The next morning the group were getting on a boat. Undina was reassuring Ray "Drink lots of water. I'm gonna get you a vitamin C pill. You cannot get sick, okay?" "Okay, thanks, baby". She walked away and Tails returned "Hey, are you sure you're good?" "Oh, dude, I'm fine. Don't worry. Seriously, getting tranq'd in the neck by Abraham Tower, probably the coolest thing to ever happen to me". Tails chuckled "It is pretty awesome" "Yeah. I'm happy". They did their handshake "I'm happy I don't have to go to Frontier Canyon" "Cool". Mr Stewart came out carrying a suitcase "Good news. We're going to Frontier Canyon. Huh?". The entire class stopped "What?" "Yeah. Our tour company called. They upgraded us. You should've heard me on the phone with them. I really gave them hell" "All I heard was crying" Pierre answered.
Stewart took them to a street where a large luxury bus was waiting "Here's our new ride everybody". The class were all happy with this change but then Tails saw that the driver was Diablo. He sighed worrying Ray "Tails, what's going on?" "I think Abe Tower just hijacked our summer vacation". Ray grinned "Awesome" "Yeah…. Awesome" he rolled his eyes.
They were now all relaxing on the bus on its way through Spring Valley. Ash was at the front of the bus talking to his phone "Yo, what's up, Ash Mob? It's your boy, the Big A, cruising with my private driver, Diablo". Tails meanwhile was looking up "10 Romantic Places in Frontier Canyon". He then looked through his bag and took out the glasses case. He tried them on and then read the note inside "For the next Sonic, I trust you. I used your AI to help you. Just say the name". Tails read this out loud and the glasses activated, and he heard a familiar voice "Stand by for retinal and biometric scan. Accepted. Hello, Tails. It's good to see you again". Tails grinned "Cream. I was wondering what Sonic did with you" "After the Snap Sonic redirected me to work as his augmented-reality security and defence system". Tails nodded "What for?" "Sonic's protocols have all recently been activated and are now ready for use and now you have been given access to them. Would you like to see what I can do?". Tails laughed thinking of Sonic "Alright" "I have access to the entire Hedgehog Global Security network, including multiple defence satellites, as well as back doors all major telecommunication networks". Tails looked around and the glasses gave him information on people. Pierre was looking up the history of witchcraft, Mr Stewart was texting someone about getting good luck, his classmate Tom was asking his Mum for money and Diablo was classified "Whoa". He looked around the rest of the bus and saw a text Ash was sending "Mother, have not herd from you or father in days" "Is Barby texting?". He quickly shook his head and looked away "No. Don't look at it. Don't look at it. That's wrong".
He looked over to Ray and Undina who despite sitting next to each other were sending texts saying they missed one another. The bus stopped at a garage "Alright you got ten minutes. Get some food, go to the toilet or anything else you need". Mr Stewart took out a map "Uh, Diablo, where exactly are we?". Diablo just stared at him, "Okay, I'll figure it out". Tails was the last one to leave but Diablo stopped him and pointed to a bar where a pink wolf was waiting. Tails rolled his eyes and went into the bar with the wolf "Uh, hello" "Close the door". Tails did and then held out his hand "Hi, I'm Miles Prower. Call me Tails" "What size are you?". Tails paused "Uh, what?" "You told Tower the Prowl cannot be seen in Murasia. So, I made you this". She handed him a device "A new holographic disguise. You need to adjust it for the size of your body" "Oh, uh, thank you. I don't really measure myself. I don't wear clothes" "Come here". Tails nervously chuckled "I'm a little uncomfortable right now" "The world is days away from being destroyed. Do you think I care?". Tails awkwardly stepped forward; the wolf measured took out tape and measured his height. She then kneeled down in front of him and measured around his waist. She finished but just as she took the tape away, they both heard the door open. The wolf went for a gun but Tails stopped her "No, no!". Tails looked back to see Stu staring at them both "Sorry. I thought this was the bathroom". Tails held up his hands "This is not what it looks like". Stu took a picture with his phone "Yeah" "What're you doing?" "I'll leave you alone". As he left the wolf took out a gun, "Oh, Gaia. Don't shoot anybody. Stu!?". Tails ran outside after him "Stu, it's not what it looks like. Look…". Stu turned around "Look, Tails, I'm not here to judge you, dude. If you want to hook up with some random Murasian wolf, that's on you". Tails shook his head "That's not what that was" "I can't pretend I didn't see what I saw. I know you're trying to get with Barby. It's obvious. But I like her too". Tails was taken aback by this "Wait, you're gonna… Dude, you can't show that photo to her" "I'm sorry, man, I have to. She deserves the truth".
Tails was now sitting at the front of the bus and put on his glasses "Cream?" "Hello, Tails. How can I help you?" "Hey, there's this guy in my class who's gonna ruin everything with Barby" "Who's Barby". Tails paused realising Cream's missed a lot "Uh, a girl I like" "Aw, did it not work out with Cosmo?". Tails frowned clearly frustrated "No. Thanks for reminding me. Okay, look. The guy is a wombat called Stu. He has a photo of me" "Stu the Wombat is your target?". Tails looked back at Stu and the glasses showed the image of Tails on his phone "Yeah. He's at the back of the bus" "Copy that. Target is Stu the Wombat. Initiating strike". Tails eyes widened "Initiating what, now?" "Intercept point determined. Releasing Flapper Drone" "What?". The glasses showed a holographic recreation of a satellite firing something. Tails looked out the back window of the bus and saw as silver round drone with two turbines, wings and blue eyes flying towards the bus "Oh, Gaia". Tails took off his glasses, but Ash then grabbed them out of his hands and tried them on "Wow, dope glasses, Prower. How'd you pay for these?" "Ash, give them back". He tried to take them, but Ash pushed his hands away "Hey, I'm really paying you a compliment". Tails rolled his eyes and punched Ash knocking him out cold "I'm so sorry". He put the glasses back on "Cream, don't kill Stu" "Do you want me to cancel the drone strike on Stu the Wombat" "Did you just punch Ash?" a badger classmate asked. Tails panicked "Look, wild Chao!". Everyone gasped and looked out the window "Yes, Cream disable the drone". The Flapper fired a single shot, so Tails grabbed the wheel moving the bus and quickly swerved left, so the shot hit the wing mirror "Drone disabled". The drone flew away back to the satellite. Diablo gave him a death glare, so he stepped back, and everyone looked back at him disappointed "I don't see any Chao" "You, uh, missed them". Tails fell back in his chair breathing heavily "Let's try that again, Cream". Stu moved over next to Barby and looked through his photos not finding it "Uh, what the. It was right here" "Yeah. Weird" she looked over to Tails. Ash finally woke up looking dazed "Ow" he held his head.
They arrived at their hotel in Frontier Canyon that looked a lot fancier than the one Soleanna. There were people to open the doors for them at the entrance and the reception had a piano player. Everyone looked around amazed at the gold decorated room "Whoa" "This is beautiful" "Classy". Ash was grinning "I'm home". Mr Stewart looked smug "What can I say? The squeaky wheel gets the upgraded grease. Everyone get settled in, rest up because tonight, big surprise, is the annual city Carnival of Lights". Tails phone rang and he backed away from the group "Hello" "Prower, it's Topaz. We're connected to your earpieces. Put them on and await further instructions. Understood?" "Uh, yes, ma'am". Ray ran up to him "Hey, man. I am so sorry if I seem like I'm preoccupied with my relationship. You know, I'm still your guy in the chair". Tails shook his head reassuringly "No, no. It's all good. Don't worry about it" "Okay, great, great. So, what's the status on the Elemental thing? Where's it gonna happen?". Tails cringed "Uh, here in the city" "What? We're here" "Yeah, I know. It's not good. I'm figuring it out". Ray shook his head erratically "No, you have to do something, please. We're all counting on you" "Ray" Undina called. Ray nodded "Yeah, yeah, babe" he ran back over to her leaving Tails on his own.
Tails was in the new base with Tower and the other agents "Prower, that thing is going to be here in a few hours". Tails barely responded, "Are we boring you?". Forelock rolled his eyes "He's not bored. He's thinking about how you kidnapped him" "He had obstacles. I removed them". Forelock narrowed his eyes "Did- Did you kill somebody?". Topaz came over "They still won't evacuate the city". Tower sighed "Idiots. So, what's the plan, Prower?" "I… will be in the cathedral tower, keeping watch for the fire monster. When that shows up, I will radio you guys and then Mr Forelock and I will-". Forelock shrugged "Just Forelock's fine". Tails smirked "That's when Forelock and I will move in" "Tails, listen. The best hope you have, the only hope, is to stop it here and now no matter what the cost. Manoeuvre it away from civilians if you can, but most important, keep it away from metal. If it gets too big, it'll draw power from Mobius' core. After that, there's no way to stop it". Tails needed a moment to deal with that "Okay, look, my friends are here. I can't help but think we're putting them in danger". Tower stood up looking frustrated "You're worried about us hurting your friends? You, who called a drone strike on your own school tour bus?" "That was accident". Tower scoffed and stood over him "Accident or not. Sonic gave you a multibillion-dollar AR tactical intelligence system, and the first thing you do with it is nearly blow up your friends. It's clear to me that you were not ready for this". Tails just stared at the ground and timidly nodded.
Tails was sitting on the edge of the roof with his head lowered. Forelock then flew up in front of him "Tower asked me to come up here and see how you were doing? He just… Well, he felt bad about snapping at you". Tails looked sceptical of that "Really?" "You guys do have sarcasm on this Mobius, right?". Tails chuckled, "How you feeling?" "Uh… I didn't think I was gonna have to save this world this summer. I know that makes me sound like such a jerk. I just… I had this plan with this girl that I really like and now it's all ruined". Forelock sat next to him "You're not a jerk for wanting a normal life, kid. It's a hard path. You see things. You do things. You make choices. People look up to you and even if you win a battle, sometimes they die. I like you, Tails. You're a good kid. There's a part of me that wants me to tell you, just turn around, run away from all this. Then there's another art of me that knows what we're about to fight, what's at stake, and I'm glad you're here". Tails slowly nodded "Me too" "But you're worried about your friends" "Yeah. Just always feel like I'm putting them in danger". Forelock patted his back "Look, just get them inside and keep them in a safe place for just a few hours. They'll be alright". Tails looked up at the sky "It's really nice to have somebody to talk to about superhero stuff, you know?" "Anytime. And hey, if we survive this, you'll have all summer to kill Stu". Tails smirked "See you out there". Tails flies down onto an empty street and puts on his glasses "Cream" "Hello, Tails" "Hey, uh, I need a way to keep my friends inside the next few hours" "Let's see what we can do".
Mr Stewart spoke to the class in the hotel lounge. They were all wearing glow sticks "Good news. We're going to the opera!". The class were clearly not happy about this, "Wasn't my idea. Don't look at me" Pierre said. Barby crossed her arms "What happened to the carnival?" "This is upgrade living. Come on. The tour company just gave us these tickets. For free!". Ray stared suspiciously at Tails who nodded encouragingly at him. Mr Stewart was trying to convince them "Do you have any idea how much opera tickets cost?" "No. Because none of us have ever wanted to go to the opera, ever" Ash said. Ray stood up "Uh… I think this is gonna be culturally enriching for us" "Thank you, Ray. Everyone, this is gonna be, maybe, the best four hours of our whole trip" "FOUR HOURS!?" the class yelled, Undina hit Ray's arm. He tried to keep everyone calm "Guys, I think this is gonna be really fun. Seriously".