Sonic had lost track of time. He had no idea how long he'd been out here. If someone was to see the hedgehog, he looked completely at peace as he stood on the bridge over the Great River. On the inside, he was beating himself up for running away from Tails's hut. Running away from Sally and away from the distraught cub. Running away from the terrible reality.

"None of this woulda happened if I hadn't made him go after that swing…" he thought dejectedly to himself, his memory running as fast as his legs back to that day. Tails wasn't the same fox he was now. Who would have thought that the frightened kit would be doing over what seemed like a hundred laps a day? Flying as fast as he could run?

Now…now it could be all over. All because of a freak windstorm.

If he hadn't made Tails go up the Great Oak to retrieve the swing, Tails would never have found out he could fly. He wouldn't have gone out on his own and hurt himself so badly a few years later. He'd have been safe.

Then again… would Tails have been as happy as he was before the bombshell if he hadn't learned how to fly?

Sonic felt a slight smile across his features as he remembered the fun he and Tails had had after they'd mastered his newfound flight. The first race they had was from the Great Oak to Knothole. The obstacle course. Flying alongside Rotor in the Freedom Stormer. Challenging Bunnie to see whether Tails could go higher than her ladder legs. Scaring Antoine by rearranging his boots while he wasn't looking. The air show for Sally's birthday…

None of those glorious days would have happened if Tails hadn't learned how to fly. The only question was whether Tails would ever truly be happy again if he couldn't fly.

"If I ruin the kid's future," the hedgehog muttered to no-one in particular, "I'm no better than Ro-butt-nik"

The moment that name passed his lips, he stopped. Robotnik… Robotnik… For some reason, Sonic now had a feeling in his gut that the big round guy had something to do with…

A piercing, almost despairing howl rang out through the forest. Sonic whipped round at the terrible noise. It almost sounded like an animal in pain, or…

"BIG GUY!"

The bridge almost collapsed from the turbulence caused by the sudden burst of speed as Sonic thundered back to Knothole.

"Sally'll be with him," he thought as the village instantly came into view. "But she'll need the ol' hedgehog! So will T2!"

Sure enough, the caterwauling came from Tails's hut. The blue blur prepared to burst in, expecting to see his little brother in distress and Sally doing her best to help the fox before the cavalry (that would be him) came. All of a sudden, his eye fell upon the window and the sight made him stop in his tracks.

Sally was there, alright, but she was…hugging Tails, who was hugging her back!

"Oh, honey, that was lovely!" Sonic heard her praise.

"Want me to do an encore?" his little brother asked her eagerly.

"No, sweetie, once was enough to cheer me up!"

Sonic was confused, but at least there was no danger. "I, uh…I think Sal's got it covered…"

But as he walked home, Tails and Robotnik chased each other through his head. There had to be some connection…

When Bunnie awoke next morning to find Sally's hut empty, she was nonplussed to say the least. Usually when the chipmunk was up this early, it was because she was preparing for a mission. But there hadn't been any word from Uncle Chuck about Robotnik's plans. As a matter of fact, Robotnik had been suspiciously quiet.

The rabbit was about to go and look for her gal pal when she saw Tails's hut, and decided to drop in on him before breakfast. She could ask him if he'd seen his aunt. Truth be told, visiting her baby brother was always on her agenda. She'd been worried about him ever since she'd witnessed his tearful reaction to his injury.

"Poor darlin'…" she murmured quietly to herself. "Ah sure hope his lil' heart's mended a…uh…a little"

She knocked on the cub's front door. "Yoo-hoo in there! Anybody home?" There was no response and an awful thought struck the cyborg hare. Without waiting for an answer, she opened the door.

Tails was sound asleep…and so was Sally, in her pink nightgown, slumped in an armchair!

Bunnie put a hand to her mouth and smirked at the sight. They looked so precious, it was a shame to wake them. But they couldn't stay asleep all day.

"Rise 'n' shine, sleepin' beauty!" she trilled, giving Tails a gentle shake. "You too, Sally-Girl," she wryly added.

"Huh, wha- Bunnie!" The princess leapt out of the chair, flushed with embarrassment.

"Now jus' what's goin' on, here?" Bunnie chuckled. "Don't y'all know that if ya have a slumber party, y'invite me? That's the ol' law!"

"Oh, we didn't have a slumber party, Bunnie!" Tails chirped brightly, "Aunt Sally came here real late at night 'cos she had a scary dream. And I made her feel better!"

"Well, ain't y'all a lil' ol' gentleman!" his sister smiled, patting his bandaged head. For some reason, the chipmunk looked as if she wanted the floor to swallow her up. Her nephew telling Bunnie about her behavior made her feel even more like some silly little girl.

"I even sang Aunt Sally a song!" the fox eagerly continued. "Wanna hear me sing, Bunnie?"

"Ah wondered what that racket was last night…" Bunnie's mind giggled. "No need, sugah-fox," she told Tails, "ain't no need t'sing for yer ol' supper, on account of it's breakfast time!"

Tails sat up and winced slightly at the pain in his appendages.

"Can you walk, honey?" Sally asked him. "You're not dizzy, are you?"

"My head doesn't hurt no more," he replied. "And it's my…my tails that're broken, not my legs!"

"Well, they're still broke, honey-pie," Bunnie reminded him. "They ain't just for flyin', they're for yer ol' balance!"

"Well, yeah, I know that!" Tails hastily told his aunt and sister, sitting up and swinging his legs over the bed. "But I can't stay in bed all day! I gotta help you guys with Robooootniiik!" he suddenly squealed as he nearly slid to the floor. Sally and Bunnie caught him. The chipmunk in particular felt her heart stop for a moment.

"Whoop! No-no, sugah!" the rabbit hastily but gently put him back on the bed. "Awww, Bunnie!" he whined. "I can't stay here!"

"Who's saying yer gonna stick in bed?" Bunnie grinned, before picking him up in her arms.

"Ohhh," Sally tried not to groan out loud. "N-Now, careful, Bunnie, careful!"

"Careful's ma middle name!" Bunnie winked at the grinning fox in her arms. "If ah had one!"

The chipmunk followed her friend with concern as she strode across the threshold into the outside world.

"Sure beats flyin', huh, sugah?" she heard Bunnie ask her charge. She winced, expecting the cub to burst into tears.

"Nuh-uh, Bunnie!"

"Yeah, yer right," she teased. "Now, ah know ah can't fly, but ah can sure see over th' trees when ah do this!"

In a split second, her cyborg legs lifted her higher and higher whilst she walked.

"WOO-HOO!" Tails cheered as he went upwards with her.

"Bunnie! Come down!" Sally gasped, a vision of the rabbit tripping and falling entering her mind. Her frantic command was drowned out by the metallic whir of the rabbit's legs and the fox's exultations.

"Sure is great up here, huh?" Bunnie's mischievous voice seemed to come from miles away.

"I can see my hut from here!" Tails cried out happily. "Hello down there, Aunt Sally!"

Sally, whose eyes had been scanning the ground for anything that might cause Bunnie to lose her footing, looked up to see Tails smiling and waving down at her. The sight was utterly adorable and she couldn't help but grin and wave back.

"Dontcha dare play Catch Me, now, darlin'!" Bunnie chortled. "Sally-Girl's goin' through enough stress as it is!"

The words "Catch Me" stopped the princess in her tracks. A horrible shudder went through her as she remembered her nightmare.

"Hey, Sugah-Fox, do y'all know what some folks do when they're way up high like you 'n' ah?"

"No, what's that, Bunnie?"

"OO-LEE-OH-LAY-EE-HOOOOO, Y'ALL!"

Sally smirked. She didn't know Bunnie could yodel. Tails on the other hand dissolved into peals of laughter.

"Bunnie, you sound like Ant when he dropped Rotor's hammer on his foot!"

Now both chipmunk and rabbit laughed out loud at this unflattering but accurate description.

"What did I miss? Did Ant drop the hammer again?"

There was a gust of wind, and Sally looked fearfully around, worried that another storm was on the way. What if Bunnie got blown over with Tails in her arms?

The source of the wind stood beside her, looking up at the pair up high.

"Sonic!" Tails called gleefully down. "I'm flying!"

Sonic put on a confused expression and looked around. "Well, ain't that strange? I thought I heard Big Guy, but he's nowhere to be seen!" he declared out loud. "Did you hear him, Sal?"

Tails giggled mischievously.

Sally chuckled at the hedgehog's bad acting. "Can't say I have, Sonic. Not seen him this morning, have you, Bunnie?"

"Nope, Sally-Girl," Bunnie rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Where, oh, where has our little fox gone?" With that, the cyborg's legs began to shrink back down to their normal height. Sally inwardly sighed with relief.

"Hey, y'all, ah found this sweet little rascal up in the stratosphere, can we keep him?"

"Big Guy! How ya doin'?"

"I'm good. Bunnie helped me fly!"

"That's awesome! Though you can go higher than her!"

"Okay, guys," Sally cut in, "We can argue over heights at breakfast!"

Tails sat with Bunnie and Antoine in the mess hall, indirectly keeping him occupied with his repast.

Meanwhile, in the corner, Sonic talked to Sally about his theory.

"You think Robotnik broke Miles's tails?" the princess asked with a raised eyebrow as she swigged from her mug of coffee.

"Sal, either call him Miles or Tails" Sonic was known for his moments of flippance, but this was not the time.

"That's not funny, Sonic, this accident could change Tails's life forever!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" the hedgehog raised his hands in a pacifying manner, although his expression was offended. "You don't think I care about the kid? Just hear me out!"

Sally set down her coffee mug and folded her arms.

"That hurricane yesterday? Buttnik was behind it"

Sally looked more and more unimpressed by this thesis. Either she was overthinking it, or the hedgehog was building up to a puerile joke.

"That wind blew down a whole lotta trees. I counted around eleven when I was lookin' for Tails,'' Sonic continued. "Actually, no, twelve. But anyway, think about it, Sal. That wind came outta nowhere. Buttnik's built all these machines ta trash the Great Forest. He's been lookin' for Knothole ever since he took over. Who's ta say he's not built some new gizmo ta literally blow our cover?"

Sally considered this. Yes… Sonic was right. This had Robotnik written all over it…in permanent marker.

"The only problem I can think of," she mused, "if what you're saying is true, is that you're the only one who can outrun the wind. Unless we come up with a way for the rest of us to be able to move against it, you'd have to stop Robotnik alone"

All of a sudden, there was a loud CRASH!

Sonic, Sally and the others rushed outside, Antoine supporting Tails. Was there another windstorm coming?

Outside, it was perfectly calm. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary…save for the walrus behind stuck in the ground with its legs kicking in the air.

"Rotor! What happened?" Sonic and Sally hurried over and pulled him out of the small crater he'd created from his impact.

"Oooohhh…" Rotor groaned, shaking his head to clear the tiny stars circling it. "Landings need a little work! Hope nothing's broken"

The chipmunk was about to question just what he meant by "landings" when she noticed the yellow and white backpack that the walrus had on. There was nothing usually out of the ordinary about the inventor having a backpack. Only this time, it had a pair of twin helicopter rotors jutting out of the sides, and what looked like controls on the straps!

"Yo, Rote, where'd the portable whirligig come from?" Sonic gave the question she was about to ask, only he worded it very differently.

"I call it the Tornado," Rotor explained proudly. "I built it last night. It can hover. It can fly. I even programmed it to go just as fast as Sonic can run!"

"Can eet slice ze croissants?" Antoine asked eagerly.

"Uh, no," Rotor replied sheepishly. "But I can build something like that!"

"Woooow!" Tails's eyes widened. "It looks awesome, Rotor!"

"Well, I'm sure glad you think so, little buddy," the walrus blushed. "'Cos it's for you…"

"REALLY?" Tails nearly jumped in the air if not for Antoine holding him. This awesome tech was all for him. HIM!

Sally's blood ran cold. A vision of Tails wearing the device and spinning out of control into a rock suddenly presented itself in her head.

"Sure is," Rotor confirmed. "I-In the event that…you can't fly on your own, I made it so that you could still get up in the wild blue yonder. For fun or if you're helping us"

"Well, Rotor, ah do declare, y'all are sweeter than sugah!" Bunnie appraised, patting Rotor on the back.

"Yeah, pal, that's awesome of ya!" Sonic agreed. "C'mon, let's getcha some chow for yer efforts!"

"Wow, Rotor, you're the best!" Tails was so excited and joyful that Sally felt terrible for what she was about to say next.

"Yes, Rotor, it was very sweet of you," she ventured gently. "But Tails can't use it"

Everyone stopped to look at her. Tails indeed looked like she'd just slapped him.

"What?"

The chipmunk tried to pretend she hadn't heard her son's plaintive bleat.

"He just had an accident which seriously wounded him," she tried to explain as Sonic gave her an unimpressed glance. "Your invention doesn't look safe, nor user friendly to someone his age!"

"Umm, w-with all due respect, Sally, Tails is a smart kid," Rotor murmured, hoping this wouldn't escalate. "He helps me in the workshop all the time. The new turbo boost on the Freedom Stormer was his idea"

"He WHAT?!"

It suddenly dawned on Sally that Rotor's workshop was packed to the rafters with sharp and dangerous tools.

The walrus winced, while Sonic rolled his eyes. Since when did Sally not approve of Tails helping Rotor?

"I don't want any arguments," the princess abruptly snapped. "Tails is not to use the Cyclone…"

"Tornado…"

"Whatever it's called, and that's FINAL"

Tails couldn't believe what she'd just said. It was his present. Rotor built it for HIM. Not HER. What right did she have to not allow him to use it? Why was she talking about him as if he wasn't there?

"That's not fair, Aunt Sally!" he piped up. "The Tornado is for me to fly with. Without it, I'm nothin'! You've no right to say I can't use it and…"

"I'm also the PRINCESS," came the surprisingly cold reply, "and I ORDER you not to use it!"

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"Yes, your majesty" the little fox muttered in a surprisingly quiet and passive aggressive tone. Then, he turned and walked unsteadily towards the Mess Hall. Bunnie, Antoine and Rotor gave Sally furtive looks before following him.

"Sal"

Sally jumped at someone grabbing her arm and leading her away from the group.

"We need ta talk, come ta my office"

Sally felt flustered as Sonic took her behind his hut.

"Sonic, what…"

"What's got into you, Sal? Why're you so paranoid over the Cub Scout all of a sudden?"

"BECAUSE HE'S INJURED, SONIC HEDGEHOG!" the chipmunk nearly yelled, throwing open her arms. "Can't you see that?!"

"Yeah, I can, but I'm not gonna stop him from living his life. You gonna stop him from having his lessons, on account of he's liable to get a paper cut?"

Sally couldn't believe what she was hearing. Then again, she realized exactly who she was talking to.

"Of course you wouldn't take this seriously, in fact, you never take ANYTHING seriously! Most of your attitude has rubbed off on Tails, too! Encouraging him to fly around at dangerous speeds, having silly races…if you hadn't set such a bad example to him, he wouldn't have hurt himself!"

Sonic went quiet. Sally had indirectly voiced every thought he'd had the night before. But then another part of him became angry. Was she seriously blaming him for Tails's potential disability?!

Meanwhile, Tails had crept back outside the Mess Hall, once he'd made absolutely sure no-one would notice his absence. Rotor, as absent-minded as he was clever, had rather carelessly left the Tornado behind.

"It's mine," the little cub said to himself. "Rotor made it for me. I don't care what Aunt Sally says, I wanna fly again!"

"I know I made it for you, but Sally's got a point," the walrus insisted, exiting the building. "If Sonic had a broken leg, he'd know that he can't run in that condition. And if he tries using a wheelchair to go around places at his own speed, he'd end up breaking every bone in his body!"

Tails sighed. He'd rather hoped that Rotor wouldn't have realized that he forgot his machine and stayed for breakfast. But then again, he was much quicker than the walrus.

"Well, I'm different!" He replied with a mischievous smile. "Sonic can't fly!"

And before Rotor could stop him, he rushed forward as fast as his cast-covered appendages could allow, and slipped the Tornado onto his shoulders.

"Tails, no!" Rotor yelled, watching him instantly figure out how to start it. Why did he make everything so obvious?! "Oooo, jumpin' J-bolts, what am I gonna do? What am I gonna tell Sally?!"

"WHOOPEE!" Tails yelled with joy as the rotors spun with a rapidly growing whir and lifted him farther away from the ground. His bandaged tails dangled limply and precariously below him. "It works great!"

"Come back!" Rotor begged, looking desperately around in case Sally was in the vicinity. She had just been stern enough already, telling Tails not to fly with the Tornado, what if she…

"Oof!"

Because he was too busy following the excited fox, Rotor failed to see an incoming root that was sticking out of the ground. He watched helplessly as Tails shot around like a golden brown comet.

"So it's my fault Big Guy might never fly again, that what yer sayin'?!" Sonic growled heatedly. "Well, if you keep wrapping him up in cotton wool, he'll never be happy again!"

"Hello, Aunt Sally! Hellooooo!" Tails called in a sing-song voice, oddly very far away. At least he didn't seem too upset about her order…

The chipmunk softened her countenance and turned around. "Not now, honey, Sonic and I…"

But the cub was nowhere to be seen. Not on the ground, anyway. With mounting dread, Sally's eyes turned skywards…and there he was, hovering at the same level as the top of the trees, giving them a cheerful mocking wave.

Sally blinked. This was not happening. It was nothing more than a figment of her imagination. But just to be safe…

"Sonic…please tell me that Tails hasn't just deliberately disobeyed me…" her voice was deadpan. Sonic could tell that she was becoming more and more furious with every word she uttered.

"Sorry, Sal," he frowned. "Looks like Tails just gave you the slip."

If it were possible, Sally would have gone red all over with rage.

"MILES PROWER!" she bellowed, "COME DOWN HERE!"

"I would if I could, but I can't!" Tails called flippantly from his lofty position. "I never figured out how! Guess I'll just have to stay up here forever!"

"Aw, man...' Sonic shook his head softly, his hand over his eyes. "This is gonna jack up Sally's blood pressure for sure..."

"BUNNIE!" Sally shouted. A second later, the rabbit ran out of the Mess Hall.

"What's up, Sally-Girl?" She asked frantically, "Is Sugah-Fox okay?"

"NO!" Sally growled, pointing up at the giggling kit. "He is in a LOT of trouble!"

"Hey, Bunnie, look at me go!" Tails cried happily, spinning upside down.

"We-hell, now, that sure was…" Bunnie's impressed remark got caught in her throat at Sally's face.

"Bunnie, get him down" she ordered, her tone a deadly calm.

The cyborg hare swallowed. "Sure thing," she muttered, activating her ladder legs. "Now, Sugah-Fox, yer Aunt Sally's pretty steamed at y'all! Don't go upsettin' her any more!"

"Uh-oh…" Tails thought as he saw Bunnie get closer and closer to him, her organic and metal arms outstretched. But then he remembered: he could fly higher than she could get taller!

"Whoops!" he giggled, flicking the joystick on the pack strap upwards and zipping in that particular direction. Bunnie missed him by a whisker and almost lost her balance.

"Rotor!" Sally ran up to the walrus and helped him up.

"I'm sorry, Sally, I shoulda picked it up before he thought of stealin'…"

"Never mind that now," Sally interrupted. "How do we get him down?"

"There's a button to stall it, but that's only for emergencies," the walrus stammered. "We can't wait until the battery runs out, that'll take forever and he'll fall! He needs to decrease the speed of the rotors and…"

High above, Tails heard Rotor explain how the Tornado worked. His eyes scanned the buttons on the straps of the backpack. "Rotor, what does this one do?" he pointed at a large red button.

Rotor's eyes widened, and a chill ran through Sally's body.

"TAILS, DON'T PUSH…"

There was a click, a loud beep, and a sonic boom which sent everyone tumbling head-over-heels. Tails was off and away at a velocity that made Sonic envious.

"...the emergency speed button…" Rotor groaned.

"If he crashes at that speed, it'll be fatal" Sally thought frantically to herself, "with or without his broken tails!"

Abruptly, her tail began to twitch, and a cold sweat began on her forehead.

"Oh, sweet Aurora, no…"

Tails rocketed back towards them. That mischievous grin on his face was gone, replaced by one of utter terror. He seemed to be fighting with the joystick to stop himself flying off course.

"MILES!" Sally shouted, feeling the tingling sensation intensify as he flew overhead. "Stop that stupid machine!"

"I CAAAAAANNNNN'TTTTTT!" came the frightened wail. "I'M GOING TOOOOO FAAAAAASSSSSTTTTT!"

Sally wanted to think that her charge was playing a joke. He was in no danger, he could slow himself down whenever he pleased. But her twitching tail was never wrong.

"For Mobius's sake, why didn't you listen to me?!" she bellowed up at him.

"Nevah mind lecturin' him!" Bunnie picked herself up after falling like a tree and had only just recovered. "We gotta get him down ta terra firma before he ends up like a bug on a windshield!"

Sally took a deep breath. Bunnie was right. The only thing that could make this situation even worse was if Sonic's theory was true, and Robotnik decided to fire up whatever device he'd made to cause hurricanes.

"Sonic, chase Tails down!" she pointed at the blue hedgehog. "Bunnie, get ready to catch him!"

"On it!" They didn't see the cobalt blur because he'd already zoomed off in pursuit of the runaway fox.

Sonic ran as fast as he could, wincing and heaving sighs of relief as Tails narrowly missed crashing into trees and maneuvered out of their paths at the last minute.

"The heck did Rotor use ta power that thing? A Power Ring?!" he thought. He'd ask the walrus inventor when he rescued his little bro. If he rescued his little bro! No. He had to rescue his little bro! But his signature quickness wasn't going to be enough this time around. He had to use his brain!

"BIG GUY! WHEN I SAY NOW, TURN AROUND AND HEAD BACK TOWARDS ME!"

"OKAY!"

Sonic looked ahead and saw that they were on a collision course with the Great Oak.

"NOW!"

Tails closed his eyes tightly, flicked the joystick backwards and shot back in the opposite direction. Judging his moment, Sonic bent his knees and launched himself upwards just as the fox flew over him.

"Gotcha!" The hedgehog's gloved paws clamped firmly around the cub's ankles.

The excess weight slowed the Tornado down somewhat, but it was still going dangerously fast. Sonic began to experience the surreal feeling of everything rushing away from him instead of towards him. His feet weren't even moving!

"Okay, Big Guy, we gotta stop this thing, ya know I get air sick!"

Tails knew that Sonic was trying to be funny to alleviate the stress…at least he thought Sonic was. His eyes tried to look at all the gadgets while he tried to watch where he was going. This wasn't an easy task.

Sally, Bunnie and Rotor watched the strange sight as it shot towards them.

"Bunnie, get ready!" the chipmunk ordered. The rabbit crouched down in preparation. "Sonic, let go!"

"Let go?" Sonic thought. "I thought we were savin' the kid!" Despite this, he did as he was told and relinquished his grasp, suddenly falling. Using his body weight to his advantage, he somersaulted in mid-air and curled into a ball to cushion the impact. He bounced a few times like a beach ball.

"NOW!" Sally shouted. Bunnie extended her ladder legs up at the fastest speed she could, right into Tails's path. Tails reached out his arms and practically slammed into her. Bunnie's legs went back to their normal height. She held the cub tightly with her real arm while his own arms wrapped around her frame.

Remembering what Rotor had told her, she reached her metal arm to the button marked with a skull and crossbones and jammed a finger on it.

The propellers abruptly came to a halt. Tails and Bunnie felt themselves begin to sink. Then they began to fall. Gathering speed. Bunnie extended her metal arm to a tree branch and seized it. Then she extended her ladder legs to the ground.

Cradling Tails's head to protect his neck, Bunnie felt her feet roughly hit the ground, and retracted her arm and legs to bring them safely back to earth.

"Is he okay?" Sally's concerned voice asked, and Bunnie turned just as the others ran up to her.

"Sugah-Fox?" she whispered to the shivering, sniffling cub in her arms. "Y'all okay?"

"Uh…" the cub slowly moved his face out and away from her bosom. "Uh-huh…"

"He's alright, Sally-Girl!" she confirmed, gently handing the shaken fox to the relieved princess.

"Honey!" Sally gasped in relief, holding him tight. Her tail had stopped twitching. He was safe. She was about to administer the funny kiss when something inside stopped her.

"The only reason he was in danger was because he used that machine when I forbade him. He doesn't deserve kindness!" her thoughts told her.

Everyone was shocked as Sally very roughly let go of Tails, glaring balefully down at him.

"Aunt Sally?"

"I've never been more ashamed of you in my life!" Sally snarled. She didn't want to do this, but she had to stress just how wrong the kit's actions were. "You went out and used that contraption even though I told you not to! I thought I told you to learn you are not invincible! Think of what would have happened if any one of us had been seriously hurt or even died trying to save you? Think of how we'd feel if you had been hurt? In the state you're already in, you could have been killed!"

"B-But…" Tails squeaked, tears welling in his eyes.

"I don't want excuses! As your princess, I order you never to use that device again! Rotor, give it to me. I'm going to destroy it!" she demanded, gesturing to the shocked walrus. He reluctantly crossed over to Tails, arms reaching out to remove the backpack from his shoulders.

"B-But, Aunt Sally, it's mine! You can't!" Tails protectively clutched the Tornado as if it was his life support.

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Miles! Especially after you ignored me! Now hand it over and go to your hut!"

"Aunt Sally!" the fox bleated.

"I said GO TO YOUR HUT! NOW!" the chipmunk shrieked.

There was a long pause. Bunnie had a paw over her mouth in shock. Sonic's eyes went from Tails to Sally as if he was watching the fastest tennis match on Mobius. Rotor went to remove the Tornado.

"C'mon, little buddy," he murmured. "Listen to Aunt Sally…"

He nearly fell backwards as the fox rounded on him, angry tears in his eyes and staining his muzzle.

"She's not my Aunt Sally!" he growled, his ears flattening. "I don't wanna stay somewhere where I get pushed around and have my happiness taken away from me!"

"Sonic, take him back to his hut," Sally ordered, an attempt at nipping this confrontation in the bud.

"NO!" Tails yelled, and before anyone could stop him, he'd started up the Tornado and shot upwards.

Several pleas hit his ears as he rose high up out of reach.

"Miles, stop!"

"Little buddy!"

"Sugah-Fox, come back!"

"Big Guy, where're ya goin'?!"

"Somewhere she'll never find me!" the angry fox spat, pointing at Sally.

The chipmunk was no longer angry, but a look of panic crossed her face. "Miles! Tails! Come back!" she was now pleading.

"NEVER! NEVER AGAIN!" Tails bellowed at the top of his lungs with his eyes flooded with tears. Then he turned and flew away, out of Knothole and into the woods.

Sally began to run after him, but Sonic stopped her.

"Sal, wait"

"Sonic, we don't know where he's going, I gotta stop him!"

"He's upset. He's a smart kid, he won't go far by himself. We'll give him time to calm down. If he doesn't come home before sundown, we go look for him"

"You sure that's a good idea?" Rotor questioned the hedgehog in a terribly unsure tone.

"Yeah, after that performance, goin' after Big Guy straight away'll make things worse," the hedgehog confirmed, motioning to Sally.

The chipmunk felt something like nausea in her stomach at the very notion that her presence might upset Tails.

She looked at the direction Tails had taken off in. She hoped her tail wouldn't twitch. She hoped there would be no more windstorms, and she especially hoped Robotnik wouldn't find the cub before they did.