Bandit paced around the war room of G.U.N. Headquarters, going through the worst case scenarios of what could have happened to his daughter.
"She could have fallen out of the plane over the ocean, that egg freak could've gotten his hands on her, she could have..." he muttered to himself as the G.U.N. Commander spoke up from where he was working at his desk.
"Please try to keep calm, Professor, we take matters that Robotnik might be involved with very seriously. Although we're still investigating what happened, if she's still in the company of Miles Prower, then she's in good hands. Although we may have had some differences with him and his friends in the past, he's been working close with us these past couple of years. He has also consented to installing a tracking device in his plane as a show of good faith...As a matter of fact," he pressed a button on his keyboard as a digital global map displayed on a screen behind him zoomed in, showing a map of an island and a blinking red blip.
"It seems he's on his way back towards the mainland right now, it shouldn't take too long for him to..." he told him before the blip suddenly made an unexpected change in course before it started to move erratically. After a moment, it then finally moved towards the island before blinking out.
"What happened?! What does that mean?! Are they all right?!" Bandit demanded rushing over to the screen.
"There are a number of explanations for this, but don't panic, I'll put together a team to send to the island to investigate and be sure to save seats for you and your family to accompany us," the Commander assured him as Bandit froze, slowly turning towards him.
"What did you say? My family?!" he asked, dumbstruck.
"Yes, Robotnik has been known to threaten relatives of those who become involved with him, and so after you called this morning, we immediately dispatched one of our high-speed transport jets to Brisbane to take the rest of your immediate family into protective custody," the Commander explained. "They should be arriving here at base soon enough,"
"Ah, ye shouldn't have done that, Mate," Bandit responded, suddenly seeming worried for another reason entirely.
"I assure you, it's no trouble and your wife and younger daughter have been treated very well," the Commander assured him before Bandit shook his head.
"Nah, Mate, you don't understand..." he said before there seemed to be some sort of commotion outside the door.
"Ma'am, please, you can't be here, this area is..." a soldier could be heard saying before there was an exclamation of pain. A second later, the doors to the room burst open as a Red Heeler woman marched into the room, fury in her eyes.
"WHERE'S...MY...DAUGHTER?!"
The Tornado II hit the ground roughly, momentarily skipping up into the air before hitting again and skidding along the ground. It crashed through the thick jungle brush but thankfully there weren't any trees in the immediate vicinity as it slowly skidded to a stop. As the plane stopped, Tails immediately unfastened his safety harness as he jumped out and ran to the passenger's cockpit.
"Bluey, are you all right?!" he asked worriedly as Bluey cautiously opened one eye.
"Are we alive?" she asked as Tails chuckled a bit in relief, nodding.
"Yeah, we made it...For now, at least," he acknowledged as he unfastened her harness and helped her out of the cockpit, supporting her with his arm as it seemed her legs were still a bit wobbly.
"Come on, we need to get moving before..." he started to say before there was a rustling from the bushes and several Egg Pawns suddenly surrounded them, pointing their weapons at them.
"Before something like THAT happens, Tails sighed and slowly raised his hands as Bluey followed suit. There was a flickering of pixels as a hologram sprang to life from a projector one of the robots carried as the image of a young human girl hovered in the air before them. Sage now looked to be around Bluey's own age as she wore the same red and black dress and a pair of black shoes. Her hair still fell over her right eye and had the same swirl, though it was now longer as it fell slightly past her shoulders.
"Hello, Tails, it's nice to see you again!" she greeted him pleasantly as she then looked towards Bluey. "Oh, I'm sorry, I don't believe I've had the pleasure of your acquaintance. My name is Sage, what's your name?" she asked as Bluey seemed a bit awkward.
"Uh, Bluey," she introduced herself, not wanting to seem impolite despite the odd situation she now found herself in at the moment.
"Hey, Sage," Tails sighed as he tried to think of a way to get the two of them out of there. "I don't suppose you could let us go just this once? Or at least keep Bluey out of this?" he suggested as Sage shook her head.
"I'm afraid not, you know as well as I do I can only bend Father's programming to help you when your goals align, and right now, the goals of you and him are very much at odds. But if you are truly worried about her, then it would be in your best interest to hand over any cards, weapons, or anything else on your person that could prove to be troublesome for Father," she urged as one of the Egg Pawns stepped forward, Bluey whimpering a bit as it trained its blaster on her while holding a hand out towards Tails.
Tails sighed again as he pulled out a stack of cards, the tools from his belts, his Miles Electric, and an assortment of various small devices from his pockets.
"Very good. Now if you'd be so kind as to come along now, the base Father set up here isn't too far," Sage continued as the Egg Pawn motioned with its gun and Tails and Bluey slowly started walking as they were lead deeper into the jungle. Sage had allowed them to put their hands down as it seemed unlikely for either of them to escape at the moment, and so Tails pulled Bluey close to him a moment as he whispered in her ear.
"At the exact moment I tell you, we make a break for it," he whispered and Bluey nodded. As they walked along, Tails started idly brushing his fingers through the fur of one of his tails at his side as he looked around, waiting for an opportunity. Fortunately, Egg Pawns weren't the most graceful of machines and the uneven terrain was eventually their downfall as one of them stumbled.
"NOW!" Tails yelled, grabbing Bluey's hand and shoving past the Egg Pawn. At the same time, he pulled his fingers from his tail as it turned out he'd actually pulled one of his weapon cards from his fur. He held it up, a small bomb materializing in his hand as he threw it over his shoulder before diving into a nearby ravine, pulling Bluey with him.
A large explosion detonated behind them as the bomb made contact with the small group of Egg Pawns, a plume of smoke erupting from the area. After a moment, Tails poked his head up as the smoke cleared, revealing the remains of the Egg Pawns strewn across the ground.
"All right, I think the coast is clear," he said as he climbed up out of the ravine before reaching down and offering Bluey a hand as he pulled her up as well. They slowly walked back to the remains of the Egg Pawns and Tails started picking through the debris to see what he could salvage. He recovered most of his tools and his Miles Electric, which still seemed intact despite the casing being a bit scorched and the screen being cracked. His cards had all been shattered naturally, but there seemed to be a few weapons still intact as he picked up a blaster, seeing it still had a bit of a charge left.
"Here," he said, holding it by the muzzle as he offered it to Bluey. "You should have something to defend yourself in case there are any more patrols nearby," he reasoned.
"Thanks," Bluey agreed as she took the weapon by the handle, grateful at the sentiment. "So, you had that card in your tail?" she asked, still reeling a bit from how much had happened in such a short amount of time.
"Not exactly...The fur on my tails might be soft, but it's also very thick in order to create the necessary lift to allow me to fly," he explained as he took one of his tails in his hands and started to part it to demonstrate. "Because of this, it actually has a sort of hidden under layer where it's stiff enough to use it as a sort of pocket, and I usually keep some stuff in there...A few cards in case of emergency, some spare spare nuts and bolts, hard candy, a few tins of mints...Huh, I was wondering what I did with this money," he said, pulling random objects from the fur of his tails before slipping the small wad of bills he'd found in his pocket as he stashed the rest back in his fur. Bluey gave him a strange look at this peculiar revelation, but decided not to comment on it as they made their way back from where they had come.
"So, what now?" she asked as Tails assessed their current situation for a moment.
"Well, it's getting late, and although I'm not exactly sure where we ended up, it's clear we're quite a ways from where Sonic and Amy were going to set up the shelter. So first, I think we should put together a shelter of our own with materials from the jungle and see if we can't find something to eat. Then, in the morning, I can fly up to see if I can find the area were Sonic and Amy were with the supplies and we can start heading in that direction," he reasoned.
"I'll help any way I can," Bluey put in, still feeling a bit guilty for having a part in putting them in this situation although the Buzz Bomber attack hadn't been her fault.
"All right, then, let's get to it, then," he agreed as the two of them ventured deeper into the jungle.
Sometime later, Tails had managed to build a tent out of some branches and foliage large enough for the two of them. Bluey had managed to forage some berries and other plants and Tails had been able to identify which ones were safe to eat. They had managed to find a freshwater stream and on top of having a source of drinking water, Tails had managed to catch plenty of fish, demonstrating his species' natural talent for fishing.
The two of them currently sat in a clearing in front of their tent, the embers from the fire they'd built dying down as they watched the sun set over the horizon through the trees. The two of them didn't say anything, instead enjoying the peaceful atmosphere and the last of the daylight before they would try and get some sleep. As the sun set, the moon rose bright over the horizon as fireflies began flying about, both of them illuminating the clearing in their soft glow.
After a moment, Bluey started to sniffle a bit before she began crying softly, closing her eyes as the tears ran down her face.
"What's wrong?" Tails asked, scooting closer to her in concern.
"I...I'm sorry," she told him shakily. "I messed everything up by being selfish, and now we're both stuck out here when I should have been going home...I miss my family, especially my Mum and sister, and now I don't know if I'll ever s-see..." she said before breaking down more as Tails put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"It's not all your fault, I didn't exactly handle things the best way either," he assured her. He was quiet a moment as Bluey continued to sob next to him before he spoke up again.
"You know, it might seem like I'm not bothered by all the danger in my life, that I usually have everything under control...But the truth is, I'm scared too," he told her as Bluey stopped crying, sniffling as she looked at him in surprise.
"You are?" she asked as Tails chuckled.
"Of course, I am, who wouldn't be scared of facing things like I do? You experienced it yourself in the Phantom Chamber, and believe me, the real thing is a thousand times scarier. But despite everything, there's one thing that scares me more than anything else," he continued.
"What's that?" Bluey asked curiously as Tails finally seemed to be letting down his guard around her.
"It's losing the people I care about. That's why I tried pushing you away at the last moment, thinking it's best if you went back to your own life. I told myself that things would never work out between us despite your feelings towards me," he told her as Bluey stared at him.
"You KNEW I liked you?!" she demanded as Tails chuckled again.
"I might have an IQ of over three hundred, but I don't need to in order to see the obvious. But I was scared of getting too close because I didn't know what I would do if anything happened to you," he said as he then fully turned to face her, taking her hands in his as the two of them looked deep into each other's eyes.
"But despite everything, I can't deny my own feelings anymore...So no matter what happens to either of us from here on out, just know that I love you, Bluey, and I'll do everything I can to protect you," he told her as tears welled up in Bluey's eyes again. She smiled, however, showing they were happy tears this time.
"..I love you too, Tails," she reciprocated. The two of them leaned in closer, closing their eyes as the two young lovers shared their first kiss under the moonlight.