Tails, Cream, Cheese, and Peaches had flown in a loose spiral for at least an hour. Both Chao had fallen asleep early on, and Cream had been so quiet that Tails had thought she had fallen asleep too until he heard her eat a cookie. Tails was used to flying alone for long stretches of time, but he had never heard (or, rather, not heard) Cream be silent for so long.

"Cream, is something–" Tails began before he was interrupted by shrill beeping from his energy radar system. "Whoa, hold on! There's a huge energy spike nearby, and I'm positive it's Eggman this time!" Tails turned his plane sharply to the right and flew forward at full speed.

The force of the turn knocked Cheese over and into Peaches, which rudely woke them from their light naps. "Chuh?" Peaches murmured. Cheese just yawned and snuggled closer to Cream.

Cream smiled and petted Cheese. "Please try to stay awake, Cheese. We might be there soon."

Peaches was looking intently, yet sleepily, out the window for any sign of Eggman's base. It saw the ocean below, the Sun in the distance, a giant airship, a pretty cloud that looked kind of like a kumquat tree, and then it woke up all the way and looked back at the giant airship. It pointed at it and declared, "Cha chi! Chao cho cha Eggman chao chao!"

Cream and Cheese looked out the window and saw it, too. "Tails, that giant flying ship is where Mr. Eggman lives!"

Tails sighed. "Yeah, I know." He pressed a few buttons on his plane's control panel. A few moments later, the radar screen showed a detailed diagram of Eggman's flying fortress. "It looks like the easiest way in is from above..."

"Um, Tails," Cream inquired, "do you think that maybe we should have called first?"

"I'm sure he won't be too happy about us showing up uninvited, but how were we–"

"You're darn right I'm unhappy!" Eggman's voice boomed over his ship's loudspeaker system. "I haven't even sent out the invitations yet, but here you are, eager to start the party!"

"Wait, Eggman!" Tails called out. "It's not what you think!"

"I think I know what I think better than you think you know what I think!"

Everyone paused for a moment.

"Eggman, we just–"

"Fire the grapple cannon!"

A panel on the side of the airship slid away and revealed a large cannon. BOOM! A giant, white glove shot out of it and latched onto Tails's plane! There were many cries of "Aaah!", "Oh no!", "Cha~n!", and the like as they were dragged through the cannon and toward a prison onboard Eggman's base.

Once inside, the glove shook Tails, Cream, Cheese, and Peaches out of the plane and into a cell. They landed on a surprisingly soft bed, which was the only thing in their cell. The glove retracted into the ceiling, and it took Tails's plane with it.

The lights suddenly got brighter and they heard Eggman's voice again. "Now, you be good little children and stay put while I finish up a few things. Depending on how well you behave, I might 'upgrade' your accommodations. Ohohohoho!"

Tails got up and looked around. Three of the cell walls appeared to be solid metal, and the fourth was made up of several vertical bars with very little space between them. From what he could see, there was a door on the far right wall in the room past the bars, but the wall to the left appeared to be blank.

Peaches tried to squeeze through the bars, but it was no use. After trying a few different spots, it grumbled and gave up. It flew back over to the bed to sit with Cream and Cheese.

Tails looked back at Cream. She was staring off into space again, but this time she seemed sort of focused on Tails. "Cream...what's wrong?"

"I was just worried about how we were going to get out of here..." she replied, clearly still out of it.

Tails shook his head. "No, I mean, what's been bothering you? You've been way too quiet since we left your house." He sat down next to her and looked her straight in the eye. "So, what is it?"

Cream glanced down at the Chao, and they nodded reassuringly. She nodded back at them, and then she looked earnestly at Tails. "Tails...are you really a boy?"

Tails looked away from her and asked, "What makes you ask that?"

"Peaches thought you were a girl, and when I think about it, you do seem like you could be either one."

Tails frowned and turned further away.

Cream's eyes began to fill with tears. "I am so sorry, Tails! I did not mean to offend you! I was just curious because Peaches was so sure, and I thought maybe I was mistaken–"

"It's okay, Cream. You don't have to apologize." Tails looked back at Cream and tried to smile. "You're not the first person to ask me that."

Cream wiped the tears from her eyes and asked, "So you are a boy?"

Tails sighed and thought, Should I lie or tell the truth? She'll believe me either way...but I don't want to jeopardize our friendship just to see what would happen... Tails took another deep breath, and then another. Then Tails started to say something, but no words came out. Tails took one last deep breath with closed eyes, and finally admitted, "No. I'm really a girl."

"Is that the truth?"

Tails nodded.

Cream smiled and hugged Tails. "Thank you for telling me the truth!" She let go of her and continued, "But why did you lie about it? Would you rather be a boy?"

Tails put her hand on her chin. "Well, it's not that I don't like being a girl. I guess it's because...I like being naked, and a lot of people flip out when girls don't wear clothes."

"Wow, Tails, I never really thought about that..." Cream put her hand on her chin just like Tails did. "Besides humans, every girl I know wears a full outfit and every boy I know just wears shoes and gloves. That is weird!"

Tails stood up and began inspecting the room again. "Yeah, well, now that that's out of the way, we should try to find a way out of here. It could be hours before Eggman decides to check on us."

"Sure!" Cream said as she hopped off the bed.

The four of them thoroughly inspected every inch of the cell, but they found nothing. There was no space below the bed for anything to be hidden, and the ceiling lights were safely behind thick glass. "There isn't even an air vent!" Tails noted. "It looks like there's nothing in here that can help us."

"Maybe there is something outside," Cream suggested, "like a switch that opens the door?" She and Cheese rushed over to the bars, and they tried their best to scan the room outside the cell.

Tails shook her head. "I didn't see anything out there before."

"What about that thing on the left wall? It looks like a control panel."

"Really?" Tails asked as she walked over to see for herself. Sure enough, there was a control panel with many flashing buttons on the left wall, hidden in a spot that could only barely be seen from the right corner of the cell. "Yes, that's it! But we can't reach it from here..."

"Chaco!" Cheese chirped.

"Great idea, Cheese!" Cream high-fived Cheese, and then she took out one of the bags of cookies she had brought with her. "We can try to hit the button that opens the door with these cookies!"

"Yeah, that just might work!" Tails said. She took a cookie from the bag, squeezed her hand between the bars on the left side of the cell, and chucked her cookie at the control panel. She heard it break against the wall, but nothing happened. "Heh, I guess I missed."

"Let me try!" Cream took five cookies out of the bag and handed the rest to Tails, and then she went to the right side of the cell. She squeezed her hand through the bars, took careful aim, and threw one of her cookies at the control panel. They heard it break against the wall, and then they heard the cell next to them open. "Well, at least we know it will work."

They continued to toss their cookies at the control panel until Tails finally managed to hit the button that opened their cell. They quickly pulled their hands back as the bars rose into the ceiling, and then the four of them ran out to the door on the far right wall.

Before Tails opened the door, she cautioned everyone, "Okay, we have to sneak around and find Eggman before he finds us. He probably rigged this door with an alarm, so we have to move as quickly as possible."

Everyone nodded, and Tails opened the door.

"Escaping as usual, I see!" Eggman had been waiting for them right behind the door!

Tails, Cream, and Cheese gasped. Peaches flew up to Eggman and said, "Cha! Cho cha chao chao cho~a chao!"

He petted Peaches and responded, "Yes, yes, I know why they're here; you don't need to worry about them. Why don't you go play with your friends? They've been waiting for you."

"Cho~n!" Peaches waved goodbye to Tails, Cream, and Cheese, and then it flew down the corridor to the left to play with its friends.

Eggman crossed his arms and stared sternly at the group. "So, are you girls going to leave quietly, or am I going to have to lock you up until Sonic comes to find you?"

Tails's eyes widened and she took a step backward. "Y-you were spying on us!"

"What's the matter, Tails," Eggman asked as he leaned forward, "don't you trust your good friend, Dr. Eggman, to keep your secret safe?"

"I don't know..." Tails frowned and looked up at Eggman. "Can I?"

Eggman laughed heartily and promised, "Of course you can!" He pointed down the corridor to the right. "Now, get out of here before I change my mind! Your plane is in the ninth room on the right after you take the second left turn down this corridor! And don't think I won't notice if you snoop around!"

Cream smiled at him and said, "Thank you very much for letting us go and for promising to keep Tails's secret!"

"Of course, dear." Eggman turned to his right and walked away, presumably to follow Peaches. As he went around the corner, he called back, "Oh, and say hello to Vanilla for me, would you?"

"Um, okay...?" Cream looked at Tails and shrugged.

The three of them walked down the corridor as Eggman instructed. They found Tails's plane in a room filled with crates and random pieces of machinery. After they got inside, Tails wondered aloud, "How are we supposed to get out of here?"

Just then, they heard Eggman's cackle over the intercom, and a trap door opened below them! They all screamed and Cream held Cheese tight. Tails quickly started her plane, and they were able to fly away safely before they were anywhere near the ground.

And so, they returned to Cream's house to unwind and relax... Until their next adventure, that is!