Author's note: Here's the next chapter. Sorry to keep ya waiting.
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Chapter 6: The Feather Today
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Noticing that the skylight was open as I came close to Tails' lab, I raised my altitude and dove through it. My landing on the floor of the lab was less than graceful, and I nearly collided with Tails, who was walking across the lab.
Tails jumped. "Whoa! You startled me, Leo! You really should be a little more careful when you do that."
"Heh, sorry," I replied as I got up. "The pyramid excursion went nicely. Metal Sonic was stronger than I expected, but I managed to get away."
"I see. Well, don't worry. Maybe next time, when you're more powerful, you'll be able to take him down."
"Maybe. How are your experiments coming? You know, with my feathers?"
"Actually, I just got done with the first leg of my experiments. Just a moment."
With those words, Tails approached a large vat about the size of an oil drum, which contained some kind of chemical mixture. He dipped a white towel in the mixture, soaking up a good amount of it.
Tails brought the towel to me and instructed me to hold out my left leg and rest it on a stool that he'd set up nearby. When I complied, he wrapped the towel around the leg, so that the mixture soaked into the feathers on it, and told me to hold still until he returned.
As I waited, I let my mind wander. Gee, I hope Tails knows what he's doing. I really have no reason to doubt him, but I can't stop wondering. Just what is this mixture supposed to do? Whatever it is, it's really cold. I wonder how long this is going to take. Maybe another few-
"All right, Leo, take the towel off."
I withdrew the towel and passed it back to Tails, who was taking a sip out of a bottle of water. When I looked back at my leg, I was so startled I nearly kicked myself. The feathers on my left leg were now died a pale blue color.
"Blue feathers?" I asked Tails.
"Ice Feathers," Tails explained, finishing off the water in his bottle. "A special kind of feather that, when shot, can lower temperatures, extinguish flames, and freeze things."
I nodded. "Sounds useful. Won't I look ridiculous with a blue leg while the rest of my body is red, though?"
Tails approached the water cooler to refill his bottle. "To be honest, Leo, you didn't exactly look normal to begin with."
Of course, this wisecrack made me pretty mad. I withdrew a feather from my body- by chance, it happened to be one of my new Ice Feathers- and shot it at Tails, who was at the water cooler by now.
Tails dodged the feather, but it went through the stream of water that was spilling out of the cooler. In a second, the effects of the feather made the stream freeze solid.
I blinked as Tails and I stared at the cooler. "So that's how the Ice Feathers work."
"Yeah," Tails added. "I guess it's a success. Come back after a while; I'll be experimenting with other feather types, and will probably come up with something else. Don't over-use your new Ice Feathers, though; your normal feathers are the best in some situations."
"Right," I confirmed. "Well, I'd better get going."
With that, I spread my wings and took off once more, aiming for the skylight. I missed, though, and hit the ceiling. Tails caught me when I fell back down, and took me outside.
"You really should stop showing off," Tails suggested. "You could get yourself killed doing that."
I got to my feet. "Yeah, I guess so."
My next problem was, where would my next destination be now that I had my new kind of feather? I looked around, and decided to take the path to the east, to a field area.
The field was very beautiful. Flowers dotted the surroundings, and there was a river running from north to south that began at a waterfall. I approached the waterfall, and let its mist envelop me and calm my nerves for a moment.
I thought I could see something on the other side of the falls, but I couldn't get through or around. There's got to be some way through, I thought to myself. Suddenly, an idea sprung to mind.
Reaching down to my left leg, I withdrew a loose blue feather and shot it at the top of the falls. It froze, causing the waterfall to run to the sides and revealing a cave beyond. I decided to enter.
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Yeah.
Quote of the Chapter:
"I hate a guy whose ego is larger than his IQ."
-Rouge, The Power of Juan, Prologue