Chapter 6: Clipped Wings

March 12th, 2314 – 2:15 PM – Outskirts of Mor, Zeraw

Sonic guessed they had managed to escape Robotnik and his own private unit of soldiers, because after they had run through that second shop (which had been a clothing store) Robotnik's soldiers had stopped pursuing. The laser wound in his leg had been like fire at first, but now the pain was dulling since he was starting to get used to it. Still, he was in no shape to fight Robotnik with his bad leg. It would be a stupid idea to go back and try to take his revenge now. He'd changed his mind about wanting to fight at this time.

Live today...fight tomorrow... I'll get another shot at him later. I'll just have to wait. Next time though, I will be ready, and I won't be so careless. Robotnik, don't you worry...I will be back for you.

Gradually, the tall skyscrapers gave way to quaint country houses, and the city streets choked with debris and buildings gave way to quiet back roads lined by fields of grass and trees. None of Robotnik's forces seemed to have bothered to come out this far, so it was a definite improvement over the city.

However, it wasn't all great to be leaving Mor. Since this was the Land of Darkness, it was dark here all the time. Thus, the further they moved away from the lights of the city, the darker it got. It felt like it was midnight, when in reality it was only two hours past noon. Sonic could almost imagine the red eyes of Robotnik's soldiers watching him from the shadows, even though it had been a while since the last time they had seen one of them. Also, even without soldiers, every step was a tremendous effort on Sonic's part with his laser injury.

At long last, the field where they had left the Tornado emerged into view as they rounded a bend in the road. Sonic prayed that nothing had happened to the Tornado, and that it was still there. If it wasn't, they'd have to walk from here on out, and that was gonna be a real pain in the ass with his busted up leg. As they stepped off of the pavement and onto the grass, Sonic felt himself sweating more, afraid that when they got to where they had left the Tornado hidden in the trees, it wouldn't be there anymore, or it would have been blown into a smoking crater or something. Neither of those outcomes would be much of a surprise, with their recent string of luck.

Thankfully, the Tornado was pretty much exactly how they had left it, in good condition. While Sonic rested on a rock and held a hand to the bandage over his injury, Tails stripped all the branches off of the plane as fast as he could. Neither of them said a word. Sonic noticed this, and he decided to break the silence.

"Tails?" Sonic said.

"What is it Sonic?" Tails said as he worked.

"I'm impressed with you."

Tails turned around to face him, with a surprised look on his face.

"Why?"

"Remember a few days ago, when we were fighting off the gunmen who were trying to kill Carrie?"

"Yeah...they were scary."

"Not really, but I noticed you never helped me take them down. You just kind of hid in the back before."

"I didn't want to die. I'm too scared of fighting and getting hurt to save people. I wanted to hide."

"But you did save my life today. I could have never gotten away from Robotnik without your help. You said that Robotnik was the scariest person ever, and yet you still came out to save me."

"I didn't want to die, but I didn't want you to die either. I was more scared of you being dead than Robotnik."

"You know, I don't think you're as much of a 'fraidy cat as you think you are. You could be a great hero one day, helping to save people's lives."

Tails gasped and shook his head.

"No way... I was scared to death the whole time I was saving you. I don't want to do it again."

"I still think I see a hero in you. Maybe the next time both of us could fight Robotnik together. What do you say?"

"No thanks!" Tails said, shaking his head. He pointed at where Sonic got shot in the leg. "Besides, we need to find you a doctor first!"

Sonic looked down at his leg and nodded, as Tails returned to his work of cleaning the branches off of the Tornado. Tails had taken a T-shirt off of the racks back in that clothing store they ran through and rigged it up as a makeshift bandage, but it wasn't a permanent solution to his injury. Neither of them had any idea how far the next city was, so for all they knew the next available hospital could be hundreds of miles away, and that could be very bad for Sonic. He didn't want to be walking on this leg any more than necessary.

Finally, Tails finished his work, and started the engine. The welcome hum of the propeller sounded throughout the area, filling Sonic with a feeling of relief. Tails guided the plane out of the trees, and aimed it towards the field. He then leaped out as the motor continued to run.

"Sonic, do you want to ride in the cockpit with me?" Tails said. He pointed at Sonic's leg. "I don't think you should ride on the wing like you usually do with that laser wound."

"But the Tornado is a single seater," Sonic said. "How are both of us going to fit inside the cockpit?"

"It will be a tight squeeze, but I think both of us can fit. You can sit behind me, and I'll be in front."

"But won't that put a lot of pressure on where I got shot?"

"I'll lean forward so that my leg doesn't press against your leg."

"Well, okay... Just help me get inside."

Once again, Tails used his tails to fly Sonic up into the air, and gently let him down into the cockpit's chair. Then, Tails eased into the cockpit. His big fluffy tails got up in Sonic's face for a moment, but thankfully the fox pushed them aside so that they curled around his body and dropped to the floor in front of the seat. Tails leaned forward, being careful not to fall back onto Sonic, and started the engine again. He started to guide the plane into the clearing for takeoff.

The vulpine then glanced over all of the meters quickly, and let out a soft moan.

"What's wrong Tails?" Sonic asked.

"There's a blip on the radar here," Tails said. "Something's coming closer, and I bet its one of Robotnik's ships."

On the end of that sentence, Sonic realized he could hear the noise of a jet fighter approaching from the direction of the city. Both of them looked up, and they could see a sleek black fighter swoop overhead. Robotnik's emblem, colored in red, was emblazoned across the side. After it passed over, it began to loop back towards their plane.

"Oh no!" Tails shouted. "He's seen us! We gotta get out of here!"

After he said that, there was the thundering noise of a rapid-fire laser gun overhead. Red lasers blew apart clumps of the ground all around the Tornado, but thankfully none hit. The jet swooped over again, but it would be turning around to come back very soon.

"Get us outta here now Tails!" Sonic yelled. "We're sitting ducks on the ground!"

"I'm trying!" Tails shouted back.

Tails gunned the engine, and the Tornado rolled forward. While the field was rough and the Tornado bounced up and down on its wheels as it rolled forward, it finally managed to get enough speed to go up into the air. Once they were at a good cruising altitude, Tails quickly turned the plane down low to the ground.

"That jet fighter is a lot faster than our plane," Tails explained. "If we go up into the air, it will hit us easy."

"Then what are you gonna do?" Sonic asked.

"We can fly low and hope it crashes into something."

"That sounds dangerous!"

"I know, but it's just about the only thing we can do, since this plane is slow and doesn't have any weapons."

As the jet fighter swooped up behind them and opened fire, Tails brought the plane down even closer to the forest flashing past below. To Sonic, it looked like they were flying so low that if he could reach through the bottom of the plane, he could touch the tops of the trees. Between the gunfire and the low-altitude flight, Sonic was on edge. One of the laser shots actually struck the rear of the plane, causing it to shake violently. However, it didn't appear to cause any difference in the performance of the plane, so he wasn't worried about it much.

Up ahead, there was a small valley, and Tails dived into it. Sonic looked behind them and saw that the jet was still right on them. As he looked back up ahead though, he noticed there was a concrete bridge spanning the valley. Sonic thought he understood what Tails was about to do.

"You're not gonna—" Sonic started.

"I am Sonic," Tails interrupted. "It's the only way to get rid of him."

As the bridge approached, Tails rose up into the air towards the bottom of the structure. He flew under it so closely that one corner of the bi-plane's top wing actually grazed the support underneath the bridge. That was nothing next to the loud explosion behind them though, as the enemy jet crashed into the bridge while trying to imitate Tails' maneuver.

Sonic briefly wondered how Tails did that. He seemed to have excellent piloting skills, even in this dark area. Tails had often displayed that skill for him when he was landing the plane in remote areas, like in deserted forest meadows in poor conditions, but that trick he did just now made the landings look like nothing.

Maybe he gets it from his dad. Kyle was a really good pilot before he died, with how he flew those jets...

"Yahoo!" Sonic hollered. "Great job Tails! You got rid of him, and you didn't even have any weapons on the plane!"

"Yeah... But there's another problem," Tails said with a sigh.

The moment of cheerfulness blown, Sonic fearfully asked, "What's wrong?"

"I think that shot that hit the plane hit the gas tank," he said. "We're losing fuel, and fast."

He pointed to the fuel gauge on the controls, and the needle was rapidly moving towards the "E" letter for Empty.

"Crap! That's not good!"

"I'm sorry Sonic, but we can't fly the plane like this. We were already running out of fuel before, and this is going to make it even worse."

"Sure, I understand," Sonic said with a sigh.

"Sorry about this, but we're going to have to walk from now on."

"No need to apologize Tails. I know there's nothing you can do to change this."

Sonic tried to say it as calmly as he could, but underneath he was panicking. Who knew how far they'd have to go to get to the next open hospital?

For the second time in less than a day, Tails brought the Tornado in for a landing in the clearing below. He easily landed it, and pulled the Tornado back into the same place they'd hidden it before. After the plane was safely tucked away, Tails turned off the engine. The silence after the engine was cut seemed terribly ominous, as if this engine would never be started up again. It was a likely prospect, come to think of it.

After Tails helped Sonic out of the plane, he asked "What should we do now?"

"We just gotta keep going," Sonic said. "There's nothing out here, and Robotnik's army is probably gonna run through here later anyway."

"But we don't have the Tornado anymore... We might not make it to the next city like this."

"Tails, we will make it, because we have to," Sonic said, determination in his voice. "There's just no other choice."

He then smiled at Tails.

"You're way too negative, you know that? It's not over until we're dead on the ground. Don't forget that. I'm gonna keep going as long as I can Tails, with or without you. But without you it will be harder."

"But aren't you worried about not making it?"

"Tails, I can't believe you," Sonic said with an angry huff.

"What?" Tails said, surprised at the sudden outburst.

"You did all of that stuff in the city to save me, and you did that trick with the plane too. Now you just want to quit?" the hedgehog said, crossing his arms. "That doesn't make any sense. We've come this far, so we might as well go all the way."

"I guess you're right Sonic," Tails said. He put on a smile.

"All right, that's better." Sonic grinned again. "That's the face I'd like to see."

Sonic then turned back to the Tornado, and his smile faded. Tails looked with him.

"Sorry old friend, but this is where we have to say goodbye," Sonic said to the Tornado. He looked at the hole in it towards the rear, where the fuel was spilling out on the ground. "You've been good to us, but with that hole in your tank you won't be able to help much now."

"But...Sonic," Tails mumbled. "It's just a plane. It can't understand you. Plus Robotnik's army might be coming!"

"I don't care Tails," Sonic said back. "This plane has been as much of a friend to me as you have. I think it deserves something before we have to leave it behind."

"Sorry, you're right," Tails said. "Keep talking."

Sonic nodded, and then turned back to the Tornado. He continued to speak to it as if it were a living person.

"We're both really going to miss you, with how you've flown us around all this time. Don't worry though, because we will be back. I promise. We'll bring back the best premium fuel you've ever had, and we'll give you a full tune-up too. You deserve one."

While Tails still understood that the Tornado was a lifeless machine, he couldn't help but feel a little saddened by how they were just leaving it behind like this. It really did feel like they were abandoning a friend. Sonic heaved out a great sigh, and then he continued again.

"But I'm sorry. For now, we have to say goodbye. It's only for a little while, but it still has to happen. So, Tornado, see you later."

Sonic waved his hand goodbye as he said that, and then he started to limp back towards the road. Tails started to follow after Sonic, but then he paused and waved goodbye to the Tornado too. He dashed to catch up with Sonic, amazed how fast he moved with that leg. As he stepped onto the pavement, Sonic turned around to wait for Tails. However, he saw him look down at the ground next to the road. The hedgehog picked up a sturdy-looking fallen branch from the ground, which was about to the height of his lower torso. He held it with one hand, one end of it resting on the ground. He tapped the end of it on the tarmac a few times.

"This'll do," Sonic said. He turned to face Tails again. "I don't think you'll have to carry me anymore Tails. I can use this for a cane."

"That's good."

"So, are you ready to walk? We've gotta get out of here fast before another jet comes."

Tails let out a sigh. He didn't feel up to the task of walking. Regardless, he didn't want to slow Sonic down.

"Yeah...let's go," Tails mumbled.

They started down the road they had been flying over before. It was amazing how much more vulnerable and weak Tails felt without that plane. Like any other part of the Land of Darkness, the entire area was dark, even though it was only early afternoon. It felt like the two of them were completely alone. And yet, Tails didn't feel they were alone. Dark trees surrounded the road, making it difficult to see anything hiding among them. With Robotnik close by, for all they knew they could be being watched by his army right now. Also, the only sounds were the noise of their footsteps, and the tap of Sonic's walking stick on the ground. Since the silence was so uncomforting, Tails decided to start up a conversation.

"How's your leg doing, Sonic?" Tails asked.

"It's all right," Sonic said. "I think I'm actually getting used to the pain."

"Do you think you'll be able to make it to the next town?"

"Yeah. Don't worry about me. After meeting Robotnik in the city, this isn't anything."

"Robotnik..." Tails said. Then something hit him. "Hey...that reminds me."

"What is it?"

"I didn't think you curling into a ball and smashing into him would work. I figured his ship would be too hard for that."

"Well, it worked for my dad."

"You mean your real dad Swift? Not my dad Kyle?"

"Yeah. He said that's how he beat Robotnik the first time he met him. He curled into a ball and smashed into his ship over and over again till it crashed. I've always wanted to try that out on Robotnik ever since Dad told me about that. Too bad that Robotnik got smart and stopped me. I could have stopped the war right there if I could have stopped him..."

Sonic let out a deep sigh out of regret.

"Yeah...it stinks..." Tails said.

"What really stinks is not being able to run," Sonic said. He growled in frustration as he looked down at the bandage on his leg, and his walking stick.

Then he glanced down the road. Tails looked with him. It ran on for quite some distance ahead of them, and it was so long that they couldn't see the end of it.

"If only I could run, we would be burning down this road at the speed of sound," Sonic muttered. The volume of his voice then rose to a scream. "Damn I hate walking!"