Forces: Chasing Memories is the 2nd set of chapters. After the dust has settled after the battle with Infinite, everything should've went back to normal, but unfortunately it didn't. Not for a two tailed fox. Unable to come to terms for what Chris has done for his sacrifice, but what if there was a way to bring him back? Luckily for there is, but at what cost?
A MAJOR thanks to the Beta-Reader here on that helped me put this into words and to fix it as much as possible till I felt confident with it. Thanks to...
Cyberpolaris
Ivyshade24
Omesta
RevenantTP
Thank you so much.
WARNING/DISCLAIMER! This is written with TEENS to ADULTS IN MIND. Bad Language is UNCENSORED.
In Context: Tails in this story is 16 yrs old. With that in mind. Sonic and everyone else are in their mid-twenties close to thirties. Reason for that is due to the tone of the story is Suspenseful Drama, Violence and Language. But don't worry they don't swear. Worst thing to come out of them is Damn. But... the OC's? Get ready to see that F-word quite a bit.
The Story is Drama first, Suspense and Action. In that order.
Another thing is that there aren't any Wisps elemental weapons of power. The weaponry is typical weapons used in military. Knives, Pistols, Assault Rifles, Sniper Rifles, and Shotguns.
Same goes for Super Powers. Sonic and Friends are still intact. Sonic super-fast, Tails can fly... etc, etc, but the OC's don't. They are just average nobodies trying to make a difference.
Chapter 4 Contains: 5,456 words
The Sonic Cast is: Main: Tails and Sonic.
Side Characters are: Knuckles.
The OC Cast is: Main: Wally(Green Hedgehog) and Peanut(Pomeranian)
Side Characters: Trish(Dalmatian), Molly(SkyBlue Hedgehog), Randy(Brown Rabbit) and more to come.
New Chapter will be submitted EVERY FRIDAY.
Forces: Chasing Memories
Chapter 4: I'm A War Hero?
The flight to the Resistance Base was long and silent within one of the large waiting rooms of the aircraft. In one corner of the room sat Wally alone while Sonic and Tails were sitting on the opposite side together.
Every time Sonic glances over to Tails, he catches him staring at Wally. After a couple of seconds, he goes back to looking at the floor. Tails' clothes were dirty, his fur was a mess and he had a bandage wrapped around his thigh. Sonic had to think of something to say to cheer him up. He lightly chuckles and says, "Some adventure this turned out to be. Huh? It just couldn't be a normal day… right?"
Tails tries to smile to hide how he felt as he answers, "When has anything ever been normal for us? That was pretty intense." He goes back to looking at Wally then back to the floor. "I think…" He sighs. "I think he hates me."
"What makes you think that?"
"You weren't there. You didn't hear what he said. We finally found him and what Colbort said was true. True that we were going to find someone… different."
Sonic tries to cheer him up. "Whatever he said back-" Someone walks up to them, making them both look. It was Wally.
Standing there, Wally struggles to apologize to Tails feeling guilty, "Hey, look… whatever I said back there… I didn't mean it. It's just what he said made me panic. So… um…" Wally sighs. "What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry. I just want to start everything all over again." He extends his hand out. "Nice to meet you, Tails."
Tails looks at his hand and then up at him. Tails smiles and shakes it. "Nice to meet you too, Wally."
Once they're done shaking, Wally turns around and sits right back down.
Sonic smiles and elbows Tails. "You see? He doesn't hate you."
"Yeah, but it's just going to take a while for me to get used to that."
"Getting used to what?"
They both look back at Wally as Tails answers, "Getting used to him calling me Tails."
Arriving at the Resistance Base, Wally exits. Slowly walking down the platform looking all around, he sees everyone staring right back at him.
From the crowd, someone can be heard asking, "Is he the one that you need an army to take down?"
Someone answers, "Has to be. I heard he went toe-to-toe against Infinite."
Midway down the ramp, Wally just freezes looking all around at everyone staring right back. He mutters nervously, "Geez, so this is what stage fright feels like."
"What's with the hold up?" Sonic says as he walks by him. "You've got someone important to meet. Let's go."
Walking past the training fields, Wally notices a huge decorative wall built long and wide lined with flowers. They then enter the H.Q. Building.
Entering the massive communication room with the center of it being empty, he slowly walks towards the center and begins to remember. Memories forced their way into his mind, remembering being dragged to the spot where he was standing. His head begins to hurt as his hands begin to tremble.
He faintly hears an intimidating voice threaten him in his head, 'Give me one good damn reason not to smash your head in.' Suddenly he hears the doors quickly open, startling him. Wally looks and sees Knuckles standing at the doorway.
'It wasn't me,' a voice whispers worried.
Feeling himself begin to panic, he holds his hands together to stop them from trembling as Knuckles approaches him.
Knuckles stops in front of Wally and checks him out. He looks over to Sonic and Tails and smiles. "So you actually found him." Knuckles looks at Wally and notices that his hands are shaking. "Are you… scared?"
Tails takes a step forward and whispers into Knuckles's ear.
"Oh… he was right all along," Knuckles says, looking back to Wally. "Then why are you scared?"
"I- I remember being here. I remember standing right here," he fearfully answers.
"You do?" Knuckles asks, crossing his arms in shame, knowing why he's scared of him.
"Yeah, I also remember you punching me. It's why for some reason I can't stop shaking right now," Wally answers, trying to remain calm.
Knuckles sighs ashamed, "You remember that?" He rubs his head. "All I can say is that I'm sorry. You got blamed for something that you didn't do and I took it out on you." He puts his hands on Wally's shoulder. "You don't have to be afraid of me. Justice has been served and it's great to see that you're safe now." He pats his shoulder letting him feel at ease.
Wally hearing those words feels like an emotional weight has been lifted right off of him. He looked at his hands and saw they weren't shaking anymore. He felt relieved and calm, but somehow knew that it wasn't coming from himself. He looks back to Knuckles. "Thanks. It feels really good to hear that."
Knuckles nods and pats his shoulder again as he says, "Welcome back," then walks over to Sonic to go talk to him.
Tails limps over to Wally. "Want to go check out the Memorial Wall?"
"Yeah, sure. I saw it on the way over here."
Exiting out of the H.Q. Building, Tails keeps staring at Wally, but as soon as he's about to get caught, he quickly looks away and explains, "There were two Memorial Walls that were built. This is the first one that was made right after the war against Infinite. The second one can be seen in Metropolis City."
They reach the Memorial Wall, and just as Tails was about to tell him about it, a soldier approaches Tails. "Hey Tails, what do we do about your plane?" he asks pointing to it.
"Oh, uh… yeah." He looks at Wally. "I'll be right back." He quickly flies away to check on his plane.
The soldier then turns to Wally. "We also brought your truck as well, Sir."
"Huh?" Wally asks confused. "You also brought my-" he looks at the direction the soldier pointing to and sees Randy's truck. Surprised to see it, "Oh, that truck… Thanks. Appreciate it."
"It's a shame it got damaged during the BOA attack."
"What? Umm… Yeah… yeah… That's exactly what happened to it… The BOA attacked it." Agreeing with the soldier, but knowing exactly what really happened to it.
"It sure is a damn good truck. Crazy that it's still drivable with its front end smashed in like that." The soldier then salutes to Wally, saying goodbye and walks away.
Unsure how to feel about being saluted to, he looks at the truck and then goes back to looking at the wall. "At least your truck is here safe, Randy." Going through all of the names on the wall, he sees an I.D. Card. Stepping forward to it, to get a better look; he sees his face on it. "There he is. Chris Beckers."
He backs away as other people stare at him, pointing. Feeling uncomfortable about them staring, he tries to ignore them.
"Woah! You're a… you're a war hero?" A familiar high pitched voice comes from right next to him.
Wally was also surprised about it himself, "Yeah… That's right Peanut. That's what… it…-" In disbelief, he quickly looks down to his side, seeing Peanut standing there. He puts his hands up almost about to strangle Peanut and stops asking in desperation, "WHY? Just… how… how are you here?"
Peanut just stands there with a huge grin on his face.
"Your parents are going to… NO! They're going to kill me first, THEN they're going to kill you! Do they even KNOW THAT YOU'RE HERE?!"
Peanut loses his smile in shame.
"So you know who he is?" He hears a female's voice and he turns around, seeing her holding onto a clipboard.
Rewind…
Trish arrives late to see everyone exit out of the aircraft. "Damn. Is he really back?" Someone hands her the paperwork of all the passengers onboard. She looks through it, but Chris's name wasn't on it. The only new name she sees is Wally. She logs everything down on her clipboard and goes to examine the aircraft. Upon examination and seeing nothing, she notices someone sneaking out. "Nice try."
Making her way to him, she begins to notice that it's a Pomeranian pup. She sees him duck and hide, as Resistance Recruits walk by giving her a chance to close the gap to reach him. Standing behind him without him knowing, she demands, making sure to scare him, "Who are you and why are you sneaking around?"
Startling him and making him jump, he quickly turns to her, stuttering, "I- I uhh umm I was brought here with uh… by someone."
"Really, and who exactly is that?" She takes a step forward, maintaining her pressure at him.
"It's uhh… Wally. That's his name. Wally. Do you know where he is?" he asks, being sincere.
'Wally. That name was on the passenger list of one of the aircrafts.' She calms down, becoming more soothing towards the kid. "He was onboard with one of the aircrafts. I'll help you find him." She takes out her clipboard. "What's your name?"
"My name's Shawn, but everyone calls me Peanut," he answers with a smile.
She writes it down. "Alright… Peanut. Let's go search."
Trish goes from place to place, area to area, all the while trying to maintain the same pace as Peanut… which proven to be impossible. Trish eventually needed to have a seat to relax. "Okay… stop. I… need to relax for a moment."
"He has to be somewhere around here," Peanut says, eager to find Wally.
Rubbing her aching feet as she mentions, "Not once have you told me what he's like."
Peanut thinks about it as he describes him, "What he's like? Umm… he's really nice and… he likes to make sure that I'm always safe and in good hands… but he does get mad when I'm about to do something bad. And uhh he also never swears… well around me, but I think he does… and uhh…"
Trish just hears his high pitched voice ramble on and on until she goes from rubbing her feet to rubbing her head. 'My gawd, this child… The urge to strangle isn't only set for Zander or Zeke.' She quickly pleads, "Okay… please stop. Just stop talking." Once her headache slightly fades, she rewords her question, "What… does he look like?"
Again Peanut thinks about it. "He… has a brown shirt from where he works at. He's also…" He then stands on his toes with his arm high above his head,"…this tall. And always wears the same blue jeans every… single… day. Probably wears the same underwear too but he never admits to it and…"
She goes back to rubbing her head. 'Again… he's doing it again.' She gives Peanut a better look, ignoring his voice and just stares at his small stature. 'He's so short… He has to be very young.' She calmly asks, "Peanut?"
Peanut's ears perk up, becoming silent, and just stares right back.
Captivated by his innocence, she was unable to take her eyes off of him. 'He's… so… cute. It's impossible to remain annoyed towards him. He must be protected AT ALL COST. Exactly how The Commander protects his secret that he has hidden here.' She asks, "How old are you?"
"I'm nine," he answers with a smile, still focused on her.
'Nine? He's that short and he's nine?' "I'd thought you'd be a lot younger." She gets up and walks to a drinking fountain. "Is the person that you're looking for, your brother?" She begins to drink.
Peanut loses his smile hearing her question. "No… he's just a friend." He looks away and sighs and mutters quietly, "I wish he was."
"Can you describe him again, like how old he is?
"Um… I don't know how old he is. Geez… I don't think 'he' even knows."
She awkwardly looks at Peanut wondering, 'How could his friend not know how old he is?'
Peanut continues but mumbles instead, "Now that I think about it… he kinda looks like Sonic."
"Excuse me?" Trish asks, unable to hear him.
"Oh… uh… I mean, he's also a hedgehog with green quills and-"
"THANK YOU!" she blurts out causing Peanut to stop before he rambles on again. "That, I can work with." She adjusts her uniform while she says, "Let's continue searching."
They go back to searching, and after a while, they pass by the Memorial Wall as Peanut points. "There he is." He runs off and stands right next to his friend.
Trish catches up, and with one look… she was in disbelief seeing who it is. 'No… is it? …It is.' She walks slowly step by step to get a better look. She then sees him scold Peanut. She begins to smile, seeing him get angry with Peanut, almost wanting to strangle him also. She then asks, "So you know who he is?"
He turns to look at her and then back to Peanut. "If I say no, what will you do to him?"
Knowing exactly what he's thinking, she plays along with him. "We will have to lock him up and throw away the key. Then have him witness nightmares unlike any other," she answers, smiling at Peanut.
Wally slowly turns to Peanut with a smirk, "No. I don't know him."
Peanut eyes widen looking at him and then at Trish, then back to Wally. "THAT'S NOT FUNNY WALLY!"
Wally glares at him with gritted teeth. "Your parents are worried about you. Do they even know that you're here?"
"…No," he answers looking at the ground.
Wally hunches down lower grabbing Peanut by the shirt causing him to look up at him. He angrily asks, "Guess what you're going to do."
"Call… them?" he answers with regret.
Wally grins, letting him know, "Bingo."
Peanut sighs and looks over to the Memorial Wall. "Can I at least look at the wall first?"
He releases Peanut. "Yeah, go ahead," he gives him permission.
Trish was left speechless unable to believe that he's actually standing right in front of her. She looks him over and then notices him look right back at her. She smiles in return, but then remembers what Peanut said, 'That's right… Peanut said that he doesn't know how old he is. Did he really lose his memory?'
"Sorry you had to see that happen." He extends his hand out. "The name's Wally," he says, as he diverts his eyes back to Peanut.
'He goes by the name Wally now. He really doesn't remember anything.' She shakes his hand. "It's ok." She turns to the I.D. card, then back to him and asks, "So you really don't remember anything?"
Wally shakes his head. "Not really… just a couple of things but not really."
Being curious she questions him some more, "Can you tell me what they are?"
"Some of them are with Tails and one was with Knuckles but there is one I can't make sense of." He looks at the wall. "It has something to do with the battle."
She also looks at the wall and then back to him. "The battle - what do you remember from it?"
"I remember being in a trench or something alongside with a Sergeant. An old… brown rabbit. He looked like my boss from Nue Heaven. I think there were four other soldiers with him."
She was in utter disbelief from what he just said. 'No… it can't be.' She looks at Barnett's name and his four recruits on the wall. She anxiously asks, "Anything else?"
"Yeah, it was something about uhh… a Generator? They were pinned down and I… no." He looks at the I.D. card. "It was him. He used himself as a decoy to send them on their way to it. That's all I can remember. I don't even know if they made it safe."
Happily, she thinks to herself, 'It is… Barnett. Chris met them.' She tries to hold her tears back. She nods and answers, "His name is Barnett. He's the Sergeant that you… saw in your memory."
"Really?" He smiles at her. "Thanks for letting me know."
Peanut comes back to Wally. "I'm ready to go."
Wally nods to Peanut and looks back to Trish. "Got to go." Getting ready to leave he asks, "You tell Barnett that I said 'Hi'." He walks off with Peanut, heading back to the H.Q. Building.
Trish stands there, a tear running down her face, watching him walk away. She looks at the Memorial Wall staring at Barnett's name and whispers, "I'm pretty sure he already knows."
Rewind… Back into the H.Q Building
Knuckles approaches Sonic, wanting to know what happened in Nue Heaven. "And of course… OF COURSE YOU WERE OVER THERE! What the heck happened?"
Sonic stretches. "Welp, it's a long story. It started with one of Tails' trackers that didn't want to shut up and-" (Fast-forward 5 minutes later…) "Once getting to Chris'… I mean Wally's house, that's when the adventure was over."
"That's it?" Knuckles asks, disappointed.
"Pretty much for me, but Tails was more in the thick of it than I was."
Knuckles looks towards the exit concerned. "Yeah, I saw how his leg was, and how injured he looked. I even heard that he managed to take some of them out alone."
Sonic smirks proudly. "He beat them up really good while keeping someone safe."
"Follow me," Knuckles asks, leading Sonic to a computer screen displaying information about the BOA group and some of the members on it. "They're hidden in the forest. No matter how much we try, we can't find them. We did figure out who some of them are but…" He punches into his other hand. "If we can find where they are, then we can end them right now."
"After what I saw and what they were doing at Nue Heaven, they were organized and dangerous."
Knuckles points at the screen, warning, "That's who you need to be careful of. He's the leader of the group, and very little is known about him. No name, but referred to as Leader. He's highly dangerous and is known to strike fear into the heart of whoever his target is, whatever that even means." He points at the other suspects. "His lackeys are Miller for his smarts and also considered to be a dangerous sniper. Next is Curtis for his ruthless tactics and aggression."
Sonic chuckles, "Reminds me of a certain someone who punched an honest person in the stomach."
Knuckles becomes irritated. "Funny." He continues on, "Next is Levi for his muscle and-"
"Never mind," Sonic then points. "He reminds me of someone."
Knuckles lets out a slow sigh in frustration, trying to remain calm. "How many months was it? Six months of torture? I can beat that record if you want!"
"Okay, okay. I'll be quiet… for now."
Knuckles points at the screen again. "And last one is Craig. He's a professional at infiltration and sabotage. Every single one of them are professionals in one thing and that's killing… heck, their whole BOA group is full of killers."
Sonic just stares at the screen looking at the leader of the BOA's. "So what's his motive?"
"No idea. To be the most dominating force in the world probably, but either way, I have something you should go out and check."
"Really, like what?"
"It's about the BOA's. They might have a weapons building hidden along the forest line, forty miles from Nue Heaven. Need you to go check it out."
"Just a weapons building? Why don't you go check it out?"
Knuckles leans in close whispers, "I might still be Commander, but that doesn't stop me from being The Guardian. If Silver was still here, I would ask him to protect it, but… my duty will always be to protect the Master Emerald."
"Really…but…" he points wondering, "Weren't you at Nue Heaven yesterday dealing with the BOA's? Who was watching it then?"
Knuckles leans away answering, "That would be Trish."
"Are you serious?" Sonic smiles as he jabs him in the shoulder. "And here I thought you'd never trust anyone to get close to it. Why her?"
"I've personally witness how trustworthy and overly protective she can be… and also… how frighteningly intimidating she can be as well."
Sonic gives him the thumbs up and accepts, "Alright. I'll go check it out," about to leave…
"Wait!" Knuckles quickly stops him. "Not alone. Since you've found… um whatever his name is. You're going to take him with you also and-"
Sonic interrupts him chuckling. "Sounds good to me. I'll show him how to kick butt like he used to do," he says, getting into a defensive boxing stance and begins to box.
Knuckles shakes his head while clenching his fist. "You're going… to keep him around you… to figure out why the BOA want him. He might remember-"
"Hanging around me, he'll definitely remember everything by the time we're done," Sonic interrupts him again with a smirk.
Knuckles just glares at him, not saying anything and crosses his arms.
Getting worried, Sonic takes a step back. "Umm… Sorry?"
Gritting his teeth in frustration, he informs, "Someone… else is going with you."
Unsure who, Sonic asks, "Someone else…" Someone then stands next to Knuckles. "You've got to be kidding."
Colbort stood next to Knuckles, smiling at Sonic.
Sonic glares at Colbort, but then stares at the scar on his cheek. Sonic slowly smirks and points to his own cheek. "What happened to your cheek? Got your butt kicked in a fight?"
Colbort loses his smile and glares back as he remarks, "If only that last bullet went slightly to the left."
They both stand there glaring at each other until Knuckles breaks it up. "ALRIGHT! Both of you better get along on this recon. Colbort is going to keep an eye on… uhh whatever his name is, and you're going to check if the BOA have anything hidden near Nue Heaven. Got it?"
Sonic glares at Colbort and then slowly smiles. "Alright, I don't mind him going."
Knuckles hearing Sonic's cynical answer knows when he's up to something. He points at Sonic. "You better keep your mouth shut around him. He can't find out who he is. GOT IT?"
"Pfft! Alright, alright," Sonic says, walking away to a vending machine.
Knuckles clenches his fist. "I MEAN IT SONIC!" Knuckles then turns to Colbort, seeing him grinning. He grabs his shirt, putting up a fist, making Colbort grin go away. "That goes for you too. He can't find out who you are 'cause who knows what he'll do to you if he does."
"Un- Understood," Colbort quickly says.
Knuckles releases him and demands, "What are your orders again?"
Colbort sighs, "To keep an eye on him and check if there are any weird anomalies of particles affecting him."
"And…?" Knuckles trails off expecting something else.
"And… to see if… Infinite is back," Colbort answers hesitantly with worry.
"Exactly," Knuckles says as he looks over to Sonic. "If Infinite is back… we'll have to prepare for the worst."
Suddenly Wally walks into the H.Q. Building with Peanut.
Knuckles spots him entering. "There he is." He waves at him to come over.
Colbort sees him, also in disbelief. "It really is him."
Wally points Peanut to a phone nearby and walks up to them.
Knuckles nods to Wally and looks at Colbort. "You two are going on a recon mission with Sonic. This is Colbort. He's a scientist."
"Really?" Wally smiles looking at the scientist in front of him and puts out his hand. "Nice to meet you Colbort."
Colbort shakes his hand. "Nice to meet you too, Rookie."
The voice speaks out again. 'It was him.'
Wally slowly stops shaking. Still holding onto Colbort's hand, his smile fades away and just stares at him blankly.
Colbort, wondering why Wally's smile faded, looks down to his hand feeling it being squeezed tighter. He then looks at Wally's face again. "…OH SHIT!" Realizing what he just said, he tries to let go.
Knuckles, also sensing the same tension, he quickly shouts to Wally, "LET HIM-"
Wally pulls Colbort towards himself, causing him to stumble forward. He left hooks him in the face, knocking him out as his body collapses to the floor. Wally then releases Colbort's hand and raises his foot high to stomp on his body, but Knuckles pushes him away into other guards who grab him.
In utter fury, Wally struggles to get loose as they drag him to the exit shouting, "LET ME GO! LET ME GO! HE TRIED TO FUCKING KILL ME! LET ME…" They drag him out of the H.Q. Building, faintly still being heard.
Knuckles watches as they take him away, and he looks back down at Colbort unconscious body. "Wow…"
Sonic stands next to Knuckles, drinking a soda. He then also looks down while shaking his head in disappointment. "Tsk, tsk. That's a shame. If only there was someone who could've warned you that was going to happen. Hmm…" He then points at himself and smiles at Knuckles. "Oh right… me."
Knuckles gets annoyed, still looking at Colbort and grits his teeth. "If you knew then why didn't you say anything?"
Sonic walks away. "Pfft, heh! And ruin the fun? Why would I do that?"
In anger, Knuckles demands, "YOU'RE STILL GOING OVER THERE! SO TAKE… WHATEVER HIS NAME IS AND TAILS WITH YOU!"
Exiting out, Sonic sees Wally sitting on a bench with the two guards near him. Sonic approaches him and looks at the two guards. "I'll watch over him. You can go." The two soldiers walk off as Sonic looks at Wally ashamed with himself having his hands over his face. "You okay?"
Wally shakes his head answering worried, "I don't know what came over me." He looks at his hands. "The second he called me that, I was filled with anger. Thing is… It wasn't me. I kept hearing someone in my head saying 'He did it!' over and over. Then it felt like someone took over and the only thing on my mind was revenge. I remember someone getting shot and me fighting, then…" He raises his head and looks at the H.Q. Building. "That's why he punched me. That's what I was being blamed for."
"Well whatever it is, it's over." Sonic smirks. "He's not coming with us anymore, thanks to you."
Tails comes flying, glad to see them together. "Did I miss anything?"
Sonic informs, "Just who I wanted to see. All three of us are going on a mission."
"Really? Right now?" Tails asks.
"Yup. Get the Tornado ready."
Tails scratches his head. "Uhh… About that, the Tornado is going to be out of commission for a while until I can repair it."
"Great. So… Hmm," Sonic ponders as he snaps his fingers soon after, "I know exactly who can fly us. He's a couple of miles away."
Wally stands up, going through his pockets. "No need to walk…" he looks at Tails, "or fly…" then to Sonic, "Or… run, since I can't do either of those two."
Tails then remembers as he remarks, "Oh… that's right. You can't run."
Wally slowly looks back to Tails in utter loss of words, "H-how… how do you… know that?"
"You can't… run?" "Sonic says, trying not to laugh.
Wally turns back to Sonic ashamed, "It-uh, it… it sucks. Okay? I- I don't know what the hell is wrong with me. Even a friend of mine with short ass legs runs faster than me."
Off in the distance, a high pitched, hysterical laughter can be heard.
Upset, knowing exactly who it is, Wally turns in the direction that it came from spotting Peanut. "Peanut, GET BACK IN THE BUILDING, AND WAIT FOR YOUR PARENTS!"
Sonic, watching a kid saunter back into the H.Q. Building, asks, "Who's that?"
"An ex-friend," Wally answers, keeping an eye on Peanut 'til he goes inside.
"It's nothing to be ashamed about. It's one of… well… Chris's unfortunate traits," Tails explains.
Wally slightly shakes his head as he goes through his pocket. "Geez…" He takes out his keys. "I got a truck to drive us to the place. Just don't judge how it looks."
Arriving at the small airport, Tails steps out of the truck and looks at the main sign, "The Double Z's?"
Sonic hops off of the cargo bed answering, "Yup. With no major threats and pretty much no need for fighter pilots, they settled for being flying transporters."
The front door opens as one of the owners, a young adult, male Dalmatian limps out to greet them. "Hi, wel… come… woah…! Uh…-" Surprised, he quickly turns back and shouts into the room. "ZEKE! ZEKE! GET OUT HERE QUICK!"
Zeke's voice can be heard echoing back from somewhere in the room, "NOT NOW ZANDER! I ALMOST HAVE FIRST PLACE IN THIS BATTLE ROYALE… BUT THIS BITCH ALWAYS HIDES IN A TOWER HE… built… WHAT? AGAIN?! OH, YOU MOTHER-" Zander quickly closes the door as muffled arguing can be heard.
Zander looks back at them and smiles. He points at the door. "Uhh… He'll be out in a bit. Want me to show you around?"
Zander takes them around, showing them the aircrafts, but one of the planes that isn't working is propped up against the wall as a display.
Taking a closer look, Wally approaches the damaged fighter plane. Along the side of the plane was written: Resistance Air Force. Underneath was a plaque stating that it was used during the war against Infinite. Cause of crash was due to impact on the left wing causing severe damage. 'Impact to the left wing? From flying?' He looks at the left wing, seeing the massive dent on it. "Damn, what did you hit?"
"Hmm?" Zander hears Wally's question, he looks at the plane and laughs. "Oh that? It was just something that needed to get smacked out of the air," he answers with pride.
Seeing how badly damaged the plane is, he asks, "Did you manage to land safely?"
"Umm… about that…" He places his hand to his leg and knocks on it, letting a metallic sound out in return. "That didn't go very well."
Zeke then shows up in his white tight shirt and dark blue jeans. He spots Sonic, glad to see him. "Long time no see, right?"
Sonic smiles back. "Hey… that's my line." He points to Zeke as he turns to everyone else, "Hey guys, I'd like you to meet my hero."
Zeke points right back. "Hey, you keep that limelight away from me." He looks at Sonic pointing to Tails and… "What the… What the hell happened to you?" he says surprised to Wally, knowing exactly who he was.
Wally just stares back, not surprised that even Zeke knows who he is.
Sonic looks at Wally and mentions, "Umm, he's been away on vacation."
And… with… that, Zeke looks over to Zander, as he does the same. Commander Knuckles' orders rang loud and clear to them. And from each other, they both look directly at Tails.
Tails mutters nervously, "Uh oh… again?"
Being at ear shot, Wally leans in whispering, "Again? Does everybody give you that look?"
Tails answers back unsure, "Not everyone. Only the Resistance or anyone that used to be with them give me that look." He shrugs. "I don't even know why."
Rewind… Months ago at the Resistance Base
On the Announcement Stage, Knuckles paces back and forth as he gives his speech and advice on how to deal with issues on the battle field to his Soldiers and New Recruits.
As he reaches the end of his speech, he ends it with, "And lastly, if you unfortunately bump into Sonic on the battle field…" he stops pacing as he ponders, "Or… anywhere else for that matter… whatever you do… DON'T BELIEVE A SINGLE WORD THAT COMES OUT OF HIS MOUTH! GOT IT?!"
Everyone answers back, "YES SIR!"
He continues, "But… if you see Tails near him, you talk to him first. Any question or concerns you have, and he'll tell you everything you need to know."
Fast Forward… Back to the Double Z's
From Tails, Zeke narrows his eyes back to Sonic. "Really?" his eyes go right back to Wally, "So being considered dead, is being on vacation?"
Sonic smirks, answering back, "Crazy how the Resistance works… right?"
Zeke, not believing anything coming out of Sonic, he keeps his eyes locked onto Wally as he stands right next to Zander.
Sonic's eyes go up from Zeke then down to Zander noticing something was different. Zeke was basically towering over Zander as his head nearly reaches his chest.
Both Zander and Zeke can be heard bickering with each other as Zander quietly tells him, "Change your shirt."
Zeke quietly argues back causing them to go back and forth, "No. It still fits." "No it doesn't." "Yes it does. I'm not a XXL." "Yes. You. Are. Go change." "No." "Yes." "No."…
Zeke's white tight shirt on him displayed how his arms were more defined and muscular pass the arm sleeves while his chest was immensely broader under neat it, but more importantly…
Sonic raises a single finger up to Zeke and asks, "Did you get… taller?"
Zander breaks into a smile trying to hold in his laughter letting out a, 'snort!' while Zeke crosses his arms and slumps his shoulders trying to appear shorter hearing Sonic's insightful question, "I… I don't know what you're talking ab-"
"By five inches," Zander interrupts, having the biggest grin on his face.
Zeke pleads, "Zander?"
Zander continues, "People call him: The Big Bad-"
Zeke growls as he pleads again, "Zander, please?"
Zander remains silent as he snickers.
Annoyed, Zeke looks at Tails and asks hoping to change the subject, "So what brings you guys here?"
Tails shows them the directions. "We need to be flown over to this spot near Nue Heaven."
Zander looks at the directions, quickly deciphering where they want to go. With concern, he looks at all three of them. "Go clear over the ocean, and especially over the forest? I've heard what's going on in it." He turns to Zeke warning, "If you're going to fly them over there, then you'd better not fly over the damn forest."
Zeke smiles back asking, "Then that's a yes coming out of you?"
"Sure. Just don't fly them over the forest," Zander warns him again.
"Heck yeah!" Zeke says with enthusiasm doing a fist pump. He eagerly points as he scans the aircrafts, "Hop aboard… uhh… that one and-"
Zander argues back, "NOPE! Not that one. It's not insured yet."
Zeke quickly points at a different one. "I mean… that one and I'll be good to go."
Before Wally takes a step forward, he quickly looks down to his side and begins to search all around himself.
Taking notice, Tails asks, "Did you drop something?"
"No… I'm just making sure about something."
Zeke watches as everyone gets on when he notices something on the road. "Give me a min and I'll have everything ready to go."
Once done, Zeke enters the cockpit taking his seat. Flipping switches as he prepares the aircraft, Zander gives him a message on the radio speakers staying behind, "Remember: Don't fly over-"
"I know, I know. Don't fly over the forest. I know," Zeke quickly answers back, starting up the aircraft.
"I mean it. Don't! Same goes to you three. Be careful out there," Zander warns them.
Zeke drives the aircraft down the airstrip and takes off to their destination.