Chapter 6 – Counterplan – by RedFox

The pair had a welcoming committee when they returned. If you could consider Sonic and Sally a welcoming committee. Tails was relieved to see that Sally was not looking too upset. Then he looked at his best friend.

Sonic's face seemed to show a mix of emotions. He looked angry, sad, and rejected at the same time. Tails dreaded talking to him, and wondered exactly why Sonic was so upset. Could he think that Tails had intentionally left him out of the trip?

As the Tornado pulled to a stop, Knuckles jumped off of the wing. "From now on, I'm gliding," he grumbled, rubbing his upper arms. "Hanging off the wing of a plane piloted by a twelve-year-old is not my style. No matter how talented he may be," he added quickly, nodding to Tails.

"Hey, blue boy, what's up?" Knuckles asked, walking over to Sonic with glove outstretched. Sonic merely stood there, stone still. It was impossible to tell even what he was looking at. "Okay, no need for friendliness or anything," the echidna said, visibly hurt.

"Er, Knux, how about we go meet everyone else?" Sally said with a smile. "Tails and Sonic haven't seen each other all day. I think that they need to talk. Alone."

Knuckles looked at the other two, nodded, and walked off with Sally.

Sonic gave a deep sigh and sat down on a stone. Tails did the same across from him. "So," Sonic said. "You don't need me for your little missions anymore."

"Dude, it's not like that."

"What led you to the Floating Island? What did you think that you'd find there?"

Tails paused. "I… suppose that I didn't really have a reason."

"To get away from me, perhaps?"

That shot stung Tails directly to the core. Then, in a wash of horror, he realized that it could be true. Hadn't Sonic been acting strangely lately? And wasn't it upsetting him to see his best friend constantly angry? Why had he found himself wandering towards that hangar instead of hanging out in some hut, having chili-dog scarfing contests with his pal?

"I – I just don't know, Tails. Is something wrong with you? Is there anything at all that you want to talk to me about? Because – you've almost never gone out without me before. Maybe twice, three times… and except for Downunda, you've always told me first. We don't need to go back into that, do we? C'mon, buddy. What's going on?"

Tails could think of a million things. Sonic acting strangely, the new threats to the safety of Mobius, the experiences in Robotropolis, and, worst, having exposed their "secret" about their own little mission to everyone else. Tails could get everything out now; the two of them could have a good, solid heart-to-heart, and everything would be vastly better.

Instead, he leapt in the air and flew away, back towards the town.

"Tails! Tails!" came the fading voice from behind him.

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Sally had called the meeting. Everyone was there: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Rotor, Amy, Mina, Antoine and Bunnie. The quoted meeting objective was to "discuss possible plans for further action in light of new information." Sonic referred to it as "finding a way to kick Robotnik's ass."

The first thing on the agenda was for Tails to report on what had happened on the Floating Island and what he had learned. Tails told everything in detail, and was pleased to see strong reactions from the crowd when he mentioned the return of the Fearsome Foursome and the plans for yet another mass robotizer protected by diamond glass. When he sat down, there was silence.

Sally was the first to speak. "Thank you, Tails. Would anyone like to speak on a possible option for what action we should take?"

Silence.

Crap, Tails thought.

"Well," Sally said, "here's a thought. If we have another raid on Robotropolis, then –"

"Oh, come on, not again!" Sonic blurted angrily.

"Sonic," Knuckles hissed, "you're out of order…"

"I really don't care. It seems like that's all that we ever do: raid Robotropolis, raid Robotropolis, raid Robotropolis. What do we ever gain?! What is it worth?! Don't you think that perhaps one of these days 'Buttnik's going to wisen up and be ready for us? What about what happened yesterday when Tails and I -"

Sonic stopped, realizing his huge mistake.

Sally smiled. "It's okay, Sonic, we already -" then also halted.

"You… know?"

"Well…"

"You told?!" Sonic almost screamed, turning on Tails, who was intentionally sitting across the room from him, but cringed anyhow. "I trusted you and you go and tell them?! You little -"

Instead of defending himself, however, or insisting that it wasn't his fault, Tails suddenly turned aggressive. "It was the right thing to do, okay?! I'm not going to suspend my morals for you like that. You almost got killed back there. You remember back in the day when the fighting was fiercer? You got away with a crazy lot of stuff back then, and you ended up actually getting knighted for it. Remember that? But listen, "pal". This planet needs you right about now, and I am not going to let you get yourself killed for whatever reason. You know why? Because I'm your friend, damnit!"

By now Sonic was standing and was looking as if he was actually about to physically attack the kit, who himself was now also on his feet and breathing hard. Everyone else was silent. Then Sonic just collapsed, head in his arms, and began sobbing. Tails had only seen his hero cry once before, and slowly sat down, while Sally walked over to comfort the hedgehog.

Rotor spoke. "Yes, it's an old idea. But I think that Sally has a point here. Diamond glass is the hardest substance known to man or Mobian, so if Robotnik is using it, the best that we can do is to keep him from getting the emerald. However, it would be good to find out as much about this as possible.

"I know zat I am not much for military strategy," Antoine added, "like my father was. However I have a proposal. If we split into two groups, one can go to ze Floating Island to help to guard ze emerald, while the other can perform zis raid."

Nobody had any objections, because nobody had any better ideas. The meeting dispersed in a disorderly fashion, and the exchange between Tails and Sonic was on everyone's mind.

Tails himself walked home instead of flying. As he walked, he wondered: Is Sonic losing it? And then the second question: Am I?