Chapter 5: The Island of Angels
I woke up with a start. Sunlight infiltrated the tent through cracks in the fabric. I poked my head outside and looked at my surroundings. It was beautiful. A blue lake, a tall waterfall, large palm trees. They swayed in the wind. Climbing out of the tent, I looked at the Tornado. It sat where we left it, sparkling in the early morning light. Next to the tent where we slept, Sonic had placed the supplies. I rooted through them, seeing what we were supplied with. There were two small guns, revolvers, I think? With those, came plenty of ammunition. There were the machetes, with foot-long blades. They were razor sharp. After those, there were ten grenades. I had to be careful with those. Each had a pin, which if pulled, would give me 10 seconds to get as far away as I could from the ensuing explosion. I gently put those back into the bag. There were also hygiene kits for Sonic and I. They contained razors, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and various toiletries.
"Tails, is that you?" asked a voice from behind me.
It was Sonic. His eyes had dark marks underneath them and they were bloodshot.
"Yeah, it's me. Are you alright? You don't look so hot." I told him.
"What?! Me? I look fabulous. *yawn*" he said.
I laughed a little.
"Well, we'd better head out. I don't know what Robotnik's up to, but we need to find out!" Sonic crawled out of the tent and stretched his muscles.
I examined the map of the island provided to us. It seemed that we were on the East side of the island. The West side was where we needed to go.
"It looks like we have to head west! That's where we'll most likely find Robotnik's operation!" I said.
Sonic put a thumbs up and began packing everything into our travel backpacks.
Soon enough, we were ready.
"Alright, mark this spot on the map. We don't wanna forget where the plane is. And we'll go!"
I used a red marker to draw an X over our current coordinates.
Sonic and I ran inland at high speed, tearing through the forest. There were loops carved straight out of the landscape jutting out of the forest floor. Sonic and I went right through them, not losing any momentum. The trees whizzed by, only blurs of green and light brown.
"This is amazing, isn't it? This island is great!" I shouted.
This was the most fun I'd had in a long time.
My feet hovered mere inches above the ground, yet, due to my twin tails, I was able to move at insurmountable speeds. The only person who could match me was Sonic, and he'd had years of experience.
We came across a huge tree with a hole in its side. It was just big enough to fit us. Without missing a beat, Sonic and I slipped right through the hole. The tree's trunk was completely hollowed out, so using our immense speed, we spiraled up its sides until we popped out of another hole at the top. There was a cleared out area with no trees there. Sonic skidded to a stop, and I followed suit.
"Wow, that was something! This place isn't nearly as bad as I thought it'd be! High five, buddy!" Sonic said. He raised his gloved hand, and I slapped it with mine.
Then, a low rumbling sound came from the sky above us. Looking up, a spherical object descended. It was navy blue and had thrusters on all four corners. It had a small robotic head and three rocket launchers lining its 'spine'. In the front, it had a large and deadly flamethrower.
"What the heck is that thing? Tails, stay back…" Sonic said.
The robot dropped down to about right above head level. It's eerie metal body shone in the light. Blindingly so. Then, the rocket launcher nozzles opened up. Six rockets flew out of them, up into the sky. They fell to the ground causing huge explosions.
"Ah! It's bombing us! We can't defend from this kind of threat! Get down!" I yelled.
The bombing continued, each explosion louder than the last. Further away, more bomber robots flew past, each one unloading a salvo of bombs onto the island. Fires sprouted up everywhere, and due to the wind, they spread. Finally after what seemed like hours of nonstop carnage, the bombs stopped falling, and the mysterious craft disappeared as fast as it had come. Sonic and I got up from our hiding spots, and inspected the damage. The once serene area was now on fire, and large craters were punched into the ground. The trees were collapsing, animals scampering around, their homes destroyed.
"This has got to be the work of Doctor Robotnik! How could someone be that evil? We need to stop him!" Sonic said.
Cautiously, we continued forward, bracing ourselves for any further attacks. Pretty soon, we had almost reached the edge of the forest. There was a long stretch of grassland, which seemed like the way to go.
"Would you look at that? More room to let loose! How about it? You and me, one on one?" Sonic asked. He was always looking for opportunities to show off his speed, but I was happy to accept his challenge.
"Always itching for a race, aren't ya? Let's do it, Sonic!" I crouched down in running position, and Sonic did as well.
"Three, two, one, go!" He yelled.
We both peeled out from that spot, down the straight path. Sonic and I were neck-and-neck. Angel Island was still on fire, and way back, trees were burning down. It cast an eerie red and orange glow over everything. Sonic's legs moved so fast, they looked like a red figure-8. Suddenly, a terrifyingly familiar sound. The drone of propellers. One of Robotnik's Battery Armada ships descended from the sky, and flew above us, matching our speed. We were right underneath the bomb chutes.
"Oh no! It's gonna drop more bombs! Get out of the way!" I yelled.
Just then, the ship began to disperse its cargo. The bombs were much larger this time, and way more powerful. With each impact, they left behind small mushroom clouds. The airship increased its speed and altitude, and the assault stopped. We were still running full speed ahead, not knowing what lay ahead.
"I'm starting to think this was a bad idea. Maybe it's not too late to turn back?" Sonic asked.
"No, it is too late. We already agreed to help, we can't back out now! We just gotta push through." I told him.
Then, a weird siren sound came from behind the trees. I could vaguely see something moving behind them, but I couldn't make out exactly what it was. We came to the end of the cleared path, and we had ended up on a wooden bridge above a deep hole. A waterfall was behind us, sending mist into the air. We skidded to a stop.
"Look how deep it is. I wonder what's down there." Sonic said.
Suddenly, a voice came from behind the colossal waterfall.
"Ahahaha! I've got you now, hedgehog! Nowhere to run!" said the voice.
A large dark blue machine came through the cascading water. It gleamed in the sunlight. There were more flamethrowers on either side of the craft. Inside the cockpit sat no other than Doctor Robotnik himself. His mustache was way bigger than when I last saw him, and he had gained quite a bit of weight.
"Well, well, well. It's Robotnik! How's it going, old friend?" Sonic asked.
"I'm not your friend! You single handedly cost me the war! I lost a lot of money because of you! And for that, I'll make you pay!" The Doctor said.
He closed a glass dome over the cockpit, and slammed down on a button with his finger. Fireballs shot out of the flamethrowers, and when they hit the ground, they floated effortlessly along it. We dodged them with ease. Sonic rolled his body into a ball, and slammed against the robot. Its armor crumpled a bit.
"So that's how you beat him, eh? Good to know!" I said, as I rushed towards the evil dictator. More fireballs came my way, but I easily parried them with one quick swipe from my tails. I curled up in a ball and slammed the Doctor once more. His machine began to shoot sparks and smoke.
"No! Please stop! I'll leave you alone!" The Doctor yelled.
I was having none of it. Curling my body in a ball one more time, I made a mad dash towards the machine. One last hit, and it went down in smoke and flames.
"Nooooo! I'll get you next time, little fox! Don't think you've gotten away with it yet!"
The Doctor trundled away in his beat down vehicle.
"You did great, Tails! I'm so proud of you!" Sonic said while grabbing both of my hands.
"I can't believe I'm married to a guy like you. You've made my life so much better these past few years. I can't wait for all the years we have ahead of us." Sonic said. He kissed me on the lips, causing me to blush more.
"Hehe, same here. Now, where do we go?" I asked him.
He looked over the edge of the bridge.
"We could jump down. I don't know what's down there, but it should be alright. Whaddya say?"
I nodded.
"Yeah, I think it's worth it. You first." I said.
Sonic looked at me with a scared face.
"Alright, fine. I'll do it. Follow." I leaned over the edge and dropped. The dark filled my vision.
"Come down, Sonic! It's okay! Weeeee!" I enjoyed the feeling of the rushing air.
Sonic jumped over the side as well, as we both continued our journey through the Island.