Chapter Text
“You burdensome rodent, I'll kill you!” Eggman screeched as he slammed his fist on a large, red button. The Egg-o-raptor, a giant robot shaped slightly like a velociraptor but instead of a head it was a cockpit for Eggman, groaned to life as missiles shot out of hidden launchers. Sonic easily ducked and weaved his way through the missiles, racing toward the machine. Just as he came close, he bowed up and stopped short.
“Seriously? Missiles?” Sonic tapped his foot as a smirk grew on his face, “If you think those can stop me you must be losing your mind in your old age egghead!”
Eggman’s face turned a shade of red quite similar to that of Sonic’s shoes. “I'M ONLY 42!” Eggman started button mashing on his control panel, rockets, missiles, and other projectiles fired out at rapid pace. The way Sonic dodged, jumped, and evaded gave him the appearance of him dancing his way through. His movements, elegant and precise as they were, gave off an air of snark and self-confidence.
Tails watched the spectacle from the air in the safety of the Tornado’s cockpit. He gave a soft chuckle as he shook his head, no one else could get under Eggman's skin quite the way Sonic could. From his aerial view Tails could see Amy and Knuckles crouched behind a large rock, just behind the Egg-o-raptor.
~-~
The Sonic team had been at the Resistance headquarters when they received a message from one of their informants that Eggman and the Egg-o-raptor were spotted in the desert outside of Babylon. Sonic was more than ready to race off and beat Eggman as he had countless times before when Amy stopped him.
“We're coming with you,” she said as she stepped in front of the door, arms wide to prevent him from leaving. “ We should use this as a training exercise. It wouldn't hurt for us to practice together,” she gave Sonic a sheepish smile.
Sonic tilted his head to the side in confusion, “I've beat that wack ass do-hickey so many times I could do it in my sleep. Why do I need to practice?”
Amy opened her mouth to speak when Knuckles cut her off. “It's not practice for you,” Knuckles didn't look up from his locker as he rummaged through it, “It's for us so that the next time you go missing we'll be ready.” He turned to stare at Sonic with dismay as he slammed his locker shut. Sonic's ears flattened against his head as he winced and the room became uncomfortably silent.
Nobody really talked about the six months that Sonic was held prisoner, especially Sonic, but that didn't mean the whole situation didn't leave an unspoken scar on the group. Sonic shuffled his feet awkwardly before he sighed and shrugged.
“Well that settles that,” He turned towards Tails with his classic smile replastered to his face, “Ready for a road trip little buddy?” Tails offered him a gentle smile and nodded.
~-~
Tails grabbed his communicator, the Miles Electric, off the plane’s dashboard. “Everyone in position?” he asked into the mic. Everyone replied almost simultaneously:
“Let's do this!”
“Good to go!”
“Let me at ’em!"
After hearing everyone's conformations Tails spoke, “Operation: Knucklebuster is a go!” Tails readjusted the plane's course so he could have a better view of the battlefield. He watched as down below Sonic dodged another missile before curling into a ball. The hedgehog revved up before spin dashing into the metal body's cockpit. The force of the blow knocked the machine closer to the rock that the duo was currently hiding behind.
Tails, realizing that Eggman was in range, yelled “NOW!” into the Miles Electric. Amy and Knuckles jumped out. Amy using her Piko Piko hammer and Knuckles using, well, his knuckles they crushed in the backwards knee joints of the machinery. Unable to hold its own weight any longer, the machine collapsed into a fury of gears and shrapnel as it slammed into the ground causing a cloud of dust as it did.
The three heroes on the ground coughed as the dust cloud settled, revealing a pile of rubble and scrap. Minutes passed and with no movement coming from the pile the battle seemed to be won. As Sonic gave his friends a thumbs-up the scrapheap started to rumble. Just then the cockpit shot out of the middle of the pile. What remained of the Egg-o-raptor was now suspended in air, not as high an altitude as Tails’ Tornado but safely out of Sonic and Knuckles’ reach.
“You despicable rats,” Eggman coughed, his body and mustache were covered in dust, dirt, and oil. “I'll dismember you all another day but for now I must retreat,” Eggman coughed and wheezed as he ascended higher. Sonic looked around for anything that could help him stop Eggman from getting away. The only things around were large rocks but they were too oddly shaped to be used as proper ramps. Looking upwards to watch Eggman escape he noticed Tails' plane. The plane's guns that were normally useful in this situation were still out of commission after Metal Sonic ripped them out the last time he and Tails fought him.
As he stared at the plane, the Tornado, an idea hatched in his brain. Could it stop Eggman? Maybe. Was it a bad idea? Absolutely. Would that stop him? Never. Before he could think any longer he turned to Amy and Knuckles, a cocky grin spreading across his face. “You two take cover, I've got an idea.” The two looked at him quizzically before nodding and running back behind their rock. Sonic tapped the communicator on his wrist, ”Little buddy you might wanna give me some room, I've got an idea.”
“Ten four,” Came through the speaker as the plane veered upwards.
Sonic began to run in a circle, large at first but gradually shrinking as he picked up speed. Going faster and faster as the circle became smaller and smaller. So much so that as he neared his top speed the circumference was no bigger than that of a hula-hoop. The winds within picked up, swirling and growing. Amy and Knuckles peaked out from behind the rock as Tails watched from above. A tornado, Sonic was going to use a freaking tornado to catch Eggman. As everyone with a brain realized that this was a horrible idea they started yelling through the communicators for him to slow down, to stop, but the speedster couldn't hear them.
The winds were so loud it became the only thing Sonic could hear. His friends watched as the tornado grew bigger and their screams became more frantic. Sonic knew he had it under control…
That was until he tripped over a rock. The speed at which he was going caused him to shoot out of the circle like a bullet. Limbs flailing as he smacked into the ground and bouncing off of it several times before skidding on his face to a stop.
“Sonic!” The three friends cried in unison. Amy and Knuckles ran towards their friend as Tails turned his plane to follow. Amy reached Sonic first. She sat on the ground and gently cradled his head in her lap, tears welling in her eyes. The hedgehog was out cold with a large gash on his forehead. Knuckles was second, he knelt down and checked Sonic's pulse.
Strong and steady.
“Will he be okay?” Amy asked, her voice cracking with barely contained fear.
“His pulse is fine,” Knuckles sighed as he rubbed his temples, “The dumbass probably has a concussion though, maybe a fractured limb or two.”
He shook his head in disappointment, “But knowing this moron he should be fine.” Amy breathed a sigh of relief but as she glanced to the sky it was replaced with a gasp of horror.
The tornado, now free of its creator, started moving. Not towards the rogue inventor like intended but right into the path of the tiny biplane.
Tails didn't notice as he was far too focused on getting to his friends, his plane nosing diving at an angle to get closer to them as he lost altitude. He had to get to Sonic. He had to. He could only hear his blood rushing past his ears as the world was drowned out by his thoughts. I just got him back. I can't lose him again. I can't. I can't. I ca- Tails was ripped from his thoughts as a sound, similar to that of a freight train, roared over his internal spiral. His eyes grew wide as he looked out the side of the plane to see the looming tornado. Tails' plane is fast, faster than most, but to outrun a tornado made by a supersonic speedster? Not a chance.
Sonic started coming to, eyes squinting against the harsh desert sun only for them to shoot open as he took in the scene before him. No…No, no no no no- “NO!” He cried desperately, forcing his body to move only to collapse once more from his injuries. With alarm bells of pain ringing in his ears he looked to the sky with unbridled fear filling his emerald eyes. Tails braced for impact as those on the ground could do nothing more than watch in abject horror as the plane was swallowed.
~-~
Tails gripped the steering stick as hard as he could pulling on it with his full weight, it was all he could do to keep the plane steady as the storm tried to beat him into submission. The force of the winds caused the windshield to shatter and pieces of the plane's exterior were ripped away. The gauges and sensors on the dashboard were blinking wildly and spinning out of control. Tails knew the Miles Electric’s alarms were going off but its sounds were lost, the raging gales around him drowned all other noise out.
He gritted his teeth as the turbulence shook through him, rattling him to his bones. With grim determination he turned his head to see if he was close to the eye of the storm. If he wasn't fighting for his life he would've been fascinated by what was in the epicenter of the tornado. A vivid blue glow radiated out of the eye, flashes of lightning erupting from within. His scientist brain waged war against his need to survive as his body struggled against the force of nature, the blue light ever so enticing. A loud tearing noise pulled Tails back to reality as he looked up just in time to see a piece of the plane's wing rip off and fly directly towards his head. He only had enough time to blink before impact.
The world had gone black.