Westside Island
Tails' Garage
Tails flicks the light on, getting to see his plane in all its glory. It's been a minute since he's been able to take his baby out for a flight. After those cruel bullies tried wrecking it, he's just kept it inside. There's never been a more convenient day than today, he supposes.
"We'll save our legs the trouble." Tails explains, powering his baby on. "Who knows? Maybe we'll get to spots we couldn't have on the ground. I wouldn't be shocked to see an emerald somewhere high."
"Got it."
Tails takes the drivers side, with a backseat free for his new friend to use. Sonic just stands on a wing instead.
The Tornado's propeller blows gusts from the garage. It moves forward, ready for takeoff. The engines loud, sunlight seeps onto the plane, it's white and red color scheme shining for all to see. Unfortunately, the garage is deserted.
"HANG ON!" Tails shouts, jolting the Tornado up. Sonic almost slides off the wing, hanging on by mere fingertips.
"A little warning next time?!"
"You got one!"
"I got distracted!"
Tails fights the desire to facepalm. "It's ok, it's ok.." he whispers to himself, stabilizing his plane. It's a smooth, straight shot. That allows Sonic to hoist himself back on. Everyone below look like ants crawling on the surface. The trees look like a giant mass of grass. The clouds stand out the most to him. He's never actually gone through them before.
As one floats over, he spreads himself like a messiah. The fluffy feeling would heal him more than any bandage ever could. Instead he feels nothing. Not one drop of cloud. Sonic just glances at his hands. "Huh. That's a letdown."
While Sonic's left confused, Tails glances at his backpack. There's a couple glows standing out. He quickly gets his eyes on the skyline, getting a look at the Miles Electric: there's a glowing dot on the upper left.
Tails has to hold his namesakes down in surprise. "FINAL WARNING!"
Sonic starts kneeling. "Checked in!"
"Great!" Tails steers his plane up, as the hedgehog manages to hang on this time. The fox's intuition was right, but his knowledge of this environment is nonexistent. He has no clue on who they'll fight, why they're fighting, or how they're going to win. Maybe there won't be a conflict at all!
That's just wishful thinking.
A little white ball collides with their plane. Despite all the gusts, and elevation, it sticks on. It's so minuscule that Sonic can't even see it. He's just kneeling on the wing, ready for another thrilling hunt.
Egg Bunker
After watching his creation eat much more than a loss, Robotnik's pacing around his lair, stroking his stache ever few steps. His brain has worked in certain situations before, but none are quite like this. There's no military, or average citizen to deal with. NO. There's a super powered hedgehog, with a mother pesky nuisance by his side.
He freezes and throws a finger up. "Eureka! I've found it!" He jogs to his computer, burning through his keyboard just to visualize a plan. "Where are you?"
Click.
Nothing.
Click.
Nothing.
After the third clip, a video pulls up in a POV style. The viewer gets a good look at Sonic the Hedgehog with his Fox friend, in a desert. The Doctor captured footage of the fight, and saved it midway into the fight. Now with video evidence, he can find what he needs: all through Silver Sonic's eyes.
"Hmm.." the Doctor scratches his chin. Before he can find what he needs, he has to sit through the trash talk again.
"Back for more?"
He mutes the footage. Hearing his stupid, light voice grates the doctors ears. After the first few seconds, he perks up. Instead of taking on his machine directly, that hedgehog saved his friend first. Why? Friendship isn't magic, it's fragile. Unless..of course. He was so busy taunting Sonic he never realized in the first place!
This two-tailed lifeform has the Chaos Emeralds!
"How shortsighted of me.." Robotnik smirks, pausing the footage and zooming in on that backpack. Even though the doctor didn't see the emeralds physically, he used his critical thinking skills to deduce that they hid the gems. Of course they did. A smart opponent won't hand them out like silverware.
Then again, the doctor constantly doubts the hedgehog's intellect. He doesn't normally think, he just does. If he stopped himself before falling into Robotnik's trap back at Southside, this conflict would be going differently. But alas, the doctor remains steps ahead.
"Agent Stone!"
His assistant enters the main lab, with the Silver Sonic head in his hands. "Yes, Doctor?"
"I need you to oversee our chemical plant down South. I'm handing you a new creation to use for your strategic advantage." He orders. "Maybe this time you won't mess it up. Don't make me put you in the corner!"
"Noted. Where are YOU going?"
"That question earns a devious chuckle from his boss. "I get to see God."
"That? I'm sorry, are you ok sir?
"I'm visiting the SKY." Robotnik yells. "I know that humans lack critical thinking..but don't worry Stone. I will make you into a useful one."
Stone nods, watching as the doctor pulls another screen up on his supercomputer. There's a flunking dot rising upward. Stone finds that strange..because they're still underground. "What's the meaning of this?"
"I've got eyes everywhere. Tracking every move their little plane makes.."
That gets a playful scoff from Stone. "Come on, there's no way you tracked their…plane." The confusion kicks in. Wait, how do you even know they have one?"
Robotnik gives him the scornful eye, before turning his back on his useful creation. "Do you know what's hard about being the smartest person on Earth?"
"..nobody's on your level?"
"That was beautiful." Robotnik inhales. "Say that again."
"Nobody's on your level."
That earns a grin from the egomaniac. "Perfect. Your failure was expected, Stone. You wouldn't have known about my exceptional GPS skills. I almost pity you… For that, NO punishment." He waves Stone away, and sets his focus back on his new plan. First he detects where they have the emeralds, next he uses some sort of..flying chip to determine where the humanoids are going.
Maybe this is why Robotnik thinks so highly of himself. He's truly looking at all the outcomes.
His grin grows massively as he talks to himself. "Seize the fox, and all will be yours, Ivo.."
Somewhere In The Sky
Sky Sanctuary
There's no ground to be found. Clouds take up a massive part of the environment. Much to Tails' surprise, there are still runways to be found. Some have a beige tint, with blue and black lines down the center. Others are in an uphill structure, with blue tiles lined up. There's even long stretches of that runway with the same tiles.
"A civilization up here? What happened?" Tails asks himself, ever so curious.
Sonic's just dangling his legs off the wing. "Man..I can check this off my bucket list."
The further they go, the more surprised they become. There's still patches of grass on some runways, as well as more advanced architecture. Neither one knows quite how this sanctuary got here, but this is the most outlandish place they've seen so far.
Tails gasps. "I knew our islands were special, but this is on another level!" A smile grows. "Look at the structures, and the shine, and-OH I wonder if they have a temple—" there he goes geeking again. It doesn't seem to bother Sonic much.
Before he knows it, the Tornado's landed, and Tails hops out. "Why hasn't anyone reported this place?" He asks, spinning his signature tails and flying around. The kids desperate for any signs of a past civilization. Got a curious mind.
Sonic just pops a squat on a patch of grass. He'd love a garden somewhere around here, but the place is merely too big to find one. Yeah, they are supposed to find the fifth Chaos Emerald, but it's easy for these two to get off task. They would never have guessed to see something so..odd in their life before.
Especially Sonic. He's been to every place on land, but in the air is a BIG jump. "Might as well savor this while it lasts." Sonic tells himself, laying down fully. He could doze off in an isolated place like this.
While his role model rests, Tails, Miles Electric in hand, enters one of the oh-so glamorous structures he was geeking abiut. It's large, white, with trees growing inside. INSIDE. He's never seen an environmental phenomenon this massive. He advances down the long hall, with sunlight peeking in from both sides. It's like he's in the Roman Empire with the beauty.
A illustration, stuck on a wall at the end of this abandoned place, catches the kids eye. A tribe of echidnas rushing into battle, with a clan of owls soaring down. Whatever happened between the Owls and the Echidnas must have led to the emptiness around here.
Tails has goggly eyes. "So much history in, in ONE picture. I need to find more!" Tails runs off, panting but a massive smile on his face. He stops himself and takes a picture first. Is that disrespectful to whoever owns the land? Maybe. Does the kid care? No. He's making a core memory.
The Fox eventually catches up with Sonic, who's getting some shuteye..with a blue Chaos Emerald by his side. That was a quick search. "Sonic! Sonic!"
Sonic barely etches his eye open. "..hmm?"
"First of all: thanks for getting the emerald..but do you wanna take pictures with me?"
"Mind if I throw up some signs?"
"Go for it!" Tails smiles. "Its not like you're bothering anyone."
Sonic stretches his legs. "K. Let's go, bud." They take off throughout the zone, like the most eager tourists this place has ever seen.
Eventually, the two come to a runway..with a gap. Tails just carries Sonic over with his flight. Sonic brushes his gloves off. "This is endless."
"That's the best part!"
Sonic laughs at his friend's raw enthusiasm. He should have taken the science nerd to love history too. Not that every nerd likes both or anything. "A few more photos and we can—"
"GO!"
A giant red fist punches THROUGH the runway ahead! A startled Tails falls on his rear. Sonic steps infront of his buddy, cracking his Knuckles.
A second fist appears, splitting the runways further apart. Anymore ruckus and they are bound to get another visitor. When the new machine shows off it's horrifying face, it even makes Sonic cringe. He doesn't know what's worse: the comically large mustache, or the horrifying bleak eyes.
"Here we go again, my furry inferiors. Enjoying the view?"
Sonic grits his teeth just HEARING the Doctor's voice boom through (robotically). "Wanna end up like your robot, egghead?"
As Robotnik touches his bald head, his machine does the same. "..HOW DARE YOU? It's not very cool to make fun of someone's appearance."
"I KNOW you're not talkin'!"
Despite Robotnik's own traits..this behemoth's head isn't even the biggest part, yet it casts a GIANT shadow over them. Tails shivers. "Sonic…"
"It'll be alright."
"We don't even know what the bottom looks like.."
Sonic pops his neck. "I'm not scared. He can pull out any tin can he wants. I won't stop fighting until we're free."
Tails almost gasps at the audacity. Dunking on the crazy man with an at least 50 foot difference. Yet, his own heart pumps. He values freedom. He values his courage.
He gets snatched by the robot's massive hand! Even his backpack! Sonic's not letting that slide, hopping onto the behemoth's hand to pry his friend free. To the doctors chagrin, the monster hand starts creaking, and separation lets the Fox breathe.
"I gotcha b—"
One flick and Sonic crashes through a wall! The beige bricks definitely don't pad the fall. Instead it has Sonic clutching his back. Yet he still pushes through, getting to both feet.
"Aren't you the stubborn one?" Robotnik whines.
The Doctor makes it difficult for the hedgehog, by shooting green lasers from his eyes! He surrounds Sonic in a ring of fire, causing the land beneath to collapse by the second. Tails desperately tries to wiggle his way out, but Robotnik never gives him the chance. So the Fox digs at his side, grabbing an item he never lets go.
"If I can get wiggle with my whole body..maybe I can free an arm. Less effort, smaller gap." Tails tells himself. "I'm not letting HIM get ahold of this."
Sonic bounces off the structure walls to escape that ring of fire. Robotnik's grunt is very audible.
"Like a scab, you just keep coming back! Which is totally fine by me."
His jets boost up, showcasing that massive body, with DOZENS of holes. Sonic sighs at the sight. "Rockets?"
A massive amount of missiles come shooting out. With no distractions, and a better reaction time, Sonic smirks as he sidesteps each one. He even kicks a couple back, rocking the machine! Robotnik's heard falling from his extra mic.
"OKAY, it's like THAT?!"
"SONIC!"
The hedgehog brings his focus back to Tails, who wiggles his arm free! He's got the Miles Electric. And tosses it to him! Robotnik gets two fingers down and uses them to rush over. As they prepare to collide, Sonic runs up his hand and catches it!
Only to get struck by a loose missile! Some of his once blue quills, turn into a smog black as he hits the ground…dropping his emerald. The Doctor plucks it from the ground.
"I've stolen your FriEnD!" He mocks. "I've stolen your emeralds! Are you going to lay down and take that?"
Robotnik pops out the Chicken Dance, just to add insult to injury. Sonic rolls on his knees, coughing a couple times after the shock strike. Robotnik snatches Sonic too, forcing him to face Tails, who has never looked more horrified. A single tear falls down the fox's face.
"Don't cry over him, fox boy. Children are so dramatic these days…"
He shakes the hedgehog awake.
"You have given me more of a challenge than any human ever could. You love spice in your life. So much that you've given some to me. I'll gladly give you some in return. Let's wager.."
Sonic tries to wiggle free, but just can't do it in his state.
"I will spare your friend from a cruel fate..on ONE condition."
"Oh..oh yeah? What's..that?"
"You find me the last Chaos Emeralds with that little device of yours. You can't do my bidding without it."
Sonic looks at Tails, then back at the tons of steel staring through his soul.
"As a bonus..I'll make you two honorary members of the Robotnik Revolution."
Sonic snickers, but he's the only one. "That's the best name you could—"
CRUNCH
The Death Bot's grip tightens.
"Are you in? Or should my Death Egg pulverize you? You won't be laughing then."
Sonic pants, looking back and forth between his friend, and the dealer himself. He's in no position to break free, or decline the offer. If an innocent wasn't in jeopardy, it'd be different..but Tails just got his life started.
He has to swallow his pride. "..I'm in." Sonic agrees, looking defeated. Robotnik doesn't give one damn about his face. His "Death Egg" just throws him right back down to the Sanctuary. Sonic hits like a crash, debris of the runway tearing away.
"Don't dare cross me, rodent. Do it and your foxy friend will never see the light of day."
Robotnik forces his Death Egg to fly away. Tails' head hangs down, completely defeated himself. He tries to reach out one last time, but nothing works. The trauma this kid has is unfortunate. This unfair wager may be his only hope of coming out alive. Just when he made a friend too.
Sonic reaches out for what he's lost. No Tails, no emerald, he's back at square one with a heavy deal on his mind. It's too much to take in. That, and the pain of the battle, makes him collapse yet again.
The world around him fades away..
Back to black.
.…
Robotnik's up 5-0, and has Sonic in a bad position. Where will Sonic find the last two emeralds? Will either one honor the deal? What'll happen to Tails? Find out in a few days!