Asher Tye: Thanks :D I kind of liked the idea of Emerald Hill Zone not being the paradise it looks like...the concept started in Caves and here I got to develop it a lot more :P

Professor Vengeance: (happy grin) Thanks; I wasn't sure how I was supposed to get the Robotnik battle in at first, so I'm glad it worked. Glad you liked the name as well ;)

Shadow-spawn180: (laughs) Yeah, me too...I'm not sure where the word whump came from, it just arrived in my psyche :P Little kids tend to pick one word and fixate on it, so I figured whump could be Tails' ;)

Kj: Thanks, I'll try :)

Dr. Cat: Heh, of course I responded; I LOVE reviews and if someone comments, it's only fair to acknowledge them ;) And thanks; I'm glad you're still enjoying it :P

Shaddress: No worries; I'll take reviews as and when people have the time to write them :P

FriedBrickWall: I too hate chemical and water zones...only slightly less than I do certain aerial ones (coughWingFortressplatformscough) Gotta wonder what Sonic's gonna make of it though ;)

Hawk's Soul: (blushes) Thanks :) And yes, you're right, I do want to keep going, particularly with the amount of reviews I've been getting :P

Sonic-Addict: I'm sure he won't (Tails: GETchore Tails T-shirts and souvenir mugs here! On'y two Mobiums apiece!) Erm...on the other hand...;)

Poridet: Thanks, I liked that line too :P

Lewisty: (blushes again) Thanks...I just hope you keep enjoying it as much as you have before :P

Toboe16: Yep, it was kinda long...when my writing gets started it's hard to stop ;)

Az the Dragon: Thanks, glad you're enjoying it :)

D.C. 111: Thanks :) No, Sonic isn't annoyed with Tails, but relationships and friendships take time to build up; he's not going to be overly enthusiastic about adopting a kid he's only known for a month or so :) At the moment part of him doesn't mind Tails tagging along, part of him feels very protective towards the little fox, part of him doesn't much like the idea of giving up his solitude and independence and part of him wants Tails gone in order to stop the kid getting injured

Tydian: (blushes) Thanks, I'll try :)

They'd been going for about half an hour when Tails suddenly burst into tears. Sonic, who had been expecting something along those lines to happen, was taken aback by the force of it.

"Tails..." he began helplessly, then stopped. "Okay kiddo. C'mere." Dropping to one knee, he pulled the little fox into a hug, rocking him back and forth as Tails clung to him like a lifeline.

It took a good quarter of an hour before Tails' sobs wound down to an occasional sniffle and hiccup, and Sonic's chest fur was soaked right through.

"Sonic?" Tails said hoarsely.

"Yeah, lil buddy?"

The little fox hiccuped once. "Sonic, why? Why'd it have to be me who was born with two tails an' whose mum and dad died an' who got thrown outta his house? Why, Sonic? Why me?"

Sonic hugged the fox tightly. "I dunno, kiddo. I dunno."

"Wish I was never born," Tails mumbled into Sonic's chest.

"C'mon, what kinda talk's that?"

Tails wriggled for a few minutes before saying, "Okay, so I don't." Small face scrunched up in a scowl, he glared down towards Emerald Hill Zone. "I wish they were never born."

Sonic laughed. "Now that's more like the Tails I know and constantly get pounce attacked by." He shook his head. "Listen kiddo. What those jerks did to you back there was one of the worst things I've ever seen done to anyone. But don't let it get you down too much, Tails. Don't give them the satisfaction." He winked. "C'mon, let's go. You wanna ride, squirt?"

Tails' face lit up like a flare. "You mean that? Honest?"

"Sure I do. C'mere." Sonic scooped the little fox into his arms and Tails yipped with excitement.

"You'll go fast, Sonic, right? Real fast?"

"Hey." Sonic glanced down at Tails and winked again. "I'm Sonic the hedgehog, remember? You ever heard of me going slow?"

Tails nodded. "Uh huh. In episode fourteen of the Sonic Comic, when ol' Robotnik zapped you with the Slowamatron."

"There's no such thing as a Slowamatron," Sonic answered, although a little doubt surfaced in his mind; after all, there was no reason why there couldn't be, some time in the future.

"That's exactly what you said in the comic, Sonic! An' then ol' Robotnik zapped you an' you haaad tooo taaaalk liiiiike thiiiiis." Tails squirmed, settling himself more comfortably in Sonic's arms. "We gonna run now, Sonic?"

"Yeah." Sonic took a couple of steps, then stopped as his curiosity got the better of him. "What happened after I got zapped by this Slowamatron?"

"Dunno," Tails said with a shrug. "You had to get the next issue to find out, an' I couldn't. C'mon Sonic, let's go!"

Sonic shook his head wryly, then broke into a run, Tails squealing with delight as the speed picked up.

In fact, the hedgehog stopped around ninety miles an hour, infuriatingly slow for him, but he wasn't sure what effect excessive speed would have on the little fox.

Skidding to a stop at an impressive looking wall and archway, he looked up at the yellow lettering which informed anyone who might be interested that this was Chemical Plant Zone.

"Why'd you stop?" Tails demanded, then his ears drooped. "Am I too heavy?"

"Heavy? If anything, you're too light," Sonic answered. "We're gonna have to get some serious meals into you, kiddo. You're nothing but skin and bones."

Tails squinted at his reflection critically in a metal wall, then looked back up at Sonic. "An' eyeballs," he pointed out.

"And eyeballs," Sonic agreed, grinning broadly, "and a very active voice. But you're still too thin for a kid your age. We gotta get you a sandwich or something."

Tails considered. "Chocolate's real good for putting on weight, right Sonic? Mebbe you could try feeding me that in a sandwich."

Sonic stopped. "A chocolate sandwich?"

"Yeah! With chocolate milkshake an' chocolate squirty cream on top an' a double layered triple-frosted chocolate fudge cake for dessert!"

Sonic laughed and deposited Tails on the ground. "Or how about I get you something healthy, like veg?"

"Bleah!" Tails pulled a disgusted face, then grabbed Sonic's hand and held it tightly as the two of them started walking into the Zone. "How can something that tastes as icky as veg possibly be good for you, Sonic?"

The hedgehog laughed again. "I've been wondering that for years, kiddo."

"Does that mean I can get a double layered triple frosted chocolate fudge cake?" Tails said eagerly.

"It means we're going into the first decent restaurant we see and getting you something healthy."

"Oh." Tails drooped for a minute, then perked up. "But...you go to a restaurant and you gotta have dessert, right? Three course meals, right Sonic?"

Sonic grinned, shaking his head wryly. "Tails, if you can find someone willing to give you a double layered triple frosted chocolate fudge cake, and if you eat something healthy beforehand, then yeah, you can have one."

"Something healthy?"

"Yeah."

Tails considered. "Okay. How about a carrot stick?"

"Not what I had in mind, and you know it," Sonic said in mock-stern tones. Spotting a pleasant looking restaurant, he pushed open the door and stepped in, Tails trotting along behind him. "Table for two?"

No answer.

Sonic frowned. "Hey! Anyone here?"

The soft whine of machinery warned him and he spun to see a bot crawling (sliding?) towards him. It was like nothing Sonic had ever seen before...if he had to draw a comparison, he'd say it was like a small, very shallow mechanical pyramid.

"Pounce attack!"

Sonic was ready for it and caught Tails as he raced past. "No! Come on, we're getting outta here."

Tails struggled uselessly. "But Sonic, I wanna make it go poom!"

"You can make it go poom some other time, now come on!" Where had that come from? Sonic didn't know...although now he thought about it, it did bear a startling resemblance to something Mighty's mother might have said.

Tails stopped struggling, although this was only because the bot had opened its top, spikes moving out like the petals on a flower. "What's it doing?"

Sonic eyed the bot apprehensively. He'd never seen one like this before, but he had vivid memories of the others he'd smashed. Usually when a bot stopped moving like that, it was about to—

"Look, Sonic, it's throwing a plasma ball at us!"

—shoot, Sonic thought grimly. Definitely time to get out of there. Picking up Tails and ignoring the little fox's extremely loud protests – Tails wanted to jump over the bot and see if it would fire a plasma ball to the other side – Sonic ran.

He spindashed two identical bots in his path – one crawling up a wall – and only stopped when he accidentally ploughed into a hatch on the floor, shattering it to reveal a glass tube.

"Oooh!" Tails wriggled free, and Sonic let him go. There were no bots nearby. How much trouble could the little fox get into?

A loud – well, Sonic supposed you could call it a war cry, since chicken impersonators didn't usually go in for that much vibrato – a loud war cry came from Tails' direction and the hedgehog whirled to see the little fox curl up in his best impression of Sonic and leap into the opened tube.

"Tails!" Racing over, Sonic peered in, but Tails had already zoomed out of sight.

Swearing viciously, Sonic dived into the tube after the fox. Some kind of suction pulled him in, yanking him around bends and corners hard enough to leave bruises before finally spitting him out of another hatch which flipped shut behind him.

"That was so cool," Tails said from where he was hovering in midair waiting for Sonic and practically glowing with excitement. "Can we do it again, Sonic?"

"No!" Sonic said sharply. He didn't think he'd ever get over that feeling of being sucked through the tubes like a straw, the pressure too strong to even think of going against it. Looking up, he added, "And come down from there; I wanna talk to you."

Tails flew down obediently, landing with a bump in front of Sonic, who dropped down to the fox's level.

"You want to come with me, Tails, we gotta lay down some ground rules, okay?"

Tails bit his lip. "'Kay."

"Rule one, no going on ahead of me and out of my sight unless you're flying out of harm's way. Rule two, I go first into any dangerous situations! I don't want you getting hurt."

Tails rolled his eyes. "I'm not gonna get hurt, Sonic; I'm with you."

"What was that tube, anyway?" Sonic wondered aloud, turning to glare at the tube in question.

Overhearing, Tails answered, "Chemical Plant transport. It's how you move between different spots on the same level. If you know what you're doing an' lean jus' right, you can go down different tubes too." Seeing Sonic's surprised look, he added, "I met a kid from Chemical Plant who came on vacation to Emerald Hill an' he told me all about it."

"Yeah?" They started walking again along a bridge, and Sonic tried to avoid looking at the water underneath.

"Uh huh! An' then he had to go home here an'...Sonic, do you think he's okay?"

Sonic glanced at the little fox and managed a smile. "Yeah, I'm sure he is."

After all, he thought, it might be true. Even Robotnik couldn't roboticise everybody in a Zone simultaneously. There was always the possibility that Tails' friend had been tossed into a prison.

Sonic stopped suddenly, staring at the floor ahead. If the idea hadn't been too crazy to suggest, he'd have said it looked like someone had inlaid building blocks.

"Tails?"

"Yup?"

"Did your friend mention anything like that?" Sonic pointed and Tails looked, then his face cleared.

"Oh sure. That's how Chemical Plant residents move between levels. You gotta be real careful though when you're standing on the top block 'cause if you're not then the blocks above come down and squish you flat."

"Squish you?" If there was one death Sonic dreaded more than drowning, it was being crushed to death.

Tails nodded. "Uh huh. C'mon!"

Before Sonic could stop him, the little fox raced on ahead, jumped onto one of the blocks, almost lost his balance when the whole row rose up suddenly, then taken off and flown past the second layer to the level beyond.

"Tails!"

There was no reply and Sonic muttered something exceedingly uncomplimentary re certain two-tailed foxes who never listened before leaping onto the block, which had lowered as soon as Tails had jumped off. Moving to stand on the second block from the top, he watched as the second layer rotated smoothly in a circle towards him. Timing it perfectly, he leapt to the top block, then onto the second layer as it slid towards him and from there to the next level.

Tails, who had been hopping from one foot to the other, grinned cheekily at Sonic when the hedgehog finally arrived.

"I thought you were fast, Sonic."

Sonic dropped to one knee in front of Tails, then took hold of his arms firmly. "Tails, don't you ever do that again! You hear me?"

Tails squirmed. "I was on'y kidding, Sonic!"

"What...no, I didn't mean that. You broke both ground rules, didn't you?"

"Nuh uh! You said I was 'llowed to fly on ahead if I was flying outta harm's way, an' I was! An' besides, this wasn't dangerous, Sonic."

"I'll be the judge of that, Tails."

"Well, you're not gonna be a very good judge, 'cause what's dangerous for you isn't gonna be dangerous for me. It'd be dangerous for you to jump off a cliff but not me, 'cause I can fly and you can't. Uh." Tails squirmed some more. "Does that make sense?"

"Yeah. Kinda." Releasing Tails with a wry shake of the head, Sonic straightened up. "Okay squirt. But I'm adding those moving blocks to the list of dangerous situations," he added.

"There's a list?" Tails' ears perked. "Where is it, Sonic? I wanna read it!"

Sonic laughed. For some reason, he found it near impossible to stay mad at Tails for long.

"Maybe later." He jerked his head towards the bridge ahead. "Go on. I think that part's safe; you wanna go scout it out?"

Tails bounded a full six feet into the air and hovered there. "Yeah! Sonic, if I find a bot, can I whump it an' make it go poom?"

The grin disappeared off Sonic's face. Sensing the hedgehog's change of mood, Tails added, "Please? C'mon Sonic; I won our bot whumping contest in Emerald Hill Zone, remember?"

"Oh, you had to bring that up, didn't you?" Sonic muttered, a little sourly.

Of course, smashing bots wasn't a contest or a game, he told himself sternly. Combat was a serious business, and it didn't matter who smashed the most bots.

But even so...!

"Please, Sonic?" Tails persisted, and the hedgehog gave in.

"Alright. But—"

"Yeah! You're the coolest, Sonic!"

"—only if you can do it safely," Sonic added, somewhat redundantly since Tails was already ten feet in front of him and accelerating fast. Grinning slightly, the hedgehog started to follow.

Something gripped Sonic – too securely for him to spindash his way out – and lifted him into the air. There was a faint beeping from above him and Sonic redoubled his struggles, understanding what would happen if he couldn't get away in time.

"Sonic!" Tails raced back along the ground, leaping up to smash the bot.

"A little more to the right!" Sonic yelled down to him. Tails, rubbing the part of his head that he'd cracked on the ceiling, glowered at the hedgehog.

"Yeah, I kinda figured!" Backing off, crouching down, he jumped again and this time Sonic felt the metallic pincers abruptly loosen and drop him the ten feet to the ground...although the furry arms that took their place weren't much of an improvement as far as comfort went.

"Sonic, are you okay?" Tails looked up into the hedgehog's face. "It didn't hurt you? You're okay, right?"

Sonic managed to extricate himself from the fox's too-tight embrace and looked down into the worried face. "Yeah, lil buddy, I'm okay. Thanks to you."

Tails shivered. "Mebbe you should go first, Sonic. I don't want you to almost die again an' if I'm behind you I'll see if you get grabbed an' I can whump the bot that did it."

Sonic started to answer that he'd taken care of himself just fine when he'd fought Robotnik before, then bit the words back. That was then. This was now, and it seemed Robotnik had learned from past mistakes.

"Sure." He glanced up to the bridge ahead, where he could see transporter platforms circling. "I'll jump on one of those and when I'm safely on the next level, I'll call you, okay?" Previous experience of the little fox's talent for trouble prompted Sonic to add, "and if anything happens down here, yell for me as loudly as you can, okay?"

Tails nodded.

"Great. Wait here, kiddo." Sonic raced ahead onto the bridge, then turned to call Tails, thinking he'd rather have the little fox where he could see him at all times.

He was never quite sure what happened next, but somehow he went from standing on a solid platform to falling rapidly through the water. Panicking, Sonic thrashed about in a frantic effort to escape, but his struggles only made him sink deeper. Without thinking, he opened his mouth to shout for help, and lukewarm water rushed in, flooding his lungs and he blacked out.

When he came to again, he was lying on his stomach on the platform just to the right of the bridge with Tails gingerly tapping one of his quills. Pushing himself up on one arm, Sonic's chest hitched once or twice and he vomited up a surprising amount of water.

"What..." he managed hoarsely.

"Are you okay?" Tails asked. "Sometimes the floor spins upside down like that an' you jus' gotta be ready for it."

"Great," Sonic muttered, not quite under his breath. "Now he tells me! How'd I get here?" Glancing around he added irritably, "And what're you doing to my quills?"

Tails flattened his ears. "Well...I fished you out an' I thought you were s'posed to pat people on the back when they choke on'y I can't find your back 'cause your quills're in the way so I thought if I patted you on the quill it'd be the same. It is, right Sonic?"

Sonic looked at the little fox's appealing face and managed a smile. "Yeah, it is. Thanks kiddo." He pushed himself back to his knees and winced. "Oh hell; big mistake. Watch it, Tails, I'm gonna—"

He vomited again, although not for as long a time.

"Puke?" Tails offered helpfully.

"You got it," Sonic said in a somewhat muffled voice; he was lying face down to one side of his puddle of vomit. After a few minutes, he risked sitting up and when this failed to produce any adverse effects, pushed himself carefully to his feet. "C'mon. Let's go."

Without looking around, he started towards the bridge again and leapt for the transport platform.

Tails started to follow, then caught sight of something off to the right and went to investigate that instead. To his delight, he found that his first thought had been right; someone had dropped a ten Mobium note. Bending down, he grabbed it and for a long while, just stared at it happily. He'd never had so much money, not ever. Maybe if Sonic left him, he could buy a house with it! And a hovercar, and a shed to build stuff in!

Wandering after Sonic in a happy dream, Tails was so busy building castles in the sky that he didn't notice something dropping silently towards him, didn't spot the danger until he was grabbed and lifted firmly into the air by one of the same kind of bots that had grabbed Sonic earlier. He yelped, more in surprise than fear, then again in dismay as he dropped the ten Mobium note, which floated gently down before slipping into one of the vents.

A beeping noise brought him back to the present and Tails flattened his ears. He knew what that sound meant. Oh boy, did he know.

"Sonic! Sonic, where are you?"

The grabber's beeping grew faster and the little fox thrashed about wildly, struggling to free an arm, a leg, a tail, anything that would help him get out before the bot exploded.

There was a flash of blue light, followed by a sudden sensation of movement and heat on his back and Tails found himself falling. Whirring both namesakes, he managed to land safely on his feet, and the little fact that he also happened to land on top of Sonic in no way diminished his triumph.

"Tails?" Sonic caught hold of him and checked him over. "Tails, are you okay?"

Tails nodded bravely. "Sure! I mean, I knew you were gonna come save me, Sonic, 'cause that's what you do, right? Right?"

"Yeah." Relief at finding the little fox unhurt swamped Sonic and he turned away rather abruptly. "C'mon kiddo, let's go."

"Not yet! I gotta find the cash!"

"What?" Sonic turned. "What cash?"

"The ten Mobium note I dropped! It went down between the gaps an' I gotta get it, Sonic, else how'm I gonna buy a house?"

"Buy a..." Sonic shook his head. "Kiddo, you'd need about ten thousand ten Mobium notes to buy a house."

"Then I gotta hang onto this one, Sonic, 'cause I can't afford to lose any! How much is ten thousands?"

Sonic laughed. "A lot." He took hold of Tails' hand. "C'mon lil buddy, let's go. There'll be other ten Mobium notes."

Somewhat disconsolately, Tails padded along next to Sonic.

"Okay. But don't 'spect me to talk 'cause I can't 'cause I'm moulting."

Sonic bit back another laugh. "I think you mean moping." Catching sight of his companion's bushy fur – which, after Tails' swim and subsequent shaking himself dry, caused the little fox to resemble an ambulatory pompom – he added, "Actually, maybe you didn't."

"Maybe I'm doing both," Tails suggested. "Can you mope an' moult together, Sonic?"

"I've never moulted, so I don't know. And I thought you weren't talking."

"An' I'm not!" Tails retorted, and then proceeded to keep up a running commentary on everything he wasn't talking about, a commentary which Sonic tuned out after a few minutes, only coming back to Mobius in time to hear Tails say, "—an' I'm not talking about my feet hurting, an' I'm not talking about how cool it is that we gotta jump on more a those blocks up ahead, an' I'm not—"

"Tails, stop talking for a minute," Sonic said edgily. Tails let out a guttural noise of frustration as they came to the end of the corridor and to a shaft.

"I wasn't talking, Sonic, don't you ever listen? What's wrong?" he added, as the hedgehog stopped on the edge.

"The water's rising." Sonic stared at the insidious liquid that was creeping nearer, seeping over the floor and his sneakers. Soon it would be up to his ankles, then his waist, then over his head...uh uh. He turned to bolt back the way they'd come and try and go another way around, only to find a solid barrier had descended behind them, blocking the way.

"We're gonna have to swim," Tails said eagerly. "You swim, right Sonic?"

Sonic turned a haggard look on the little fox. "Do you?"

"Oh sure! I swimmed every day an' in every pond last summer, before it got too cold. All we gotta do is swim up."

Sonic hesitated. Well...it might work...

"Tails, I want you to go on ahead, if you can swim without getting hurt," he said aloud.

Tails stared at Sonic. "But what 'bout you?"

"I'll be okay, kiddo. I need you to...you gotta—" Water splashed the hedgehog's bare leg and he almost climbed the nearest wall.

"Sonic?" Tails said nervously. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm okay!" Sonic snapped, fear making his voice a little sharper than he'd intended. "Just...go! I need you to...to..." He caught sight of the rising water level and felt his brain shut down again.

"To make sure there's nothing waiting to whump you when you come up?" Tails offered.

"Yeah!" Sonic seized on the explanation with a profound sense of relief. "Yeah, I need you to go make sure the coast is clear." He looked down at the water again, noticing that it was up to his knees. "And if you could go and do that before I drown, that would be fabulous," he added with biting sarcasm.

"You got it!" Tails raced away, toes just skimming the surface of the liquid as he flew up. A few seconds later, his voice came down. "Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"You wanna be careful here 'cause there's more of those blocky things. You wanna be real careful, Sonic, 'cause you could easily get squished on these; they're all moving, not jus' one or two like back there."

The hedgehog squeezed his eyes shut. Wonderful. Now not only did it look like he was about to drown, he was going to be turned into a part of the décor as well.

The water slapped against his chest and he snapped his eyes open, panic starting to set in. If he didn't move soon...Sonic started to close his eyes again, then remembered the blocks that were waiting for him at the end of the passage and opened them hurriedly. He wondered if you'd have time to jump out the way if you got caught between a block and a wall.

"Sonic!" The hedgehog heard Tails' voice, albeit tinnily and apparently from a great distance. "Sonic, you gotta come! The water's still rising!"

Tell me something I don't know, Sonic said, or tried to; his tongue seemed to be clinging to the roof of his mouth in abject terror.

At last, when the water had risen up to his neck, Sonic managed to bully his body into movement, jumping onto the first layer of blocks and judging the distance carefully for the next jump. He almost didn't make it – the water slowed his motion while the blocks continued to move at normal speed – but some kind of instinct took over and he managed to haul himself up to the next block. The layers gave way to single blocks after that, and Sonic found by jumping on one he could reach the upper level where Tails was waiting.

"Sonic! I thought you'd got squished!" Tails buried the hedgehog in a hug. "I was gonna come down an' look for you, honest." He looked up into Sonic's face. "Are you okay? You look kinda jumpy."

This was something of an understatement on Tails' part, since Sonic's near brush with the two deaths he feared most – not to mention the time he'd spent in the water – were making him tremble violently. Tails was forced to repeat the question twice before Sonic took it in.

"What? Oh. Yeah. I'm fine." The sight of Tails jogged something in Sonic's memory and he took a deep breath. "What about you? Are you okay?"

"Well, sure I am." Tails squinted at the hedgehog suspiciously. "Are you sure you're not hurt, Sonic? 'Cause you're acting real funny."

You should have seen me after I came out of the Labyrinth Zone, Sonic wanted to say, but didn't. He still had vivid nightmares about that experience. Chemical Plant wasn't as bad as Labyrinth, but there wasn't much to choose between them.

"C'mon," he said aloud, glancing back at the water with another shudder. "I hate this Zone, Tails. Let's get outta here."

They took a brief detour into the Special Zone on their way – and this time they did it without Tails hugging Sonic every time he touched a ring, unlike the previous two – and managed to grab the third Chaos Emerald.

"What's so special about these things?" Tails wanted to know, as he examined the deep red gem – he and Sonic had got the violet one at a Star Post between Emerald Hill and Chemical Plant.

"No idea, to tell you the truth," Sonic admitted. "But if Robotnik wants them...man, that can't be good."

"Sonic?"

"Yeah?" They were moving again, and Tails grabbed Sonic's wrist to pull him over the surface of the water and onto the next stable platform.

"How'd you meet Robotnik?"

How did I meet him? Sonic thought bitterly. Well, Tails, I tunnelled up into his underground lab and promptly became best friends with him, not to mention his lab assistant. Of course, that was before I turned him into the maniac he is now.

"I met him when he came to Green Hill Zone," he said shortly.

"Why'd you take off to go an' whump him?"

"Because I felt like it," Sonic lied.

Tails stopped and landed in front of Sonic, looking up at him with a hurt expression. "You don't gotta lie to me, Sonic. Why'd you really do it?"

Sonic looked ahead, over the bridge. "Hey, I think I see the prison." Breaking into a run – although not too fast for Tails to keep up – he darted around the little fox and raced for the bridge. Leaping over the rotating segments automatically – you got to recognise them after a while – Sonic landed on the stable part and prepared to jump again, then froze.

"Sonic?" Panting for breath, Tails came to hover next to the hedgehog for all of three seconds before crashing to the ground. "Sonic, can't we take a break?"

"Get up," Sonic said very quietly.

"But Sonic—"

"Tails, get on your feet! Now!"

Tails obeyed, almost falling again before seeing what had caught Sonic's attention.

Robotnik hovered between them and the prison. He was in...well, Tails supposed it was the same machine as he'd been in earlier, only he'd clearly made some modifications; the most noticeable of these being the two gallon glass tank fastened to the top.

"What's that?" Tails breathed, half scared, half fascinated.

"I call it my Mega Mack Eggstractor." Safe within the cockpit, Robotnik pulled a lever and plunged a tube into the water beneath. "Let me show you how it works."

Sonic edged away. "No thanks. I think I'm happier not knowing."

"Oh, but I'm not." Above Robotnik's head, the glass container started filling with water. "And you seem to be looking a little dusty, Sonic. How about a nice shower?"

Sonic frowned in perplexity. "It'll take one hell of a shower to drown me, doc, and frankly I doubt you got enough water in your entire vehicle." Granted that probably wasn't Robotnik's plan, but Sonic had no idea what that plan might be, and even his hydrophobia wasn't severe enough to make him scream and run away every time he got sprayed with water.

Robotnik chuckled. "Oh, my dear Sonic, this isn't water. At least, not anymore." He smiled. "Water mixed with various pollutants, some of which are only ever created as a by-product of the chemical processes here in this plant, results in an extremely toxic substance which I like to call Mega Mack. Like you, it's bright blue and like you, it has a tendency to cause extreme irritation to anyone unlucky enough to come into direct contact with it. Allow me to demonstrate."

The glass tank moved away from the vehicle, supported by a mechanical arm and before Sonic had time to dodge, toxic liquid spattered his hide. Instinct took over and he ran, skidded on the edge of the platform and fell sideways into the water.

"Sonic!" Tails raced over and leapt, using both namesakes for extra lift and landed squarely on Robotnik's vehicle. He'd learned his lesson last time and this time grabbed a sturdy looking strut and held onto it while kicking and bouncing, the overall effect being one of very enthusiastic chin ups, and Tails' arms were getting tired before too long, but he persevered.

"Get off, you little pest!" Momentarily forgetting Sonic in the face of this new threat, Robotnik reached out for a button which would, when flicked, send an electrical current pulsing through the outside.

Tails glared at Robotnik and swung up and back for the most powerful kick he'd managed to land. The force of his blow tore the already damaged strut from its moorings, but it did the trick; the mack extractor was shattered. Furious, Robotnik hit the button to electrocute Tails, but it was already too late; the fox had fallen off the machine and into the water, where he was swimming determinedly after Sonic. For a moment, Robotnik considered flying after him and turning on the electrical current while underwater, then balked. The likely results were far too devastating and unpredictable for even him to consider.

Unaware of his narrow escape, Tails continued swimming determinedly under the stable platform until he came across a pair of familiar red and white sneakers. Grabbing these, he pushed up hard, propelling Sonic safely onto dry land and scrambling out after him.

Spluttering and coughing up water for the second time since arriving in Chemical Plant Zone, Sonic collapsed onto his side and shut his eyes, exhausted.

Tails, who had dried himself off by the simple method of shaking himself vigorously until everything and everyone around him was wetter than he was, frowned. "Why didn't you swim and come up under him and whump him there, Sonic?"

"You seemed to be doing okay without me," Sonic said, somewhat evasively.

"Yeah, but on'y 'cause I was scared he'd killed you." Tails frowned. "He didn't, right Sonic?"

Sonic opened his eyes the barest crack. "If he had, would I be talking to you like this?"

"I dunno. I never talked to a dead guy before, so I dunno how they usually talk."

"Very, very quietly," Sonic said. He was starting to recover a little of his poise, although the occasional shiver still coursed through his body. "Tails, what's the next Zone?"

"I dunno. I think Oil Ocean."

"That's what you said last time," Sonic pointed out, slightly irritably.

"Well, I know Oil Ocean's on Westside Island, so I gotta be right sometime."

Sonic managed a weak grin. "Yeah, I guess you do. C'mon squirt." Somehow he struggled to his feet, staggering slightly.

"Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"If we let the people outta that thing—" Tails pointed to the prison— "are they gonna be mean to me like the ones back in Emerald Hill Zone?"

Sonic shook his head. "I don't think so. Most of them'll be too pleased to be free, and don't forget they might well have seen you beat Robotnik all by yourself."

Tails' face lit up. "I did, didn't I? Cool! They gotta put me in a comic now, huh Sonic?" Glancing at the prison, he rubbed the ear the jackal had yelled into and sidled away. "But still...mebbe you should break the prison, Sonic. 'Cause...uh...'cause I did the last one an' I don't want you to get outta practice. Yeah! Outta practice. Uh. Then can we go get some food?" Tails rubbed his stomach. "I'm starving."

"Oh, starving, are you?" Sonic reached down to join the fox in rubbing and his rub quickly degenerated into a tickle, as Tails had known it would.

"Hey, no biting," Sonic added sharply as Tails got a little carried away and opened his mouth wide.

The fox shut it, almost trapping his tongue and flattened his ears. "Sorry. I jus'...sorry." His gaze lingered on the scabbed bite on Sonic's hand and he cringed in shame. Wasn't it bad enough he'd bitten Sonic once, without going back to do it again?

"It's okay. C'mon, one of us is gonna have to let those guys out. You wanna do it, or shall I?"

"You. Like I said, I don't want you to get outta practice."

Sonic laughed. "Alright, fine." Breaking into a run, he jumped and landed squarely on top of the plunger, disintegrating the prison and watching as the residents emerged one by one.

A high pitched yip from Tails caused Sonic's head to snap over to his right, wondering what had happened. Had Robotnik...?

No. Not Robotnik, but a brightly coloured macaw chick who answered Tails' excited greeting with a squawk and then the two of them took off, chasing each other in an aerial game of Tag.

Sitting down on the plunger, Sonic watched with a certain amount of amusement, wishing – not for the first time – that he could fly.

"Room for one more up there?" The speaker was an adult macaw, probably the father of the chick currently challenging Tails to an acrobatics contest.

Sonic shrugged. "Help yourself, it's a free Zone. I was just leaving anyway."

"Thanks." The macaw flapped up to sit next to Sonic. "It's good seeing those two together again. It just about broke Beak's heart when we finished our vacation in Emerald Hill."

"Probably not as much as it broke Tails'," Sonic answered. An idea struck him. "I don't suppose you'd consider taking—"

"No."

"No," Sonic agreed reluctantly, "you're right. It wouldn't work." He sighed. "Guess I'll have to keep him with me a little longer. Maybe someone in the next Zone'll take him in; a battlefield's no place for a little kid."

The macaw looked at him slightly askance. "You weren't much more than a little kid when you fought Robotnik, not if the stories are even half true."

"I was a bigger little kid, though."

"Yes." The macaw shifted. "Although that still doesn't answer the question of why you decided to take on someone like Robotnik singlehandedly." Before Sonic could answer, he shook his head. "Your business is your own. Whatever happened between you and Robotnik should stay between you and Robotnik. But not everybody thinks like I do. Watch your back, Sonic."

Sonic opened his mouth to ask just who the hell the macaw was, anyway, when what felt like two small cannonballs crashed into his chest and knocked him flying. Catching hold of his assailants reflexively, Sonic curled into a spin and pulled them over with him until he hit a wall.

"Sonic!" Tails protested from the hedgehog's right arm. "You're s'posed to be flattened, not roll over an' over like that!"

"And you're supposed to warn people before you pounce attack them." Sonic looked at the macaw currently tucked into his left arm. "And who are you?"

The chick started to answer, then giggled instead and stuffed his head under his wing.

"Beak's shy," Tails explained, "so I promised I'd ask you for him."

"Huh?" Apprehensive now – anything was possible with Tails – Sonic stared at the little cub. "Ask me what?"

A well-read copy of a hardback book was pushed shyly towards the hedgehog.

"Beak wants you to sign this," Tails translated.

"What is it?" Curious, Sonic took it and flipped it open, then stared at the macaw. "Where'd you get this?"

A very muffled response. Sonic glanced at Tails, who said, "It's been in all the shops, Sonic, didn't you know?"

"No. No, I didn't." Sonic looked at the cover, which boasted the title Sonic the Hedgehog: The Official Biography. "This is—" he began furiously, then broke off, aware of his audience. It wasn't their fault this had happened, and yelling wouldn't do anything. Turning to the front page, he noticed that the publishing house was based in Metropolis Zone.

Of course...that would explain why I haven't seen much of this stuff outside Westside Island, Sonic realised. Aloud he said weakly, "Okay...so who's got a pen?"

"Then me next, Sonic? Please?" This time it was a comic book that was thrust at Sonic, who suppressed a sigh. Well, he couldn't do it for one and not the others...

"Okay. You next and anyone else, uh...just...get in line, okay?" he said. Taking one of the offered pens with a thankyou, he scrawled his name in the 'biography' and handed it back to Beak, who blushed, stared at his feet and mumbled something that Tails translated as "Oh wow, thanks, you're the bestest hedgehog in the whole wide world!" Sonic wasn't entirely sure how much creative licence Tails took with that particular interpretation, but he supposed dully that it didn't really matter.

Taking the comic book, he signed that and handed it back, then a poster of himself, then...Sonic took a look at the long line stretching out (a line which contained adults as well as kids) and suppressed a sigh.

At this rate, he wouldn't have to worry about stopping Robotnik; the doctor would most likely be dead of old age long before Sonic was halfway done.

Okay, so that's Chemical Plant done...now it's on to my personal favourite, Aquatic Ruin :P If you read, please review!