Okay, it's here now! The second chapter! After about three or four hours of suspensful waiting! ------- Chapter Two, Blast From the Past! ------- The sun shown brightly on Tails' face that morning. For some strange reason, he felt happier today. "I guess that's a good thing?" Tails said drowsily. He jumped out of bed and put on a fresh pair of gloves. He then put his shoes on and walked down the stairs humming a happy little tune to himself. He couldn't help it, he simply felt good today. Tails dug in his cupboards to try and find some breakfast when he found out soon enough that he had nothing to eat. "Wow. Guess I need to go to the grocery store today." He closed the cupboard and made a list of items to purchase. Tails was preparing to leave when he realized that he forgot something. He ran over to the flower and watered it. It had grown during the night. "If it gets any bigger, I'm gonna have to move it to a bigger pot, and possibly have to put it outside! Although I'll need Cream's help with that." Cream always helped him with planting things. He then left the flower and went to his workshop. Tails punched in a code and the massive garage door opened. Tails walked inside. There was the X-Tornado, covered in a thin layer of dust. Tails climbed up onto the wing and dusted off the cockpit. He pressed a button on the side and the canopy slowly opened. Satisfied that it still seemed to work, Tails climbed inside the plane, and turned a set of dials and flipped some switches. Soon the X-Tornado hummed to life. Tails ran some tests and safety protocols before slowly taxiing onto the runway. Tails grinned at the feeling of sheer power that the jet possessed as it accelerated at break neck speeds. Tails pulled back on the control stick, and soon he was high in the air. Tails loved flying. It gave him a sense of complete freedom. Tails smiled as he looked down at the city that was now below him. He gave the control panel ahead of him a few pats. "Glad you're still holding up." he said softly to the plane. Soon Tails spotted a small open field a little distance away from the store. Tails flipped some switches and pulled a lever towards him. "X-Cyclone, transmorm!" He said enthusiastically. There was a rumble, then parts started separating. The wings rotated and folded in, making space for the engines to move forward a little. The engines spun until the afterburners pointed down. There was a slight jerk as the rear of the aircraft split and completed the transformation process by revealing the legs. Tails pushed what seemed to be a throttle lever forward. The afterburners ignited and the mecha landed softly on the ground. "Aha! Another successful landing!" Tails said happily as he jumped out of the plane. He locked the aircraft's cockpit, and walked off to the store. -------------------- After Tails had acquired all the items that he had on his list, he walked triumphantly out of the automatic doors. As he walked out, he came across Cream and Amy. The two girls noticed Tails and greeted him. "Hello Mister Tails!" Cream said in her cute, innocent voice, "How are you today?" She expected the fox to give the regular 'I'm fine' response, but to her surprise he replied, "I'm doing great, Cream!" "Chao chao!" Cheese came out from behind Cream's back. Tails laughed at his sudden appearance. "Hello to you too, Cheese!" Cheese smiled at Tails' greeting. "So what are you guys doing here?" he asked the trio in front of him. "Oh, you know us, Tails!" Amy said in reply, "Just going on our regular shopping spree!" "Oh." The fox replied, "I just came here to pick up some things." Suddenly Cheese started shouting. "Chao chao CHAO!!?" Cheese started acting hysterical. "What is it, Cheese?" Cream asked her companion. Tails looked in the direction Cheese was pointing his little rounded arm. "No, it can't be..." Tails started to explain, but an explosion behind him interrupted him before he could even say anything. "Cream! Run!" Amy yelled frantically to the little bunny. Cream started running, and a series of more explosions nearly deafened the frightened rabbit. Hoards of screaming people came pouring out of the doors. The whole building was on fire now, and most of the innocents had escaped from the sudden tragedy. As Tails and Amy walked away from the smoking wreck of a building, they saw a whole fleet of airships with an all-too-familiar logo on the side. "The Egg Fleet..." Tails and Amy said in unison.