Journal
Just because one is dead doesn't mean he is gone. The dead find other places to live, in memories, in dreams, and most importantly, in the hearts of their loved ones.

Tails overslept the next morning, and at 11:00 am rushed out toward the workshop to expand his studies. He was about to fly away when a voice called out behind him.
"Hey Uncle Tails!"

It was Static. Tails turned and greeted him. "Hello, Static. What brings you here today?"

"I've had a problem with the machinery you've given me. I need you to take a look... Please?" said Static, remembering some manners toward the end. Static was Tails' apprentice in mechanics and often helped him so that RINCaHS could focus on another task.

"Okay, I'll see what I can do," the kitsune replied, disappointed by the delay in his research. "What is the problem?" he asked as they started walking to Static's small house.

"The gears won't connect properly," Static explained. "It's causing the whole mechanism to freeze up."

"I see."

"Come on, Uncle! Let's make this quick!" Static said. Without skipping a beat, Static ran at speed of sound down the sidewalk. Tails whipped his second tail and followed, rolling his eyes as the wind billowed around him.

So impatient, thought Tails.

They reached Static's small house in less than a minute. Static opened up his garage and showed Tails his newest project.

"What are you building, exactly?" Tails asked.

"It's a hoverboard!" Static exclaimed, beaming. "Or, at least, it's supposed to be a hoverboard."

"Very good, for such an advanced task! However, the problem is obvious. See these wires?

They're getting tangled..." Tails helped Static fix his hoverboard. He only instructed his apprentice; he did not touch the board itself. Tails wanted this project to be entirely Static's handiwork. He wanted Static to be proud of it.

"Try it now," Tails commanded after a couple hours of fixing and tweaking.

Static nodded, and after strapping the board to his feet, he activated it. It began to glow and hummed to life, and gradually lifted itself off the stone garage floor.

"Excellent!" Tails praised. "Well done!"

"Thanks!" Static answered, smiling broadly. Suddenly, the hoverboard sputtered and dropped ungraciously to the floor, throwing Static off balance.

"What now?" Static groaned in exasperation.

"It seems the battery life is...insufficient," Tails noted. "I have a spare battery in the lab that will fit your board. The battery's life is much longer than your current one, and it's rechargable. Do you want it?"

"Yes!" Static blurted immediately. He was clearly very excited.

"Okay, let's go," Tails said, chuckling.

"Faster, Uncle!" Static demanded, but before he could take off, Tails grabbed his arm.

"We will walk, Static, like dignified mechanics. Patience," Tails said.

Static heaved a large sigh. "Walking is so slow!" But he walked alongside Tails nevertheless.

After they left the city and neared the cliffside, Tails stopped, frowning.

"What?" Static asked rather impatiently.

"Usually the building is visible from here," the kitsune replied. His eyes lit up with enthusiasm. "Maybe RINCaHS has perfected that old cloaking device!" Giddy as a child, Tails flicked his second tail and zoomed up the path.

"Hey!" Static protested, dashing after him.

When Tails stopped at the edge of the cliff, he discovered that RINCaHS did not, in fact, repair the cloaking device. His workshop lay in ruins around him, crushed into heaps of rubble. Everything was destroyed; there was not a single working mechanism in sight. He could tell that more than half of his beautiful workshop had fallen into the sea at the edge of the cliff. The rest was heartbreaking to see.

"...Oh no..." Static breathed as he stopped beside his mentor and took in the scene.

Tails was frozen in disbelief. He was speechless. This isn't happening, he thought. It can't be happening. I'm dreaming...

Almost 900 years worth of research and knowledge, gone! And RINCaHS...

He walked through the destruction in a daze, observing it but not processing it. Then something gleaming purple in the sunlight caught his eye. He walked over and peered at it.

A single purple scale lay amongst the waste. He stared at the scale. He felt like it was mocking him, laughing at him. Immediately, Tails knew who the perpetrator behind this horrible crime was. Dragons.

Once again, anger boiled inside the kitsune. He felt his hands ball into fists. He started shaking with anger. Tails' fur began to change color, becoming bright white.

"Static," Tails said slowly. "Run. Run and tell everyone to stay away."

"Okay, Uncle..." Static said, backing up. "Uh, take it easy..." he added before turning and running away at light-speed.

Tails covered his face with his arms. He could barely contain his anger. Hold it in, hold it in before you kill someone! Tails commanded himself. The chaos does not control you; you are in control! YOU ARE IN CONTROL! DON'T LET IT OUT DON'T LET IT—

Tails snapped. His fur turned a dazzling white and his irises became blood red. The kitsune let out an anguished roar that rivaled even a dragon's bellow. At the same time, all of his nine tails activated.

Pitch-black flames ignited in the air around Tails and danced around him. Tails' feet lifted off the ground and he was suspended in midair. The wind picked up drastically and metal chunks from the remains of the workshop swirled around Tails. Clouds darkened and rushed to him. The nearby sea became a watery tempest. Thunder boomed, the earth shook, and lightning cracked the sky.

Tails the Chaos Kitsune was also changing. He felt power surge into him. With all his tails activated at once, he felt invincible. Tails' eyesight and hearing intensified, as did his strength. He was going to find those dragons and kill them, rip them to pieces—

With his enhanced vision, Tails saw the frightened expressions of the citizens in his home city as they pointed and stared at his personal storm. Good, he thought. They should be afraid.

Meanwhile, a small, thin piece of paper floating around the gales had somehow made its way through Tails' spherical spiral of black flames and smacked into the back of his head. With annoyance, the kitsune grabbed it and prepared to shred it. When he saw the image on it, however, he stopped.

It was an old photograph of Sonic. The blue hedgehog was standing coolly with his arms crossed, gazing nonchalantly at the camera. A very young, twin-tailed fox was jumping into the shot with a wide, playful grin.

Tails stared at the photo, anger and pain leaving his face. Slowly, the raging storms calmed and Tails descended back to the ground.

As he studied the picture, a tear rolled down his cheek. He wiped it away, smiling. With a chuckle, Tails said, "Hello, Sonic. It's been a very long time... I was beginning to forget what you looked like!" He laughed. "You're right, I shouldn't have lost my temper like that." Tails looked up from the photograph to the sky, where the storm clouds had disappeared, giving way to sunshine. "I know you're watching me now. I'll make you proud, Sonic." Tails glanced down at the photo again. Then he folded it carefully and tucked it into his glove.

"But first... There's something I need to do."