Chapter 3: X Tornadoes for Dummies!
"Alright Akuma, let's get this thing out of here." I told my chao as we stood in front of the master emerald altar on Angel Island.
I pulled the four chaos emeralds I already had out of my pocket and laid them on the ground.
"Now I'll have to find the other three chaos emeralds but getting the master emerald puts a major headache behind us." I spoke aloud. "Let's go."
I picked up the emeralds again and used them to chaos control the Master Emerald, Akuma, and myself off Angel Island.
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"Is everybody ready?" Tails asked us as we stood in front of the closed hangar entrance.
"Yep. The suspense is killing me." I said, with a little sarcasm.
"Alright, check it out!" Tails pushed a button, and the door slowly eased open. I was speechless as I saw what was inside.
"Oh my God Tails! Where did you get all those planes!?!" Rouge was shocked to say the least.
"I've been working on them for a while. I've had some extra money and plenty of spare time." He explained.
"That's great Tails, but why do you need five more planes?" Amy asked.
"I don't." He smiled mischievously. "They aren't for me. There's one here for everybody."
"You mean we each get a plane?!!" I walked up to the nearest one and examined it more closely.
"Yep," Tails told us. "Now we can have practically an entire fleet if we ever have to fight Eggman or anyone else again."
"But Tails, I don't know how to fly." Cream sounded a little depressed.
"That shouldn't be a problem everybody." Tails continued. "I designed the controls with you guys in mind. There's just a joystick that you push forward to go down and pull back to go up. The green button is for your basic laser fire while the red and grey buttons fire different types of missiles. It's set up pretty much like a video game controller."
"Wow, this is so cool!" Amy had already climbed into the cockpit of a plane and was checking it out.
"Are all the planes the same?" I asked him, looking over the wings.
"Pretty much, I just personalized each of them with a little emblem, like yours Sonic." He pointed at the dark blue quilled hedgehog head painted on the wing.
"It's just for a little individual touch I added on all of them." Tails added.
"This is so amazing Tails, thank you so much!" Cream hugged Tails lightly, but I could see him blushing anyway.
"Yea Tails, this is the best thing you've ever come up with." Knuckles added, hopping into his plane.
"And don't worry about having to bring it back here guys. If you want to keep yours on Angel Island or wherever, it's fine by me. I'll be glad to have the space back." Tails told us.
"What do they run on?" I asked him.
I only inquired about it only because I'm not a machine person.
"Just one of those 'fake' chaos emeralds I made a while back. There's one in each plane and a back up supply generator so it should be good for a while. Besides, there is a gauge to monitor it on your display."
"Well Tails, you've done it again buddy." I shook my head in amazement.
Five planes! I mean come on! Five freakin' planes!
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I saw Cream wave to me and smile as she carefully rolled her plane out of the hangar. Knuckles was close behind her, looking annoyed at how cautiously she was driving.
"Shoooooommm!" I felt some of the wind created as both Cream and Knuckles took off quickly, heading toward the canyons.
"Hey Tails, I can't say how awesome this is." Sonic told me as he and Amy walked outside the hangar.
"Yea, I hope you don't mind, but Amy and I will stick to driving for now." He laughed as they headed back toward Station Square.
"You guys need a ride?" I offered them.
They looked at each other for a minute but didn't speak.
"Nah, we'll just take the bullet train. Thanks though." Sonic told me as they darted off toward the station not far from here.
I waved to them and checked the radar, seeing Knuckles' and Cream's planes still heading through the sky.
"You're truly the best fox boy! You'll have to give me some flying lessons sometime." Rouge jumped down from her plane and hugged me jokingly.
"You're crazy Rouge." I told her, still feeling a little shy as close as she was to me.
"I know it fox boy. I know it."
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"This is Cream to Shadow, over." She was calling again.
"Go ahead Cream." I replied.
"This is amazing Shadow. The big surprise was that Tails built a Tornado modeled jet for each of us. Knuckles and I are flying both of ours back to Angel Island right now."
"What?! He just gave you two planes?!" I jumped up, I was so startled by what she was telling me.
"Yep, and Tails said we could keep them on the island if we want." Cream explained.
"So he doesn't suspect anything?" I asked wearily.
"Not at all. Plus, I know he's got at least one of the other chaos emeralds, but I'll deal with that later."
"That's perfect Cream, I'll meet you and Knuckles at Angel Island in a few minutes." I terminated the radio connection, completely thrilled and intrigued by my good luck.
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"So Amy, got anything special planned for tonight?" Sonic slyly asked me as we were eating inside the local deli shop looking out the window at a somewhat tranquil Station Square street.
"No, not really." I sighed a little as I looked at my half finished turkey sandwich.
"Well we've got to find something to do." Sonic sounded unconcerned as he took another bite.
I laughed a little sheepishly.
"Sonic, there is something we could do, but I don't know how much fun you'd think it is." I told him.
He gave me a slightly annoyed look.
"I hope I'm not making him feel bad when I say stuff like that." I thought nervously.
"I'm sorry Sonic, I just worry you're gonna find the stuff I want to do boring and run off without me." I looked at him with a pitiful acknowledging smile, fully realizing how pathetic I sounded, but it really did concern me, you know?
"Amy, spending time with you isn't something I would want to run away from." He told me, nonchalantly laying his hand on top of mine.
"Even something as simple as this, just having a sandwich together and talking, is time well spent." He gave me a genuine smile.
I felt much better as we finished our meal and got up to leave the restaurant.
"So, what is this place we're going to?" Sonic asked me as we began crossing the street with some other pedestrians. It was still pretty early in the evening, about 5 o'clock.
"It's a challenge course. And I'm not quite sure what that is exactly, but it's an entertainment park that employs some kind of new technology and capabilities to create a unique environment for running, jumping, and flying course challenges." I pulled out the brochure I just happened to bring with me in my purse.
I glanced at Sonic quickly, noticing his eyes roll slightly. He must have been wondering why but was not completely surprised that I had a brochure.
"Where is this place?" He looked confused as I handed him the leaflet.
"It's over there near the C2, that new Chao Garden center." I explained. "But I haven't been over to that side of town in a couple of weeks."
"We'll probably run into Cream there." Sonic mentioned.
"Yea." I laughed.
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"Cream, this is amazing." I held my hand up to the side of one of the fighter planes now in our unsuspecting possession.
"Yea, I know." Cream told him, grinning slightly.
"Most of the hard work is done now. Especially with the protection the Master Emerald provided for the chaos emeralds neutralized." I informed her as I held four of the chaos emeralds in my hands.
"Now I just need two more souls in that necklace and the other three emeralds." I thought, barely able to contain myself.
"Do we need to use these planes now?" Cream suggested, pointing to herself and Knuckles.
"No, I mean unless you really think you need them. I think you can take care of Tails without them though, right?" I asked her, trying to get her to realize fighting Tails in a plane is not a good idea.
She nodded in agreement as she briefly touched the glowing pendant just below her neck.
"And Cream, bring Tails here if you can before you take his burdensome soul away, ok? I want to be here and watch you in action. Plus a little back-up never hurt."
She looked at me suspiciously.
"Don't worry Cream. We won't be in sight while you have your guest over unless you need us."
"I'll get right on it." She accepted my instructions as I motioned for Knuckles to approach and I began orchestrating other plans I had in store for them.
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"Welcome to C2!" A young girl in a black and white dress said as we stepped inside the sliding doors.
Amy and I both smiled and bowed slightly in greeting.
"We'd like to two.......whatever it is you do.......here." Amy and I looked at each other with confusing smiles and nodded in unison at the girl.
"Very good. Don't feel bad. This is a very unique center. One of the first of its kind."
"What exactly do we do.....here?" I asked her as she motioned for us to follow.
"Using advanced technology and the everyday expanding engineering capabilities of our design team, we have developed an eight-mile long tunnel that begins here, goes beneath the ocean and resurfaces at the entrance to the C2 chao garden. This race course will provide you and your partner with a unique experience of physical exertion and mental prowess."
Amy and I exchanged another confused glance.
"You're time will be tracked and if you like can be posted to compete against the rest of our visitors." The girl told us as we reached the enormous clear hard plastic tube.
"Also, you must complete all obstacles or your time will be disqualified." The girl cautioned.
"But the main thing is to have fun! And don't forget to check out the famous chao gardens when you're done. Press the green button to start."
The girl quickly stepped out and the tube sealed itself.
Amy and I both looked out and saw the tube disappear into the ocean.
"Hey Sonic, what do you think those spheres are down there?" Amy pointed at the first part of the course where it dropped steeply.
All along the middle and sides of the tube where tons of tiny, different colored solid spheres.
"Don't forget, collect as many of the power spheres and string together as many as you can to increase your overall score. The clock stops when both players have crossed the finish line." A tiny monitor told us. "Your time will begin in 5....4..."
"You ready Amy?" I said, extending a hand to her.
"Yea!"
"2.....1....GO!"
Amy and I took off down the incredibly steep ramp, zipping through the colored spheres as fast as we could. We weren't building up a lot of speed because the course had many sharp turns and angles that we had to pay attention to.
"Sonic look!" Amy pointed in the air ahead as we continued to run through a thankfully straight stretch of path.
A large, hexagon shaped portal seemed to be hovering there.
"Do you think it's one of those obstacles we have to complete?" I asked, slowing down slightly, not wanting to miss it.
"Yea, I guess so." She replied, slowing down as well.
"Well how are we gonna both get through it?" I asked her.
"Use our hammer!" Amy said, getting a running start and pounding her hammer into the ground, sending her flying into the air and through the portal that launched her forward.
"But Amy!" I yelled from behind her now. "How am I gonna get up that high?!?!"
"Just try it Sonic!" Amy winked from ahead and pointed behind me.
I suspiciously looked behind me to see a blue hammer with deep yellow colored stars and an earth tone colored handle lying innocently enough on the ground.
"What the hell....." I shook my head in disbelief and laughter as I picked it up and launched myself into the air.
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"Tails, thanks for letting me hang out over here this afternoon. And thanks again for the plane. This is just.....I mean.....I'll have to re-pay you for this one day." Rouge winked as she got up from the couch.
We were just watching the news, but my mouth dropped open a little and I looked at her strangely.
"Why'd you call me Tails?" I tried kidding around with her, but it did sound quite strange to my ears.
"Well that is your name, isn't it?" She looked at me and put her hands on my shoulders.
My eyes widened a little as she moved closer and kissed me on the lips quickly and pulled away.
I couldn't.......think. I saw her grin a little and walk toward the door. She opened it and stepped outside.
"Bye....Tails." She laughed again as got in her car and started to drive off.
I stumbled back over to the couch and collapsed. Wow..............
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"I think.......hah.........hah...........we're doin'........hah.......pretty good." Amy said as we were stopped, looking at another of these annoying obstacles. There were a series of fast moving bars that closed in on each other and pulled apart but were moving very fast.
"Amy......hah......" I took a few deep breaths. "I gotta ask you, where the hell did this hammer come from?" I couldn't stop grinning as I held the thing in front of me.
"Just a little trick. Do you like it?" She asked me, nudging me a little.
"Yea, this thing kicks serious butt!" I pounded the ground, still enjoying my new toy.
Suddenly, a tiny blue chao appeared and had an angry look on his face, but it was hard to take him seriously.
"Please do not break the plastic. Chao! If you did, water would flow in and you might down. Chao! You don't want to drown! Chao!"
I put the hammer away and returned to the puzzle in front of us. I figured I could dash through the maze quickly, but Amy might be another story. Then, I got a great idea. Amy helped me before, so it's only fitting I return the favor.
"Amy, can you curl up into a ball?" I asked her, never having seen her do it before.
"Of course." She looked at me oddly.
"Well, I need you to jump and curl into a ball. I'll catch you and then let you go, blasting both of us ahead." I tried to sound like I knew for sure this would work.
She smiled, looking like she was having fun as she leaped into the air and curled up into a slightly spinning pink ball. I caught her in my arms and after the walls had opened up again, began running and launched Amy ahead.
We made it through the gap easily.
Amy and I both continued through our speed burst, trying to out do each other. I kicked it up a notch and got a few feet in front of her and she tried with all her fight to catch me. Little did I know, we were running out of real estate!
I had become to preoccupied with the end of the path and felt a soft hand wrap around my stomach as Amy's momentum caused both of us to tumble across the finish line and onto the floor.
"Gotcha!" She said simply as we caught our breath, still lying on the ground.
"Congratulations!" I told her as I laid slightly on top of her, looking into her somewhat tired but excited green eyes.
I glanced around to make sure no one was watching before I moved in and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.
We pulled away after a few seconds and looked at each other, blushing slightly.
Amy tried start another kiss.
"Na-uh Amy! You gotta catch me again!" I toyed with her as I got off the ground quickly and ran into the Chao Gardens.
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I heard a few shorts knocks at my door as I propped myself up on the couch. I think I was still a little dazed and confused.
"Hey Cream?" I greeted her curiously, wondering what she was doing here now.
"Hey Tails!" She smiled at me sweetly. "I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out with me on Angel Island a little while Knuckles is gone."
"Knuckles left you alone on his island?" I was quite surprised to say the least.
She just shrugged and waited for my answer.
"Yea, that sounds good. Wanna ride over there in the X Tornado?" I suggested. I was really kind of tired of driving my car everywhere.
Piloting a plane has always been more fun.
"How did you get over here?" I asked her, looking for her mode of transportation.
"Flying, the old fashioned way." She pointed at her ears.
We both laughed a little at something only the two of us could joke about.
"Ready?" I asked her.
"Yep." She nodded happily.
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The evening sky was layered in streams of thick orange and red clouds with faint rays of yellow still piercing their way through the air. Tails and Cream hopped in the plane quickly and took off toward the setting sun and Angel Island.
Next time: Intense Aerial Battle! Cream vs. Tails
NOTE: The hammer Sonic got in this chapter and the 'plastic tube' course game he and Amy run through are based on Sonic Advance 3 and Sonic Heroes respectively. I just wanted to give credit where it's due. Hope you enjoy and any feedback, suggestions(such as do you think I need to put Tails' POV, etc. in each section), and comments are appreciated so much. Sayoonara!