0.7km Southeast of Trolberg, 16:10pm, 3hrs after the Anomaly
Tails, finally up on his feet, decided that staying put was not going to give him any answers, and the best course of action would be to head to the nearest town. Even when running at jogging pace, Tails still managed to reach the edge of the wall within a couple of minutes. The only challenge remaining, therefore, was how he would get inside.
"If it's a city, there should be a gate or somewhere I can go through." He surmised. Tails began to circle around the wall, looking for an opening, while the bellkeepers above the wall curiously watched him zip by. After making it a third of the way around, Tails spotted a road leading into the town through a gap in the wall which he promptly went through.
Tails stopped to take in the sights of the city for the first time. Immediately apparent to him were the number of cars on the street. Whilst the streets of back home were largely for pedestrian traffic, here, cars had right of way, and Tails wisely chose to stick to the paths.
Another thing Tails noted was the people. Clearly, they hadn't seen a fox like him before, as they turned their heads wherever he went, constantly giving him weird looks, like he didn't belong, which in fairness, he knew. But that wasn't his fault.
To get away from it all for a bit, Tails flew up to a gantry overlooking the Bronstad Lane footbridge, and leaned against the railing, looking out upon the city below. Tails enjoyed watching the people go about their day for a few minutes, reflecting on how rarely he was able to do this back home, before he was interrupted by a lone voice.
"You seem lost." A boy popped up from behind.
"You could say that." Tails replied. The boy raised his hands and recoiled in fear.
"Wait, I didn't mean to scare you!" Tails frantically apologised.
"Sorry. I wasn't expecting you to talk. It's not often I see any talking animals. You don't look familiar."
"I'm not from here. My name's Miles Prower, but my friends call me Tails." He replied, pointing at his two namesakes.
"I'm David." The boy replied, as he shook Tails' hand. "Where are you from, exactly?"
"I'm not sure how to say it, really. My home world is different to yours that's for sure, whether it's in the same universe is another question." Tails tried to explain.
"Did you get here by rocket then, or?"
"Not that. I got here through some sort of anomaly. My friends and I were in a fight against Dr Eggman, and got thrown out here through a chain reaction, of sorts."
"That must have hurt." David replied. Tails, much as he tried to hide it, looked like he'd been thrown into a pit several times over.
"I'm fine, mostly." Tails alleviated David's concern. "I've been through worse trying to stop him before."
"That Eggman fellow you mentioned? Some sort of mad scientist?" David interrupted.
"He prefers the term evil genius, but close enough. How did you know?"
"We have one of those." David replied.
"Ah. You need any help with that?" Tails asked.
"No. the last time we saw each other she accidently created a black hole in the Nisse space, which closed in on itself."
"Nisse space?" Tails asked, puzzled.
"Something from our world. Hilda knows a lot more about it than I do." David responded.
"Who's Hilda? Is she a friend of yours?" Tails asked.
"Yeah, She and Frida went out to find a shooting star that fell outside a couple of hours ago." David explained. "I was supposed to join them, but then I saw you up here."
"A shooting star, in the daytime?" Tails queried.
"We all saw it. It twinkled as it fell. I didn't look like a normal star though. It was sort of… wine coloured?"
"That sounds like the Phantom Ruby." Tails worked out.
"Something from your world?" David asked.
"Yeah. Where did it fall? Tails asked.
"I'll show you." David replied, beckoning him to follow. Tails walked on behind him until they got to the edge of town, where Hilda and Frida were impatiently waiting.
"Come on David! We've only got a couple of hours before it gets dark." Frida grumbled.
"I'm coming!" David began to run towards them, as Tails came into view.
"Who's that behind him?" Hilda asked, grabbing a set of binoculars and looking through them.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was a Woff with legs." Frida squinted, as David finally caught up with them.
"Who's your friend?" Hilda asked him, gesturing to the fox next to him.
"Hilda, this is Tails. Tails, this is Hilda." David introduced.
"You look a lot different to the foxes we normally see around here." Hilda commented, as they began to walk outside the wall.
"Well, as I explained to David, I'm not from here. I crash landed here after my friends and I were trying to stop a giant robot that Dr Eggman had built. It's a different world to yours, or a different universe, I'm not sure yet."
"I'm leaning more towards different universe." Frida responded.
"What's this about a giant robot?" David asked.
"Every once in a while Eggman concocts a plan to take over the world with some form of robot army or giant robot or mecha, and me, my best friend Sonic, and the rest of my friends have to stop him. it's gotten scary a few times, but eventually, we always win out in the end."
"Where does he even find the resources?" Frida asked.
"Mining and scrap metal, mostly. As for power, most of the time he tries to grab all seven of the Chaos Emeralds, since they're the largest power source around."
"I see." Frida replied. "So what happened to you? You've taken a few hits."
"Well, in our last battle, two other gems collided, and then there was a flash of white… and somehow I ended up here."
"Definitely a different universe." Hilda confirmed, as she led the way.
"I suppose one of those other gems was the Phantom Ruby?" David asked.
"Yep." Tails replied, as the group ambled up the top of a hill.
"I'm guessing it would be bad if it fell into the wrong hands." Hilda stated.
"Yeah. I heard you have your own mad scientist to deal with." Tails mentioned.
"Nobody's seen her in a long time. And a lot has changed. Hilda explained. "I don't think she'll try anything for quite some time, if she can even make her way back."
"What else did she do?"
"Kidnapped a weather spirit, caused a humungous snowstorm, conjured a Nisse from dead animals via necromancy." Frida listed to him.
"Necromancy? Does that mean there are witches in this universe?"
"Of course." Hilda began. "Most witches are good, friendly and dependable like Frida, so it's nothing to worry about." The group peered over the top of the next hill and spotted a small twinkling object far in the distance.
"I think we've found it!" Hilda announced, breaking into a run. "Come on!" Frida and David hurried along behind, with Tails bringing up the rear. Hilda reached the source of the twinkling and found a small gem embedded into the dirt. Hilda picked it up and held it tightly. The sheer power that emanated from it felt heavy on her fingertips, and a creeping sense of dread which told her not to be messing with stuff like this.
"I think you should have it." Hilda decided, handing the Phantom Ruby to Tails.
"Good idea. I'm not sure about how I'm gonna use it, but I might be able to build a portal back to my world with it, if I have the time and the resources."
"Speaking of time, we should get back. It'll be dark soon." David reminded them.
"Well we found the Ruby, or whatever it is, so we might as well." Hilda replied, turning back. On their way back, Tails noticed something odd.
"These stones look oddly shaped to me." He remarked, pointing at a circle of them on his left.
"Those are Troll rocks." Hilda began. "Trolls turn to stone in the daytime, and freely move about during the night."
"Most Trolls won't eat you, but it's not a good idea to stick around to find out." David explained.
"We try to treat them with respect, although a lot of people in the city are still scared of them, even after Safety Patrol came to their senses and stopped harassing them." Hilda added.
"They don't seem to like me either." Tails pointed out.
"Well, as long as you're here, you can count on us." Hilda promised.
"Yeah, and you're welcome to stay at my house for as long as you need." David replied.
"If your mum's okay with that." Frida pointed out.
"I'll, uh, try to work that out." David tried to allay Frida's concerns.
"Even if you can't, I'm sure I'll do okay. Sonic usually finds a tree to sleep in if he can't find shelter on any given night. He'll probably be doing that right now, if he's also here." Tails thought aloud. The group continued to walk until they were back within the confines of the city walls, and before long, they were stood in front of David's house.
"See you tomorrow David!" Hilda and Frida waved him goodbye as they went off to their separate houses. David looked up at his room.
"The only question is how we're going to get you inside without my parents noticing.
"Your room is through that window, right. I could just fly up there." Tails suggested.
"You can fly?!" David asked in disbelief.
"For a little while, yes. How did you think I got up to that gantry?"
"Ok. That works. My room's a bit small, but I'll try and make it comfortable for you."
"Thanks." Tails responded. David went into his house and up to his room, where he opened the window to let tails in. That evening, after David had eaten dinner, he opened his bedroom window and allowed Tails to fly in. David had laid out some extra blankets, but Tails chose to sleep on the floor. David draped them over the fox anyway, as the pair of them settled in for a good night's sleep.
Meanwhile, far away from the bustle of Trolberg, Victoria Van Gale was quietly sat in her cabin working on a water wheel to draw power from the river when she heard a knock on the door.
"Who could that be?" Van Gale muttered to herself. "Nobody even lives near here." She went the door and opened it. Before her stood a bald, portly man with a distinctive but poorly kept moustache.
"Evening." Van Gale looked at the man, who seemed a tad dishevelled. "Can I help you?"
"Terribly sorry to bother you, but I appear to be unable to find shelter for the night. Would you happen to have a place to stay?
"Of course. It can get quite lonely out here sometimes. What's your name?"
"Dr Ivo Robotnik." The man answered.
"Doctor of medicine?" Van Gale asked.
"Doctor of Robotics, Applied Mechanics, Bionics, you name it."
"Wonderful!" Victoria almost clapped with glee, before remembering her manners and shaking his hand. "I'm Victoria Van Gale. Meteorologist, with an additional degree in Applied Mechanics. Do come in!"
"Certainly." Robotnik replied, entering the house. Immediately he took notice of the water wheel laying on the table.
"Ah yes. I've been working on a renewable power source so I can begin using this place for laboratory work." Van Gale explained. "I've been rebuilding here for the past few months after my last laboratory went to pieces."
"Mind if I help you with it?" Robotnik asked, keen to make a good first impression.
"Of course. I could always use an extra pair of helping hands. Do you take Coffee?"
"Yes" The doc replied happily. No milk, but with lots and lots of sugar." He replied, as he finally got to work.