AN: Hah! Told you. Here's the second chapter. Hope you enjoy!

Mind over Matter

Chapter Two: A Much Needed Break

"Come on, Tails! Keep up! I know you can do it, buddy!" Sonic the Hedgehog yelled to his pint-sized companion.

The small, twin-tailed fox with brown and white fur looked over toward the blue blur that was currently tearing up the cracked soil beneath his pounding feet, and sighed as best as his lungs would let him.

"I'm trying, Sonic!" he panted.

The hedgehog ahead of him gave a quick thumbs-up in return and focused his attention back on the path ahead, once again leaving the young cub lagging behind. Tails' heart pounded furiously against his ribcage, threatening to burst through at any second. Why he had ever suggested this in the first place was beyond him.

It had seemed like a sound plan at the time: Robotnik was keeping quiet as of late, so Tails had thought that it would be a good idea for the two heroes to step up his own training schedule, figuring that the sooner he could join Sonic in battle properly the better. For the first couple of days, things had been okay. Sure there were times when he got tired, but never as bad as now – three weeks later, running yet another hundred miles across the vast Mobius Salt Plains.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all, the fox chastised himself.

Tails couldn't help but be aware of every individual step that his feet made on the hard surface of the ground, thumping rhythmically with the frantic pulsing in his chest. Each time one of his shoes made contact, a jolt of pain would shoot through his leg, causing him to suppress a wince. Things wouldn't have been so bad if he was able to use his tails for an additional boost, but Sonic had told him not to. After all, how was he supposed to improve if he remained in his comfort zone?

He ground his teeth together as more discomfort rocketed up his limbs. He was exhausted, but he wouldn't tell his older brother.

What would Sonic say if I just gave up?, he thought to himself. The respect of his best friend in the whole wide world meant more to him than anything, and he didn't want to risk disappointing him.

The fox swallowed some saliva, attempting to lubricate his dry throat. As much as he hated to admit it, if he didn't stop soon he would be sick. Gingerly, he eased the thudding of his sneakers and slowed to a gradual halt.

Sonic breathed a large sigh of contentment as he continued his jog. To him, there was nothing more relaxing in this world than to run across the mobian countryside, taking in the various sights, sounds, smells, and people that populated his home planet. Not to mention the ongoing mission that he had to personally find and devour the best Chilli Dog known to hedgehog-kind.

His stomach rumbled at the thought of a jumbo frank, slathered in spicy chilli and wrapped inside the blanket of a warm, lightly toasted bread roll. It was almost too much to take.

Speaking of which, he thought to himself, I wonder if Tails is feeling hungry too.

Sonic quickly dug the heels of his sneakers into the ground, where they scraped across the surface with an ear-splitting 'screech'. When he turned to face his little bro, however, he was met with an empty space.

"Huh," he said to no one in particular. "I could have sworn he was right behind me."

The hedgehog turned to face the direction that he had come from and started to run on the spot, revving his feet like the engine of a motorbike. "I'd better track back and see if he's alright! Up, over, and gone!" he said, kicking up dust as he exploded through the air with a sonic boom.

Sonic stopped in front of his young sidekick barely a second later. The fox was doubled over and resting his hands upon his knees, breathing heavily. The teen hero placed a caring hand on the cub's shoulder, concerned.

"Hey, pal, are you feeling alright? Was I going too fast for you again?"

"I'm...fine...Sonic," the fox huffed, panting between much needed breaths. "I just needed...a quick break."

"Fine?" Sonic repeated, shaking his head.

Tails had a bad habit of pushing his body to places where it just wasn't prepared to go to yet in order to keep up with him. Sometimes, the hedgehog forgot that his best friend was only four and a half years old, and didn't have as much stamina as he did.

"You ain't fine, little bro – you're pooped! I may not have a lot of experience with being tired, but even I can recognise it when I see it."

"It's okay," Tails said, his lungs finally adjusting to a stable rhythm of air intake. He stood up straight and forced a smile to cross his muzzle. "Really, it's no biggie."

Sonic smirked at the cub. Years of living alongside each other had caused more than a few of the hedgehog's personality traits to rub off on the kid, in particular his stubbornness. There was an easy way to overcome this obstacle, however, which he had discovered some time ago.

"Okay, but I'm starting to feel a little hungry." He removed his hand from Tails' shoulder and rubbed his own groaning stomach to emphasise this point. "What say we find some place to rest and chow down on a couple of Chilli Dogs, huh?"

Much as he predicted, the young kit nodded his head in agreement, feeling relieved that Sonic had wanted to stop. "Sounds good, but where's the nearest place where we can go eat?"

Sonic jerked a thumb over his shoulder, pointing it in the direction that he had been running to before turning back.

"I noticed the outskirts of a pretty big city in that direction. They're bound to have some kind of Chilli Dog stand hanging around somewhere. We've just gotta go find it."

Excited at the prospect of some food and relaxation, Tails felt a small amount of his energy return to him. "Yeah, let's do it, Sonic!"

"Okay!" the blue hero declared. "Just follow me, and you can use your tails this time."

Tails' face fell. Any accumulated energy had now just evaporated on the spot. "Couldn't you just carry me instead? I mean, it would be a lot faster."

"Nice try, bud," Sonic chuckled. "But ya still got a few minutes of training left. What say we race to pass the time, huh? I mean, you're already faster than you were before, seeing how you could keep up on foot when I was jogging at quarter speed."

His words of encouragement seemed to perk up his partner slightly, who smiled.

"And I said you could use your tails, so this should take no time!" Sonic crouched down to check the buckles of his sneakers. "Come on, I'll even give you a head start since you've been doing so good."

Tails jumped up in joy at his brother's proposal and started twisting his tails together, forming a large furry propeller.

"Okay, Sonic! Catch me if you can!"

He pushed with all of his remaining energy, the added force giving him a tremendous boost of speed. As much as he would have liked to be able to keep up on foot, realistically this method was the only way that he could keep up with the self-proclaimed 'fastest thing alive'.

For the moment at least, he told himself. Someday, I'll be just as fast!

The wind brushed against his face as he soared through the air. Feeling the cool breeze that he was generating against his fur, he began to wonder just how much of a head start he was going to get. A large explosion of noise following on the heels of a blue comet sprinting into the distance answered that question.

Tails frowned and spun his tails faster, increasing momentum. Sweat started to form on his brow from concentration. Great speed didn't come to him as easily as it did his older brother.

Sometimes, I really wish that Sonic could see what it was like to be me for a day, the kit thought to himself not for the first time.

Within a matter of seconds, the two mobians arrived at the city limits. Gigantic skyscrapers towered before them, skewering the sky like thin needles made of stone, creating long shadows which blocked out the heat and light from the sun. People of all shapes and sizes walked hurriedly down and across the streets, many of them wearing suits and carrying briefcases, going about the hustle and bustle of suburban life oblivious to anyone who wasn't a part of their schedule.

Tails had never seen anything quite like it. He was aware that Mobius had a few big cities, and had even visited some of them on his travels with Sonic, but he had no idea just how understated the word 'big' would become when applied to the maze of architecture that lay before him.

"Whoa...look at the size of this place!" he exclaimed.

Sonic, on the other hand, wasn't quite so awed. There was something about this city that seemed familiar to him, though he couldn't put his finger on it. He turned his attention to the pavement ahead and decided to ask one of the 'suits' walking toward the two of them for some information.

"Excuse me!" Sonic called, waving a hand in front of him.

No one responded. Frowning, he tried again, louder this time. "Hey! Over here!"

A short, heavyset female giraffe, dressed in a pinstriped suit swivelled her head to face the commotion. Her eyes settled on the two youngsters. "Yes, what is it?" she questioned with an air of impatience.

Sonic scratched a quill and looked her in the eye. "Hi, there," he said pleasantly. "Would you be able to tell us where we are? We were in kind of a rush and we didn't notice any signs on our way in."

The woman stared at the hedgehog incredulously for a second. Then at the fox standing next to him. Then back at the hedgehog.

"Are you serious?" she asked in disbelief. "You really don't know where you are?"

The two heroes shook their heads. The woman couldn't help but feel as though her time was being wasted. Of all the people in this city, why did she have to get the tourists? She decided to keep her answer short and concise.

"You're currently standing in Metropolis City," she told them curtly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I shall be on my way." The woman turned on her heel and left the two friends alone, grumbling to herself about 'ignorant tourists' and a 'ruined schedule'.

"Nice lady," Sonic remarked, raising an eyebrow. "Metropolis City, huh? Now I remember this place."

"What is it, Sonic?" Tails asked, still confused by the woman's reaction to their question. Sonic directed the cub's gaze to a selection of billboard signs that adorned numerous rooftops, advertising all kinds of media and other products.

"This place is the business capital of Mobius, bro. Didn't you ever wonder where all of your favourite books and stuff came from?"

"Wait, they all came from here?" the fox replied, eyes wide in realisation. "Way cool! Do you think we could see how some of these things are made?"

"Why not?" the hedgehog grinned. "We're on vacation, after all. How about we check around for some place to grab a bite and then we can do whatever you want to do. Deal?"

Sonic extended a hand for a high-five which Tails slapped in return. "Deal! You're the best, Sonic! But, if this place is a business district, then where are we going to find some food?"

"Are you kidding? Everyone needs some downtime, even in a city as busy as Metropolis! I can guarantee that there is an area nearby where all the big shots go to chill." He grabbed his adopted brother's hand. "Now let's go and find it!"

Before another word could pass between them, Sonic took off with Tails in tow, the gale of wind in his wake blowing a large stack of newspapers from their stand two blocks away, much to the vendor's distress.

Meanwhile, as the two freedom fighters were searching for a good spot to rest up, Scratch and Grounder were busy trying to pick up their trail from the skies, using their master's Egg-O-Matic hovercraft. The chicken Badnik piloted as his non-identical twin surveyed the scene below, using a binoculars attachment that had been installed into his arm. The Mind Scrambler rested on the seat beside him, shaking slightly beneath the turbulence.

The tank robot grunted noisily, scowling at his companion sitting in the front seat. "How come I have to be lookout?" he pouted.

Yet again, the older of the two had managed to secure the cushy job of flying the craft, while he was stuck doing the manual labour.

"Because I said so, that's why!" came Scratch's reply. "Besides, I'm the one who's in charge of this operation."

"Nu-uh! I'm the leader!" Grounder argued.

"You?" Scratch snorted. "You couldn't lead a group of lemmings to jump off a cliff if you were pushing them with a bulldozer! Dr. Robotnik personally gave me the Mind Scrambler, and personally told me to deal with the hedgehog." His chest swelled with, what Grounder perceived to be undeserved, pride.

The gadget-loaded robot huffed and folded his arms. "Oh, please. If Dr. Robotnik really wanted the hedgehog to be captured successfully, he would have picked me!"

"Says who?"

"Says me!"

"Is that so?" Scratch snarled through clenched beak, fixing his beady eyes upon his partner in crime. "Okay, wise guy – you asked for it!"

He turned to face his brother, raised his left hand, and brought it down with a colossal 'smack' over the robot's dome-shaped head. Grounder's eyes swivelled uncontrollably in their sockets, requiring physical assistance to slow them.

A flashing light on the Egg-O-Matic's dashboard prevented any further bickering. Scratch investigated the source of the disturbance, and smirked excitedly.

"The Hedgehog Detector has picked up Sonic's trail! According to this-" he checked the listed coordinates "-he's somewhere in Metropolis city."

Grounder pushed forward to get a closer look, taking care to 'return the favour' from seconds ago by clobbering the chicken robot in the back of the head, sending him beak-first into the dashboard.

"He is?" Grounder asked his half-dazed twin. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's get him!"

Scratch sat up and shoved his brother away from the controls, accidentally pushing the throttle to maximum velocity in the process. The hovercraft pushed through the air at high-speed, erratically bumping against imaginary obstacles as it dragged the flailing, screeching Badniks to their destination.

(End Chapter)

AN:There we go! That's the second one down. If you've made it this far, I really want to thank you for taking the time to check out this story, and I would really like to hear your opinions on it: what you liked, what you didn't like etc. so that I can make sure that everything is cool for the third chapter. Thanks again! :D