Pisces
Plans for an extended trip (possibly a surprise) might necessitate a shopping trip - but which could be sabotaged by the need to meet up with someone before you go. You could be left waiting when rendezvous times are changed at the last minute. Growing concern for someone who's not at all well could result in lengthy conversations with friends who want to help and think you may have ideas. A variation on this theme could be discussing a work problem that desperately needs resolution.
A chunk of concrete, no bigger than Knuckles' brain, bounced off his left shoulder. He ignored it for the time being, and fanned his machine gun, with the aim of considerably improving the lead content of some Eggbots.
As usual, the attack had come as a complete surprise. He didn't know why he didn't just stick a tracker on Eggman- after all, he was a big enough target, and he only seemed to have one pair of clothes. However, his biggest regret was installing bluetooth into the Tornado III's dashboard. It's difficult to pilot a gigantic bipedal robot walker whilst Sonic prank calls you.
"Okay, okay. What is it?" he snapped into the microphone after punching a few after-market holes into the Eggbots.
"Uh, Tails? I'm not gonna be much help this time. I'm kinda in prison," Sonic's voice crackled.
"...What. You're kidding, right?" he replied in the very dullest of tones.
"Hey, you don't get to be sad. I'm the one who's in danger of assault in here. And lemme tell ya, big scary inmates are worse than Eggbots. They're more resilient against homing attacks."
"Why are you in prison? I'm defending the city all by myself and I have a handful of bullets to do it with!" he yelled.
"Speeding's a crime. Who knew?" Sonic replied. Tails knew it'd be accompanied by a shrug.
"What am I gonna do, Sonic?" he moaned.
"Iunno. Either break out some super-genius kung-fu on the eggbots or break out some bail money, I guess."
Tails ended the call. It didn't have the same immediacy as slamming the phone down, but such were the problems of bluetooth.
Eggman's Deluxe Egg Battle Cruiser rumbled into the sky overhead and began raining bombs on the south section of the city. This was a bad thing. And Tails only really had one plan of attack, which was to infiltrate the cruiser and wreck the engine. This would be exceedingly difficult, seeing as the only weapon he had any ammo for was the propeller punch. It was like Mike Tyson going up against the Death Star. On steroids.
Frantically, he racked his brains for a better plan. He had, of course, realised that the best plan was to get out of dodge, restock his ammo and come back, all guns blazing. But that would give Eggman free reign to blow up, kidnap or otherwise threaten hundreds of innocents- Cream, Vanilla and Amy among them. He hadn't seen Knuckles around to help, and as for Shadow, who knew? It was all down to him. The phone rang again.
"Tails?"
"Sonic, please tell me Knuckles has somehow got wind of this and is breaking you out of prison as we speak," Tails whined.
"Nah, but I was thinking. Why don't you get out of the robot and do it yourself?"
"What, without any of my inventions? Has prison food made you crazy?"
"You never used to need them. I mean, you learned from the best, right?" Sonic said cheekily.
Tails sighed and broke the call off again. Do it himself, without anyone to back him up? He'd only managed it a few times since he met Sonic and the others. He'd practically forgotten how. But Eggman's cruiser wasn't getting any closer, and the city wasn't getting any less bombed. With his jaw set, he initiated the plane transformation to get him up to that battleship.
Sometimes, you just had to fly with it.
-Horoscope-
Lights flashed, sirens flared and pants were soiled as all hell broke loose on Eggman's Battle Cruiser. It had come from nowhere- one moment, the peons were loading another set of bombs into the bay, and the next the wall had exploded and the ship was decompressing and there was orange death spinballing towards them at high speeds. If robots did not know fear before, they knew it now.
Tails hit the ground rolling, using a luckless Eggbot as an impromptu crash barrier. He arrested the force, shot into the air. At the top of his arc, he uncurled and dropped like a stone, swinging his tails with all his force. The head of his target popped off like a cork, sheared across the neck. Element of surprise wasting away with every second, he launched himself towards the next victim and struck out with a straight punch Knuckles would have been proud of. Adrenaline pulsed and he barely noticed the ache in his fist as the bolts flew. Concious of guns being focused in his direction, he ducked and retreated, making sure to get away from the hole he'd punched in the wall.
The robots now began to form up into the predictable rank and file that Eggman had programmed them to assume when under threat. It was a formation that Sonic usually made light work of with his homing attack. But Sonic wasn't there, and a barrage of gunfire is more of an issue when you don't move at supersonic speed. Quickly, he took to the air, flying low and fast over the robot's heads- too slowly, and a stray bullet tore loose a chunk of fur from his left tail. Diving, he turned hard right, corkscrewing for speed. He rolled when he hit the ground, and the sound of energy weapons being discharged over his head deafened him. He lashed out wildly with his tails and caught a peon in the knee joints, taking out the legs. He seized the body, robotic arms still flailing, and used it as a shield as he backed away- towards what? Anything, nothing.
The bombs.
It was a clever design feature that Eggman's robots would spontaneously explode after taking mortal damage to the core. It meant there was very little evidence and nothing left to track back to Eggman. It also meant that the bigger ones, like Chaos Gamma, were downright dangerous to take down.
Time seemed to move slower as he enacted his plan. He tipped backwards, still carrying the robot corpse, shots whizzing over his head. He coiled his tails like a spring, supported his weight on them. He pushed back further, rolling his head back as far as he could, so he could see the crates of missiles come into view. His feet left the ground, coming up to support the weight of the fallen egg peon, and then, when he was finally bent far enough backwards, when the angle was right, kicked out with as much force as he could muster-
Time came back into focus with a vengeance. Using the tension in his tails like a pogo-stick, he sprang forwards and away. Behind him, the peon careered gracefully into the bombs and detonated. He ran as the bombs exploded in sympathy, and the fireball soared out to lick his heels as he escaped. The smell of singed fur hit his nose, along with the heady scent of almost molten metal. He carried on running, running for dear life, as the sound of destruction reverberated throughout the whole airship.
-Horoscope-
Eventually, he stopped for breath, lungs aching and cold metal against his back. It was dark, dank, quiet, the sirens and the lights far away now.
"Hey, buddy. Brought me my bread and water?"
He almost jumped out of his skin. The voice was familiar, bored, and right behind his ear.
"Although, maybe after a couple weeks I'll get so thin I'll be able to just slip through the bars, huh?"
The cold metal behind him had been bars. The dankness had been what Eggman called 'hospitality'. And the voice?
"Come on. Aren't you pleased to see me?" Sonic grinned, smirking from Eggman's cell.
"...You said you were in jail. For speeding," Tails said slowly.
"I never said where. Now c'mon!"
"You sent me up here just to bust you out, didn't you?" he went on, all thoughts of robot patrols forgotten.
"Nah. I was actually pretty sure you'd take down the entire base yourself. You're crazy when you're mad. You breaking me out was just a bonus," the hedgehog said, shrugging.
"You're...Gah! Just handle the running and I'll do the rest," he sighed, looking for whatever mechanism opened the doors.
"Just like old times, huh? Now you're talking!" Sonic smirked, and began his pre-battle stretches.
-Horoscope-
He tightened the last bolt and groaned contentedly. His arms were so sore he thought they'd fall off. But he had to fix the Tornado after all the damage it had taken when he crashed it into Eggman's Battle Cruiser. In his defence, it had seemed like a good idea at the time. Although, it had meant he'd had to fly under his own power, carrying Sonic, until they hit the ground. He'd be feeling that one for a few weeks.
The debris of the Egg Carrier littered the city, just as it had done to Station Square. There was almost an uncanny sense of deja vu, really, although in Eggman's defence, he couldn't be expected to think up of entirely original plots every two weeks. Sonic had actually remarked upon it when they fought, and Eggman obligingly promised to think of something better next time before his robot collapsed into a bunch of scrap parts. Another day, another ten thousand dollar robot ruined.
As it turned out, Vanilla, Cream and Amy had been out of time shopping, and weren't actually in any danger. That was good, he thought absently, wondering what to do about the paint. Every so often, he turned around and rubbed the tip of his tail self-consciously. Vanity, or perhaps a phantom ache from missing fur? He shrugged it away.
Life had returned to normal, or as normal as it had been before. Sonic refused to say how he'd been captured, although Amy eventually scared it out of him- apparently, he'd been sleeping on the airship when Eggman revved up the engines. Apparently he'd been completely caught out, and hadn't wanted to tell Tails to keep his heroic image. Actually, it didn't. The fact that Sonic had been managing to take down Eggman's bases- all by himself, usually- just meant he had more respect for the hedgehog. And yet...somehow, the thought that he'd broken into an Egg Cruiser, bereft of gadgets and weapons, relying only on his own speed and wit, meant something. Maybe he wasn't up to Sonic's level yet. But one day, he'd be able to handle the whole thing by himself.
He blipped the ignition of the plane, and opened the hangar doors. The sun was bright, the sky was blue and there weren't even that many robot parts falling out of it. If he was gonna start flying, then now was definitely the time.