his tears drying, and his broken cartographer beginning to slip into the back of his mind. Right now, he was enamored with this insanely fast blue creature, and with his plans for the day scrapped, he began to jog down the path, following the footsteps through the forest.
By his best guess, he had gone about a mile and a half before the forest had started to thin out. Climbing the final hill, he saw that the treeline stopped suddenly, and beyond the last bit of shrubbery lay a pristine sandy beach, with the endless expanse of ocean beyond.
The blue hedgehog's footprints had vanished when they had reached the sand, but there, in the middle of the beach, was a red biplane.
"Oh, wow!" Miles exclaimed, running towards the aircraft. He had seen one in a museum a couple years ago, but had never been close. He had spent the next several weeks reading as much as he could about planes and flying.
As he stepped up to the plane, he saw that it had been landed on an area of sandstone, before it gave way to much more course sand down closer to the water. It looked in relatively good condition. Well, except for the red paint, which looked worn and chipped all over the fuselage. It was supposed by a pair of sturdy landing wheels in front, and a single rear wheel down by the tail. He stepped up to the left side of the plane, and grabbing the handholds and footholds, he climbed up to get a look at the cockpit. Peering inside, he saw a worn leather seat, and marveled at the radar and all the dials and knobs on the dashboard.
"Wow! This thing looks fast! What does it look like inside?" He asked. He stretched a leg over and got good footing on the bottom left wing, stepping over and finding the handle to lift open the engine compartment.
When he pulled, it popped open, and he was immediately enveloped in a cloud of dust. Coughing, he waved the dust away, and saw that while it looked in good condition on the outside, there were definitely things to do inside.
Maybe there were some tools in the cargo compartment...
After doing at least a lap around the forest and beach, Sonic finally felt his stomach begin to rumble. He had been out here for most of the morning and afternoon, so now it was time to think about eating. But it was probably a good idea to run by the Tornado and grab his bag. Restaurants didn't run on charity, after all.
Running down the coastline back to where he had landed, he skidded to a halt a good fifty meters away from the Tornado, being able to tell from this distance that something was off. Sure enough, quietly walking closer, he saw that his trusty plane was a little more than half blue now, and spotted the fox, standing on the left lower wing, paintbrush in hand, continuing to paint over the original color.
"What do you think you're doing?" He called, not shocked or angry, but definitely curious and announcing his presence. The fox's ears perked up as he turned to look who had interrupted his painting, and his eyes widened, and he immediately returned the brush to the bucket sitting next to him on the wing, and slid off, planting his feet on the ground, and rubbed his head nervously.
"Sorry. I was checking out your plane and I noticed how much work it needed. Your transmission should be a lot smoother now. I hope you don't mind." The fox apologized.
If this little guy had time to run back to town for a can of paint, he must have been out here since late morning. The hedgehog gave a curt nod.
"I see you're making the color better, too." He replied with a smile.
The fox's face lit up excitedly.
"Come and see what else I did!"
"So you've been out here all day working on my plane, huh? You want anything, kid?" The hedgehog asked.
"Well, no. I was going to science fair today, but some classmates broke my entry. I saw you zoom through the forest, and decided to see where you were going. Then I saw your plane out here and decided to look at it. I've read all about them, but I've never actually touched or worked on one."
Sonic nodded at him before hopping effortlessly up into the cockpit, flipping a switch, and the engine started up. He stared at the dials for a few seconds, before hitting another switch, and the engine cut off, slowly droning out.
"First day near a plane, huh?" The hedgehog asked, looking down at the fox. "Could've fooled me. I don't think I've ever heard this thing start up so smoothly." He said with a smile, hopping out of the cockpit back down next to the fox. "What's your name, kid?"
"Miles. Miles Prower. But, most of my classmates call me Tails."
"I'm Sonic."
"Ah, so that's not the name of the plane, then."
Sonic shook his head.
"She's the Tornado. Nice job working on her, Tails. If you've been out here all this time, you've probably worked up an appetite. What do you say I go grab lunch while you finish up the paint job?"
Tails gave a smile, and for the first time since coming out here, indeed realized how hungry he was.
"Sure thing!"
Tails hopped back on the wing next to the can of paint, watching Sonic zoom back up to the forest, quickly vanishing through the treeline towards town.
"He's so cool..." Tails said to himself as he grabbed his paint-covered brush again, and continued work on the left wing.