Chapter 15

Far away from the mansion, far away from South Island, Tails was flying his red biplane, the Tornado, over the blue and glistening water.

"Well, here we are!" Tails said to himself, smiling. "Just a few miles away from South Island, where I'll meet up with Sonic and go searching for Knuckles."

Tails paused for a second and looked at the radar map on the Tornado. "I'd better get there fast, there's no time to waste! Knuckles could be in serious danger. But with my Tornado, getting to the mansion should be a breeze!"

Tails heard buzzing from overhead. Looking above, he saw a dozen generation C Buzz Bombers. He could tell by their pointed, indigo faces, among other things. Immediately, Tails spun the Tornado out of the way in a barrel roll, and dodged a ball of energy shot out of the robot's blasters. Then, he did a loop de loop in the air with the Tornado. The sensation was dizzying, but it shot a large gust of wind at the Buzz Bombers, temporarily immobilizing them.

"Alright!" Tails exclaimed. He pumped his fist into the air, and, right after, slammed it down on a silver button on the control panel. This launched a rocket towards the Buzz Bombers, destroying them.

This wasn't the end of Tails' troubles, however. As soon as the Buzz Bomber disappeared, there was a strange metallic scratching from beneath the Tornado. Tails looked at the video from the lower cameras. Small fish robots made by Eggman called Choppers had launched up from the ocean and latched onto the bottom of the Tornado with their sharp teeth, gnawing away at it like piranhas.

"Oh, come on!" Tails shouted, taking his hands off the controls after setting them to autopilot. He looked over the edge. "I just got that painted!" Putting his hands back on the controls, he performed another loop de loop. Looking at the cameras, the Choppers were still there! Soon, they would get past the protective layer of metal and start chomping away at the insides of the plane, calling it lights out for Tails.

Tails had only one option, and so he turned on the autopilot and jumped out of the plane. He pushed forward and flew beside the plane by spinning his powerful twin tails like the blades of a helicopter. He put his fists out in front of him as he flew into the Choppers, breaking them open.

Flying back into the tornado, Tails continued to fly it towards South Island. If he had continued to fly on his own, he would have gotten tired eventually and fallen into the ocean. Suddenly, he heard what sounded like a huge splash. Looking behind him, he saw a huge, HUGE Chopper leaping in and out of the water, eyeing him with its big hypnotic eyes.

Turning the tornado around to face the Giant Chopper, he almost didn't notice the many Advanced Tentous, small flying Motobugs, that pursued the plane. Tails pushed another button, and spikes erected at the trailing edge and destroyed the Advanced Tentous.

"Alright, now for you!" Tails exclaimed.

He launched large homing rockets at the Giant Chopper. The Giant Chopper slapped them away with its fin, sending them into the ocean before detonating. Large spouts of water erupted from the explosions.

"Dang it!"

It was now the Giant Chopper's turn to attack. The Giant Chopper jumped high out of the water and swallowed the Tornado and Tails along with it in one fell swoop.

This was bad, Tails thought to himself in the dark organs of the Giant Chopper. It was hot in the Giant Chopper, enough to make Tails sweat. The Tornado was overheating too. Smelled like metallic sushi.

Tails launched rockets and bombs, but to no avail, Eventually, he was out of weapons. And the Giant Chopper had gotten some salt water in its mouth and was beginning to fill the cavern comprised of its mechanical, armored insides. Tails was going to drown!

Tails had to think fast. Then, he made a plan! He flew further into the robotic insides of the big fish. There, he found a big glowing orb in the middle of it. He spun into the orb and shattered it. An explosion erupted and Tails turned the Tornado away form the explosion.

Meanwhile, on the outside, the Giant Chopper lost all commanded mobility and headed toward land, completely out of control. It crashed into the shore of Green Hill Zone, flipping and spinning. It flopped onto the sand. Then, its eyes ceased their hypnotic loop. The Tornado flew out of the eye plate which spun around upon touch.

Tails safely landed the Tornado on a grassy field and jumped out, glad to feel solid ground below his feet. He saw that the storm loomed overhead. His heart was still racing from that experience. Had he been a second late, he could have died. He wanted to collapse and take a nap right about then, but he knew that Sonic and Knuckles needed his help. He patted the Tornado goodbye, at least until this was all over.

"See you old friend," he said. "I'll come back for you."

Then, Tails flew off into the distance.

Continue to Chapter 16