"Say Tails, are we there yet?" I ask. "Not quite," Tails replies while steering the X-Tornado. "According to the X-Tornado's current acceleration rate and the magnitude of the winds, I say we still have another 20 minutes to go until we reach our destination."
I slouch down in my seat after hearing his response. "Ugh… thanks anyway though," I say spiritless. There's literally nothing to do except to wait until we get there. Gazing outside of the covering was fun for a while, until I realized that there's so little to see. Below us are the waters that connect Mobius together. As for above, only a clear sky and blazing sun. At first it was interesting to look at, but now it is just getting dull.
Seeing how my slouched back was making me uncomfortable, I decide to straighten up a bit. My foot accidentally bumps into something though. I peek down to see what I hit, but it was only the pyramid. After putting my head back up, I carefully maneuver my feet to reposition myself so I don't hit Knuckles' gift. Knowing Tails, he probably put a plethora of time and effort into making his gift. I would hate it if my feet were to break anything within the box. Not only would Knuckles be upset, but so would Tails.
I finally reach the top of my seat, but really it was just a waste of time. I end up leaning to my left this time and I end up dozing off to the sound of the Tornado's propellers.
"Sonic! I finally finished it!" Tails eagerly exclaims. 'Awesome! Then let's go check it out," I tell Tails as we make our way out of his workshop. As I step outside, all I see is a pair of my shoes lying flat on the ground. "So where is it?" I ask. Tails smiles and says, 'Why you're starring right at it Sonic." So it is the shoes then.
I step towards them and pick them up. Nothing seems to be different about them at all. Weighs the exact same as the pair I'm wearing now and appearance wise, they seem to be identical. Not being able to notice any noticeable differences, I just figure that he washed them is all. "Thanks for cleaning them pal. I really appreciate it," I compliment Tails. Tails let out a slight chuckle. "You're welcome, but that's not the only thing I did. Look at the soles of the shoes," Tails instructs me. Doing as told, I flip the shoes around. Still, nothing seems to be diff-wait a second. There seems to be mini moon-like craters at the bottom of each shoe.
"You put holes in my shoes?" I ask Tails while I give him a bamboozled expression. Tails bursts out laughing. After a few seconds of recovering, he starts to explain what he did.
"Not holes Sonic, suction chargers. Considering how you always seem to move slower underwater, I redesigned these shoes so you can stay afloat on top of the water. Hypothetically speaking, two of the same charges repel one another. So, by taking some acid from Chemical Plant Zone, I conducted some experiments with prototypes and figured out that if I can produce and equivalent charge to any substance, then the same charges will magnetically repel from one another."
Having no idea what he just said, I pretend to catch on by smiling and nodding. Then, Tails suggests that we should go test out the shoes on the water below his workshop. That I actually understand, so I agree to his idea. I raise my arms up and Tails flies off of the ground, takes my hands and flies me towards the ocean.
While flying, I notice that Tails is bringing us a remote distance from the workshop. Inside my chest, I can feel my heart beating a little faster than usual. But hey, it is probably just the jitters. After all, Tails knows what he's doing. Just to make sure though, I ask Tails if he's absolutely sure that it works.
"So are you sure this will positively work?" "For the most part, yes," Tails replies. Most part? 'What do you mean by most part?" I ask yet again. "The pair you're wearing right now hasn't been fully tested. However, this is the seventh prototype I've created so I think I tinkered out all the flaws," Tails answer back.
Now my heartbeat is beating a bit faster than before. Tails stops for a quick second and then starts to ascend. I guess he found the spot for his test. As he flies up, I look down to see how far he's going. Keeping a solid grip onto Tails' hands, I continue to just stare at the ocean; the incredibly deep ocean.
"It's just water Sonic, it's just water," I say to myself for encouragement. "Wow. This is going to be some drop," Tails says. "Sure thing buddy," I reply nervously as I lift my head. I take a glance to my right to see how high up we are. All I can see is fog from the clouds. It doesn't seem that we're too far into the clouds as I can still see the light blue sky through some of the mist.
"Alright now," Tails begins, "On the count of three, I release. Okay?" I take another gulp and timorously say, "Gotcha." "Okay then," Tails answers back. "1," Tails begins as he loosens his grip a bit.
"2," Tails says with a hint of excitement in his voice. Okay, maybe I should tell Tails to forget about the experiment. My eyes make contact with his. "Tails, maybe we should try this some other time. After all, you need your slee-" I try to excuse myself rapidly but I am cut off as Tails exclaims three.
Immediately, Tails completely releases my hands and I dive towards the water. My head is facing directly towards it and I position my other limbs as if I was diving into an ordinary pool. Likewise, I position them so I can get as much momentum as possible. And boy, Tails sure was right. This is some drop. I'm not even half way there yet and I can feel the wind's magnitude increasing as it blows on my fur. But I better enjoy it while it lasts. For soon enough, it will turn drenched which I really hate (almost as much as Eggman). Just another reason to hate water I suppose.
"Sonic!" I hear Tails shout. "Don't use your head, use your feet!" My feet? That's right; the shoes. The whole reason why we're doing this in the first place. I lean myself forward, exerting as much force as possible to face against the wind, and my body flips over. After flipping my body, the wind seems to have died down a bit and I can hear Tails shout, "There you go!" from the far distance.
"Okay Sonic! Prepare to land now! Remember, it's only water, so there's nothing to worry about!" Tails adds. "Easy for you to say!" I reply back. Contact will be made any minute now with the water. I close my eyes and my body tightens a bit as splashes of water will erupt soon; and by soon, I mean now.
Almost as if Perfect Chaos was resurrected, water is heard around me everywhere. Hefty amounts of water are heard rising into the air and it then falls back down. Some create mute noises as it drops while other collections of water make devastating impacts. More and more water continues to splash into the air as each descending wave becomes louder than the last. Aside from that, currents are clashing into one another which just add to the havoc.
Meanwhile, my eyes are still sealed together. About five minutes pass and I can hear that the ocean has quieted down a bit. Seeing how it appears to be safe, I decide to open my eyes to see what had happened.
When I open them, the water seems to be confused. In one direction, it seems to be flowing gently to the east. As for the other side, it all seems to be rushing towards the west. Yet the strangest thing is that when the two meet, the two currents appear to do a dosey doe and just swap places. It's either the water is actually moving oddly on its own, or that fall really messed up my mind to create an illusion such as this. Probably guessing that it's my mind playing games on me, I search my body for any visible bruises, but instead, I find that it is dry. Not a single wet spot can be found on my body.
Tails propels towards me from above. "Well, I see that the experiment functioned as according to plan," Tails says as he points his finger downward. My eyes follow that direction and I am stunned. Making no contact with the water whatsoever, I am hovering above the ocean.
"Tails," I begin to say, "This is awesome! I don't feel any dampness within these shoes at all. You really are a genius, aren't you?" Tails slightly blushes after the compliment. I can also see that he is trying to hide it as his lips are pressed tight. "Thanks Sonic. But hey, I couldn't do it without a courageous lab partner such as yourself," Tails adds. "Well then, I guess we make the best team ever," I say, trying not to sound too cocky.
Tails lets out a quick snort but covers his nose with his hands. I laugh hysterically at him. At first, Tails seems to be a bit peeved off, but shortly afterwards, he joins in with me.
Considering that I just survived a humongous plummet with a chance of me drowning, a good laugh is all I really need right now. A chilidog would be great too, but that's asking for too much.
Our laughter dies down a bit and Tails begins to speak. "Anyways, we should return to my workshop. I'm getting kind of hungry, so a chilidog would really satisfy my stomach right now." As if he read my mind.
"Alright then, let's see who can get there first though. Or are you too scared that you'll lose?" I challenge Tails. "Sonic, do you realize that I've been keeping up with you all these years and have never lost sight on you?" Tails remarks. "Ya, but it doesn't mean you're faster than me," I reply. "You're on!" he answers back and we both give each other a look. Not just any look, but that look you give to your friend when you know there's no way they can beat you.
"Okay, this time I do the counting," I say. "3, 2, 1… GO!"
The second I say, "Go!" I immediately sprint to get a good head-start. When I look behind me, Tails is out is sight. But what I do see is a trail of water that follows me as I dash across the water. To be honest, it looks pretty sick.
It's almost like a sidewalk which you can walk on. Along each side of the trail are also waves that rise and descend. Plus on the bright side, it doesn't seem that any of the water can wet you either. As the waves descend, they curl outward so it avoids the trail left behind.
Still facing behind me, I decide to taunt Tails a bit. 'Sorry pal, looks like those chilidogs are going to be all gone once I'm done with them,' I shout out to Tails. I turn my head forward and I continue to sprint. While sprinting though, I attentively hear for a response from him. Nothing is heard though. Hmm… I guess these shoes increased my speed then too.
From the corner of my eye, I can see Tails' workshop. Oddly enough though, there is still no sign of Tails. With only a few hundred kilometers away, I force my body to reach its limit. As expected, I rapidly blast off and am now relatively close to his workshop. With victory close into my grasp, I can almost taste the sizzling chilidogs in my mouth. Not only the chilidog itself, but along with the spicy chili and soft bun too. Drool starts to drip from my lips, so I raise my hand and wipe it off while running.
I take a glance behind me again to see if Tails has caught up, but he hasn't. "Sorry Tails, but looks like this race belongs to me!" I cheer aloud, even though I know he will not be able to hear me. "That's what you think!" Tails exclaims back.
Tails? But how? Then from above, a shadow casts over. I tilt my head upwards to see what is up there. Of course, it's Tails.
"Not bad Tails, I thought I got rid of you already!" I shout back. "Ha ha, well you should know me better than anyone! I'm use to following you during your adventures so a little water isn't going to stop me!" Tails replies back as he swiftly moves away from the sun. Considering that Tails is still a bit further away from me, there's no way he can catch up to me now.
Although, my feet are starting to get a bit sore so I slow down a tad. Something seems peculiar though as I slow down. As I attempt to slow down, I am losing a lot more speed than I intend to. Not only that, but I can feel that my socks are soaking up; not with an excess of sweat though as it feels too gelid to be sweat. I look downward to see what it is, and as expected, it is water. At the sight of the liquid, my muscles tense up a bit.
"Hey, Sonic, why are you slowing down? You're not trying to go easy on me are you?" Tails says while trying to be a hotshot. Unable to answer him back, most of my body begins to freeze up. "Sonic?' I hear Tails ask with worrisome. I attempt to shout back at him, but it's impossible. My entire body shuts down and drops into the water. My mind is overwhelming with fear and doubt. "Is this it?" I think to myself, "Is this… the end?"
Deeper, deeper; sunlight becomes scarce and darkness starts to roam around me. Barely keeping my eyelids open, I take one last breath as no air bubbles are around. Even if they were, I would not be able to see it float in the water.
The outside of my body is fully numb, but my insides are a completely different story. Agonizing in pain, my lungs are shriveling up and my heartbeat drops to an incredibly slow rate. Alas, my eyelids can no longer keep themselves open, so I slowly shut them. Making sure to appreciate the last sight I will ever see in Mobius. When they close, I let the water take its course with my soon to be corpse.
"This is the world renowned hero I am to worry of?" an ominous voice bellows. "A spiky rodent that is afraid of some water? What a joke. This organism is undeserving of a body to call his own. His worthlessness only shuns the true strength that this body possesses. But quite indeed, I can still use this to my fullest advantage."
Worthless and undeserving. The words echo in my ears as they will be the last I ever hear of.
Right on time, the counter comes in. Once the numbers reach zero, it will be game over. "10, 9, 8, 7," I count backwards in my head so I know when to give in to the water. "6, 5, 4, 3." My body begins to completely loosen as I feel my heart giving away its final pumps of life. "2, 1." BONG-BING!
Opened as wide as it can, my mouth inhales a large amount of oxygen. In fact, enough oxygen that it rejuvenates my body. My numbness has disappeared and the organs in my body are replenished with oxygen and circulating blood. My eyes open and I look down to see the faint image of an air bubble floating up. BONG-BING! Another gets inhaled into my body as I further heal. Aside from the freezing temperature from the abyss, movement in my limbs recover partially.
Suddenly, I feel a warm hand grab mine and it begins to pull me upwards. Gradually, sunlight forms as I get higher up. Also, the fox, or should I say hero, becomes visible as we approach the ocean's surface. In no time, our heads pop out of the water and Tails and I take sizable breaths of air.
When I look at Tails, he seems to start coughing uncontrollably. Before he passes out like I did, without any hesitation, I adjust Tails onto my shoulders. For saving my life, it is too soon for this fox to say goodbye. Besides, if he can have the courage to dive into the ocean, then I can definitely get over my fear of water (or at least for now).
Even though we are right next to his workshop, there is one slight problem; we're at sea-level while his workshop lies on top of a cliff. Neither of us can scale a cliff at the moment, so I turn around and scout our surroundings.
"Sorry," Tails whispers, "… for everything." Poor Tails, he thinks this entire dilemma is his fault. "No worries buddy. All great scientists make mistakes," I enthusiastically say. With his eyes still shut, he tries to smile but barely succeeds.
After some searching, the corner of my eye spots a shoreline. "Tails!" I exclaim, "Look! There's land!" No response. I tilt my head to look at Tails. He's trying to open an eye to see it, although he's focusing more on his breathing than anything else. I readjust Tails on my shoulders and begin swimming towards the shore.
"I'm so sorry," murmurs Tails. Tails, why does he think all of the blame is on him? "Like I said before, it's alright," I ensure Tails.
When we reach the shore, I take Tails off my shoulders and crawl a bit upward on the sand. No longer to crawl any further, I fall on my side. Finally, a moment of rest. All that swimming, running and well… drowning, left me exhausted.
As I stay on my side, I gently close my eyes and listen to the animals in the nearby forest. The sounds are so soothing to listen to. The birds chirping, the rustling of the leaves, Tails crying; a lot better than woosh, woosh, splash, gurgle, gurgle. Wait a moment, Tails crying?
I raise my body off the ground and gaze at Tails. He is sitting on the ground but looking really blue. His back is hunched, his head faces downward and his tails almost form a shield around him. Almost as if he wants to be secluded from the rest of the world.
Seeing that something is wrong, I step towards him. I then put my hand on his shoulder. "Is everything alright Tails?" I gently ask him.
"Is everything alright Tails?" Tails mocks. "Of course Sonic, everything is simply fine." Tails shifts his body around. Tails' face is slightly red and he constantly puts his arm on his face. I'm not sure why though. It's either he does not want to be seen or he is trying to wipe off the tears falling from his pink eyes.
"And you want to know why Sonic? Because I'm a FAILURE! A pathetic fox that only gets in your way! Heck, I might as well just join Eggman. That way I can make your life miserable the right way!" he shouts to me.
I have never seen Tails act this way before. "But Tails," I attempt to say but am cut-off.
"You know what the worst part is though?" Tails asks as his face untightens a bit. "I almost killed my best friend. The only person I ever knew that accepted me for who I am. A fox that specializes in tinkering and nothing more. Just an abandoned nerd who always received bruises from bullies. But not only did it physically harm me, but it damaged me mentally as well; to believe that I am nothing more than just a loser who cannot be the best at anything."
Tails continues to weep. That's right, I'm the only family that Tails has left. I on the other hand have a bunch of family back at home which I can visit anytime I want to. But Tails can't. If he weren't able to rescue me back there, then… I don't even want to think about it.
"None of that is true," I rebuttal. "Yes it is! AND YOU KNOW IT!" Tails responds as his head drops towards the sand. I look at Tails, and he is just wrecked. More tears start to burst out of his eyes and he just continues to shout.
Seeing how he isn't going to co-operate, I decide to go down to his level. I sit down in front of him, place my hand under his chin and raise his head so our eyes meet one another. Then I put my finger on my lip and nose to instruct him to be quiet. Tails settles down a little bit, but the tears continue to run down his face.
"Listen Tails," I begin, "You're not a loser or a failure. Who you are is a brilliant, reliable and gifted friend that is adored by many. Including me. And so what if you made a mistake and almost killed me? Trust me; you're not the first, so I'm pretty immune to it by now." Tails let out a slight chuckle as the tears begin to slow down.
"The point is we all make mistakes. But by making those mistakes, we grow. Not only height-wise, but as individuals too. It's what brings us closer together, so be proud to make errors along the way. Live and learn!
"And I know what you're going to say. You're going to say that fixing mistakes is not going to make you the best. But that's the thing, you don't need to." Tails looks a bit perplexed after what I just said. "But if I'm not, then how are we going to defeat Eggman all the time?"
"You don't even have to worry about being greater than Egghead," I inform Tails. "You don't need to be the best; you just have to be the best for the right person. And if I do say so myself, I couldn't ask for anyone better. My best friend and I make a great team and we can kick Baldy McNosehairs' butt any day!"
Tails is speechless as his mouth is opened and his pupils are dilated. Then, a gigantic smile forms on his face and he leaps up. Seeing that his mood has changed, I stand back up too. After wiping one final tear off his face, Tails jumps in front of me and hugs tightly.
"Thank you Sonic! For everything. I couldn't ask for a better friend." Tails compliments me. "Anytime brother, anytime," I reply.
"Hmm… perhaps that rodent is far greater than I assumed. No worries, I'll still dispose of this nuisance easily."
Still embraced to one another, Tails asks me, "Say, can you do me a favour?" We let go off one another. "Sure thing, what do you need pal?" "Wake up." Bamboozled, I ask Tails what that means. "It means wake up!" Tails' says with his voice now got higher and I notice that everything is beginning to fade away. "WAKE UP!"
Suddenly, my eyes flash open. I stretch my arms out and notice that I am laying down in the backseat of the X-Tornado. So I guess that means the entire experience was a dream. "Hey Tails, you won't believe how cra-" I begin to say but stop. Tails is no longer in the front seat. Then, I see a hammer about to strike me right on the forehead. I try to dodge the attack but it hits me directly.
"Ouch!" I shout aloud. "Oh, sorry Sonic, I guess you're already awake sleepyhead," a voice tells me.
The hammer gets put down and I feel my face for any bruises. Fortunately there isn't. Now to see who smacked me (even though I have a good hunch who did it). I scoot over to the opposite side of my seat and glance down to the ground. And of course, it's none other than Amy carrying her Piko Piko Hammer beside her dress.
I think I want to go back to drowning now…