Okay okay. Here we go, chapter 9. I forgot to make an event out of it, but this marks a few chapters past the re-write of the original complete and utter crap I had spewed out. This story is actually reasonably good! I think... No negative reviews so it can't be all THAT bad.
Lol, Blaze's mother may not pop up for a while, I got some stuff in store for her. She will get her own individual arc of the adventures she has on the quest she is on. To put this into perspective. Blaze and Tails are around 500 miles apart. The iconic 'cliff' is a thing that runs from where Tails is to where Blaze is and then some does not mean that they are close. They, are, FAR. The small cave in the cliff where we introduce Marine, Evan (Mr. the Cat), and Shirley (Mrs. the Cat) is around 2 miles from the town that Blaze wound up in. Since Mrs. the Cat went the other way... She has got a LONG way to go.
On to the story!
Hold on! Where is my quote! Oh wait, here it is. *unfolds piece of paper half ways, eight times... "Why am I always on the outside of the inside joke?" *Everybody starts laughing
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Blaze's POV
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Diary entry 1
The week we have been here has not been too bad. I had ended up helping out this agency of some sort, trying to take down Tammany. Although I made it clear that the time spent doing this would be very variable and I could leave at any time.
Now, Dad and Stephanie. Where to begin? Well, I am relieved to know that Stephanie is just like that with all guys, for whatever reason. Although she seems especially affectionate around Dad for the strangest reason. I mean, don't get me wrong, he is a handsome man, but a thirty year age difference? At least? That is on the extreme side!
Although the living quarters we have been givin' were, well. More than satisfactory, by far. Clean beds, clean windows, clean rooms. It was nice! We were still in that same town that I had ended up in from the beginning of this debacle, though. No sign of Nack, which is a nice thing, I am enjoying that. Surprisingly, I have found this adventure quite stimulating and even fun. There was so many things to think about, do, and everybody seemed to be friendly. It was a big refresher from home. And I even got a free set of clothes from Stephanie, out of those ratty PJs that I had been wearing for much too long. Instead I was wearing a pair of carpenters jeans and a jacket of some sort. Either way, it was comfy.
Although, one thing still concerns me, where is Tails? I miss him to the point where I hug a pillow at night, imagining its him. Ugh, at least nobody gets to read my diary every. I wouldn't be caught dead admitting to something as full of emotion as that. But where is he? I hate to be repetitive, but his well being is my future. Not that I mean I am just using him to get out of here! But, you know what I mean. If he were hurt or dead, I would not know what I would do with myself. I love him.
Blaze~
I snapped the red covered book shut. It was nice of Stephanie to give me this diary. Now if I could only figure a way to find Tails, and save him. But, I can't, there is no easy way to find him. Maybe if I spread my name far and wide, he could find me. One way to do that while maintaining the correct alignment would be to help take down this Tammany dude. But how to do it? Maybe, since Nack is one of his guys on the totem-pole of his power. I could possibly, umm, seduce him, get info on where he is, then me and the rest of this freedom group can help out take him down. He did take a liking to me before, so this may be easy, depending on whether or not he runs from me in fear when I get close to him. I probably scared the shit outta him from our last meeting. Time to go talk this over with the others.
I sat up and headed toward the door of the room I was lent and allowed to sleep in for the time being. This led out into a hallway, which I followed to the left, and at the end where stairs. I headed down those and found myself in a sort of largish room with a big table in the middle. Marine, my father, and Stephanie sat around there eating breakfast.
"Well, looks like sleepin' beauty is awake!" Marine observed. I smiled weakly.
"Ya."
"Where were ya earlier Blaze? Breakfast started a while ago?" Stephanie asked.
"Umm."
"You alright Blaze? You look like you got something on your mind? Miss Tails?" My father pointed out. He knew me too well, it was ridiculous how well he knew me.
"Yes." I mumbled, I pulled out a chair and sat down hard. I have seriously had enough of this, I wanna go home. Or, uhh, back with Tails.
"Care to explain some more?" Father asked.
"Sure, I think I have a way to find Tails, and get out of here." I said. Interrupting the topic. "I figure I can get in with Nack, and possibly get him to tell me some information on where Tammany is. Since it seemed that he has a bit of a cat-fetish the last time I saw him, this should be easy. In case you are wondering how this will find Tails, well, it should create quite the commotion, then Tails will turn up."
"Ha! Seducin' the bad guy! Great idea. I shoulda thoughta that a long time ago!" Staphanie exclaimed excitedly.
"Ya but I am sure you and your unstable hormones will take it too far."
Stephanie sat down and her ears flopped over. "Ah can't help it." She moped.
"Now hold on, I really don't like this plan. What if you get hurt Blaze?" My father pointed out. I waved my hand rudely and dismissively afterwards, turning my head.
"Alright, so I will go undercover for a while. See what I can dig up. Etc. Then when I find out where this Tammany guy hides out, and we will take him down! AND, with all the commotion this will cause, Tails is sure to hear about it and find us." I said, my voice growing more excited at the very thought of finding Tails. "Now lets plan this out and get it set-up, alright?"
Tails POV.
...
One week passed, each day makes me miss Blaze more and more. I would like nothing more than to just be with her right now. At least Jen the OC's friendliness, understanding, and hospitality have been able to keep my mind off Blaze a little. But I still miss her.
I sat on the floor in the gigantic 'shed', it was morning and I had just woken up. I am lucky enough to get to sleep on a cot through the night. Yay me. I looked over at the machine that helped keep my mind off Blaze, at least a small amount. Jen and I have been working on the engine for the past week, we managed a carburetor and ignition system. Although a new block had to be milled to make the intake and exhaust ports in all the right spots. Since the engine would be a two stroker, it would need precision work on the holes in the sleeve, which where the ports. Also some funky numerical math crap to figure the proper dimensions of the expansion chamber. This allowed for exhaust gases to expand and contract properly, plugging the exhaust port with backpressure when it needed to.
I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye.
"Good-mornin' sunshine." Jen said, walking toward me. She gave me a plate full of eggs, bacon, and other breakfast goodies. I smiled appreciatively, then idly played with the food. "Its her? Ain't it?"
"I am so worried for her well-being Jenny. I don't know where she is, and I care about her, and she could be dead for all I know. It hurts inside..." I drearily mumbled out. She frowned sadly. My depression was obviously rubbing off on her.
She took the plate out of my hands and set it on the floor, then gave me a hug. "She's fine, I'm sure of it." She said, words filled with hope.
I hugged her back. "I hope so." She is definitely a great friend to have out here. "Perhaps, when we are done building the plane, err, flying machine. We could use it to look for Blaze." I asked, really hoping she would say yes.
"'A course we can Tails. Least I can do for helpin' me out the way ya do." Her face was kind and nice, then got a curious tone about it. "So Blaze is her name? Right? What does she look like? What happened to her?" I was bombarded with questions. I looked over at my breakfast that Jen so kindly prepared for me.
"Let me eat your nicely prepared breakfast first. Then I'll tell you." She crossed her arms in a disapproving manner as I reached for the food. "I don't want this to go to waste, it would be cold by the time I am done explaining."
"Fine."
She watched me tentatively until I finished eating. I swear her eyes did not blink once.
"Done?" She asked.
"Get me some milk." I said in a mock serious tone. Her face turned to a scowl. "Alright alright. What do you wanna know?"
"What does she look like?" Jen asked. She motioned for me to move over on the cot, I got into more of a sitting position and put my legs off the edge, she sat next to me.
"Blaze is a lavender colored cat. About as tall as me, probably the same height. The last clothes I saw her wearing were like the ones I am wearing now."
"Which stink."
"They do..."
"Why don't you change them?"
"I did not bring spare clothes, it was a bit of an unplanned trip." I gave Jen a serious sort of threatening and annoyed kind of look.
"Well I got some. Ya'll shoulda just asked." She said, shrugging his shoulders. I sighed, more like Marine that what should be possible. Except slightly more mature, but only slightly. "So how did she get separated from you?" She asked, the only problem, was that that was sorta classified info/
"Umm, I can't tell you much. But we were separated on our way here. The rest is classified, and only is told on a need to know basis. Trust me, you don't need to hear all that." I said, she frowned.
"Ah'm afraid ya'll gotta tell me. And this is a need to know basis. Ah'm part of a group here on Mobius that helps keep peace, and if ya'll can't tell me where ya came from. Then that makes me assume that you're illegal. And should not be here." She said seriously.
I sighed. "Identification?"
She pulled out a small leather wallet type thing, and when opened, revealed a badge. It read "Mobius Guard."
"Yep, and therefore. I get to extract anything I feel like from any person on Mobius. And if there is something they can't tell me, then they are arrested." She said. Quite sternly too.
"I sighed, maybe I still had it with me... I reached around the pockets of my PJs, no, not there. Well, duh, I woulda felt it. Oh wait? Did I even bring that? Oh wait! Wow, I am a dumbass!" I exclaimed, and held out my hand, a single Chaos emerald popped into being.
"Wha- How in the world did you get that!" I heard Jen shout, very surprised. "Those should be locked in a vault right now!"
"Now then, ya see? I am from a different time, the future. That is why I know so much. My friend Blaze is from an entire different world, as well as her parents and Marine. My goal right now is to find them and get back to my world, and as soon as possible." I calmly explained.
"Okay. I will help in any way I can! If you can help me make that thing fly before you leave." She dealed. She was surprisingly naive, just believing my story like that. I know I wasn't lying, but I figured it would take some sweet-talking to get her to believe me.
I smiled. "Well of course. Now lets get back to work, we need to machine a new engine block." I said, standing up. She took my hand when I held it out, I helped her up.
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Blaze's POV
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"Alright! That plan is about the least thought out plan I had ever heard of!" My father exclaimed incredulously. He did not like the idea, or the thought of me possibly getting intimate with some weasel. I tried to tell him it would never get that far, but he wouldn't listen.
"Listen, I would never let some sleaze-ball weasel lay his hand on me. Don't worry about it." I continued to push, he just sighed.
"Your mother won't like it."
"Mom hates everything." He sighed again.
"Good point, fine, go. But at least be careful! You are always so reckless, and naive. You trusted Tails very fast. Same with Marine." He explained, and he was right. I always took to trusting people way to fast. I was such a push-over. If I say no more then two times, I say yes. It just seems to be the way I was made.
"Don't worry." I continued to insist. He sighed and walked into the other room.
"Ya'll be careful sugah." Stephanie said, she knew it was a risky plan too.
"Ya Blaze, I am gonna kill ya if ya get yerself killed out there!" Marine said ludicrously, she was almost sobbing.
"Geez oh man, it ain't that dangerous, cool it." I said, I could not believe these guys, it was not the most dangerous thing I have done, I've done plenty worse. Hold on, did I just say 'ain't' in that last sentence? Oh well. Going after Nega had been plenty worse than this, the man I am trying to take down here has a fraction of the power that Nega had. Plus, I am only going to be pseudo-interloping with one of his more rebellious henchmen. Who cares? "Alright well, I had better set this plan in motion, seeya when I forcefully extract the information that I need!"
"Be damn careful Blaze, I swear you had better come back whole." Stephanie said. "When they realize you are a spy, they will, well, do what they do with female spies." She pointed out. The very thought of that made me shudder. "Watch for chloroform, and never drink alcohol, and watch for ether. They would use that too." Ya, so this was pretty darn dangerous, maybe not for my life. But certainly for my, err, purity.
"I'll be careful, they are gonna get burnt like you would not believe if they try anything like that on me!" I said frustratedly my fists clenched as the temperature in the room rose a little bit.
"Just keep your level head and don't screw this up Blaze, you are the only chance we have at this." Stephanie said. "And tease, a LOT." She said smiling. I snickered.
"Good luck Blaze, don't get yourself raped out there." Marine blatantly said. I sighed and face-palmed.
"I'll be fine Marine, but you know that we were avoiding saying that word right?"
"Ya."
"Then why did you say it?"
"I dunno." She said, holding her arms up and shrugging her shoulders. While giving me her usual carefree smile.
I sighed heavily. "I'm going, don't wait up. But have some cake when I come back" I said cockily, smiling in my very own carefree manner. I walked out the front door to the building I was just in, it was across town, from the saloon I would be heading to. Ya know, where I got in that bar-fight with Nack...
Hopefully he would not be too angry with me still, ya know? I needed to seduce information from him and I dunno how well this idea is gonna work. I walked through the township I had ended up in, since it was very small, it was easy to cross. Within five minutes I was at my destination. The same saloon I had caused quite the ruckus in just a short week ago. I put on a happy face and waltzed in, walking while swinging my hips and swishing my tail a little more than usual. But it was barely noticeable. It would not be very believable if I walked in there and started going all over Nack, so I was just trying to make myself slightly more attractive.
I saw the bartender in there crouch down slowly behind the counter, a few of the people that were there on that day while I was here followed his lead. Then there was Nack. He looked intimidated, but was trying his best not to show any fear. I got right up to his face, my tail absently brushed across his nose. That made him look even more scared.
"Wha-whaddya want toots?" He asked nervously, wide-eyed and backed against the wall.
"Ya know, I have been thinking about that opportunity you gave me. I would like to help you with your job." I said smoothly and softly. God this is a cake-walk! My tail swished across his face again.
He blushed lightly. "A-alright." He said in a very stressed voice.
"Just relax, I don't bite. Usually." I said, winking at him. He calmed down slightly but still looked embarrassed. I dunno if it was because of my attitude right now or that way I humiliated him the last time I was here.
"Would ya cool it with the interested in me act? I know its all a play, all you had to do was come in here and ask for the job." Nack said, he got himself to calm down.
"Too hot to handle?" I said, snickering. "Fine, we will make this business then." I said, my face bored and straightened out. My tail stopped swishing back and forth as well, it instead sat still, almost resting on the ground.
"Yes, you are. Happy?" Nack said, I was not expecting that! Haha!
"Would you repeat that?"
"No, I won't."
One fun filled week ensued from that, robbing banks, doing this or that. It was all in good fun. Well, no, but Nack was enjoying himself. He kept going on and on about some big job we would have at the end of the week. What he had planned I have no idea, but he certainly was excited about it.
Sigh. I wonder what Tails is up too? I was pondering this question when Nack opened the door to the small bedroom he had been letting me use. Or rather forcing the bartender to let me lodge here for the last six days or so. I really did not care and was not keeping track of time.
"Ready?" Nack said, rubbing his hands together excitedly.
"Sure, what is it we are doing exactly?" I asked rather simply, rubbing the sleepys out of my eyes. I had been taking a rather peaceful nap just a moment ago.
"We are taking a train!"
"You high? That is a bit big for the two of us, don't ya think?" I said. By this point I was putting on the jean jacket that Stephanie had given me. It was going over the shirt I was already wearing.
"Naw! Blaze. This will be easy for us two! I'm telling you! With your flames and my smarts, we will be through in no time." He said, rather confidently for someone that turned coward pretty fast.
"Fine." I said, figuring that I was not going to get hurt in this transaction. I still had a lack of motivation on my face though.
Nack smiled and dragged me with him to the trainstation.
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Tails POV
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So in the time of one week. Jen and I had made excellent progress. I had done all the precision machining of the engine block, sleeve, piston and various other parts. I even managed a precision tuned expansion chamber for the escaping exhaust gasses. Plus, a 2:1 gear reduction drive going into a propeller. The reduction in speed was needed for the extra torque, so we could spin a larger prop on the plane.
Jen had been doing most of the work on the plane itself, engine mounts and various braces. We had gone over different aerodynamic theories and I had convinced her to completely scrap her old design. Which had been strictly based on what was written in books or other things of the time period. The problem with them is that they were all very wrong.
The old plane consisted of many birdlike parts, and had no vertical stabilizer or control surfaces. She said she was working on a way to roll the plane by twisting the wings and pitch it by changing the center of gravity. All familiar and clever ideas, but inefficient and old none the less. The old plane had an all wooden frame and fabric stretching across its rib like metal wings and tail.
But now we went with a conventional high-wing plane, still wood frame. But this time around it had large straight wings with and undercambered shape and cross bracing going throughout it to minimize flexing. Instead of the old twisting wing idea, this new version had ailerons, which were flaplike surfaces mounted behind the wing. They would go up or down to increase or decrease the lift on either wing, effectively rolling the aircraft. It also had a vertical stabilizer and working rudder on the back of that. The stabilizer in the back was modified with another flaplike structure. This one vectored the air up or down to lift and raise the tail, giving the aircraft flawless, reliable, and responsive pitch control. All of these were controlled by a simple stick and two peddles, just like a standard aircraft.
"You done with that engine Tails?" Jen asked me, tightening a bolt on the landing gear.
"Almost, I am just getting the carburetor mixture screws to working defaults." I explained. These screws had needle like ends on them and finely adjusted the fuel/air mixture at different rpm ranges. For optimal fuel efficiency and power.
"When are you gonna be-
"Done!" I said excitedly. I lifted the heavy engine off of its stand. Since I was not really humungous by any means, I had to lean back to keep my center of gravity over my feet and not fall over.
"Hey...you got it?" Jen asked, kinda concerned as I waddled past her.
"Ya." I breathed out quickly. I reached the plane and lifted the engine up onto its mounts. Perfect fit. I instructed Jen to tighten the three mounting bolts on her side, I did the same on my side. There where six total, two under the engine and one in the back against the firewall.
"Home stretch Tails. When we finish here, we can fly. And this part right now is all bolt on stuff." Jen said, I could tell her inner excitement was growing almost to the point where she would pass out. She was excited.
"Yep, good thing we made room on the plane for a pilot's and co-pilot's seat." I assured, she nodded and continued to finish tightening all the bolts on her side.
Home stretch was right, and as soon as we were finished here, it was flying time. AND, looking for Blaze time. Which I was much more excited for. Being separated for the time we had been, really makes you realize your feelings, ya know? It was like a little piece of what made me who I was just went missing. Although I don't ever really show it, I missed her, a lot.
I shrugged the thoughts out of my head and hooked the cable up that controlled the throttle on the carburetor. Then went back over to the other end of the shed to grab the expansion chamber. This looked like an exhaust pipe, but with a big ballooned flare in the middle, then reconstriction near the end.
"Tell me what that silly thing is for again Tails?"
"This allows the escaping exhaust gasses from the engine to expand and contract. In doing so under how long it takes it for them to reach the end of the chamber, the piston will be at a point where the intake gasses want to enter the combustion chamber. The gasses will reverberate a sound wave back up the exhaust pipe and plug the exhaust port. So none of the gasses that need to be ignited will go out the exhaust." I said, Nicole, err, Jen simply nodded. All while I was explaining this, I was working on mounting the device in question. Which came right out the side of the engine and bent downward inbetween the landing gear. It had another brace for it coming down from under the plane, to keep it from ripping off.
"Unfortunately I did not have the proper time window to make a muffler for the engine. So, it will be incredibly loud." I said.
"How loud?"
"I dunno, but it will be loud." I sighed frustratingly. There was math I could do to figure the loudness of the machine. But that would be a complete waste of time for me. Who cares how loud it is, we are in the middle of fricking nowhere!
"So, uhh, is it done?" Jen asked anxiously. I shrugged awkwardly and began to look the thing over some.
"Maybe?"
She gave me a minute or so to inspect the entire frame, all the bolts seemed tight. And none of the fabric covering the skeleton of the aircraft was loose, or detached. No tears. Engine mount bolts where tight. I spent another couple minutes going over the engine itself. Everything seemed in order. I opened the throttle and could see it snap closed when the cable was let go of. The kill switch SEEMED properly wired up, but who knows? Never know what that will do till it is running. No splits in the fuel line. Everything seemed done.
"Its done. It will fly." I said. Jen looked very excited, ecstatic even.
"Ya! Lets go!"
"Hold on, I still need to put oil in the oil tank, make sure the injector for that oil is working, and put fuel in it." I said, she sighed heavily and plopped down on the cot I slept on.
23 and a quarter minutes later...
"Now! We can fly." I said. Jen "Yahooed!" while jumping off the cot. I could tell she was ready.
But, something in me thought that perhaps. Within the next few minutes, something extraordinary would happen. I was pretty damn sure of it! It was at that moment I sensed the very familiar energy that emits from a Chaos emerald or what interested me more, the possibility of a Sol emerald. With the fact that the only one I knew of that possessed a Sol emerald right now was Blaze the Cat.
"WOOO! WHOOOOOOOO!"
"What the 'ell was that!" Jen shouted. We both heard a train, and a rumble of tracks.
...
Well, that was fun. Blaze the bounty hunter, boy this should be fun! But what is this train for anyways? Why does Nack want it? Well! You may just learn those answers and more, in the next chapter! WOOHOO! As usual, the chapter is in beta and subject to change at any time!
Remember kitties,
The Guy in the Background says so, *WINK!