War for Mobius
Act 1 Chapter 13

Three Weeks have passed since the Freedom Fighters decimated Robotnik’s Chemical Plant.  Things have been relatively normal, well for the most part, since.  Miles, now going by the name of Tails, has become a regular team member, going on many missions.  Though Sally generally tries to keep him out of the more dangerous missions, things hardly go as planned and the young, two tailed fox is thrown into just as much chaos as the others.  Because of this, Sonic has made it his own personal mission to keep the kid “safe.”  However, even though the hedgehog has taught the fox boy a lot of “Cool Moves” to keep him safe, the blue speedster seems to ferry Tails into as much peril as often, if not more so than he does protect him from it.  This has caused the two to grow into a nigh inseparable duo, and an unstoppable force to be reckoned with.

Rotor has taken the newly christened Tails under his wing as well.  While Sonic has been working the young pups body, the hefty walrus has been helping the kid with the tactical and technological side of being a Freedom Fighter, such as hacking mainframes, salvaging parts from bots, keeping power running in Knothole, and where to hide after accidently shorting Bunnie’s arm.  Though Tails has become a natural with machinery and tech, the kid tends to side on Sonic’s tactics of barreling in head first and only thinking on the way out.  However, the fox pup has also gotten Sonic out of a few jams by following Rotor’s advice, specifically when things need a more delicate touch.  

Rotor also discovered that Tails has a knack for being a pilot.

This actually was the reasoning in which the young fox was assigned as the Copilot for the current recon mission.  During one of their recent raids, the Knothole Freedom Fighters discovered Robotnik had taken a great interest in the legendary Floating Island.  
Sally had described to the team, based on stories she heard her father tell before Robotnik’s coup, that Angel Island, as it was known, was an Island that floated through the sky, rather than be planted in the water.  The supposed reason for the lack of proof of the Island’s existence was that it traveled through the sky, rather than sat still, making it nearly impossible to pinpoint its location without already having knowledge of the island’s flight pattern or location.  

Supposedly the Island remained floating through the air through the power of a magical gem known as the Master Emerald.  Beyond that Sally explained the legends, while fun and entertaining to tell, didn’t match up enough to prove the existence of such a place.  
The Princess had been outvoted though, when Sonic pointed out that even if the place didn’t exist, Robotnik had taken interest in it, thus they needed to put effort into either locating the Island first, or locating whatever Robotnik had out searching for it.  
And thus the role of the Copilot had fallen to Tails.


The Chipmunk Princess ran her fingers through her hair.  There was still some “blond-dye” in her hair from the Chemical Plant.  Sally tried washing it out but it just wasn’t coming out.  Bunnie had offered to try and dye it back, but the princess denied, claiming she didn’t want risk the dye and the chemicals causing her hair to fall out.  Truthfully, she wanted to avoid giving Sonic another reason to tease her about her hair color, which he had never let up on.

She made one last check over The Tornado, the name Sonic and Tails had come up for the old biplane that Rotor and Tails had been working on for the last few weeks, after finding it in an old garage nearby one of Robotnik’s factories.  It had been in rough condition upon discovery, now with a spiffy new coat of red paint, the flying machine was almost a sight to behold.  Almost.  Traditionally the plane could only sit two, the pilot and one passenger or copilot, however Rotor had installed foot holds and hand holds on the wings to allow for additional passengers.  Sally was against this, as it seemed too risky for those on the wings, but Rotor point out the benefit of having “Para-Troopers” and managing to use tools above and beyond their normal use was what they had to do if they were to compete with Robotnik’s technology and tools.  

And with new toys came new clothes.  Tux had spent a few days designing coats to combat the wind-chill for the passengers and pilot.  Along with the coats came goggles to protect the eyes, and gloves to protect the fingers.  There was also an optional scarf for the outfit, but most of the Freedom Fighters thought it too much and kind of silly looking.  Sally however had brought one on for the recon, just in case.

Sally finishes giving the plane one last go-over before the mission, finding it to be in tip top shape.  She lets out a sigh of relief and pats the side of the plane.
“Should I leave the two of you alone?” a voice echoes from behind her.

The Princess spins around to find the once empty garage-well more over a regular hut that was converted into a work place for the plane by removing one of the walls and replacing it with a curtain to act as doorway big enough for the biplane- had now been infested with a smug, blue hedgehog.

“Very funny,” Sally grumbles, folding her arms across her chest to emphasize her, “But I’d rather check everything over before we’re in the air, rather than plummeting to our doom because the plane wasn’t ready, wouldn’t you?”

“Yeesh,” the blue hedgehog runs a gloved hand through his quills, “Little touchy this morning aren’t ya?  Maybe if you spent less time planning and more time sleeping, you’d actually come off cute rather than bossy all the time.”

The chipmunks face flushes and she turns quickly away, “I-I couldn’t care less if you find me cute or not.”

Sonic just shrugs his shoulders, “Too bad, lots of other ladies would care if I think they’re cute.”

Other Ladies?  What Other Ladies?!

Sally’s arms drop to her sides, “And I have plenty of gentlemen to who care what I think about them.”

“I care about what you think about me,” Sonic lips form a small smile.

The Princess hadn’t expected that.  She turns to look at the hedgehog, taking only a moment to brush some of the “blond dye” hair from her eyes.

Admittedly Sonic Hedgehog is a fairly attractive mobian.  Adventurous Green Eyes, Cheesy Smile, not too tall but not too short, and in pretty good shape because of all his running.  Also the Pilot’s Jacket and Goggles look really good on him, giving Sonic a kind of Rugged Adventurer look.

“Hey Sal,” Sonic snaps his fingers in front of her face, something that she hates by the way, “You paying attention?”

Wait…he was still talking?!

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I was asking if you thought The Tornado was all set for the recon op,” the blue hedgehog sighs.

“Oh,” Sally tries not to show her disappointment, was the whole thing just a build up for a joke about the stupid plane?  “Yeah, its mission worthy.”

Sonic scratches his chin, “You sure you’re alright?”

“Just fine,” the chipmunk tries to shrug it off, “I’ll go find Rotor and tell him we’re sent for launch.”

With that Sally pushes her way past Sonic and heads out to find Rotor.

Sonic frowns and snaps his fingers as if he missed his target, “Dang, so close.”


Not too long later Rotor and Tails managed to set up the makeshift runway.  It wasn’t anything fancy but it would get the job done.  The only problem was really the length of the thing.  Rotor had his doubts it was long enough for takeoff, but Sally insisted it be as small as possible otherwise it would attract too much attention.

The “big-boned” walrus takes off his favorite yellow cap and fans himself with it.  Today was a scorcher, and it didn’t help that he’d been out working in the heat all morning.  
His white - why he picked white of all colors today he’ll never remember - work shirt was covered with dirt and oil, as well as bits of paint and chalk.  Miles, or Tails as he preferred, had left a just a bit before to go clean himself up to be mission-worthy.  
Sally had come by to see if the runway was set, but her mind had seemed elsewhere, and Rotor had just shrugged it off.  Rotor and Sally had been friends for a long time.  Not nearly as long as Sally and Bunnie as far as he knew, but long enough to know something was bothering her.  

Something other than the recon operation that is.

Rotor didn’t put much belief in the floating island, but he had seen too many unexplainable and fantastic things to write it completely off.  Also the legend of the Master Emerald reminded him of a Legend he had heard in his youth.  The Legend of the Chaos Emeralds.  

Heck those Emeralds had sparked his interest into the realm of science and technology.  The Supposed Seven Chaos Emeralds were supposed to hold limitless power, and able to grant the users awesome powers.  Being the “fat kid” growing up, Rotor was fascinated by the thought he could have unlimited powers and tried inventing his own Chaos Emeralds to achieve that dream.

As he grew, that dream kind of died away, being replaced with one about becoming a chief scientist or inventor, which was put on hold as well when Robotnik took over.  However this Master Emerald Sally had talked about, it reignited the interest he held so long ago in things like limitless energy and amazing powers.  Heck maybe if he could make himself more cool, Bunnie might….

The Walrus shook his head, “Not the time or the place,” he said to no one.  He then pondered where the thought had come from.  Sure Bunnie was attractive, and he didn’t mind her Cyborg parts, but this was the first time he ever thought of her as anything more than a friend.  

Ah but what hope would he have anyways?  Johnny had always been the one who sought after Bunnie, and he was tall, handsome, good fighter, runner, and had a way with women that Rotor couldn’t even fathom.  There was no way Bunnie would ever go over somebody who was overweight, couldn’t run for very long, and main set of skills were fixing stuff.  Half the time the only reason Bunnie and Rotor hung out was because Bunnie needed her limbs fixed or tuned up.  

Why the heck was he still on this thought train?!  Rotor feels sweat building again, but not from the heat, “Why am I thinking about this?!”
The Mechanic pulls the bottle off his tool belt and opened it up.  Taking a moment of double checking to see if it was water, something he taught himself while working as many a time he seen others grab the wrong bottle, he takes a swig, then splashes some on his face to cool his head.  

Wiping the water from his face he looks over the run way one more time, and picks up the yellow cap he seemed to have dropped while on that strange line of thought.  The runway looked alright, would likely do the job, but he still worrying about the length.  It might be a bit too short for what they needed to lift the plane in the air…..


“Blast it!” Johnny swore as he smashes his bo staff into the head of a training dummy that though Antoine had taken great pride in creating, didn’t really look much like a SWATbot.  Also Johnny was relatively certain that the dummies were made from the pillows a lot of people had claimed had gone missing before the Antoine revealed his project.

The Jackrabbit swears again as he turns and gives the SWATdummie a swift kick in the sternum.  Like that would really effect a real SWATbot.  Knock it back, maybe, if he was lucky, but hurt it?  Not likely.  But Johnny didn’t care about that.  Right now he needed to blow off steam, and he doubted anyone was watching closely enough to notice he wasn’t pretending the dummy was a SWATbot, but rather the blue speedster that had stolen his limelight.

Now honestly, Johnny did feel jealous that the hedgehog had become the overnight sensation and hero of the group even before he officially joined, a position that Johnny had original retained, but that wasn’t  what irked him the most.  What made him mad, downright frustrated even, was the fact that since Sonic joined, Johnny had been reduced to being back up.  He hardly went on missions, save a spot on the main team be empty for some reason, never got any important tasks except filling in when someone needed a break or got hurt, and was reduced to being on guard duty or even maintenance work.  

Blasted Maintenance Work!

The Dummy suffered a right hook across the “face”.  It was one thing to be pushed off the top of the totem pole, but it was all together another when everyone else seems to forget you were useful to begin with, specifically when Sonic is on nearly every blasted mission.  Why!?  What did the hedgehog have other than his speed that made him so much more valuable than anyone else on the team?

And why didn’t anyone seem to care?  Sally was the leader, with Rotor acting as second in command, but it was Sonic who was giving the commands now.  Sonic chose the mission.  Heck Rotor even asked Sonic what his opinions on the mission was before giving his two sense on it.  The Walrus hadn’t asked anyone else.  Why was Rotor seeking Sonic’s approval when planning things out? Why didn’t Sally step in and command?  She was supposed to, and she would often question or argue Sonic’s judgment, but the Princess just never out right opposed his decisions.  

The dummy receive a cheap shot to the face.

Sonic wasn’t the only freedom fighter here, and he hadn’t been there all that long, why did he get all the special privileges and attention?  And when he does disobey orders or deviates from the plan, nobody seems to care longer than the first five seconds of the hedgehog’s blasted improvisation.  WHY!?

And now this new mission to find the blasted floating island, what’s the point of it?!  Even if the thing exists, which it didn’t as far as Johnny was concerned, why waste the man power to hunt it down?  Wouldn’t it be better to take the opportunity to stick it to Robotnik while he was away chasing fairytales?

And even then, the recon team consisted of Tails acting as Copilot while Sally acted as Pilot, which while, and Sonic and Ben acting as the recon scouts if, and that’s a big if, they find the blasted island.  If Sonic is so valuable, why is he going on this mission?  Wouldn’t his skills be better utilized here?  Heck the only reason Sally is going is because she’s the only one with experience flying a plane, or at least copiloting one with her father when she was younger.  Sonic isn’t bringing anything to the party.

So why is he going and Johnny forced to remain behind on guard duty!?

Johnny brought the staff up in a very ungentlemanly attack below its supposed “belt”.  
The Jackrabbit wipes the sweat from his brow.  That was enough.

Sonic has pulled his weight more than enough times to earn respect of everyone on the team, and Johnny knew it.  As much as he hated it, he knew it was mostly jealousy that made him hate the hedgehog.

Hate is too strong a word.

In fact, Sonic and Johnny got along rather well.  However every now and again, the hedgehog just pushed the right buttons and drove Johnny nuts.  

When that happened he needed to blow off some steam and work off his anger, something that had always gotten him into trouble as a kid.  

Something he didn’t want to do when he was needed.

Besides, Dummy the Hedgehog made for a great work out.  


Sally heads into the bedroom of her hut, and unhooks NICOLE from her charging machine.  NICOLE’s battery lasted a rather long time, but the more programs she ran or the more she calculated, hacked, or commanded functions, the faster the battery drained.  With little usage, NICOLE could last probably a whole year.  On the other hand when using her many countless functions simultaneously she wouldn’t even last a full hour.  Because of this, the princess had NICOLE charge regularly, even if she did not seem to need it.

“NICOLE?” Sally asks the computer as she picks her up, “You powered on?”

“Yes Sally,” the computer AI replies back, “Ready and waiting.”

“Good, boot up the Legend of Angel Island one more time,” the princess commands.
NICOLE remains silent for a moment, a bit too long for comfort before a holographic display of an artist’s rendition of the floating island appeared.

“What took so long?” the chipmunk asks.

NICOLE’s responses with, “The file seems to be a bit corrupted Sally.  I apologize but it seems there is only one rendition available until I can fully run a diagnostic on the file.”

“Well go ahead then,” the princess shrugs.

“I would strongly advise…”

“NICOLE,” Sally rolls her head back annoyed, “We’re kind of on a busy schedule here.”

“If you insist Sally” the computer obliges.  An all too familiar voice fills the air.

“Long ago, before technology had firmly rooted itself in the everyday life of the people of Mobius, Magic acted as a guide for all things.  Something magic achieved was far greater than anything technology has ever done, other times…”

“NICOLE stop,” Sally chokes.

“Of course Sally.”

Sally, setting NICOLE beside her, sits down upon her bed, “That’s the same version my father used to tell me.”

“It is a recording of his version he told you as a bed time story,” NICOLE answered, “I was unsure you would have wanted to hear this version, but you seemed insistent.”

The princess lets out a heavy sigh, “Too insistent sometimes.  I come across too bossy don’t I?”

“My records have no indication…”

“Spare your records,” Sally shook her head, “What is your opinion?  About me?”

NICOLE pauses to process this question, “I’m afraid I am unable to answer the question properly.  You are a princess and my user.  My opinion of you is a bit biased.”

“Biased?” Sally hadn’t expected, though she hadn’t really expected any, that answer.

“Yes,” NICOLE continues, “You are sometimes ‘bossy’ as you put it, but other times you are not and sometimes you function as if you need someone to give you the commands.  Sometimes you have all the answers you need and other times you can’t take a step without someone’s approval or advice.  You have the same problems many of the other Mobians have, you are just that, normal.”

Sally ponders this for a moment, “That doesn’t really answer my question, what do you think of me?”

“I ‘think’ you are functioning under abnormal conditions as this is not a line of questioning we usually…”

“Are you avoiding answering me?” Sally inquires the AI who immediately ceases responding, “You are!  You are worried that what you have to say will upset me aren’t you?”

The holoprojection disappears and NICOLE’s screen fades out, “I am unable to answer your question at this time.  Please try again later.”

The chipmunk can only laugh.  Her own computer is afraid to let her know what it thinks of her.  Worse that it made Sally want to know even more.

“Nevermind NICOLE,” Sally calms down from laughing, “We can talk about it later.”

“If you wish Sally,” NICOLE bleeps, “Though you could also try asking Bunnie who has been there for the last couple of minutes, able to listen to your question.”

The Princess gulps.

“Thanks a bunch Nikki,” Bunnie mock grumbles, “Now I gotta answer the awkward questions.”

“H-how long have you been listening?” Sally stutters.

“Since I heard your fathers voice when I came to check up on ya,” the cyborg sits on the bed, “Rotor said you were acting kinda funny when you were talkin’ to him earlier.”

“I was?”

“Said you weren’t paying attention to anything he told ya, like you were thinkin’ about somethin’ else,” Bunnie explains, “Care to elaborate?”

“Nope,” Sally shuts her mouth.

“Yes you do,” Bunnie disagree giving Sally the I-know-you-too-well look.

The princess groans, “Oh come on.”

“If you don’t tell me,” the rabbit shrugs, “I’m gonna start making up reasons.  Now let me think…”

The cyborg taps her metal hand on her chin for a few moments to torment her friend before continuing, “Got it.  You’ve got boy trouble.”

“I do not!” Sally quickly snaps back.

“Hit the nail on the head than,” the rabbit’s lips form a grin, “You have boy trouble and don’t think the feller who you like is noticing ya.”

“You couldn’t be farther from the truth,” Sally lies.

“Uh huh,” the rabbit sarcastically replies, “If you don’t’ admit it I’m gonna start guessing which boy it is.”

The princess knew Bunnie could read her like a book by now so it was best to stop that before she pried too deep, “Fine okay, I admit I may have feelings for a guy who seems uninterested, and I’m not going to say who.”

“Fair enough,” Bunnie nods, “I won’t pry on that.  So what is bugging you so badly about it that you’re pestering poor NICOLE?”

“You’re not going to let this slide are you?” Sally drops her head into her hands.
“Nope.”

“Ugh,” the princess rubs her temples, “Alright I’m worried that it’s my looks or my personality.”

“Sally-girl,” Bunnie gives her a stern look, “If any boy doesn’t like your personality, he ain’t worth your time.”

The chipmunk thinks about that for a moment before groaning even louder than before, “So then it’s I’m unattractive than, great.”

The rabbit whacks Sally on the back of the head with her good hand, “Now don’t you be putting words in my mouth.”

“Well you have guys fawn over your looks all the time.  I only have Antoine and,” Sally shudders, “Drake, who fawns over anything female and breathing.”

The cyborg bunny flips her hair to tease the princess more, “Well I am a natural blond.”
“Thanks for that,” Sally pouts.

“Oh c’mon,” Bunnie gently slugs Sally’s arm, “You’re being too much of a party pooper.  Sally you are a mighty fine catch.  People are just a slim bit intimidated by the fact that you are the Princess.”

“Come again?”

“Most fellers are worried that you’re gonna think yourself too high and mighty for them.  Others are going to worry the competition is too great,” Bunnie tries to explain, “You have many admirers, they’re just a bit slow at showing it to ya.”

“I dunno,” the princess stands up and looks over at the mirror on the wall, “Maybe I’m just not right for this guy.”

“Well I couldn’t say because someone won’t tell me who it is,” Bunnie comments.
“I could give you the probabilities of which resident it is,” NICOLE chimes in.
“NICOLE!” the Princess turns back to the computer, “You absolutely will not!”
“Well I could list your assets than,” Bunnie decides.

“Please, you’ve done enough,” Sally begs.

“Well either I get a laugh outta ya or who the lucky guy is or this will go all day.  Even if I have to do it by radio as you and the others are flyin’ on recon.”

Sally holds her objection.

“Well first of all you’re a very smart girl.  Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.  Also you’re very brave, and you try not to think of yourself before others, though like the rest of us you sometimes need to do things for you and let everyone else take care of themselves for a bit,” Bunnie begins.  She than stands up and paces around Sally to examine her.

“You also have a very attractive figure,” she continues.

“Oh not my figure,” the princess pleads, “This is way too embarrassing.”

“Well you’re a little light up top,” Bunnie teases, “But your back porch is should blow any feller away.”

“Oh yeah?” Sally blushes, “Well you’re reversed.  You’re more up top than below.”

“Oho?” the rabbit raises an eyebrow, “Comparing yourself to me than?”

“I can analyze you as well,” the chipmunk continues.

“Nuh uh,” the cyborg shakes her head, “That topic is off limits.”

“What, don’t like it when the tables are turned?” the princess can’t help but smile.

“I ain’t the one who is having doubts about herself,” the lady in waiting counters, “And I know how to show off my assets.”

Sally can’t hold back the laughter at that.  After the princess cracks, Bunnie can’t either.  The duo laugh for a bit before the natural blond breaks the laughter, “Feelin’ better now?”

“I guess,” the normally red-auburn replies, brushing a tear from her eye caused by laughing so hard.

“Good,” Bunnie continues, “Don’t let yourself be bogged down by if the guy has noticed you or not.  If you like him go for it.”

“But that’s the real problem,” the princess sighs, “I’m not sure yet if I really like him or I’m just…you know…dreaming too hard.”

The Cyborg sighs, “Well that I can’t help you with.  Tell you what, we don’t waste any more time worrying about it, and you don’t miss your flight to Angel Isle.”
“Angel Island,” Sally corrects.

“Still sounds like a paradise to me”

The chipmunk ponders it for a moment.  Besides the Miles and Ben, she would be able to spend some more laid back time with Sonic while they were flying.  Maybe….


Most of the Freedom Fighters stand by to watch the takeoff.  Tails figures more would be there if they knew of the runway’s location but figures that must not be the case.  The runway appears too short, by a little bit, but the fox boy is convinced he could take off in these conditions.  The weather is a bit hot though and he keeps tugging on the coat Tux had made for the flight, desiring to take it off.  However once they were in the air it was likely going to cool off and quickly.
 
Sally sat in the seat in front of him.  He felt bad that she had chosen to wear the scarf that the rest of the team had chosen to go without, she looks like she was wishing she had too.  A smile creeps onto Tails’s face. He didn’t want to laugh at Aunt Sally’s discomfort, but he can’t help it.  Specifically after she insisted they bring the scarfs to be safe and nobody did.  Now she was the only one who had one and she was the one who was most inconvenienced by it.

Sonic and Ben stand on the special foot holds on the wings.  Luckily the two were very close in weight so they didn’t have to adjust the balance of The Tornado too much.  Hopefully it would fly straight without too much effort.

Sonic was busy waving to the crowd while Ben was adjusting his boots to make sure he’d remain on the plane and not….well you get the idea.

Tails sits in the passenger or copilot’s seat.  He was the only one who had already pulled down his goggles, mostly out of the desire to get in the air as soon as possible.  The young fox loves to fly, even when he flew under his own power, and was always eager to fly when given the chance.

“Hey Tails,” Sonic calls from the wing, “You think we’ll find the island are first time out?”

Tails takes a moment to think about it.  While all logic says the island was impossible, the young mutant fox can’t help but cling to belief it’s really out there.  Maybe it was childish but so what?  And Sonic seems sure it must exist.  

“Not likely,” he finally admits, “People have looked for it for years.  It’d be cool but odds aren’t in our favor.”

“You take the fun out of wishful thinking,” Sonic feigns annoyance, “You think Rotor will let us in the air soon?”

“Hopefully,” Ben interrupts, “The heat is driving me nuts.  Wasn’t it cold and rainy not too long ago?”

“Whatever the mission, whatever our goal,” Sally agrees from the front seat, “We always are in the worst weather Mobius has to offer.”

Tails laughs, “You said it.”

A few moments more pass.  Finally Rotor gives them the thumbs up and the Princess powers the plane.

“Everyone strapped in tight?” Sally asks.

“Nice and tight,” Ben replies.

“All green here,” Tails responds.

Sonic crosses his arms, “Let’s go already, I’m growing a beard up here.”

“Alright, as beard-o commands,” Sally mocks.

The biplane begins taxiing down the runway.  The ride is rather bumpy, and Tails isn’t sure his teeth were going to remain in his mouth.  He also pulls his tongue to the back of his mouth outta fear he might bite through it.

The end of the runway is coming up fast, and The Tornado isn’t going quite fast enough.  The young copilot grips the control stick with both hands, ready to help pull if needed.  
It’s only seconds away before the wheels of the plane lift from the runway.  Tails and Sally both pull hard on the stick to raise it over the upcoming trees, which were now coming up fast.  The young fox resists the urge to close his eyes.

The first tree goes by safely, then a second.

There is a scraping noise over the following set of trees, but the biplane keeps flying.  
Soon it is flying high in sky, not noticing the dangers down below.