Double Take
Sonic took a moment to appreciate the landscape around him. With a view like this, Tails' idea of living in a mountain range is really paying for itself. He reclined back in an old beach chair as he flicked on the radio sitting nearby. Too bad I had to build a whole other log cabin with its own power supply up here to realize that. Sonic continued these musings as he relaxed atop the rocky summit all while the radio quietly played contemporary pop music. Sure, we have to do supply runs every so often to keep things going, but it's nowhere near as bad as traveling constantly, especially when we still had to deal with- Sonic's train of thought was suddenly cut short by a voice interrupting the typical radio broadcast; a voice Sonic prayed he'd never hear again.
"Greetings people of Earth, this is Doctor Ivo Robotnik reporting to you live from Mars. Well, when I say live, I mean the six-minute delay between me sending out the signal and said signal reaching Earth, but I'll spare you the details." Sonic rose from his beach chair and turned up the radio's volume as he scanned the mountainous vista around him, this time with a sense of unease. "I know it's been a long time since my last caper" Robotnik continued. "But I assure you, I have been hard at work building something that I believe far exceeds the Death Egg. So, for those who are receiving this message via audio-visual communication, feast your eyes upon the War Egg!" Before Robotnik could get another word in, Sonic had switched the radio over to a direct line to Tails' workshop.
"Tails? Do you copy?" Sonic called into a microphone hooked up to the old ham radio. It was only a moment before he heard the young fox's voice.
"I read you loud and clear, Sonic." Tails tried sounding calm, but Sonic knew he was in shock.
"I take it you're seeing Eggman's little broadcast."
"Y-yeah." Tails' voice trembled a bit before taking a deep breath.
"Can you tell me what it looks like?" Sonic asked, his eyes still darting about for any sign of danger.
"It's massive, practically the whole planet has been weaponized. How do we stand a chance against this?"
"Tails, listen to me. You're a smart cookie, you must have some idea of how we can stop it."
"Well, we know he doesn't have the emeralds since they're here in the shop; the only other way Eggman could be powering that thing would be..." Tails trailed off for a few seconds. "Sonic, how soon can you get here? I just thought of a way to stop the War Egg."
"Well, these mountains are gonna slow me down a lot, so I'll guess an hour or two." Sonic leaped out of his chair and began stretching his legs and making sure his shoes were secured to his feet.
"Alright, that's plenty of time to get the equipment ready. See you soon." By this point, Sonic was already speeding down the mountain; quickly yet carefully descending the craggy stones. In about fifteen seconds, he had covered a thousand feet with roughly ten thousand between him and the mountain valley below. I don't have time for this. Sonic thought to himself. If I'm gonna save the world, I gotta take risks. Using the momentum he had gained thus far, he projected himself further and further away from the mountainside. Sonic chuckled to himself as he spiraled through the air towards the trees below. Even with the dire circumstances He was in now, the excitement and bliss of his past adventures came rushing back to him. I guess some things never change.