I don't own any of the characters in this story with the exception of Metal Tails. Be a good reader and R&R, but no flames please.
Stranded
Chapter 1
Vacation!
June 21
*~*~*
The sky glowed gold and pink as the sun started to show its face above the horizon. The water sparkled and gently trickled along towards a water mill. The low hum of a power generator gradually became louder, in the process waking a young orange fox. He rolled over on his bunk, trying to block out the sound of the generator, but to no avail. He finally gave up on the idea of further sleep. He sat up on his bed and looked over the workshop he had spent the night in. Sawdust covered the floor, tables, and almost everything else.
"Gee, I need to clean this place up," Tails said to himself. He glanced at his digital clock by his bunk. It read 5:52 a.m.
"Yikes!" Tails yelped, "I need to get outta here, or Sonic will be grouchy at me if I'm late!"
The fox jumped off his bunk and ran toward the plane hangar below the workshop. He spun his twin tails and flew to the cockpit of the Tornado 3, his newest plane. With the press of a button, the engines fired up. The plane started down the runway, gathering speed every second until it finally lifted off the ground. Tails turned the plane to the south and zoomed off toward Station Square.
*~*~*
Sonic was at the beach at Station Square. He paced back and forth along the shore as the waves splashed around his feet. Tails was late, and Sonic was very irked.
Off in the distance, a small dot appeared, getting closer and louder by the second. A moment later, Sonic realized it was the Tornado 3. He leaped out of the way as it came to a smooth landing. The engine died down and Tails hopped out of the cockpit to greet Sonic. The hedgehog folded his arms across his chest, frowned, and tapped his foot.
"What kept you? I've been waiting for 30 minutes, I was about to go back to the hotel," Sonic said grumpily.
"Sorry, Sonic," Tails apologized. He was in good spirits and was grinning broadly. "My alarm didn't go off, so I slept in for about 20 minutes."
"How nice of you. Got anything to eat? I'm starving."
Tails reached into his backpack and pulled out a granola bar. He tossed it to Sonic, who snarfed it down. Then he ran toward the Tornado, leaped high in the air, and flipped onto the left wing.
"Let's ride, Tails!" Sonic said excitedly, "I've been waiting for this vacation for weeks!"
Once again, Tails flew into the cockpit, started the engines, and took off for Angel Island, where they would pick up Knuckles. He had been invited to go along on the vacation, too.
*~*~*
Knuckles was giving last-minute instructions for watching over the Master Emerald. Charmy, Mighty, Espio, and Vector were listening intently.
"...And I'm pretty sure I can count on you guys to keep the Emerald and the island safe, right?
"Got it covered, Red," said Mighty.
"Dude, you have a good time," said Vector. Just then, his eyes got big and round.
"I love this song!" he cried, referring to his Walkman. He began to dance around to the beat of the heavy metal music.
Charmy rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about a thing, Knuckles," he said.
A low roar was heard off in the distance. The Tornado came in for a landing along the coast of the Angel Island Zone. Sonic and Tails waved to the Chaotix as Knuckles grabbed a small bag and ran to the plane. He jumped up; Sonic grabbed his arm, and pulled Knuckles into the plane. Tails took off again and turned toward Westside Island.
"How long till we get there, Tails?" asked Sonic.
"Judging as how Westside Island is on the other side of the planet," said Tails, "We should be there in six or seven hours."
"How fast are we going?" asked Knuckles.
Tails was about to answer, but a loud BOOM! interrupted him momentarily. "We just passed Mach 1," he replied.
Moments passed in silence, as Sonic and Knuckles stared expectantly at each other. Sonic broke the silence.
"Did you bring anything to do?" he asked.
"Nope, did you?" Knuckles countered.
"Nope."
Tails grinned. They didn't know he had installed a few extra special features for long journey. He pressed a button on the control panel. He heard two simultaneous 'woahs' from the back. Tails chuckled.
In the back, Sonic and Knuckles were surrounded by gaming consoles: Genesis, 32X, Saturn, Dreamcast, Game Gear, Neo Geo Pocket Color, Game Cube, Game Boy Advance, and a computer. A gaming library was to the right of the computer and the left of the Genesis. Every Sonic game ever made was in the rack, along with a few extras, such as 'NiGHTS', Shining Force, and Samba De Amigo.
"Cool," murmured Sonic. He ran a finger down the rack to find the game he should play first. He finally decided to start with 'Sonic 1'. He put the cartridge into the Genesis and started playing. Knuckles had taken over the rack and was looking through the games. 'Knuckles Chaotix' caught his eye. He grabbed the cartridge, slid it into the 32X, and started playing, trying to figure out the controls.
Meanwhile, Sonic had gotten to the first boss of the Green Hill Zone. He laughed as he saw Robotnik panicking inside his plane when Sonic hit it. He cheered as he destroyed to plane and won the boss.
"Hey, Tails?" Sonic called.
"Yeah?" asked Tails.
"Where did you get the money to buy all this stuff?"
"I got some second-hand. When I was at home and bored I'd sometimes go over to Big's place and fix some appliances and stuff." Tails told Sonic.
(Authors' Note: Where did Big get appliances? The world may never know...J )
"Interesting way to earn some money," Sonic commented.
"It was either that or baby-sit Froggy," shrugged Tails.
Knuckles had gotten bored with 'Knuckles Chaotix' and was searching for another game. He grabbed 'Sonic R' and headed for the Saturn.
*~*~*
Three mechs were flying over Angel Island. They each landed softly on the Ice Cap, where most of the island was visible. Quietly and carefully, they scanned the island for their targets.
The dark blue mech's scan came up negative. The organisms were not on the island. The other mechs' scans had also come up negative. They fired their fusion engines and flew away to report to Robotnik.