camrynboylan: thank you for the support! I do plan to continue this for quite a while!

In this episode: Tails subjects Eggman to mental torture!

As Tails had instructed, I woke up at five the next morning. I immediately turned on the earpiece that was next to the bed and tried to fit it in my ear… A fox's ears were very different than a human's, but I eventually succeeded.

"There you are, Egghead!"

"Yeah, here I am." Considering the circumstances, I couldn't afford to be rude. "Taking care of my base?"

"I sure am! And what about my house?"

"I've been playing around in the workshop a bit," I admitted.

"That's fair. I've been using some of your resources, as well," he said. "Go ahead and start up the plane. I think it'd be better if we pick her up at her house."

"Oh, how sweet," I commented as I exited Tails's room and made my way to his workshop.

"Quiet."

The Tornado 3's controls were very different than the Eggmobile's. I was studying the control board when I heard a small, familiar buzzing sound. A spybot.

"Let's see you figure this out, genius."

"I'd rather not try that again."

"Fine, flip the red switch on the right." I did. "Alright, now the first three from the top left. Wait until you see the second light start flashing. Open the garage door before you die of carbon monoxide poisoning. Good. Now push the handle forward slow- SLOWLY! Okay… Now that you're on the runway, accelerate and pull up on the yoke. Good job. Your flying. I assume you know how to steer."

"Yeah, where's your girlfriend's house?"

"Shut up," he growled. He gave me the direction and distance to Cream's house and I followed them. I saw what I assumed to be Cream's house in the distance.

"Land about a hundred meters from her house. We're gonna wait until she's ready - no rushing."

"How considerate."

"You're on the verge of losing five kilograms ."

"Oh, alright!"

x

There was only one conversation during the thirty minute wait:

"What if I gave your tails a trim?"

"You'll need that to fly."

"Alright, what about your bangs?"

"Sonic would put you in a mental hospital."

"Ah…"

"What if I cut your mustache?"

"… You wouldn't dare…"

"Let's agree to leave the hair out of our blackmailing."

"Agreed."

x

After those thirty minutes, Tails spoke up.

"Cream has left the house. Drive down the road until you see her."

I did so. Soon enough, I found a cream colored rabbit. She was carrying a blue chao.

"Remember to be polite. Do you know how?"

"No."

"If she ever says my name to get your attention, don't say 'what?', say 'yes?'. Answer any requests with 'sure', 'okay', or 'alright'. And don't look or sound annoyed - I know how easily you get annoyed. Oh, get out of the plane."

I got out of the plane. I was annoyed that I couldn't express my most common emotion.

"Hi, Tails!" Her voice was rather high, but it was soft and smooth enough to not be annoying.

"Say 'hey, Cream' and ask if she's ready to be fly."

"Hey, Cream! You ready to fly?"

"Yes!" The chao cheered along with her.

"Alright." I was going to fly into the cockpit before Tails stopped me.

"Well, help her into the plane!"

Can't she do that on her own, I thought. I obeyed anyway. I took her hand and flew into the cockpit. I let go when she was inside. I could hear the chao chattering in its incomprehensible language as I started the plane.

"Tell her to buckle up. You buckle up, too."

"Buckle up!" We both put on our seatbelts.

"Say 'here we go!'."

"Here we go!"

"Now fly."

I flew. Once again, the horizon fell out of sight. Cream and her chao cheered and peeked out to the ground. After a moment, Cream spoke up.

"Can we find Mr. Sonic?"

"Say 'sure!'."

"Sure!"

"Put the plane on autopilot - red button - and use your communicator to wake up Sonic. Send a message that Cream wants to see him. Then use your locator to find him."

I did as I was told. I hadn't noticed that the communicator had a locator before. There was a map with a moving orange dot and a stationary blue dot. The blue dot wasn't still for long, however - it suddenly moved across the screen very quickly. I knew that this was Sonic, so I followed it. I soon caught up with the hedgehog.

"Fly low."

I descended slowly. I stopped five yards from the ground and matched Sonic's speed. I really wanted to fire, but that would cost me my life - Tails would surely kill me!

"Mr. Sonic!" Sonic looked behind him. He wore his signature grin and jumped onto the wing of the plane. "Hi, Mr. Sonic!"

"Hey, Cream! Enjoying the ride?"

"Yes, I am!"

"Cool! I'm off, then!"

"Bye, Mr. Sonic!" Sonic waved and jumped from the wing. He broke the sound barrier several seconds after he hit the ground. I pulled up into the air again.

"Tails, can we go to Southern Island?

"'Yeah, lemme find it on the map.'."

"Yeah, lemme find it on the map."

Tails went silent. He must have been measuring how much I had to turn to be facing Southern Island. Sure enough, Tails responded with instructions.

"Turn right sixteen degrees and put down the windshield - blue switch."

I followed Tails's instructions. When I flipped the blue switch, a large windshield closed over both of our heads.

"Tell her you're about to go Mach two, then shift the upper lever to six and the lower lever to five."

"We're about to go Mach two."

"Is that fast," Cream asked.

"Very fast," I answered.

I shifted the plane into 6-5 gear and slid the acceleration handle forward. The world outside began to pass in a blur.

"I think you're getting the hang of being me," Tails commented. "I think I can even leave you alone for a while!"

I lightly shook my head.

"No? Alright, then. I'll keep talking you through everything."

x

I was forced to be mind-numbingly polite for the way there - I was ready to explode by the time we reached Southern Island! When we landed, I was subjected to one more bout of courtesy - again, can't she do it herself - before I could let out my anger elsewhere. Unfortunately, the rabbit and her chao were following me.

"If you want to be alone for a bit, point out the flower patch to your right."

I did so immediately.

"Oh, wow! That's so pretty," Cream exclaimed.

"Tell her to stay there until you return."

"Stay there until I return, okay?"

"Okay, Tails!"

I wandered off. In my free time, I kicked a few trees. There wasn't much that I could do to get rid of my anger, so I returned within ten minutes. Cream, of course, was still playing around in the patch of flowers. Small, yellow flowers adorned the rabbit's head.

"You're already back, Tails?"

"Yup," I answered. Cream hummed and returned to what she was doing.

"Play with her for a bit," Tails ordered. I shook my head. "C'mon… It's all about her today - you know it's her birthday, right?"

I shot a surprised look at the spybot.

"I guess I should've told you that before… You'll also be attending her birthday party - along with everyone else. Now get to playing!"

As quickly as I had calmed down, my frustration had built up again! In order to maintaining my facade, however, I crouched down beside Cream and began to play with the flowers. They were beautiful, yellow, and petit. I hated natural beauty! By some stroke of luck, though, Cream grew bored of the activity!

"Are we going to get back on the plane soon?" I really wanted to respond with an eager "yes," but Tails had a different reply.

"If she wants."

"If you want," I answered reluctantly.

"I think I'm ready to go now." For the first time in the entire trip, I was delighted by something someone said! Ending my suffering? I would love to! I didn't mind that I had to - once again - help her into the plane; I was absolutely giddy that the trip was coming to a close!

After all, attending a little girl's seventh birthday party was all I had left to do today. It couldn't be that bad, could it?

Every single review is appreciated! Thank you all for the support - I'll be sure to update constantly!