Sonic the Hedgehog

Head High

It's been a silent flight since the pair took off from the chemical plant. And for good reason. When Tails flew over to his best friend and broke the news of the disappearing energy source, it was all spelled out. Whatever Miles Electric detected, Eggman beat them to it. The Jackal Sonic came across was very likely some sort of distraction. If so, he worked like a charm.

Sonic's smile disappeared the moment he learned of the news. That cocky, encouraging smile he wears everywhere he goes- gone with just one sentence. More specifically, two words within the subtext of the sentence. "Eggman escaped."

Now, the fired-up hedgehog stands on the top of the Tornado like before, but not exactly. On their way here, he seemed to be enjoying the pure adrenaline of being so high in the air. But now, he stands with his arms folded, a frown, and stern eyes that look thoughtfully at the rising sun ahead. The perceptive young fox doesn't need his 300 IQ to pick up on the different mood.

Explaining the whole thing to GUN was its own can of worms. The elite troop of soldiers was just as confused as the flying fox outside their helicopter window when they heard that Eggman slipped in and out under their noses. How he managed to pull it off is something Tails still can't completely wrap his head around. Apparently, multiple GUN drones were destroyed in some sort of battle, meaning Eggman had to have used force to retrieve whatever he was looking for. Knowing him, he had others do his dirty work for him. If so, did he use robots, or has he hired mercenaries? And if so... how many mercs did he hire?

There's also the matter of transportation, Tails thinks. The river below the plant only extends for so long, which makes the possibility that he used a boat to get in very unlikely. It also couldn't have been an air vehicle since the GUN surveillance choppers would have surely detected it, not to mention my scanner. Also, we would definitely have noticed it. That just leaves a car, but it just doesn't add up. What kind of car can reach these destinations as fast as we can? Granted, I'm unsure of when he set out for the plant, but if he intends to reach ALL of these energy sources before we do, he has to realize even GUN would beat him to future locations, not to mention US. That rules out land vehicles as well. How is he doing it?

"Hey, Tails," Sonic says, snapping him out of his internal speculation.

"Yeah?" Tails says as he looks up.

The sight before him was not what he was expecting. All of the doom and gloom that could be felt in the air just now disappears entirely. Sonic stares at his close friend with that wide smile of his. The sun behind him can just barely match the speedster's brightness. He gives Tails a confident thumbs-up.

"So what if that loser beat us to whatever he was looking for?" Sonic laughs. "As far as I'm concerned. we just had the generosity to give him a headstart. A good thing too. We don't want this ending too soon now do we?"

Tails is left speechless. He can only stare in awe at the hero before him. If only he could be THAT amazing.

...