Tails introduces his new invention to Sonic.

However, there's something wrong with this new invention.

In the streets of Station Square, Sonic and Tails laid back on the wall of City Hall, each holding an ice cream cone in hand. They were both slowly enjoying their ice cream flavors. Sonic had chocolate, and Tails had vanilla. Tails was especially enjoying his. Half of his was already gone, and it wasn't because of the heat. It was pretty hot outside today. The weathermen said that it was going to be a scorching eighty-nine degrees. They weren't lying. It was about ninety-something degrees out. Sonic and Tails were really enjoying their ice cream. They wanted to finish their cones before they melted away because of the vicious heat of the sun. Some of the ice cream had already begun to melt away. The white and brown drops streamed down their gloved hands and fell onto the screeching hot concrete, melting away immediately. Sonic remembered that Tails had told him something last night, but he needed to be reminded of what it was.

"Hey, Tails?" Sonic called, but Tails couldn't hear him because he was far too busy enjoying his ice cream. "Tails!"

"Oh!" he jumped. "Yeah, Sonic?"

"Do you remember what you told me last night?"

"Last night?" Even Tails' mind was a bit fuzzy. It came to him so fast like an atom bomb and went away even faster like Sonic's intense speed. Just then, it came back to him. He remembered what he told Sonic last night. "Oh, right! Last night! Sorry about that. My mind kind of went out the window."

"That's fine, buddy. Sometimes I do that, too," he reassured.

"Hey, can I tell you when we get on the train?"

"Sure. No problem."

They both took the last few remaining minutes of time they had to finish their ice creams. Tails finished his in record time, and he was all set to leave, however Sonic wasn't. He was almost done with his cone, but it seemed like an eternity for him to finish. Tails wanted to leave right away, and Sonic was just wasting their time. This was ridiculous. Sonic was supposed to be the fastest thing alive, yet he was taking a whole year to finish one ice cream cone. Tails' patience was wearing thin only because he wanted to show Sonic something amazing, but Sonic was just wasting their time by taking forever to finish his ice cream. Just then, the train operator spoke over the intercom, which rung all over the city. "The train headed to the Mystic Ruins will be departing in one minute," the voice said. Tails couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed Sonic's free hand and ran into the train station. He ran up the stairway, dragging Sonic behind him, and caught the train in time.

"All aboard! The train is now departing!" one assistant by the train yelled.

"Wait!" Tails called. He pulled out his ticket and showed it to the assistant, who stamped it and told them that it was okay for them to proceed. They ran onto the train's second car and picked a seat right next to the seat farthest in the back of that car. Once everybody was in and seated, the man over the intercom spoke again.

"Everyone remain seated. We will be departing in thirty seconds."

Tails was so excited to show Sonic what he thought was his best things that he's ever invented. He hoped that Sonic would also think the same. Just then, the doors of the train began to close. Steam shot from all directions, which motioned the people that the train was leaving. Once again, the conductor spoke again. "Thank you all for your patience. The train will be on its way to the Mystic Ruins. We will return to Station Square promptly at noon and we will wait for any future passengers. Thank you for your cooperation and have a nice day." With that, they were off to the Mystic Ruins.

Tails was sitting right next to Sonic, peering out the window, viewing the passing skyscrapers and cars overhead that blurred like a washed out painting every time they passed him. In short time, they were out of the city limits. He couldn't see anything remotely relating Station Square. Instead, all he could see was the blue sky; puffy white clouds; and maple, redwood, and conifer trees all passing by his vision. He recognized the conifer trees. They distinctively stood out the most. That meant that they were close to the Mystic Ruins. It was only a matter of time now. With all of the time they had left, Tails decided to speak to Sonic about his new invention. Sonic was lying back in the chair, eyes closed, and head towards the ceiling.

"Hey, Sonic. Sonic," he said. He kept calling 'Sonic,' waiting for a response. Nothing for a whole minute. He had to try again. "Sonic, wake up."

"Ugh. What is it, Tails?" he groaned.

"Sorry for waking you, but I just wanted to give you some information about my newest invention."

Sonic just wasn't in the mood to hear it right now. "You know that would be nice, Tails, but right now is not the best time. Tell me when we get there, alright?"

"Okay," he said, disappointed.

"Hey, cheer up, Tails. When we get to the Mystic Ruins, I promise to listen to everything that you have to say about whatever it is you made, but you have to wipe that ugly look off your face. It's not cool, no matter how you look at it," he said. He smiled at Tails and immediately, and in short time there it was, another smile by the two-tailed fox. Both exchanged smiles for a couple seconds.

"Thanks, Sonic."

"No problem."

The train operator spoke again over the intercom. "Next destination: The Mystic Ruins up ahead."

Tails was giddy with excitement. Their destination was next, and he was so excited to show Sonic everything. He looked out the window and noticed the waterfall, the carts that lead to the jungle, and the cave, which acted as a hideout sometimes; however, the thing that stood out to him the most was his lab. It was still standing and it looked to be in pristine condition. He was surprised that it hadn't fallen apart yet. He hadn't used it in a while, and the only time he actually did use it was to make that special invention that he wanted to tell Sonic about. When they finally arrived to their destination, they exited the train. As soon as they stepped onto the rough, rigid ground of rock and gravel, the train made its leave through the tunnel above them, making its way back towards Station Square. They knew another train was on its way, but that one wasn't coming for at least another hour or so, so there was plenty of time to experiment. They both made their way for Tails' Lab. He decided to tell Sonic what this thing could do and why he needed to know about it.

"So, Tails," said Sonic, "how does this thing work?"

"Well, first of all, let me start off by saying that this is one of the greatest things I could have ever created. I don't think that I could make anything better. Well, maybe in the far future I could, but right now, I know what I've done is amazing."

"Well, then, what is it?" Sonic asked.

"It's a Dual Trigger Mind Controller," he said.

"What does it do?"

"Well, to put it simply, it's like a switch that works with a motion sensitive trigger device. If the trigger device is placed on the victim, it can override the commands sent out by the brain, thus causing a zombie-like feeling, which in turn should turn said person into a mindless slave. However, there is an inverse side to this coin. If the person is already under the control of one of the interface trigger devices, the controller can shut it off, so if you and I were under control but those triggers, someone could just flip the switch and shut them all off at once."

"So what you're saying is that his thing acts like a hypnotizing beam, which causes people to act under the will of the holder of the controller?"

"Right."

"And the holder of the controller also controls the interface devices that block the brain from communicating with the body. When the holder flips the switch, the devices will just all switch off at once. Right?"

"Right."

One part of Sonic thought that Tails was right and that this was one of his greatest inventions; however, another part thought that maybe Tails was conspiring with Eggman. Why would he make a device that acts like a mind-controlling remote controller? It really didn't make any sense. "So, Tails. Have you ever tested this thing yet?" he asked.

"No, I haven't really tried anything yet. Now that you mention it, I think I should perform some tests just to see if it works or not. Thanks, Sonic."

"No problem."

All of a sudden, he was reminded of that strange girl that he met at the beach again. "Hey, Sonic, do you know anything about that girl at all?"

"What girl?"

"You know, the one back at the beach?"

"That girl?" he said. His mind snapped back to the quick flash of that mysterious girl that glowed like the moon. "I don't know, Tails. I barely got a look at her. I don't know. All I know is that she didn't look nice at all. She had this look on her face as if she wanted to kill anyone and anything that she could get her hands on. That's all I saw. I swear."

"That girl scared me, Sonic."

"Well, just forget about her. Try not to think about her."

"All right," Tails happily accepted.

They approached the door of Tails' Lab. Tails pushed the door open and proceeded inside. Sonic followed right behind. There wasn't much to go around being as how the lab was so small. It did manage to house a security system, a small supercomputer, several tanks of energy, and the Tornado. Tails looked around and on the left wing on the Tornado laid the Dual Trigger Mind Controller, a chrome and black plated remote with a flippable switch on the bottom and the picture of Tails' two tails on the center of it. Sonic looked at it and was pretty unimpressed. What could that one little remote do? Wait! He shouldn't judge these things to harshly because he remembers many different remotes like those: small but powerful. Tails took out a small mouse scurrying in a cage. It had one of those little interface trigger devices on its head. He held the remote and flipped the switch on the remote to the right, which read ACTIVATE. Just then, the trigger device on the mouse's head began to blink and glow, which indicated that it was working. The mouse was now under the control of Tails. "Good! It works! Now to try it out. The mouse should hear me clearly and do what I tell it to do. Move left," he commanded. The mouse then scurried to the left under Tails' command. It was working. "Move right." The mouse scurried to the right without hesitation. Tails was proud of himself for making this. He knew that he succeeded and has sure proud of it. He knew that it worked now and it was successfully tested, so he turned it off and set it back on the wing of the Tornado. "Sonic, it works! It works! It...Sonic?"

Tails went out to see Sonic, but he wasn't there. He must have left to rest under the tree by the waterfall, because he usually does that when he has to wait for something for a long time. When Tails began to walk away from his lab door, Sonic came forward with his hand over his head, groaning like had a bad headache.

"Hey, Sonic! Guess what? I tested it out and it works like a charm!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know," he retorted.

"What do you mean?"

To be continued...

Chapter 9 is in progress. Expect it soon.