𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌 𝚡 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝟸

ℂℍ𝔸ℙ𝕋𝔼ℝ 𝔽𝕆𝕌ℝ𝕋𝔼𝔼ℕ

❝ 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚗 ❞

🌪

Propellors sliced the rather muggy air ahead from the nose of the little red plane, an adventurous buzz spewing from the individual engines. Its rushed movement left a puffy trail through the blue skies absent from any other signs of cloud life, hovering close to the pine forest thriving in Green Hills below and diving out of the way when one taller compared to the rest spiked through its route.

Tails directed the plane, smashing buttons and jolting steering gear whenever it was needed. His azure gaze refused to leave what was being concocted in what felt like the far distance but was closer than it seemed. (Y/n) took the seat behind him, gripping the leather of his own pilot position tight enough for it to squeak from the same impending doom ahead. Sonic and Knuckles hung from opposing wings of the aircraft, stern glares attached to the foggy landscape.

Grey so dark it almost touched black consumed the forest and hills that blessed the town behind with its name, feeling strong enough to tear every innocent pine tree terrified from below from their thickened roots. It swirled angrily like a brewing storm, spinning in a tornado shape with chunks of metal debris with vivid green bolts of electricity and a hue of the same sickening shade faded through it.

"That can only be one thing." Tails commented, gazing into the mysterious core of the twisting tornado, those green flickers making it insanely obvious who and what powered its construction inside.

"The fearsome power of the emerald." Knuckles confirmed, muzzle scrunched above his nose in concentration with his eyes slanted beadily towards the storm.

"If that thing really turns thoughts into power, we are in big trouble." Sonic added.

(Y/n) nodded. "Robotnik has a lot of bad thoughts."

Tails also nodded softly in agreement, keeping his gaze to the control panel of the plane but with a burning vibe attacking him to one side specifically. He gulped lightly, and turned to Sonic with a gloved hand guarding his fuzzy white muzzle to keep any whispered words secretive.

"Hey, Sonic, are you sure it was a good idea bringing you-know-who aboard?" He asked quietly, his voice feeling like it had to compete with the wind breaking through the storm and assaulting the plane as his head nudged towards a distracted Knuckles.

"Knuckles isn't really a bad guy." Sonic educated him, the saffron fox giving him an uncertain expression under slanted eyebrows.

"Yeah, he saved us from drowning." (Y/n) added, Tails' face softening.

"He's just a little... mixed up." Sonic continued, aware to himself he was keeping quiet until Knuckles butted in, offended after clearly hearing every word.

"I am not mixed up!" Knuckles growled, his violet stare so ablaze with irritation Tails felt pinned to the seat while Sonic simply rolled his eyes with a smirk. "I have steely focus. And I'm complex. And that's a lot for some people."

Tails laughed nervously, until he remembered his last encounter with this frustrated echidna. "Hope you're not still mad I hit you with that car."

Knuckles scoffed. "I was completely uninjured. And my revenge will come when you least expect it, fox."

Tails laughed it off, and twiddled a few more levers, and the plane felt a vibrating burst of fuel to increase its speed. The cloudy trail drawn to the sky behind the crimson aircraft exploded before thickening by the second, and the plane spun around some more trees as the storm ahead decomposed. Inky gloom from the tornado was raised into the sky, stifling the air but revealing the monster underneath.