Hey, remember this fanfic that hasn't been touched in over two years? No? Well after much delay I'm finally posting the sequel, Sonic Black & White. Since doesn't have a series feature, I figured I'd post a preview here to let anyone reading or following Sonic Leashed know that there is more of this nonsense if they so desire.

Everything was happening way too fast.

The space elevator shot through Earth's atmosphere like a bullet. A bullet with passengers. Tails could only look at the stars whirling past them for a moment before he felt even more sick, so he kept his gaze on the floor, clutching the sic-sac in his hands tightly. There wasn't much to look at anyway; just him, Sonic, the cushioned seats, a screen, and the mind-breakingly endless void of space.

Sonic, of course, was wholly unbothered by the rapid pace of the space elevator. His eyes were on the distant stars and his expression was thoughtful. He'd been unusually quiet for the duration of the ride. Well, unusual compared to most of the time Tails had known Sonic; in the months since what everyone had dubbed "the Gaia Incident", "lost in space" seemed to have become Sonic's default expression. It was weird, to say the least. Most likely it was just a side-effect of his new form and all the Gaia energy swirling inside him (for all Tails knew, Sonic could be in the middle of a heated argument with Pretzel right now), but it was still… strange. Different.

That wasn't anything new, though. Tails had spent the past few months playing catch-up, scrambling to regain his footing in a world that had changed in the blink of an eye. One moment everything had been fine and normal, just Sonic and Tails doing what they normally did. Sure, Sonic leaving him behind when he went to fight Eggman in space was annoying, but it wasn't too out of the ordinary. But then…

Well, that was the problem, wasn't it? Tails didn't know what happened next, not really. He'd been monitoring Sonic from Apotos (and preparing an annotated lecture about why running off into space without back up was an incredibly stupid idea), and then— everything went white. The next thing he knew, he was waking up in Apotos wrapped in a banner, Sonic was a cat somehow, Shadow was there for some reason, and there was also a strange ferret thing with three eyes staring at him ominously. Sonic tried to explain things, but they were in a hurry and Sonic had never been very good with details (or explaining things in general). There was something about Light Gaia taking over the world and also maybe brainwashing Sonic, and the creepy ferret was Light Gaia's opposite number Dark Gaia (and also named Pretzel. For some reason.) It was disorienting, to say the least. It didn't help that Tails barely had a few hours (most of which he spent making fake Chaos Emeralds and trying not to be creeped out by Pretzel) until he whited out again, waking up to find himself flying the Tornado in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Sonic and Pretzel defeated Light Gaia, thankfully (and turned it into a dog, sure, why not, it wasn't like things were supposed to make sense or anything), but even without the white outs Light Gaia caused, Tails still felt like he was ten steps behind everyone else. It was not a sensation he was used to, or that he particularly liked. Sonic was fast, Tails was smart. That was how it was. He wasn't supposed to be constantly confused and out of his league. Sonic had a new form (a mixture of hedgehog, wolf, and lion, Tails had deduced from what analysis Sonic had the patience for, but it also had strange wings somewhere between an insect and a bat), Amy was hosting the incarnations of light and darkness in her apartment, and everything was just… different. It was almost a relief when Tails got news that Eggman was building a new space station. Sonic and Tails, stopping Eggman's latest scheme for world domination; that, Tails understood.

Speaking of which. Tails's Miles Electric beeped, indicating they were approaching the space station. He jumped as Eggman's voice (a recording, he figured out a moment later) crackled over the speakers, telling everyone to buckle up right before the space elevator slammed to a whiplash-inducing halt.

"Ugh," Tails groaned, climbing slowly to his feet as he tried to fight off another bout of nausea. "He could have given more warning."

When there was no witty response from Sonic, Tails glanced up to see him still staring thoughtfully into space. He didn't seem to have even noticed they'd stopped.

"Sonic," Tails called, snapping the… not-hedgehog's attention to the present. "We're here."

Sonic blinked and shook himself. "That was quick!"

"A little too quick," Tails grumbled, tying the sic-sac and, after a moment's consideration, leaving it on the seat. He took a small amount of petty delight in leaving it for Eggman to deal with, even though he knew logically he'd just send some robots to clean it up.

"Perish the thought," Sonic said, shooting a grin at Tails as he stood and stretched. Tails smiled back.

For a moment, everything felt normal. Then a voice crackled over the speaker and Sonic whipped around, his grin disappearing to be replaced by focused intensity. His wings half rose, his tail lashed, and Tails was abruptly reminded that no, things weren't the way they usually were.

"I hope you enjoyed your ride, rodents!" Eggman's voice mocked cheerfully over the speakers.

He seemed to be addressing Sonic and Tails directly, unlike the previous recordings that had been intended for visitors to his theme park (why Eggman thought anyone would want to visit an amusement park created and run by a known terrorist, Tails didn't know). A quick look at the readings on the Miles Electric confirmed this was a live broadcast, and it seemed to be coming from somewhere in the space station. Eggman was here in person. Hopefully that meant the space station wasn't just a ruse like Tails had feared. It was still strange that the elevator had admitted Eggman's most dangerous adversaries so easily, though.

"After all," Eggman continued. "It'll be the last one you ever take!"

Ah. That explained it.

Sonic darted over to the doors, first pressing the controls and then, when that failed to do anything, grabbing them to pull them apart manually. The doors refused to budge.

While Sonic tried to get the doors open, Tails quickly tapped at the Miles Electric. There was no sign of robots approaching; maybe Eggman would try and fill the elevator with poison gas? Not Eggman's usual approach, sure, but it wasn't like anything had been proceeding as usual lately. And Tails wasn't forgetting the incident with the space capsule aboard the ARK. He knew Eggman wasn't above what was basically an execution.

That said, there was a reason Sonic and Tails weren't dead yet, and it wasn't luck. Or not entirely luck, at least. Tails grabbed a screwdriver from his subspace (hammerspace, Amy would have corrected him) and started removing the control panel next to the door. He found the right wires and plugged in the Miles Electric. As he expected, the elevator's system was connected to those of the space station. He quickly gained control of the ventilation system and sealed off the elevator's vents. It meant they were now on borrowed time in terms of breathing, but it also meant no poisoned gas, and it wasn't like he was planning on them sticking around for long.

Tails glanced up at Sonic, who was still trying to pull the doors apart. "Have you tried spindashing them?"

Sonic hesitated, then grimaced. "I'm… not sure I can." His wings fluttered as if to illustrate his point.

Right. New form, new rules. Tails had noticed Sonic's wings seemed to be very sensitive and surprisingly delicate; even hugs were painful if they weren't careful, and they hadn't dared try any spindashes or homing attacks. There was a reason hedgehogs didn't normally have wings.

"Guess I'll get us out then." Tails turned to the Miles Electric.

Unsurprisingly, it was a bit trickier to gain access to the door controls, but Tails wasn't a genius for nothing, and soon the doors swooshed open. He quickly rolled to the side, just in time to avoid an onslaught of rail detonator blasts. A trio of Buzz Bombers waited outside, accompanied by two Moto Bugs. Sonic immediately lunged forward, kicking the Buzz Bomber into the wall, and Tails followed, spinning to swipe a charging Moto Bug with his tails and slamming it into its twin. He ducked to avoid blasts from the remaining two Buzz Bombers. Sonic jumped off the wall and drop kicked one of them, and Tails swiped the last out of the air while it was distracted by Sonic.

They both stood amid the wreckage for a moment in silence.

"Well," Sonic said. "That was… lackluster."

Tails frowned, glancing back as the elevator doors closed with a cheery chime. "If that was a trap, it was definitely one of his weaker ones. It barely took me a second to hack the door controls."

Sonic nodded thoughtfully. "And that wasn't much of a welcome party. Wasn't he expecting us?"

They both waited a moment longer for more robots to come. None did. The corridor stretched before them, sleek, white, and eerily empty. The quiet was unnerving.

"I… Guess we should keep going?" Tails said, stepping forward cautiously. No lasers, no alarms, no robots. Just echoing silence. Creepy.

"Yeah," Sonic said absentmindedly, then shook himself. "Come on, let's find out what's up." He shot down the hall in a burst of speed. Tails glanced back one last time, then took off after him down the silent corridor.