Tails flew through the sky like a furry comet, tailing the Hurricane
7k closely. But not close enough. He flicked his second tail again,
and he gathered the winds around him and shot forward like a bullet.
Tails dropped onto the Hurricane's right wing with a hollow CLANG! and
quickly grabbed onto it. He looked into the cockpit. "Noel, Robotnik!"
he yelled.
Ivorald G. Robonik IV stared at Tails for a shocked second before his
expression hardened again. He pulled on the joystick, causing the
Hurricane 7k to fly into a barrel roll. Tails slipped and spun through
the air, then quickly regained balance and shot back to the Hurricane
7k. This time, he landed on top of the cockpit.
Tails swiftly opened the cockpit. Before Robotnik could react, Tails
kicked him in the head and he lost consiousness. Tails turned on the
voice-autopilot and said, "Head back to the workshop." He pulled
Robotnik out of the plane as it turned and flew off.
Tails passed by Tornado and Static on the way to the city jail. Static
was starting to wake up. "Hey you two!" called Tails. "Go to Niro's
house! I'll be there in half an hour." They seemed to have heard him,
because Static stood up from the plant bed and placed Tornado on his
shoulders. They sped away.
In front of the city jail, three officers were eating donuts and
laughing. They stopped and came to attention when they saw Tails
descending.
"Robotnik got out again, eh?" he said.
The police looked confused.
Tails sighed. "Don't tell me you didn't even notice!"
One of them cleared his throat. "That was our mistake, Kitsune. Thank
you for returning him." He brought out hand-cuffs and locked them onto
Robotnik's hands.
"I suggest a straightjacket," said Tails. "He can do anything with any
kind of hand freedom."
"Of course, Kitsune. And we'll use one of your 'inescapable cells'
that you installed for us."
With a nod, Tails flicked his second tail and flew off again. He
checked his watch. "Oh no, it's already 3 o'clock! I'm late for Niro's
party."
Quickly, the kitsune flew back to his workshop. He punched in the
passcode, which had righted itself while he was gone, and stepped inside. It seemed that RINCaHS was already busy cleaning up the place;
most of the sticky paste was gone, the couches and tables were
standing, and his chandelier was hanging again.
"Welcome back, sir," said RINCaHS. "The Hurricane 7k arrived 10.459
minutes ago and is currently undergoing maintenance. 43.216% of the
facility has been repaired, sir."
"Good work, RINCaHS," replied Tails. He proceeded to the elevator and
pressed the button AG9. The elevator ascended swiftly and opened into
another lobby-type room, only this one was more homely. Bean bag
chairs were positioned around the vast room, next to small tables with
books, magazines, and games. There were several doors all the way
along the walls.
Tails opened one of these doors, revealing a simple, small room with a
tiny bookshelf and a desk. Tails' office. On the desk sat two average-
sized gift boxes and one that was slightly larger. He took a last
glance around the room to make sure everything was in order, then
closed the door behind him.
He returned to floor AG1-the lobby-where robotic arms came out from
the walls and ceiling to repair the damage caused by Ivorald. Again,
Tails' eyes swept across the place, making sure everything was going
along as they should.
He flew to Niro's house, which was four blocks from his own. The
building was a fairly new, three-story complex.
Tails remembered building it 20 years ago, after he had accidentally
destroyed Niro's original home while fighting with a past villan. Niro
had been furious. He was going to have Tails jailed! He was only
satisfied after Tails finished building the three story building (at
no cost). Now, Niro loves the house, and considers it a blessing that
Tails destroyed his one story house.
Niro stood outside the building. When he saw Tails, he smiled and waved.
"You're late," he said as Tails landed.
"I know, sorry. Trouble at the workshop," said the kitsune.
"It's alright. Come inside! Tornado and her friends are so excited to
see your 'magic.'" Niro grinned.
"Okay," said Tails. "Oh! This is for you." He handed the larger gift
box to Niro.
"Thanks," said Niro. "I have a gift for you too, inside." He opened
the door and they went inside.
Static and Tornado were already there, laughing and talking among other friends and neighbors. There were roughly 30 people in the
house, which was an okay number for a house this large. Tails was
greeted at the door by Niro's friends' children, who were excited to
see "kitsune magic."
"Calm down, kids," Tails said with a smile. He passed them and found
Tornado and Static in the crowd. "Come to the guest room with me," he
told them.
They went up one flight of stairs to the second floor and into an
average-sized room with a queen-size bed and a mostly empty closet.
Tails sat on the bed.
"Did you bust Ivo?" asked Static. "He launched sticky water balloons
at me!"
"He's in jail now, Static," said the kitsune. "Come here." When Static
came closer Tails gave him one of the two remaining gift boxes. Static
ripped the box open and pulled from it a shiny pair of custom shoes.
"Sweet! New shoes! Thanks Uncle Tails!" exclaimed Static. He slipped
off his old shoes and put on the new ones, which fit him perfectly,
and zipped away to join the party downstairs.
"Is that one mine?" asked Tornado.
"Yes," said Tails. He gave it to the echidna. "Be careful. It is
fragile."
Tornado opened it slowly. Inside the cardboard was another box, made
of styrofoam. When Tornado removed the lid of the styrofoam, she found
a very intricate glass statuette. The statuette consisted of about
twelve dolphins twisting around each other in an animated tornado.
"Wow!" said Tornado. "It's beautiful!"
"I thought you'd like it," said Tails. "Now you have four of them
right?"
"Uh huh! I'll go put it with the others!" she gently placed the
statuette into the styrofoam and carefully carried it out. "Thanks,
uncle," she said as she walked out. "Merry Christmas!"
Niro's party was fantastic, as usual. The adults played pool, poker,
and drank a little, the kids played with their new toys, and around
sunset Tails gave a little demo of his power to the guests. When Tails
finally went home, well past dusk, he was exhausted, but Christmas day
was a blast.