Chapter 3 – Thinking – by MTP
Tails lay awake in bed. He was staring at the ceiling hard as if he could burn a hole in it with his gaze. Sonic and himself had made it back to Knothole without being seen but news of the explosion had already reached the village. Sonic and himself had decided to split up and enter the village at different times from different direction so as to not arouse suspicion. A number of people had asked him where he had been and he had quickly come up with the excuse of going for a walk. He still couldn't believe how lame it must have sounded. A giant explosion rocks Robotropolis and Tails was out 'having a walk'. Yeah that's really going to hold.
Tails shook his head and sat up in bed. He needed to get out and think. Slipping on his shoes he walked over to the door of his hut and exited into the village. It was very dark now and a number of lanterns had been lit around the place. Tails could hear faint voices coming from the other side of the village where the campfire was located.
"Must be having a meeting." Said Tails quietly to himself.
Tails looked away and began to walk through the village. Apart from the noise behind him the village was still and quiet. It hadn't been earlier today though. Tails remembered the scene. The village had been in a total uproar. Sally had been marching around giving everyone, especially Sonic and himself, very evil looks. She had been very upset. Sonic had looked very upset too. Tails knew he was having a hard time. When King Acorn had banned Sally from having a relationship with him, Sonic had been very upset. Sally too for that matter.
Tails kicked down with his feet and spun his tails gaining enough lift to let him hover above the ground. He was still tired from rescuing Sonic earlier and couldn't fly very high but still he was able to hover a little. He sighed.
"Why did we do that? What was I thinking? I should have just told Sally instead of demanding to go with him. We could be in serious trouble now if anyone finds out. And what was it all for? Sonic said he didn't find any signs of diamond glass while he was looking round. Uuuuuuuh."
He flew on through the village not paying much attention to anything. He was paying so little attention he almost….
"ARGH!"
Tails quickly flew to the side as he almost collided with a large building. He lost his hover and landed with a thud on the ground. He looked up to see that the building was the Tornado's hanger. He pulled himself to his feet and smiled.
"Of all the places I could end up." He said to himself.
He opened the door to the hanger and walked in. He fumbled for a moment to find the light switch and then flicked it. The Tornado stood in the middle of the hanger as it always did. Tails walked over to it and smiled. Something Sonic had said earlier came back to him.
"Are you a total idiot? How the crazy hell are you supposed to get out of Knothole unnoticed in that thing? The noise will wake up half the town!"
Tails laughed. He had been right about that but not about anything else really. Tails thought for a moment. Why not? He thought to himself. I'll probably get in enough trouble over the latest incident when they find out anyway.
He turned quickly and flung open the doors to the hanger. He stopped dead. Standing there not more than ten feet away in the middle of the runway was Sally. She had her arms crossed and was staring at him with a slightly inquisitive expression.
"Going somewhere Tails?" she said slowly.
Tails could only stand there. Damn! Now I'm in for it!
"I saw you hovering through the village from my hut." Continued Sally, "It seems my predictions were right again."
"What…..what do you mean Aunt Sally?" asked Tails slowly still rooted to the spot.
"It was you and Sonic that caused that explosion in Robotropolis wasn't it?" replied Sally.
Tails gulped hard. How did she know?
"What makes you think that Sally?" he asked as innocently as he could.
"Come on Tails. Don't play me for dumb here." Answered Sally with a laugh, "Everyone is in Knothole apart from you and Sonic when a mysterious explosion rocks the city. You just happen to appears again saying you went out for a walk…and now I find you here, sneaking out in the Tornado."
Sally put her hands on her hips and raised her head slightly in a victorious type of way. Tails almost fell to pieces and confessed everything right then but he caught himself.
"I…..I don't know what you're talking about." He replied nervously.
"Of course you don't and neither do I."
Tails blinked. Had he heard that right?
"What do you mean?" asked Tails.
"Look Tails. There is no hope in trying to hide the facts. I KNOW it was you and Sonic in Robotropolis. I don't care what you were doing there, it doesn't bother me. What does is what you did while you were there. You could be facing some serious trouble."
"But Sonic had no choice!" cried Tails, "It was the only……"
Tails stopped. What was he doing?! He had just…
"So it was you in Robotropolis. I knew it." Said Sally with a wry smile.
"Oh god Sally! I'm sorry!" cracked Tails, "I didn't mean for it to happen. We were just…."
Sally stepped forwards and put a finger to Tails lips. Tails stopped.
"Tails listen to me. I know what you did. And I'm sure it was only a last resort type of action. I don't want to see you get into trouble. If you or Sonic were punished for this I would feel terrible."
Sally stopped and let out a sigh before continuing.
"That's why I'm not going to report it." She finished.
"You're….you're not?" said Tails his voice shaking slightly.
"No. I don't agree with what you did, but I'm sure you regret it now and won't do it again. Punishing either of you would only result in something very unsavory happening and I don't want that."
Sally smiled at him. Tails feel his spirits lift slightly. Sally had always been good to him. He closed his eyes and sighed.
"Thank you Sally." He said.
"Don't think anything of it. I'll put it down to a freak accident of some sort in the report. Don't worry about it. Now where were you going in that thing?" said Sally motioning towards the Tornado.
"I don't know." Replied Tails honestly, "It was a spur of the moment thing I guess."
"Well if you still want to go out, I'll give you PERMISSION to do so. But if you do I want you back by tomorrow afternoon."
Tails thought for a moment. Did he really want to take the Tornado out or was it just a spur of the moment thing like he had said. Then again, the prospect of not having to try and convince everyone of his fake innocence tomorrow morning was appealing. He mulled the choice over for a few seconds longer and then nodded. He looked up at Sally/
"I'd like to go out." He said.
"Very well Tails. Where?" replied Sally.
Tails blinked. That was a good point. Places flashed through his head for a second.
"The Floating Island." He said quickly grabbing at a place to go.
"Ok then. You be sure to be back by tomorrow afternoon, ok."
"Ok Aunt Sally."
Sally smiled and bent over him. She planted a kiss on his nose, smiled again and walked off. Tails watched her leave and then rubbed his nose. It was funny how old habits seemed to stick around no matter what. Tails calling Sally 'Aunt Sally' was one and the 'funny' kiss, as Tails used to refer to it, was another. He giggled slightly and turned back to the hanger. He removed his flying goggles from a draw and spent a few minutes checking the Tornado over to make sure she was ready. When he was satisfied he removed the chocks securing the undercarriage and climbed into the cockpit. Again he spent a while checking gauges and dials and them pressed a small red button on the console. There was a dull hum and then a splutter. The engine started with a roar and Tails gently taxied the plane out onto the runway. Tails was sure that everyone in Knothole would be awake now so he had to be quick. He lined up for takeoff and increased the throttle. The Tornado started to move forwards, quickly gaining speed until there was enough lift to pull the plane into the air. Tails pulled back and the plane rose steadily away from Knothole. He looked back to see the whole village lit up with light. Everyone was definitely awake now. Tails looked back to the sky and banked the Tornado towards the Floating Island.
If there was one thing that annoyed Tails, apart from a lack of mint candy in the cupboards, was things that changed without telling anyone. The Floating Island was a prime example. It didn't change, it just moved around and finding it was sometimes a real pain! Tails scanned the horizon pondering over where it could possibly be. He knew it was around here somewhere, but where? He had already spent a few hours looking for it and he was beginning to feel tired now. His head was nodding on his shoulder slightly when he finally saw something sticking out of a cloud. It was fairly large and looked solid. Tails banked the plane to get a better look and a smile spread across his face.
"Trust the island to be shrouded in cloud! Oh well sometimes things just don't go your way."
He turned towards the island and started to drop. This will certainly be a surprise for Knuckles and co.
