Orphans by Coldplay.
~~~

The sun is setting as he traverses over hills and slips between trees, doing so with a sleeping fox on his back. Sonic shifts his arms to keep Miles there and makes a right turn to break free from the forest. There, the lowering sun washes over them and highlights the distant floating island emerald green eyes look towards. It towers high over sparkling oceans with glorious waterfalls cascading over the edge. Sonic wonders if he'll ever get to run around those snowy mountains.

Miles complains tiredly before hissing, then shooting up from the hedgehog's shoulder to rub the side of his face. However, he feels sharp pricks on his cheek and with a wince pulls out a few blue spiky quills. He lets them fall and holds onto Sonic's ears.

"Sorry 'bout that." The older of the two says.

"It's okay. How long have I been sleeping for?"

"Not long. Feeling better?"

"Yeah. You're cosy."

Sonic clears his throat to ignore how his heart feels like it's growing and brightening. "W-well, that's good. All you need now is some food, Little Buddy. And I know the perfect thing."

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Miles cocks his head curiously.

The speedster tightens and gulps down flickers of memories of once being called that himself. So, he grins. "'Cause you're little. And my pal."

For a moment, the fox's eyes almost appear like there's stars within. Until he goes over what was said to him again. "I'm not that small." He pouts.

Sonic laughs and swerves through large shrubbery. "Sure thing, kiddo."

Miles' eyes however do widen upon noticing where they are. Palm trees line the edge of the whitest, softest appearing sand that meets the bluest of oceans (somewhat looking like Sonic now that the fox thought about it). Shells of all pastel colours decorate the smooth ground as the sea glistens beneath a late evening sky. But the fox is soon more astonished by a fantastic (albeit rusty and faded) red plane with scratched white decor and large wings. Sonic stumbles when the fox leaves his carry to fly over to the aircraft, stroking a hand across it's fuselage.

"I-I didn't know you had a plane!"

"Well how could ya?" The hedgehog leaps up onto the top wing and sticks his arms out, walking across as if on a tightrope.

Miles lands and looks up at the other. "And you can fly this?"

"Yep."

"H-how old are you?"

"Don't think age has anything to do with it. But, I'm thirteen. You?"

"N-nine. How can you do all that?"

Sonic crouches and meets the others eyes, arms resting over his knees. "Learned it? Kinda had to. I can teach you if ya like."

Miles' tails spin and he can't hold back on excitedly jumping. "Oh Gaia would you?! That's amazing! Thanks!"

"Wouldn't mind doing something in return for me would ya?"

"Anything!"

"Fix up my plane?"

Miles Prower swore this was the best day in his life.

—————

The following day Sonic had ventured out to get the fox his own favourite food- chilli dogs. Sally had packed some for his trip, but he was running low and in need of more supplies- especially if the fox was sticking around. Thus, he had left the cave they camped in behind (leaving Miles to catch up on some rest) and travelled to the city he practically knew running with eyes closed.

Station Square.

Situated on the coast, the city is stuffed with tall skyscrapers, parks, housing districts and more famously holds an amusement park, casino and countless hotels and restaurants. The city climbs a hill with winding roads and bustling streets, leading onto a wide motorway. But there was one building that set Sonic's quills on edge- the GUN base. There were many dotted around Mobius (he had heard) and were under the leadership of Commander Abraham Towers- who had sworn to keep the world free from Robotnik's terror.

Sonic rolled his eyes and his fur rose as he passed a large billboard with such Commanders face plastered across- the GUN symbol shining on the right side. Although still relatively new, the military force was often presented in a very positive light and had collected extraordinary popularity to allow Abraham to keep GUN growing. The blue speedster frowned upon seeing another vast poster framed against a towering building, again showing the Commander's face with a quote presumably taken from one of his interviews beneath.

'"To confirm the recent rumours, I wish to announce that yes- Mobians can now join the Human force in becoming part of our military. Together, we shall fight. Together, we shall be free. Together, we will be victorious in this battle against the notorious Ivo Robotnik."' He internally read.

Sonic made a left turn. "Oh wow Abraham. How courteous of you."

Then he stumbled and almost crashed against a lamppost if he hadn't grabbed hold and swung himself around it. But instead of running he simply stood, looking up at a billboard sat on the flat roof of a low multi-storey building. There was a silhouette of a rabbit with the words "The Mysterious Blue Blur" printed across the centre- with some smaller inscription underneath.

"I'm a hedgehog." He sighed and carried on, avoiding looking at this cities GUN base when passing- opting to watch the floating mysterious island that he was becoming more desperate to explore.

Later, having collected the supplies needed, he took a slower pace to leave the city with. It was late afternoon- edging onto evening once more and the lights were beginning to turn on. Still, there were people roaming the streets and the occasional traffic zoomed by. Citizens were still visiting the parks, and one in particular caught Sonic's eye. He slowed to watch a mother bear push her child on a swing, and a human father playing catch with his. He could recall his uncle telling him how it was incredibly looked down upon for humans to share such a place with mobians- before the war broke out. His father had quickly interrupted the topic to conduct another guitar lesson-

Sonic flinched upon hearing the mother's child excitedly squeal as he was pushed again. His own heart was quickening and he looked towards a pair of siblings laughing as they played on the seesaw. His hand clutched his shopping bag tightly, enough for his claws to dig into his skin. More children were playing tag, he started to feel dizzy, the father praised his child for catching the ball and Sonic took off before tears could fall.

—————

Miles squirmed and curled into an even smaller ball, muttering before awakening to see why it had become so suddenly cold. The fire he lay beside was out so he sat up only for a hole filled blanket to drop off him. Perplexed, for he didn't remember tucking himself in, he wrapped it around himself and stood up- large ears instantly flickering at...sobbing? Curious, but a crack of thunder enveloped him in terror and he hurriedly rushed to the caves opening.

The Tornado (he had learned) stood closely outside and Miles hopped over a full, white plastic bag to make his way out- catching the stormy night sky. Upon the thunder banging once more, the fox pulled the blanket more tightly around himself and quickly moved forward- seeing what (more accurately, who) was causing the struggled sobbing.

Beneath the bottom left wing sat Sonic who trembled and held his legs close- hiding his face between his knees. His ears were flat and a faint black mist was circling his shoes, but the fox was more attentive to the other's desperate attempts to keep quiet.

Miles slowly approached the hedgehog and ducked under the wing to then crawl. He slipped the blanket off and silently sat beside his saviour, wrapping the cloth around them both. His tails moved to do the same and only then was Sonic more attentive to his new company- jumping and hitting his head against the underside of the wing. Miles swore he caught a glimpse of wet cheeks before the other turned his face away, giving a shaky laugh as hands went to wipe his muzzle.

"Sonic?"

The older of the two cleared his throat and deeply exhaled, facing his companion with a smile (but his eyes gave it all away to Miles). "Sorry pal. I didn't m-mean to be gone for so long. You okay?"

"Me? Could do with sunnier weather, but are-?"

Sonic scrambled out from under the wing and stretched. "Not a fan of the thunder huh?" He glanced at gathering puddles. "All this water makes it harder to run, but none of it can hurt ya. Stick with me and you'll be fine."

He helped Miles out from under the plane and shifted the blanket to be more properly on him. The young kit watched the other with wide, sparkly eyes but his admiration vanished as thunder roared- making him squeak and step closer to the blue hedgehog.

Thus, Sonic gently pulled him closer to his side and headed for the cave. "Let's head inside. Ya know, I was thinking of adopting the name 'the blue blur.' Nice ring to it don'tcha think? 'Course, you'd need a nickname too."

"A nickname for me?" Miles asked.

Sonic ruffled between the fox's ears. "You said you didn't like your name."

"W-well sure but I-."

"I was thinking Tails."

Miles' mind swam and was going faster than he could keep up with. How did Sonic remember such a small, pointless detail about himself anyway? Why would he? And why bother to come up with something oh so-

"Amazing! I love it!" He erupted into joyous laughter and tackled his saviour to the ground in a tight hug- joyous tears settling at the corners of his eyes.

Sonic laughed beneath and patted the other's back. "No problem pal." He climbed up and held the fox's hand in his own (taking the blanket under his free arm), having somewhat of a clue that having a different name would be more than relieving (Chaos he'd done so himself and was perfectly fine since picking it).

Leading Tails inside, Sonic was happy seeing the former was more focused on asking about food instead of the storm or why he'd been pathetically weeping under the Tornado. Thus he opted to encourage the topic of chilli dogs, dumplings and-

"Oh! Do we have mint ice cream?"

—————

A week of teaching Tails how to pilot a plane, visits to Green Hills, showing off unfathomable speed, and snacking on chilli dogs passed. But throughout it all Sonic couldn't ignore the itch to see that stupid floating island. It felt like something was calling for him- or an invisible rope was trying to drag him to it. But he remained patient and currently held a hand above his eyes and to the sky, watching a red plane circle above him.

A bright sunny day in Emerald Hill and Sonic was teaching his friend how to land the aircraft. Tails was an unbelievably fast learner, and the blue blur trusted the other to handle the plane on his own. Tails had also given the Tornado a gracious makeover- with stunning, shiny new red paint and star details that matched those of Bounce Pads. Courtesy of Sonic, he'd gained a tool box (full of such equipment) and was in charge of carrying the hedgehog's backpack when they left the plane behind.

Originally, Sonic had refused (feeling odd about Tails carrying everything) but the fox was stubborn in "wanting to be useful" so he begrudgingly agreed in hopes of easing the nine year olds mind. To put himself at ease, he decided to gift the fox with his camera (besides the kid deserved a present). But today, he had grander plans for his two-tailed friend.

Mindlessly, his attention switched from Tails to that damn Island that Sonic decided was toying with him. His foot drummed against soft grass and he frowned, free hand residing on his hip. Those mountains were begging to be explored, but he knew something else was calling him there. Besides, how in Chaos could an island fly anyway?

A tremendous gust of wind snatched his attention back to the Tornado that was cautiously in the process of landing. Tails chewed his lip as he concentrated, sighing in relief despite the bumpy landing and let go of the yoke once firmly on the ground. He grinned, giggled and looked to Sonic who quickly hid a slight cringe before hurrying over to the euphoric fox.

"How was it on your own?"

Tails lifted his arms for the other to easily free him from the seatbelt, taking hold of the backpack. "Awesome! Landing's a bit hard but up in the sky- unbelievable!"

Sonic laughed and, carrying his companion, leaped down from the plane's cockpit. "Eh, if I can do it then landing's gonna be a piece of cake for you in no time."

Tails allowed his namesakes to swoosh behind him (only doing so when it was just them) and watched the other look towards some island in the sky. "Sonic, why're we here? You usually teach me how to fly in Green Hills."

"There's something I gotta do, but I could use some help."

His twin tails fluttered in excitement, despite him trying to hide it. "O-oh? What is it?"

"Last time I was here, me and Robuttnik faced each other. Annoyingly, he took some flickies with him. I gotta save 'em."

Tails' excitement quickly twisted into guilt as he squeezed his arm. His ears drooped and he lowered his gaze. "I remember seeing that. You could've got them if I hadn't distracted you. That's my fault! I'm sorry Sonic! I shouldn't-."

The blue blur crouched on one knee with a gentle expression and squeezed one of the fox's shoulders. "He was already too far, Little Buddy. I would've just gotten more battered. It's not your fault pal. 'Sides, I let him get away. I got caught off guard by that other claw. But there's no point in relieving that moment. Focusing on the past never does anyone any good. Those flickies need saving and we're the ones for the job!"

Tails watched the other grin and swipe under his nose before cracking a smile of his own (Sonic's optimism, he found, was harder than most things to fight against). "You want my help?"

Sonic knocked on the other's head. "Hello? Use that brain of yours kiddo. I need you help. 'Can't do this on my own- as much as I want to believe I can."

The fox's eyes sparkled. "O-okay! I'll do my best!"

The speedster stood with hands on hips, looking to that same island. "Today, we're gonna have a practical lesson in 'how to kick robot butt and look awesome whilst doin' it.'"

Tails snickered prior to becoming confused. "Wait. A practical lesson?"

—————

Tails peaked between the bushes small branches and gulped. His eyes were wide in growing fear as he scanned tents, a large rectangular machine of some kind and pacing robots (Sonic said they're called 'Badniks'). Tails pulled the backpack more tightly on him. His namesakes were stiff and he mindlessly inched a bit closer to the crouching hedgehog beside him.

"Sonic?" He whispered. "I-is this a good idea?"

"Relax." Came a hushed reply. "I've done this plenty."

"That's great and all but I think you're forgetting that I haven't."

"Then good thing it's changing today."

"That's not what I-."

Sonic graciously slipped out from the greenery and lowly hurried over to the nearest tent, almost silently dipping inside. He'd gestured for the fox to follow and did all this with a grin. Although incredibly cool, it did make Tails wonder if his saviour was insane, not eccentric. He stayed put, observing the silhouette of the blue blur seemingly dig around the tent. Was he looking for something in particular? That's what was suggested otherwise Sonic would take anything of value, right? Well, if he were normal perhaps.

Tails raised an eye ridge upon noticing the hedgehog's hand stick out the back of the tent, moving a finger to signal for the fox to approach. He gulped and shrunk even more behind the bush, looking at a Badnik nearby that was pacing- 'oh no'- towards the same tent. It was a round robot decorated in orange and grey, but had the same mobian thirsty red optics as all Badniks did.

Tails covered his mouth and his namesakes rose in fear upon the machine entering the tent. His eyes widened one moment and he gasped the very next upon Sonic flying out the small shelter with a yell. The fox jumped out from the greenery quickly and hurried towards his saviour- who crashed and slumped against a tree.

"Sonic!" He spun his namesakes and reached, but squealed when he felt a cold, large claw close around them.

He panicked immediately and began thrashing as tears came to his eyes. "No! Put me down! Please let me go! Sonic!"

—"Honey I need you to-."
—"Stay here, I'll get him!"

Sonic groaned and his eyes sprung open to catch swirling colours and slurring voices. He shook his head and clambered up, briefly resting his hand against the tree before seeing Tails getting dragged towards a rectangular machine so similar. The fox was crying and clawing at the ground, namesakes tightly in the grasp of a stupid robot.

A growl emitted from Sonic's throat and he dug into the tree as a fire burned within his eyes. Then, in a flash he was gone and crashing into the robust Badnik as a spiky ball. He circled around and delivered a roundhouse kick, yelling simultaneously. In the blink of an eye he crushed the machines arm that held Tails and swiftly smashed through the robots torso- letting it fall. He wasted no time in scooping up the fox, holding him close, and bringing them around a tent (aware the other Badniks were now knowledgeable of their appearance). Sonic knelt down to wipe at Tails' tears as the fox stood shaking, namesakes tucked tightly against his small back.

"I'm so sorry Tails. I shouldn't have left you like that. Are you okay?"

"M-mhm."

"Pretty dumb of me huh? I ain't used to having someone around is all. Still, I'm sorry Little Buddy."

Tails sniffled and took one of his saviours hands between both of his. "It's okay. I-I don't want to be useless. But I'm not...I'm a burden."

"Hey, don't say that. You-." Feeling a tug on his quills, Sonic twisted to send both his shoes crashing into the Badnik that was sent rolling.

With a frown he pulled Tails behind him and watched the crowd of Robotnik machines surround them, acknowledging the other's trembles. They reached for the two as they neared and when even closer leaped forward, only for the pair to slip into the tent. Sonic kept Tails' hand in his own and hurried out the other side, looking back at the fox who gasped. The speedster spun around to immediately meet the ferocious fist of a Saw-Wielding robot.

Tails tumbled as the other accidentally pulled him down with him and looked up at the spinning circular saw. His breathing was short and he shook Sonic's arm. With the sharp weapon lowering, the fox forced himself to tightly close his eyes and do the only thing he could think of. Spinning around he put his hands over his head and twirled his twin-tails so rapidly they became one golden circle. Tails lowered himself and held his breath as he took the Badniks arm cleanly off.

Sonic was stunned, feeling amazed and extremely proud, before flinging his legs up to kick the Badnik all the way to the other side of the camp. He swiftly jumped up and pulled Tails with him- the fox looking a little dazed. Still, he shook the nine year old by the shoulders with a joyous grin prior to creating a back to back formation.

He held up his fists, hopping side to side. "You ready, Little Buddy?"

"W-what?!"

"Let's take out these goons!"

"But Sonic-!"

—————

"Woo hoooo!" He cheered, scaring some nearby birds, and with arms wide weaved through towering trees.

Tails lifted so the small animals could flutter by him prior to flying at Sonic's side once more. Despite the hedgehog's busted lip, black eye, messy quills and scratched arms he seemed absolutely euphoric. Tails himself wasn't much better, but the hedgehog had opted to take the worst of it on his behalf. What's more, the fox found himself laughing and spinning around in joy. Perhaps Sonic was making him go insane.

"Way to go buddy! Look at us! That's the easiest camp I've faced yet!" The blue blur leaped out from the trees.

"I-I can't believe it! I mean y-you handled most of it-."

"Don't cut yourself so short! You had your own handful too! We're quite the team!"

Tails watched the other and felt his heartbeat boom, going fast for reasons that weren't intertwined with fear. Instead, he felt indescribable joy and a deep sense of finally belonging. He was part of a team! No longer on his own, but he had someone on his side! He had a feeling Sonic felt the same way too.

'Wonder if Sal' would believe any of this.' Sonic snickered at the thought and looked over his shoulder, towards the fox.

"At your village, did you have someone looking after you?"

Tails' smile dropped and his flying became more focused. "I wouldn't call it looking after me. But someone...was there. He's an owl. Called Longclaw." He adjusted the bag resting on his back. "Cleaned me up after the kids would...you know. But he didn't let me invent or make anything. I think he was scared for me. It didn't stop them from picking on me though."

Sonic slowed and reached to hold the fox's hand. "I'm sorry pal. You-."

Tails smiled, meeting the other's gaze. "It's okay. I have you! I don't need need or want that village. I don't need or want Longclaw. I've got you now! Y-you're like my...." The fox reddened, looking shy, and avoided eye contact. "You're like my mum. And my dad. And my picket fence! You're my home!"

He heard Sonic clear his throat and began to panic when the other's hand left his own. So, he looked to the speedster to see he'd turned his head away with a fist pressed against his lips.

"Sonic?"

The blue blur swore this kid was going to be the death of him. His heart ached in a way he thought wasn't possible and he blinked rapidly. He couldn't find any words and his mind was going faster than he could run. He hadn't felt at home anywhere since he was five. But maybe....

Without looking at the fox, he reached to ruffle between his ears. "Th-thanks. I dunno about that parent stuff h-heh, but really. Thank you." A sniff escaped his barriers and he faced Tails' starry eyes. "Guess I'm starting to feel at home too."

—————

Sonic had spent the rest of the night on the Tornado's top wing. Tails watched him fiddle with the tattered puffer vest he always wore as he seemingly focused on something in his lap. Not that he'd given much clues as to what it were. Still, the fox chose to tinker with the Tornado for a while prior to napping for the remainder of the starry night sky.

Until he was abruptly woken very early the following morning by Sonic, who held a rolled up piece of paper in one hand and shook his arm with the other. Tails grumbled and pulled the blanket around himself tighter, but that only made the other shake him more. The fox complained more loudly that time but did unravel to sit up and pay attention.

"Sonic?"

"Good, you're up."

Tails frowned. "Naturally too."

"Even more awesome."

He watched the other sit on the front of the plane crisscrossed prior to unraveling the piece of paper. Tails realised then that Sonic wasn't the best at always picking up on...certain tones of voice. Or catching any voice at all- for he'd be off on the next thing that caught his attention. It was amusing really, and Tails had learned he wasn't the only one that tended to ramble when lost in thought. Although Sonic seemed to lack much of a filter to start with.

"-I'll be honest I'm kinda happy that he chose to go there 'cause I've been itching to for ages so now we can and get two birds with one stone. We'll take the Tornado 'course and explore and find out what Robuttnik's up to-."

"What?"

Sonic held back a sigh and instead took a deep breath, pointing at the paper. "He's going to 'Angel Island.' It's that stupid floating thing I've been wanting to explore for over a year now. I dunno why and I dunno when but look-." He turned the paper to the fox. "This is Angel Island. Maybe it's full of flickies? Maybe something else is there that he wants? Maybe he just wants to overtake that too 'cause he's greedy. Whatever it is, we gotta get there and stop him. Kick and ask questions after. It works for me."

Tails blinked and brought the paper closer towards himself. There was a doodle of the island, and the scattered notes heavily suggested Robotnik was planning on visiting. And soon. In fact, there was another drawing of an...emerald, perhaps?

"Sonic. I think this is what he wants." He twisted the sheet around to face the hedgehog again, pointing at the doodled jewel.

"What is it?"

"His notes make him sound unsure. Look here, 'emerald' has question marks after it. Maybe he heard a rumour of it or something and wants to see if it's real."

"Why'd he want some jewel? He's got all the money and power a madman like him could wish for." Sonic crossed his arms.

Tails hummed and tapped his chin, scanning the paper as he thought. It was true, Robotnik was (technically) the most successful man alive. It'd be unnecessary for him to get it. But, the emperor was a little...extra and did like dramatics. He also had a deep thirst for power. So maybe....

"Maybe it's not the emerald itself he wants, but what the emerald can give him."

Sonic tilted his head. "What'cha mean?"

"If there's one thing Robotnik likes more than money and success- it's power. That's why he's taken over most of Mobius. That's why he's Robotisizing mobians. That's why he's hungry for control. He wants power. Maybe this emerald can give it to him."

Sonic stood and rubbed his nose. "Well, there's only one way to find out for certain."

—————

That night, the pair lay on the Tornado's top wing and watched the distant floating island in case they saw any small silhouettes moving towards it. In the later day, Sonic ventured out to retrieve a silver spyglass for such a task- with the two taking it in turns with the tool. Currently, Sonic occupied it.

Tails chewed his lip and glanced at his closest friend. Since their last conversation he'd had a question in mind. But something about Sonic made him nervous to ask. Perhaps it's the way Sonic dipped around certain topics, or switched up his moods faster than Tails could blink. Still, if he wanted Sonic to trust him and for them to be even closer he needed to push aside his worries.

"Sonic?" He gulped, fiddling with his thumbs.

The blue blur looked to the other and noticed his fidgeting, then abruptly sat up. He held up a finger prior to jumping down to the cockpit where he proceeded to dig around. Soon, he pulled out a paper brown bag and scrambled up to sit crisscrossed beside the fox- holding it out.

"When I went out looking for the spyglass I thought I'd get you something too."

"For me? As in...a present?" Tails slowly took the bag, eyes shining. "But I didn't get anything for you!"

Sonic chuckled. "Trust me Little Buddy, you've given me more than you could imagine. Now open it!"

Tails bit his lip and opened the bag, only for eyes to widen and for him to gasp. "No way!"

Within were a pair of fluffy white socks, silky white gloves and red and white trainers. With a toothy grin he was quick to replace his old, tattered clothes with the fresh, new ones. Despite his plaster and bandage, Tails felt almost as cool as Sonic was (the similar shoe design was a great help). Standing, he looked over the new apparel and didn't even care that the socks and gloves were too big for him. But Sonic did.

Tails yelped when a flash covered his vision and he immediately reddened when he saw the other with the camera. "Sonic!"

"You're adorable!" The hedgehog snorted.

"Stop it!"

"Calling you Little Buddy makes even more sense now!" He laughed.

Tails huffed and flicked the hedgehog's forehead, grinning when that got him to quieten down. Sonic rubbed the same spot and dug in his quills with his free hand, soon revealing four black bands.

"Thought they'd be a bit loose on ya, so I got you these."

Tails smiled and equipped them around his wrists and ankles. "That was almost nice of you."

Sonic lay back down and went back to watching Angel Island through the spyglass. "Well I can't go spoiling you."

The fox settled beside the other and soon remembered what he'd wanted to inquire about before. "Hey Sonic, can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"When you asked me if I had someone looking after me, why did you? Do you have someone?"

Sonic fidgeted, becoming stiff. "I was curious was all. A kid like yourself shouldn't be on their own."

Tails pouted. "You're not much older than me. And you were on your own. Or, again, do you have someone?"

"Well of course I do! I have you."

"Sonic."

"I-....yeah. Yeah I have some friends back...well I have some."

"Why aren't they here?"

"'Cause I wanted to go out alone."

"You chose to be by yourself? Why?"

Sonic frowned and sat up. "I'm more useful out here."

"So they couldn't come along?"

He pinched his nose. "It's complicated. Where we were was...it was difficult to stay."

Tails' ears lowered and he sat up to hold his friends hand. "Sorry. I get that. But why...why couldn't they leave that place with you?"

"There's nowhere for us to go, Tails." Sonic sharply exhaled. "Robotnik doesn't know where they are. They're safe there. Anywhere else and...Robotnik will snatch us up. Me and...we're wanted by him. He's on the lookout for us."

Tails' eyes widened and he wondered if he had heard a slither of fear in the hedgehog's voice. "You and who?" He pushed gently.

"You heard of Princess Sally? Me and her."

The fox gave a small, shocked laugh. "Come again? How in Mobius do you know the Princess? I thought she was...."

"She's not. And it's a long story. But I do and she's with Bunnie, Nicole, Rotor and Antoine right now. And they'll be fine as long as they stick with her." Sonic's tense demeanour loosened and he scratched his muzzle. "She's the best leader around. If I'm half as good at bossing folks about then I'm more than lucky. D-don't tell her that though." His cheeks heated up.

"Tell me about her."

"How can I? She's...she's one of a kind. She's super patient- you've been with me for a bit now so I'm sure you get that. But even more kind and warm. I'm a complete dunce too but her? She's really smart. She's fit to be a leader more than anyone. I trust her with my life. If she told me to walk into a Robotnik base tomorrow I would. She's also honest. But bossy, though I like windin' her up. She's...she's pretty too." Sonic blinked and watched his hands, muzzle burning.

Tails smirked and teasingly elbowed his friend. "You like her."

"Obviously."

"No Sonic, I mean like like."

"Ha-! I'm not- hold that thought."

Tails watched the speedster grab the spyglass and climb up, bringing the tool to his face to look through. A frown rested on his muzzle and the small telescope was aimed towards Angel Island.

"What is it?" The fox clambered up.

"Angel Island's got an unwanted visitor."

"Robotnik?"

"Robotnik."

Tails gulped. "So a-are we...?"

"You betcha. We're going on a new adventure."