Chapter 9: Mystery Diagnosis

"Oooo, I've been working on the aiiiirplaaaane... All the live-long day! Yes, I've been working on the aiiirplaaane... Just to pass the time awaaaay!" Tails sang to himself as he used a wrench to tighten a few bolts underneath the X-Tornado's fuselage. Satisfied that they were nice and tight, Tails rolled himself out from under his custom jet and casually wiped his greasy hands on the tips of his already heavily stained tails.

"There, that oughta do it! Heh, just wait until Chuck gets to see all the modifications I put into this baby!" Tails said while grinning proudly to himself. "I finished installing the forward-mounted lasers we talked about last week, plus I even created a new ion-drive propulsion system in the X-Tornado's engines! It may take the power of two Chaos Emeralds to run everything, but now the X-Tornado should be capable of flying even in outer space!"

He reached for a remote on his nearby workbench. "I hope Chuck's not too jealous that I did all this work by myself," Tails spoke as he adjusted a few settings on the remote. "Things were getting a bit crazy back at Chris's house with all the press and everything. I guess the whole Egg Virus hoax was too good of a story for them to resist, but really? I couldn't even step outside without getting blinded by all the cameras flashing! It's almost like I saved Station Square from another of Eggman's nukes again," he recalled.

"Anyway... Let's test this baby out and see what she can do!" Tails finally decided as he lowered a welding visor in front of his face, then pressed a final button on his remote.

A high-pitched whine echoed through his workshop as several pinpricks of intense light projected themselves onto a solid steel plate set up at least a dozen feet in front of the X-Tornado's nose. With a delicate touch, Tails calibrated each laser individually to try and bring them all together to a single point in the center of the steel plate. As they neared the point of convergence, the metal started glowing from the combined heat of the multiple laser beams. The light was getting so intense that Tails had a hard time seeing the individual lasers in order to adjust them, even with the protection of his visor.

But just when Tails thought he might have gotten them all perfectly aligned...

KZZZZZZZZT!*

Out of the open hatch at the bottom of the fuselage that Tails had just been working inside, a large bolt of energy shot out into the concrete floor with enough intensity to create its own micro thunderclap. Immediately the lasers disappeared as they lost power, leaving behind a large hole through the steel target... and the wall of his workshop even further beyond that.

Once he finished swallowing his stomach and other frightened organs back into place, Tails removed his visor and stared sheepishly at the aftermath of his little test firing. "Heh heh... Whoops. Do I call this a successful test or a failure?" he pondered to himself. Tails could clearly see the Mystic Ruins and the path leading up to his workshop through the hole he'd just neatly sliced into the wall. "I guess the regulator still can't handle the power output enough for a sustained blast. Maybe if I try shunting the Chaos Emeralds' energy through a stronger transformer...?"

Grabbing his wrench again, Tails rolled himself back underneath the open hatch to continue tinkering. He figured he could patch up the wall later. Right now his mind was racing with ideas on what was wrong with this new system and how he could possibly fix it, and Tails didn't want to lose that concentration. So it was that Tails never noticed a blue figure enter the workshop through the new 'door' he'd just installed and walk up to his exposed feet.

"Heya, Tails!" Sonic announced his presence loudly.

"AAH!" Tails screamed in surprise. He instinctively brought his head up to try and spot the intruder, and immediately bashed it against the undercarriage of the X-Tornado with a loud bang. "Oooow! Ouch, ouch... That's not funny, Sonic!" he shouted.

"Haaa ha ha ha! It sure is from where I'm standing!" Sonic laughed anyway at Tails' expense.

"Oh yeah? Then how about I knock you over the head with this wrench in order to make it even?" Tails threatened as he finally got out from underneath the plane and stood up, clutching his aching forehead with one hand and the aforementioned wrench in the other.

"Heh, I think I'll pass on that, buddy," Sonic replied with a good-natured grin. "So you redecorating in here or what?"

"What do you mean redecorate- Oh yeah, that. I may have slightly underestimated the penetration of the X-Tornado's newest laser weapon," Tails confessed.

"Slightly? Tails, you nearly incinerated half of the Mystic Ruins out there, not to mention me!" Sonic warned. "Next time, at least point that thing off the bluff and over the sea where it can't hit anybody by accident."

"Yeah, heh heh... Sorry," Tails rubbed the back of his head in a nervous apology.

It was only now that Sonic took note of how messy Tails' fur had become. Nearly every part of his body was covered in some sort of grimy smudge or residue, but the worst by far was his twin tails. "Good grief, Tails! How long have you been working like this?" Sonic asked in concern.

"Well, being sick and stuck in bed for a couple of days made me really appreciate all the things I can do when I'm healthy, so I've been pretty focused," Tails admitted. "Don't worry though, Sonic. It's not like I haven't been sleeping or eating or anything. Although I guess I have slept here in the workshop for the last couple of nights..." Tails realized as he accidentally spread more of the grime onto his muzzle as he scratched his chin.

"Well you better wash up, bro. I came to deliver a message from Chuck, and he needs you back at the mansion, ASAP," Sonic delivered his message to the grungy fox. "He said there's an important guest who's coming over right now to meet with you. Not sure who he is, but I think Chuck said he's from the government."

"Oh No!" Tails blurted out. "Sonic, what if it's the President?! I can't go looking like this!"

"If it was the President, Tails, he'd be ordering you to come to him," Sonic pointed out. "But still, I agree with you not wanting to look like a walking grease rag when you meet this guy."

"But what am I going to do, Sonic? Do you have any idea how long it could take me to clean all this out of my fur?" Tails fretted.

"Don't sweat it, little bro," Sonic replied to the panicked fox. "I'll juice on back to the mansion and tell them you might be a bit late. Just don't take too long!"

"I'll try! Thanks, Sonic," Tails answered with a quick nod. Then he dashed away into the living quarters of his home, straight for the bathroom shower.

Tails shivered under the frigid water as he initially turned the shower on. Normally he'd wait for the temperature to reach a more comfortable level before jumping in, but this time was more urgent. He grabbed a nearby bottle of shampoo and started squirting it generously all over his filthy body. The water running down the drain quickly became a sudsy, nasty, brown cesspool at his feet as Tails frantically scrubbed himself all over. He found it particularly hard to get the stains out of his chest, muzzle, and the tips of his dirty tails where his fur was supposed to be white.

Tails couldn't count how many times he washed one of his namesakes with plenty of shampoo, only to wring it out and discover even more underlying filth still seeping to the surface. It was like trying to clean the dirty core of a greasy sponge. And even after Tails was reasonably sure that the first of his tails was finally clean enough, he realized that he still had the second one left to go. Note to self: Buy some rags for my workshop and force myself to use them, Tails thought in irritation.

Of course, drying off all that fur when Tails was finally done was a whole new nightmare. He shook as much water from his body as he could before he left the shower, then rubbed vigorously with a couple of towels until he was at least presentable and all his fur wasn't laying down from the excess water.

He checked a nearby clock and gasped. Despite washing and drying himself as fast as Tails thought was possible, it had been nearly half an hour since Sonic left! I am going to be so late!

The now clean fox made a mad dash back to his workshop. He didn't have time to check if the X-Tornado was still in flyable condition, so Tails instead hopped right into his trusty Tornado 2 biplane and fired up the engine. Minutes later, it was zooming down the runway on the bluff outside Tails' workshop, taking off effortlessly into the sky as the ground below quickly ended in a sheer ocean cliff. Tails directed the biplane on a heading straight towards Station Square, silently wishing the slower aircraft could somehow go a bit faster.


After taxiing up to the Thorndike's garage, Tails barely took the time to shut off the biplane's engine before he hopped out onto the pavement. He immediately noticed Mr. Tanaka awaiting him at the edge of the driveway and hurried over.

"Greetings, Master Tails. We have been expecting you for some time now. I trust you are now decent?" Mr. Tanaka addressed the rushed fox.

"Yes, Mr. Tanaka," Tails answered with a sheepish nod. Apparently Sonic had shared how dirty he had been to everyone, making Tails worried about just how much detail Sonic had gone into. "I'm ready to meet with Chuck and his guest now."

"Very well then, Master Tails," Mr. Tanaka continued dutifully. "Mr. Thorndike and his distinguished guest are in the underground lab right now awaiting your arrival."

"The lab?" Tails blurted out. "Why would Chuck invite a stranger into our secret lab?" Tails asked the knowledgeable butler.

"Mr. Thorndike's guest is a fellow scientist who has shown interest in his experiments, so Mr. Thorndike decided to give him a brief tour of the facility as they awaited your arrival," Mr. Tanaka explained to Tails before turning on his heels and walking off towards the house.

Tails took this as his cue to go find Chuck and his visitor. He quickly went into the garage and entered the elevator to the underground lab. As the doors of the elevator opened at last upon arrival, Tails saw Chuck talking to a very familiar-looking man as they sat on stools near the largest workbench in the lab. Both of them turned to face him as Tails walked over closer, and that was when Tails finally recognized the man's face. "Mr. Steward?"

"I beg your pardon, but were you attempting to address me?" the stranger asked the dumbfounded Tails.

"Wait..." Tails spoke in a noticeably confused voice, "You're not Mr. Steward, Chris's school teacher? You look exactly like him! Well, except for the mustache, I suppose."

For a brief moment the man seemed to panic, but he quickly regained his composure by straightening his tie and clearing his throat. "Astounding! This Mr. Steward fellow must be the spitting image of myself. I do believe this is the third or fourth time I've been mistaken for him in this household. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Professor Arnold Strunecker from the Institute for Medical and Biological Sciences in Station Square. And you must be the famous Miles Prower?" the scholarly gentleman spoke as he extended a hand towards Tails.

"That's me! Except, I prefer to go by my nickname, Tails," the young fox corrected Chuck's guest as he quickly shook hands with the professor.

"Oh, and why is that, if I may ask?" the mysterious professor asked Tails.

"I just don't like my real name very much because, you know, it's pretty much a bad pun," Tails gave a rehearsed response. "Miles Prower... Miles-per-hour... You get it, right?"

"Of course, of course. I can empathize, in fact. A family name like 'Strunecker' isn't exactly the most common either," the professor spoke. "Now, if I may ask, Tails, why did it take so long for you to arrive here after we sent for you? Surely Sonic didn't fail to mention that I am a very busy man and not at all accustomed to waiting."

"Sorry!" Tails immediately apologized to the important visitor. "I had been working on my plane, the X-Tornado, for quite a while when I got the message, so I tried to clean up as quickly as I could."

"We understand, Tails," Chuck answered for both him and his guest. "But what did you do to your head?" Chuck noticed the large knot on the fox's forehead.

"Huh? Oh yeah, that!" Tails recalled his accident earlier. "Sonic surprised me while I was lying under the X-Tornado's engine, and I hit my head pretty hard by accident."

"How unfortunate. Now I must insist that we cut to the chase here," Professor Strunecker insisted. "I have been dispatched by the IMBS to get vital information on your illness earlier this week. Since you have had the only recorded case of the Mobian Flu in known history, at least in our world, it is important for us to gather all the information we can to help treat future cases like yours. If you don't mind, I would like to ask you a few questions about your experience. Please feel free to object to any questions that you think are too personal or you otherwise may not wish to answer."

Chuck saw Tails glance at him as the professor finished his opening disclaimer. "Don't worry, Tails," he reassured his buddy, "I already told him all the technical stuff. He just needs to hear a few answers in your own words."

"OK, sure," Tails accepted as he sat in a third stool directly across from Chuck and the professor.

"Splendid. Now, first off, Chuck has informed me that your case of the Mobian Flu was particularly nasty. At any point did you believe it might have possibly been life-threatening?" asked the professor as he removed a pen and notepad from his coat pocket.

"Well, I'm not sure if I'm very well qualified to rate how bad it actually was," Tails said. "I had never been sick before, so I have nothing to compare it to. You might need to ask Mrs. Vanilla, Cream's mom, since she was taking care of me the whole time."

"I already have, in fact, and she reported that you ran a very high fever at one point. Luckily, it seemed that one of our generic human drugs was effective at bringing that down," the professor replied. "Of course, our main concern with any new disease is understanding the means of contraction and general virulence of the bug. Assuming that the Mobian Flu is spread in a similar manner to the more common variety, have any other household members shown signs of infection following Mr. Prower's recovery?"

"Thankfully, no," Chuck happily reported. "Of all the people that were around Tails while he was sick, only Ella and Mrs. Vanilla spent extended amounts of time in close contact with him, and those two happen to be the cleanest individuals in the house. I haven't heard so much as a sniffle from either of them these last few days."

"Wonderful! I can't express how relieved I am to hear that we aren't looking at a new pandemic," The professor seemed pleased as he jotted down some notes. "Now, Tails, can you list for me all the symptoms that you can remember feeling while you were sick? I'm sure they will be the same as the symptoms I've already been told by Chuck and Mrs. Vanilla, but I want to get your unbiased perspective on the severity of each symptom."

"Sure thing, Professor Strawnecker," Tails agreed.

"Strunecker. But for the sake of brevity, please just call me Dr. Arnold," the scholarly man immediately corrected Tails' mispronunciation.

"OK, Dr. Arnold. Like we said, I remember running a fever. I'm not sure how hot it was, but even icepacks on my forehead didn't really help much. I also coughed and sneezed a lot. Plus I had a runny nose, upset stomach, and sometimes couldn't breathe very well. I always felt tired but couldn't sleep, and I... threw up a few times." Tails' stomach churned slightly at the memory of his multiple vomiting accidents.

"Anything else that you felt might have been a symptom caused by your sickness?" Dr. Arnold asked as he continued to take notes.

"Actually, I did feel a sharp pain in my chest once or twice over the two days that I was in bed, but I figured that all my coughing had just caused a bruise or something," Tails confessed the seemingly trivial detail.

"You never told me about that, Tails!" Chuck interrupted.

"Sorry, Chuck. I just didn't think it was a big deal," Tails admitted.

"Perhaps not. But still, it is a very odd symptom to be associated with any kind of flu virus. Are you sure that the pain you felt in your chest was a sharp pain, Tails?" Dr. Arnold inquired.

"Yeah, it felt like a dagger had stabbed me in the chest, and the pain would get so bad that I couldn't breathe. But it always went away after a few seconds, and it only happened a couple of times," Tails went into more detail. "So why are you both so concerned about it?"

"Let me ask you this first, Tails. Have you ever had any kind of heart troubles?" the medical professional asked to rule out the likely suspects.

"No, I have always been perfectly healthy," Tails quickly responded proudly.

"Then perhaps this strange pain has something to do with the alleged Egg Virus?" Dr. Arnold supposed.

"It can't be," Chuck answered first. "The Egg Virus was a complete fake made up by Dr. Eggman to trick us into giving him the Chaos Emeralds. None of what Eggman said about his manufactured disease has been proven to be true. He even lied about staying at the same resort as we did on the trip in which Tails got sick. I checked the guests' manifest myself a day ago, and nobody even resembling Eggman or his goons had been checked in during that weekend. Eggman was lying through his teeth about the whole thing."

"Interesting. Well, since the Egg Virus clearly never existed, it can't explain this anomalous symptom. Tails, have you ever felt this pain again after you recovered?" Dr. Arnold questioned the fox in search of an explanation to the mysterious pain.

"Actually, now that I think about it, I might have." Tails blurted out, just as surprised as the other men at his answer. "The other day, while I was working on the X-Tornado in my workshop, I suddenly felt a similar strong pain in my chest. I thought that it was just a cramp from working too long without a break."

"Very odd," the professor commented on Tails' lingering symptom. "It probably was just bad cramps on every account. Anything from lying in bed too long, to working too hard, and even needing to go to the bathroom could have caused these sharp chest pains you felt, Tails. Still, it is a worrisome symptom that I will make a note of for comparison with future cases. I would also normally recommend a check up with a cardiologist just to be safe, but because we understand so little about Mobian anatomy currently, I fear it would be inconclusive."

"I bet that Tails is just constipated," Chuck slipped in under his breath.

"Hey, that's not funny, Chuck!" Tails shot back at the unnecessary comment. He didn't appreciate being humiliated in front of such an important stranger.

"Just saying, it's very possible knowing how you get absorbed into your work," Chuck replied with a chuckle.

"Indeed, it is possible. Hopefully that's all this pain amounts to," Dr. Arnold agreed as he pocketed his pen and notepad. "Well now, I am sorry to have to run so soon, but I must return to work to finish my other duties. So long to you both, Chuck and Tails!" he said farewell as he got up from his stool. Then the clone of Mr. Steward walked to the elevator to leave.


He kept his composure until he pulled out of the Thorndike's driveway in his car. The moment he turned the corner and was sure that no one could see him, Dr. Arnold ripped off his fake mustache and tossed it into the seat next to him.

Those fools at headquarters really messed up this time! I told them that everyone at the Thorndike's house would recognize me, even in my disguise!

Now that his only questionable feature was gone, there was absolutely no doubt that this was the actual Mr. Steward. It was just my luck, too, that the first person who sees me after Mr. Tanaka opened the door was Chris himself! It took a lot of fast talking to convince him I wasn't his teacher. Tails showing up so late meant I had to convince Chuck to take me down to his lab or I was just certain my cover would get blown before he arrived!

Mr. Steward breathed a sigh of relief. At least that whole hot mess of a terrible idea is done now. I'm sure the President will be relieved to have confirmation that Eggman isn't now dealing in biological warfare as well, and we don't have a new epidemic on our hands, either.

Mr. Steward reached down with one finger to activate the two-way receiver built into his wristwatch.

"This is Antibody calling White Blood Cell. Please respond, White Blood Cell," he spoke into the tiny microphone built into the watch. There was a long pause before a voice came over the tiny speakers.

"Who is this? This is a restricted frequency! Stop broadcasting on this channel at once, or you will be arrested by G.U.N.!" an angry officer's voice responded.

"I have authorization from the President to use this frequency! I am codename Antibody calling White Blood Cell with a mission report!" Mr. Steward raised his voice in frustration.

"You are who?" the obviously uninformed operator replied.

"This is Antibody. I have an urgent report for headquarters!" Mr. Steward once again repeated himself to the infuriating man on the other end of the call.

"I don't know anything about any 'Antibody', bub! You have about two seconds to identify yourself before I report this!" shouted the operator's voice through the speakers.

"Oh, for pete's sake! This is Chalkboard Charlie! I need to talk to Homeroom right away!" Mr. Steward finally gave up on his new callsigns and reverted to his former ones as Chris's undercover schoolteacher.

"Oh! Well why didn't you just say so? Hang on Charlie; I'll put you through to HQ," the man finally recognized the caller and promptly transferred his transmission to the phone in his boss's office.

"Charlie, this is Homeroom, over," came a very authoritarian voice after a few seconds delay. "Why didn't you use your provided codename for this mission? You were supposed to be codename 'Antibody', Dr. Strunecker." The boss's voice sounded agitated at the blatant breach in protocol.

"My apologies, White Blood Cell, but someone should have informed the operator of the change in callsigns!" Mr. Steward spoke in agitation. "I have completed my assignment and have good news to report. The Egg Virus threat is non-existent. I repeat, I can confirm the Egg Virus never existed. Furthermore, the patient has recovered completely from nothing more than a bad case of the flu, and no other cases have been reported."

"Very well done, agent Antibody," the voice responded in a now pleased tone. "This news will be very welcome to the President. Good work; HQ out."

"Wait, I...!" but there was only static now. As usual, they always hang up before I can make any sort of complaint... or ask for a raise, Mr. Steward grumbled to himself.


Tails spent the rest of the afternoon with Chuck after the mysterious Dr. Arnold left. He was very eager to describe his new improvements on the X-Tornado to his partner.

Chuck seemed very impressed at what Tails had accomplished in just a few short days. From the test firing of the new laser cannon array to Tails' invention and implementation of a new, high-velocity ion jet engine system for super-orbital flight. They discussed at length the lingering energy flow and overload issues, troubleshooting as much as they could while the X-Tornado sadly remained back at Tails' workshop due to his rush to get over here earlier.

But eventually the two both decided to take a break and head back up to the mansion for something to eat. Tails chose to take his snack over to the living room and sat down on the large, comfy sofa in front of the television.

Cream and Cheese were also in the living room, dancing in front of the TV as they watched their favorite show. The show featured a large, hairy, purple monster as its mascot that would basically lead the young viewers in a dance party during the entire show's length. It was very childish, but Cream and Cheese were just about the right age for such things and enjoyed dancing along with the fuzzy, purple monster. "Hey, Tails?" Cream suddenly asked, "Do you want to dance with us?"

"Chao!" Cheese emphatically agreed with the idea.

"No thanks, Cream," Tails declined. "I don't really feel like dancing right now."

"Is it because you think you would look dumb?" Cream questioned Tails with a hint of hurt in her voice.

"No, that's not it! I'm just trying to finish my sandwich first," Tails quickly clarified. After all, he didn't want to hurt Cream's feelings.

"Oh, okay! Well hurry up and finish before the show ends, then!" Cream replied eagerly.

Tails chuckled and took another bite of his meal. Honestly, where did those two get all this energy? Forget the Chaos Emeralds; if Tails could tap into whatever power source Cream and Cheese shared, he could probably power the entire- "Ahh!"

The dancing partners paused to investigate the strange exclamation from behind them. "Tails, is everything all right?" Cream asked, with Cheese echoing her concern.

"Y-Yeah, Cream. I'm all right, I think," Tails answered as he grasped his forehead with his free hand. "It's just a bad headache all the sudden."

"Chao?" Cheese spoke with a quizzical expression on its face. The little Chao, sensing that something was wrong with Tails, hovered over to his side and touched its short, stubby hand to Tails' noggin.

"No, Cheese! Tails isn't sick again; his head just hurts," Cream corrected her Chao friend.

"Yeah, I bumped my head really hard earlier," Tails recalled. "It's been kind of hurting me ever since. I'll be fine, you guys. Don't stop dancing because of me."

"Are you sure, Tails? We can turn the TV off if it will help your head feel better," Cream graciously offered.

"No, really, it's... it... it..." Tails' voice repeated like a skipping record, his half-eaten sandwich abruptly falling onto the couch like he'd forgotten how to grasp it. His last word came out only as a strange wheeze. Then, like an appliance being switched off, Tails' eyes rolled back and his body went limp, sprawling out backwards across the sofa.

"TAILS! Oh no, Cheese! Something's definitely wro-!"

But Cream couldn't even finish before Tails' lifeless-looking body started twitching uncontrollably. His left leg kicked robotically at the air, while both of his arms spasmed in random directions and his neck jerked his head from side to side.

"CHOA CHOA!" Cheese screamed in terror.

"S-S-Somebody, HELP! MOMMY! MR. SONIC!" Cream shouted in horror as well.

Naturally, Sonic was the first to make it into the room. "What's goin' on in here?!" Sonic asked as he entered the room in a blur and a brief rush of air.

Tails started to snap out of it at that moment. Sonic barely got to observe his odd twitching before Tails' body again went limp. Then he let out a groan, his hand coming back up to his forehead as Tails sat up.

"Hey, Tails? Is everything all right?" Sonic worried.

"Huh?" Tails finally opened his eyes to see Sonic, Cream and Cheese with their concerned expressions. "Yeah, I'm fine, Sonic," he muttered.

"Well, you didn't look very fine just a second ago," Sonic started to quiz further, but he was interrupted as the rest of the household charged into the room.

"What's wrong, Cream? Is it Eggman?" Chris appeared wearing a helmet and brandishing a baseball bat.

"It'd better not be, or he's going to regret...! Huh?" Ella paused, frying pan raised, confused by the pristine room they'd just charged into.

"Hey, what gives, Cream? We thought you were in real trouble!" Amy inquired as she likewise lowered her hammer at the lack of a tangible threat.

"Cream, dear, I know that something must have scared you very much to scream like that," Vanilla consoled her daughter, kneeling down to look her in the eyes.

Cream sniffled through her tears and nodded. "It... It was Tails..."

"Master Tails! You should be ashamed of yourself to scare Miss Cream so! A true gentleman does not play cruel pranks on little girls!" Mr. Tanaka rebuked Tails immediately.

"Wait! I haven't done anything, I swear!" Tails shouted to the now hostile and still armed crowd. Come to think of it, though, what had he been doing the last few minutes? He spotted his half-eaten sandwich now scattered on the floor. How did that get there?

"Chao chao chao, Chao!"

"Cheese is right! I don't think Tails was trying to scare us," Cream defended her friend.

"Then what happened?" Chuck demanded to know.

"From what I saw when I got in here, I think something was wrong with Tails," Sonic spoke up. "He looked sorta... out of it. His body was moving and twitching, but it didn't look like he was in control of it."

"That's right!" Cream continued. "Oh, and his eyes were all weird, too. Show them, Cheese," Cream asked her chao friend to demonstrate.

Cheese nodded, then grabbed the bottom of its eyelids and rolled its eyes back into its head so only the whites of its eyeballs were showing.

"Oh, my!" Vanilla exclaimed at the ghoulish sight.

"Wait, I don't remember doing that!" Tails quickly interceded on his own behalf.

"What do you remember doing last, Tails?" Chuck asked the puzzled fox.

"Well, I was getting a huge headache again. Then everything started turning black, and... I can't remember anything that I've done until just now." Tails elaborated.

"Hey, that sounds exactly like a seizure!" Chris realized.

"What is a seizure?" Cream quickly asked.

"Well, I have a friend in my class who says that he sometimes used to get things he called seizures. He said that when one came he would shake uncontrollably, his eyes would roll back into his head, and he wouldn't remember what had happened," Chris explained to everyone in the room.

"That's right, Chris," Chuck congratulated his grandson's astute diagnosis. "I believe that Tails has just had a mild seizure."

"Mild?! The little bit that I saw didn't seem very mild," Sonic disagreed with arms crossed.

"A seizure can be far worse and sometimes last a lot longer, Sonic," Chuck informed the gathered household. "They can range from someone just appearing to 'space out' for a minute, to serious Tonic-Clonic seizures that render someone unconscious, then can jerk their body violently for several minutes causing harm to themselves."

"But, my friend said that he had some kind of disease or something that made him have seizures a lot. Does Tails have that same disease?" Chris added.

"You're talking about epilepsy, Chris. But, no, I highly doubt it," Chuck answered. "At least, Tails has never told me of any seizures before."

"No, I've never felt anything like that before in my life, I swear!" Tails quickly replied.

"Then perhaps there is a connection with the rather large lump on Master Tails' head?" Mr. Tanaka proposed.

"But that happened hours ago. How could an accident then cause me to have a seizure now? Shouldn't it have happened right after hitting my head?" Tails pointed out.

"Typically, yes," Chuck spoke as his brow furrowed in thought. "Unless you hit your head hard enough to get a concussion, I suppose."

"Mommy, what's a concussion?" Cream inquired.

"It's a bit complicated, dear. Mostly it has to do with hitting something so hard that your brain bounces around inside your skull," Mrs. Vanilla explained.

"That sounds horrible!" Cream replied with a gasp.

"Well then I guess it's a wonder that Sonic doesn't get a concussion every time he smashes Eggman's robots," Amy quipped briefly.

"I guess I'm just too hard headed," Sonic said with a smirk.

"Anyway," Chuck continued, "Concussions have been known to lead to seizures occasionally. I think that you should stay here tonight, Tails, until we can be sure that you are okay to fly again." The last thing Chuck wanted was for Tails to pass out while flying his plane all alone.

"That's fine, Chuck," Tails accepted the invitation without objection.

"Let me see if I can find you some medicine for your headache," Ella said as she left the room.

"And I will make sure that your things are brought to your room, Master Tails," Mr. Tanaka volunteered before leaving with a short bow.

"Sorry, bud. I never would've laughed at you if I'd known you really hit your head that hard," Sonic apologized.

"Don't worry, Sonic. You couldn't have known what was going to happen when you startled me. It was my fault for forgetting where I was and trying to sit up so fast," Tails took the blame for the mishap.

"Poor Tails. You've kind of had it rough here recently, haven't you? First with being sick, and now this," Chris empathized.

"He's got a point, you know," Amy agreed with a playful smile. "Did you break a mirror or walk under a ladder or something, Tails?"

"Umm, not that I know of?" Tails answered with a shrug.

"Hey, don't sweat. Things can only get better from here, right?" Sonic oozed confidence as he placed a hand on Tails' shoulder.

"Yeah..." Tails replied with a nod, immediately regretting the motion of his head as it started pounding all over again.


Eggy sure has been scarce lately, Rouge reflected as she crawled through the spacious inner ductworks that served to transport fresh air throughout Eggman's underwater base. He came back with a Chaos Emerald a few days ago, but then he took off in a rocket somewhere the very next day. And I haven't seen hide-nor-nose hair of that fatso since...

Rouge froze as she heard an airlock door open in the room below her. Although she couldn't see who was entering the room, his low grumbling and heavy footfalls quickly gave Eggman away. It's about time! I'm getting tired of crawling around up here like some kind of spider, and it's murder on my manicure. Just spill the beans on whatever it is you're up to so I can make a report and go home.

Rouge followed Eggman by sound, a specialty of bats after all, until she heard him fussing with a security lock down below.

"What do you mean, 'Scan not recognized'?" Eggman grumbled. Rouge heard a heavy fist bash down on an unfortunate kiosk. "There's only one handprint programmed into this infernal scanner, and it's mine!"

After hearing a couple more negatory beeps, and the growling of an increasingly frustrated Eggman, Rouge finally heard an affirmative chime and the secure door whoosh open.

She'd have to be quick. Sliding back to the nearest grate, Rouge prepared to slip through and sneak in right behind Eggman. She counted down two seconds for him to walk through the doorway, then prepared to kick down the grate...

CLANG!*

"Damn!" Rouge cursed at the sound of the secure door closing much faster than she'd anticipated. So much for her plan. She already knew from her earlier sleuthing that there was no way to sneak into the base's command room without raising an alarm. Even the air ducts were blocked by a metal screen attached to sensors. Any attempt to tamper with or remove the obstacle would immediately sound an alarm.

You won't lose me this easily, Eggy, Rouge resolved. Like any good secret agent, she knew the usefulness of small spy gadgets, and she now removed a tiny microphone device from her pouch hidden inside the heart shaped emblem covering her breast. The device was incredibly simple, yet elegant in its ease of use. It was essentially just a tiny microphone surrounded by an adhesive bubble.

Rouge crawled up as far as she dared to the booby-trapped section of the air duct. Taking careful aim, she lobbed the tiny device as far through the blocking screen as she could manage. Fortunately, it landed and immediately stuck to the ductwork just a couple feet from an air vent opening.

"Perfect!" she softly congratulated herself. Quickly, Rouge attached an earpiece to her right ear that was synced to the hidden microphone. A couple quick adjustments, and suddenly Rouge heard the conversation as clearly as if she'd been in the room herself.

"How was your trip, Doctor?" Bocoe asked his master as he blustered into the room.

"Terrible! My Egg Rocket that took me to Space Colony Ark malfunctioned and almost crashed into the infernal space station with me in it! It took me hours to fix the guidance system once I docked, and it took even longer for me to disassemble the Eclipse Cannon!" Eggman responded with ever increasing volume.

What?! Did he just say the Eclipse Cannon?! Rouge was immediately alarmed by the mention of the doomsday laser. Last time Eggy got his hands on that thing, he blew up half of the moon and held the whole planet hostage!

"Were you able to transfer the Eclipse Cannon to the Egg Moon, Doctor?" she heard Decoe ask next. Rouge shuddered as she heard the name of two generations of evil geniuses' finest works mentioned in the same sentence.

"Yes, although I must admit, my grandfather's designs were much harder to duplicate than I anticipated, so I had to take more of the Cannon's original components than I wanted to. Even so, I believe that if I could get all seven Chaos Emeralds again, I would be able to fire the Eclipse Cannon at full power! Whoo ho ho ho ho ho!" Eggman's laughter burst across Rouge's earpiece loud and clear.

"Without causing the Egg Moon to plummet towards the Earth instead?" Decoe inquired.

"Bah! I was only unable to stop my grandfather's little booby trap last time because I simply wasn't expecting it," Eggman reasoned. "Rest assured, I've worked out the bugs this time."

"Just one problem, Doctor," Bocoe's voice replied. "How do you propose to get the Emeralds from Sonic?"

"Yes, and what about the last Emerald that we haven't found yet?" Decoe asked his optimistic master.

"Well, to answer the second question first, Sonic and his pals already have all the rest of the Chaos Emeralds," Eggman informed his assistants.

"What?!" both robots responded incredulously. "How can you be so sure, Doctor?" Decoe requested an explanation.

"Must I do all the thinking around here? It's very simple, you two dunces! When Tails crashed my little trade with Sonic at Devil's Bluff, my radar indicated that the X-Tornado was approaching at almost supersonic speed," Eggman pointed out.

There was a moment of awkward silence where clearly Eggman had been fishing for a response, except he wasn't getting one.

"Umm... So what does that mean exactly, Doctor?" Bocoe finally broke the tense silence.

"You two are useless! The X-Tornado needs a Chaos Emerald to run at full speed! But since Sonic had stolen all six of his friends' emeralds, the X-Tornado couldn't have run at full power unless Tails had gotten a hold of the seventh Emerald somehow," Eggman deduced. "Knuckles was with them, so he probably found the last Chaos Emerald and gave it to Tails."

"You know, that actually makes a lot of sense! Perhaps Doctor Eggman's assumption is correct this time," Decoe congratulated his master's reasoning.

"Of course I'm correct!" Eggman bellowed as Rouge heard him stomp the metal floor. "Remind me now why I put up with you two?"

"But Doctor, how are we going to get the other six Emeralds from Sonic?" Bocoe attempted to redirect the conversation.

"Ah ha, yes, that. I'm... currently undecided on what evil scheme I want to use," Eggman quickly muttered uncertainly.

"In other words, he doesn't have a plan at all yet," Decoe spoke to his counterpart.

"Nope," Bocoe agreed.

"Grrrrr! Well how am I supposed to come up with anything while you two are prattling on?!" Eggman retaliated.

Rouge breathed a sigh of relief. Good old Eggy... It might take him forever to find a way to steal Sonic's Chaos Emeralds. Looks like I can take my time in reporting to headquarters. After all, the Eclipse Cannon is useless without all seven Emeralds. In fact, I might just try to use this opportunity to 'confiscate' Eggman's Emerald. In the interest of national security, of course, Rouge smirked covetously.

"Doctor, what are you looking at?" Decoe's voice brought Rouge back out of her thoughts.

She overheard the sounds of a keyboard. The tapping was too slow to seem like Eggman was typing words of any sort. Perhaps he was scrolling or navigating through some old file system?

"Well, since he was brought up in our conversation earlier, I've decided to go through the personal files of my grandfather that I recovered from Space Colony Ark," Eggman helpfully described out loud. "He certainly was very busy on a lot of classified experiments. Hmm... Project Shadow... the Biolizard... Wait, what's this?"

Eggman's monologue abruptly stopped, causing Rouge to curse the fact that she couldn't see anything he was doing right at this critical moment. Of course Eggman would choose now to be the only moment he ever decided to shut u-!

"I can't believe it!" Eggman interrupted her thought with an exclamation. "Experimentation on a genetic virus... designed for Mobians! It appears to have been a precursor to Project Shadow. Rather than create an ultimate lifeform himself, Gerald thought it would be easier to simply enhance an existing host. Hmm, reasonable enough..."

Rouge strained her ears to try and overhear the noise from Eggman's monitor. It sounded like someone talking. A scientific log, perhaps? Eggman played back several of them judging by the brief pauses, but the volume was simply too low for Rouge to make out any of the words.

"Wait a moment! That test subject..." Eggman apparently paused the playback as he made an important connection. "No, it couldn't be... Ha! What are the odds of this?!" he suddenly began laughing heartily.

"What is it, Doctor?" both robotic assistants asked simultaneously.

"Heh heh, It's my foolproof ticket to getting those other six Chaos Emeralds," Eggman cryptically replied.

What?! Rouge nearly bashed her head on the roof of the air duct in surprise. Come on, Fatty, you can't just leave me hanging with that!

Unfortunately for Rouge, she heard the sound of Eggman getting up and heading for the door, still chuckling as he mulled over his new scheme to himself. He seemed too distracted to discuss any of his thoughts with his assistants right now, which left her nothing but her own speculation to go on.

I have no choice now. I'll have to find a way to get in there and look at what Eggy just saw before I can get extracted, Rouge decided. Whatever his grandfather was doing with this genetic virus thingy, I certainly can't let Eggman recreate it!

For now, though, she'd have to wait. Decoe and Bocoe were still in the room after all. Until they left, it was simply too risky to try breaking in.