Hey peeps. Sorry it's been so long since my last chapter, busy and all. This is the next chapter, and I hope you'll forgive me for my lapse in writing.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. I'm broke. Do you really have to rub it in?
Some random person: yes
Me: shut up
"Component, thy name is life."
Tails flew over the large city called Station Square. Station Square, as industrialized as it was, was sure to hold at least several dozen Radio Shacks, where he could find components he needed or, more often, the materials to make those components. Tails landed outside of a large building with a flickering sign that read "Radioware". Tails walked inside the small front door and approached a yellowing desk with a few pens, papers, and a bell upon it. Tails pushed the palm of his hand against the bell. Normally, a ringing sound would emit and announce the ringer's presence. Tails was not one of those normal people. The bell contained a small scanner. Whenever normal people came through, it would activate a small speaker and emit a bell sound with an odd muffling, as though it were dirty. Tails, on the other hand, had governmental access. Whenever the scanner recognized his palm (or the fabric of the gloves he always wore), the floor would drop away, revealing a stairway down into a basement. The basement was not even run by the Radio Shack Company that ran the rest of the warehouse. In fact, it was nonexistent except to a selected few, which did not include any of Radio Shack's personnel. All materials, radioactive or not, were bought under a codename. Tails' inventions always needed top-secret materials, and it was a lot easier purchasing them in bulk than making them himself. A large, portly man in a sweaty T-shirt came over to Tails.
"Ahh, if it isn't the Government's favorite customer! Tails, how are ya?"
"Hey Gestapo. Listen, I'm gonna need some materials."
"Why else would you be here?"
Tails ignored him. "I'm going to need the usual load, except multiply it by twenty. Get those together while I check what else I need."
"Will do." Gestapo turned around and strode purposefully towards a group of people. "Oy, get away from that uranium! Pinocchio, get me some hydrochloric acid!"
Tails shook his head and turned on his radio.
"Cream, are you there?"
The radio buzzed a second and then connected.
"Yes, I'm here Tails."
"Cream, ask the computer to bring up the diagnostics for my new plane."
"Done."
"Now hold L."
"Convenient."
"Now type LA3 and say 'Cross'."
"Very convenient."
"Now hold R and say 'Transmit'"
"VERY convenient."
Not much later, a small circular disc opened up at the bottom of Tails' radio. It projected a holographic list into the air, the materials Tails already asked for crossed off.
"I wonder if they have einsteinium in stock…."
Sonic sat back on a grassy hill in the middle of clichéd nowhere. Sonic didn't have to work on the new machine, he didn't have to fight any of Eggman's machines. For the first time in his life, Sonic was completely, totally, mind-numbingly bored. He had tried to talk with Shadow about it, but Shadow was way too naïve. He just couldn't believe that, for once, Eggman was putting his high IQ to good use. On a bad subject, of course. In other words, he wasn't being lazy. Sonic grunted and stood up. If he didn't have anything else to do, he might as well run around the world… again. Sonic took off at the speed of sound.
Several hours later, Tails finally finished his 'shopping' and came back home to Cream, who had fallen fast asleep at the computer terminal. Amy was nowhere in sight. She probably ran off to chase Sonic again. Tails cringed at the thought of the bear-hugs Amy always attempted to give to Sonic. Poor guy. I guess I'm lucky Cream doesn't do that to me. Tails smiled at the sight of his rabbit friend curled up in her chair. Tails took out a blanket from a small drawer and placed it over her. When Cream was properly covered and comfortable, Tails began to work.
Rouge the bat was in a similar condition to Tails. She was tired, dirty, and sweaty, and she couldn't take a break from her work. She had infiltrated deep into the bowels off Eggman's base, but she was running into trouble. Eggman's new guard robots where small, floating machines that looked as if they were pincushions for gun barrels. If even one of the guard robots spotted Rouge, there would be no way for her to dodge all the bullets. Rouge estimated that she had moved a yard in the past hour, and she had almost three times as long as that to go before she could drop down into one of the bases crevices. Desperate thoughts began to penetrate Rouge's trained mind and, as hard as she tried to ignore them, they seemed sensible. Should I take off my clothes and distract the guards with them? No! They would detect the mov- The guard robots wouldn't notice upwards…. Maybe I could jump down in front of them and dodge all their bullets! They'll have to run out of bullets sometime, right? The odd thing about Eggman's robots that make them so dangerous is their ability to endlessly shoot bullets. They never run out of bullets. New bullets are transported in faster than the robot can use them up. Rouge, in her desperation, forgot this fact. She jumped down off her perch on the ceiling, and crashed to the floor, expecting nothing more than about a million holes in her body. After several seconds of unexpected silence, Rouge slowly opened her eyes, only to stare at one of the biggest behinds Rouge had ever seen. Dr. Eggman scratched his notoriously round stomach. He thought he had heard something, but his heavy footfalls had drowned out most of the noise. Eggman turned around, searching for the source of the noise, but found nothing. Rouge was hidden underneath the cover of Dr. Eggman's considerably large girth. Eggman turned around again and shrugged. Just in spite, he let out a large fart before resuming his walk through the bowels of his cave. Rouge got to her feet and headed after the not-so-good doctor, wafting at her nose furiously. Rouge followed Eggman closely through the bowels of his base. It seemed as if the guard robots were deactivating within a certain range of him, perhaps by some sort of signal protracted from a small machine he was carrying. Rouge always traveled light, so she had nothing to analyze the signal with. Rouge made a mental note to ask the foxboy to lend her a receiver when she got back. Eggman led Rouge through many twists and turns, designed to leave a would-be intruder lost and confused. However, Rouge's trained mind picked up a pattern in the corridors. Left, left, right, right, left, right, left, straight, left, left, left, right, straight, right, right, down the stairs, up the stairs, down down up up up right up left down left down right played through Rouge's mind. After about two hours of this repetition, the doctor and his unnoticed stalker walked into a large room full of machines, equipment, deactivated robots, and Eggman's signature PCMs, the floating machines he always rode in. In one corner of the underground warehouse was a large computer terminal. Eggman headed right to it, and Rouge took up a secluded position on the ceiling. Eggman started up the computer, and almost simultaneously a hum filled the room. Several documents soon came up, and Eggman maneuvered through the digital hogwash. Soon, he found what he was looking for. A single document and its attached blueprints came up on the screen, and Rouge zoomed in with her eyepiece. She read a few lines and an awed expression contorted her features. All of Rouge's training could not prepare her for this.
"Wow…." Rouge muttered. She cursed herself inwardly as she clamped her hands over her mouth. Her training had pinpointed noises as extremely dangerous, and Rouge was about to reap the consequences against Eggman's newest, and fully operational machine. A large machine in a corner was activated, and waves of chaos energy washed through the warehouse as it rose into the air.
This is becoming old. I doubt I'll write any more in this story. However, for those of you who are interested, I am starting a new story, entitled The Reality of Love. It encompasses a new level of plot and originality most other fan fictions do not have, and it represents the pinnacle of my writing career so far. If you like this story, I'll continue it, but I recommend my new story over this one.
