It was a quiet, slow Thursday afternoon in Station Square. A few people walked down the street, heading back to their office jobs from their lunch breaks. It was the same as any other weekday. The only difference was the three motorcycles parked on the curb outside the bank. To a few people, that might have been suspicious, but no one really cared enough to investigate it. Everyone was too worried about trying to get back in time to punch in rather than some weird bikes parked outside the bank.

Then, suddenly, it all happened. The front doors to the bank exploded open. The alarm bell started ringing. People started screaming in terror. A purple weasel, a green duck, and lumbering giant of a polar bear all came sprinting out of the smoke with large duffle bags loaded with cash slung around their shoulders. The three of them jumped on the motorcycles and fired them up, then sped down the road as fast as they could. By the time the police had arrived on the scene, the three crooks were already gone.

A police officer reached to say something over his radio, only to feel a strong gust of wind pass by him. He turned to see what it was, only to see a fading blue blur. He let out a small smile, then turned to his radio again to make a status report. "This is officer Palmer," he said into the radio. "We're assessing the damages here at the bank. Our local just passed by me a second ago. Ten bucks says it's the hooligans again."

"Roger that, Palmer," a voice said on the police chatter. "Is it ever anyone else these days?"

The officer smiled and shrugged his shoulders, before putting down the radio and rushing into the bank to help anyone caught up in the explosion.

Miles away now, the purple weasel burst out into maniacal laughter. "Gahaha! Those suckers didn't even hold me for a week this time!" he laughed.

The green duck burst out into psychotic laughter. "Good thing those prison walls don't stack up against explosives, eh boss?!" he squealed.

"Yeah, leave it to the United Federation to sink more money into their soldiers than to reinforcing their prisons!" the weasel smirked.

The polar bear let out a low groan. The weasel glanced at him for a second before turning his eyes back to the road. "Yeah, yeah," he said nonchalantly. "I saw the way you was beating down those guards. You did good work too."

The polar bear grinned with joy, letting out an approving chuckle.

The joyful demeanor the trio shared suddenly vanished as they heard a gushing wind coming in their direction. The weasel glanced down at his rear view mirror. A blue blue was speeding towards them, and gaining ground fast. "Aww, crap," the weasel groaned. He looked over his shoulder and yelled, "We've got company, boys!"

"Say no more, boss!" the duck said excitedly, already lighting up a bomb. He chucked it behind him in the direction of the blue, looking over his shoulder to make sure it hit his target. The blur jumped over the bomb, missing the explosion it made in the middle of the road. "Drat!" the duck yelled angrily. He turned to face the road again, reaching for another explosive, only to realize he had steered off course.

The duck let out a shrill scream of fear as his motorcycle crashed into a fire hydrant, sending him flying off the motorcycle and smashing into a brick building. "Ugh…" he groaned as lay on the sidewalk, too hurt to move. The blue blue came to a stop beside him, suddenly blocking out the sun. A blue hedgehog in shorts and a t-shirt wearing goggles over his eyes looked down at him, smirking. "Oh, Bean," the hedgehog said sarcastically, "they tell you to keep your eyes on the road at all times in the driver's ed for a reason, you know."

"My favorite color is seven," Bean replied in a dazed state.

"Man, you need an ambulance. Good thing the cops are on the way. Welp, gotta run!" The hedgehog sprinted away after the other two robbers, as the sirens of police drew near.

"Well, I'd like to say I didn't see that coming," the weasel muttered, "but I totally did." He turned to the polar bear. "Can I count on you to knock some sense into that blue rat?"

The bear nodded and slowed down to allow his boss to get ahead. He steered his bike towards the speeding hedgehog that was quickly gaining on them. As the bear and the hedgehog reached an equal speed, the bear took one hand off the bike handle and swung a fist at the hedgehog. The hedgehog dodged and smirked at the bear.

"Bark really is a fitting name for you," the hedgehog spoke in a playful, mocking tone. "Your bite sucks!"

Bark snarled with anger at the blue blur. He lifted himself off the seat and stood on the footrests on either side of the motorcycle. He swiped and grabbed at the hedgehog over and over, missing each time. The hedgehog looked up at the best, grinning. "Come on, Bark," he said. "You're not gonna make me say the line are you?" The bear replied with only a menacing grin and a small chuckle. The hedgehog frowned. "What's so fun-oof!" His words were cut off by a swift kick to the chest from the towering giant.

The hedgehog was sent flying after tripping over himself and stumbling to the ground. He stood up, dusted himself off and adjusted his goggles. "Alright," he muttered in a serious tone. "Playtime's over!" He broke off into a sprint, speeding after Bark. Bark glanced at his rearview and let out an annoyed sigh as he saw a speeding blue blue head towards him. He glanced again, only to do a double take when he saw the hedgehog was gone. Before he knew what had happened, he felt a blue ball of spines slam hard into his back. The bear let out a yelp of pain. As he tried to regain control of his motorcycle, he felt a swift kick to the jaw and fell off the bike.

"Urrrgggg…" Bark groaned, standing up holding his side, which was in immense pain after falling off his bike. His vision started to blur and his head started to hurt. Not being able to take it anymore, he sat down on the edge of the curb, holding his head in pain. A gust of wind alerted him to the presence of a certain blue hedgehog. The bear looked up, seeing the hedgehog with his arm outstretched offering him an ice pack. "Next time, you should probably wear a helmet," the hedgehog said with a smirk. Bark groaned with annoyance as he grabbed the ice pack and pressed it against his head. As the hedgehog sped off, he heard the sirens of the police and an ambulance in the distance. He sighed as a migraine started to form in his head.

Meanwhile, the weasel had managed to gain considerable ground. He glanced around and said, "Yeesh, guess Bark didn't make it." The weasel shrugged. "Ah well. Even with only a third of the take, I should still be able to get the business up and running again. I gotta show those wannabe gun runners who the kingpin of arms is!" The weasel let out a hysteric chuckle. "Weapons smuggling? Again?'' came a sarcastic voice to his right. The weasel gasped and turned to face the voice. Sure enough, it was that blue hedgehog with his trademark smirk. "Can't you come up with anything more clever?" the hedgehog asked.

"You again?!" the weasel groaned.

"Hey, I was thinking the same thing!" the hedgehog laughed. "Didn't I just kick your butt and send you to the slammer last week, Knack?"

Knack scoffed. "Maybe so, Sonic, but ya forget about my boys! They always got my back. No prison can hold me 'long as they're out and about!"

"Well, if those two goons back there were your 'boys,' then I guess that problem's taken care of!"

"Yeah, whatever."

Knack looked around for a way to escape. His eyes stopped on a turn into an alley just up ahead. "Ah ha!" he yelled. He turned to face Sonic, tugging under his eye with his middle finger. "So long, sucker!" He stuck his tongue out, then turned his attention back to the road and sped off into the alleyway. For a brief second, he thought he managed to escape. That is, until he became face to face with a brick wall at the end of the alley. "Oh," he said, a mix of disappointment and realization in his voice. A gust of wind alerted him to Sonic's presence and he turned to face the hedgehog.

Sonic stood at the end of the alleyway, lifting his goggles off his eyes and resting them on his forehead. "Soooo…" he said to the weasel. "What exactly was your plan there?"

Knack stared at the hedgehog dumbfounded, before pulling down his hat and staring at the ground somberly. "Well, I guess the jig is up, isn't it?" he asked, a sadness in his voice.

"Yep. So are you gonna come quietly, or are we gonna do this the hard way."

Knack nodded slowly and solemnly. "Yeah… I'll come quietly." Suddenly, he looked up at the hedgehog with a twisted grin on his face, raising a firearm into the air. "…BUT MY TOMMY GUN WON'T!" Knack aimed the gun at the hedgehog and began pulling the trigger over and over, laughing like a madman.

Click! Click! Click! Went the tommy gun. Slowly but surely, Knack calmed down as he realized the sounds were all wrong. His manic laughter was replaced with confusion as he realized his gun was shooting nothing but blanks. He looked down at the gun in his hands, only to see the ammo barrel wasn't there. "What?!" he yelled in surprise and confusion. He looked back up at Sonic, who held up the ammo barrel with a smug look on his face. "Missing something?" the hedgehog asked. Knack groaned in defeat, dropping his gun on the ground.

"…in other news, we're hearing reports that a recent bank robbery perpetrated by the Hooligans street gang was thwarted thanks to the help of the planet's hero, Sonic the Hedgehog," came a voice on the radio. "The trio had managed to escape with over fifty thousand dollars in cash before police arrived on the scene, but were stopped in their escape attempt by the fastest thing alive. The trio's leader, Knack the Weasel, was incarcerated just last week after being exposed for running an illegal arms ring, information that was brought to the public eye by Sonic the Hedgehog himself. However, earlier this week, a prison break was led by Knack's associates, Bean the Dynamite and Bark the Polar Bear. The trio's whereabouts were unknown prior to the robbery, but all three are now in police custody. Bean and Bark are currently being held in the Station Square Hospital recovering from injuries sustained in the fight. More on this story as it develops."

Creak...! Creak...! Creak...! Boing!

"God damn it!" Tails yelled in annoyance, tossing his wrench on the ground. "Now what's wrong?" He slid out from under the plane and looked around for the problem. Tails sighed, giving up before going to turn off the radio. He took a second to catch his breath, before walking back to the plane and patting the side of it. "Jeez, girl…" he muttered. "What's wrong with you? This was supposed to be a simple engine problem. Why is every part of you breaking down?" He scratched his head, trying to think of what could possibly be wrong. Still, his mind drew a blank, so he shrugged. Deciding it was time he took a break, he walked into his kitchen and washed off his hands before making a simple ham and cheese sandwich. He stood by the counter and took a bite, still wondering what could be wrong with the plane he was working on. His thoughts were cut off by the ringing of the doorbell. "Coming!" he yelled after swallowing the bite. He walked over to the front door, sandwich in hand, and opened it. Sonic stood outside, a smile on his face.

"Hey little bro!" he said. "How's it hanging?"

"Oh, hey Sonic!" Tails said, smiling at the sight of his best friend. "Come on in, I'm taking a break from the plane I'm fixing to grab some lunch."

"I can tell," Sonic laughed, glancing at the sandwich in Tails' hand.

Sonic walked in, shutting the door behind him before taking a seat on the couch. "Man…" he sighed. "What a day it's been."

"Yeah, I heard about it on the radio," Tails said between bites. "Why are two of the guys in a hospital?"

"Hey, one of those isn't my fault," Sonic said defensively. "The other totally is though."

Tails chuckled to himself. "You never change, do you?"

"What's there to change?"

"Fair enough," Tails shrugged.

After finishing his sandwich, Tails took a seat on the couch next to Sonic. "So, what brings you here?" he asked.

Sonic shrugged. "Eh, nothing much. Haven't heard from you in a while, so I thought I'd stop by and say hello."

Tails nodded. "I see. Well, it's nice to see you, Sonic. Hope you've been well."

"Yeah, I've been good, just doing my thing. Nothing really interesting has been happening lately. Well, I put the Hooligans behind bars again, but who knows how long that's gonna last." Sonic let out a little chuckle. "What about you, what have you been up to?"

Tails shrugged. "Nothing much really, I've just been working on planes like usual. Gotta keep the clients happy, after all." He thought for a moment, before continuing. "Oh, but I did have Knuckles stay over last weekend, that was… fun."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Oh? How's the old Knucklehead doing?"

The kitsune let out a sigh. "Well, honestly, not great. Rouge broke up with him. He was staying over while she moved out."

"Ah jeez," Sonic sighed. "That sucks. That really sucks."

Tails raised his hand. "Preaching to the choir, dude."

Sonic scratched the back of his head. "Are you ok, dude?" he asked, concern in his voice. "You sound kinda… irritated. Wanna talk about it?"

Tails groaned. "It's… yeah, it's complicated. I doubt you'd be able to help me with it."

The hedgehog frowned. "Hey come on, man, don't be like. You're my little bro, you can talk to me. There's nothing I can't handle."

The kitsune looked over at his older brother figure. "Are you sure? I don't wanna bother you."

"Trust me, I got this. Lay it on me." Sonic smiled genuinely at the kitsune.

Tails took a deep breath and slowly breathed out. He scratched his cheek and avoided Sonic's gaze. "So there's this really awesome and cute girl I like," he blurted out.

The hedgehog crossed his fingers and looked down. "Ok," he muttered, "I don't know if I got this."

"Too late," the kitsune said with a smirk. "Anyways, yeah, she's really cool and I want to impress her. What the hell do I do?"

Sonic groaned. "Ok, give me the details. Is she a friend? Do I know her?"

"Yeah, she's a friend," Tails said confidently. He thought for a second before saying, "Oh, but you wouldn't know her. She's like… yeah she's super into machines and planes and stuff. Yeah."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "You are a horrible liar," he said with annoyance.

"Shut up," Tails spat.

Sonic exhaled. "Ok, look, what's the problem? What are you having trouble with specifically?"

"I just-" Tails groaned. "I just don't know what to do, alright?"

"Why don't you just tell her how you feel?"

"What?"

"You like her right? Just tell her that."

Tails blinked. He thought it over for a second. "But what if-"

Sonic held up his hand. "Stop," he said with a calm and serious tone.

"Stop what?" Tails, asked confused.

"Stop thinking about things. That's your biggest problem."

The look of confusion on Tails' face only grew. "How is thinking a problem?"

"Because- ugh." Sonic facepalmed and groaned. He looked up at Tails and continued talking. "Ok, so you know how some people are literally too dumb to function?"

"Yeah…" Tails replied slowly, "why?"

"Tails, you have the exact opposite problem. You are so smart, you literally cannot function sometimes. You overthink small things because the simple solution isn't always the smart one. So in instances like this," he flailed his arms around for emphasis, "you need to just stop thinking. Alright?"

Tails thought over Sonic's words, giving some time for it to sink in. "Counterpoint," he said finally, "you're 28 and haven't even been on a single date once in your entire life."

Sonic grabbed his head in frustration. "Oh my god…" he groaned.

The kitsune smiled. "I'm just giving you a hard time," he said, shaking Sonic's shoulder. "I guess I do tend to overthink a lot of things, don't I? Perhaps telling her that I like her really is the best course of action."

Sonic lifted his head and smiled. "Yeah, glad to be of help little bro. Whenever there's a problem that seems too frustrating for you, try taking a step back and looking at it from a much simpler angle."

"Thanks Sonic," Tails said cheerfully. "Even when you don't know what to say, you always know what to say."

"That… somehow makes no sense and perfect sense at the same time."

Tails giggled. He thought to himself for a moment. "A simpler angle…" he muttered to himself.

The kitsune facepalmed himself, hard. "The motor!" he yelled. "Of course! That's the problem!" He got up and made his way to the hangar. "Why didn't I think of it sooner?! It's so simple!" He made his way into the hangar, more than ready to get to work on the plane again. Sonic shook his head, smiling. "How can someone so smart be so dumb?" he wondered aloud.