Hover Above

Verdant leaves rustled furiously on the tree branches as Tails quickly weaved through a forest on a warm Summer morning. The fourteen-year-old fox had decided to simply fly around for a little while and collect his thoughts, and there was no better time to do it than during that peaceful time of the day. As he dodged numerous tree limbs, he remembered how Sonic had pranked Shadow earlier that morning by waking him with a sound system. That was no ordinary sound system. It consisted of a series of super-loud, high-definition speakers placed around the house in a circle fifteen-feet out from the walls, and a recording of intense power-rock music. When Sonic activated it, well, needless to say, Shadow was not pleased. The house rattled as though there was a small earthquake occurring, a few of the windows cracked, and the obnoxious noise resounded throughout the surrounding countryside. Shadow leapt from his bed so fast that his head collided with the ceiling. Following his regaining of balance, all he could hear was roaring laughter outside, and became, for lack of a better word, perturbed. Sonic was beyond hysterical, and tears of glee streamed down his face before Shadow exploded out of his beleaguered house and attacked him with a large, gas-powered chainsaw. Tails was sitting in a tree during the ordeal, and actually gained a considerable amount of amusement from the event, but this entertainment lasted only briefly. After Shadow had terrorized Sonic with the chainsaw enough, he noticed the giggling Tails perched upon the limb, scowled, and charged. Tails began to panic as he saw the irate black-and-red hedgehog coming at him, but he wasn’t terribly worried. He was high in a tree; the worst Shadow could do was cut it down. Predictably, he did just that. Tails quickly spun his tails, made himself airborne, and hovered over to another tree as the previous one toppled onto a nearby house with a loud crash and a plume of dust. He thought Shadow would’ve given up by then, but that idea incinerated when Shadow chucked the still-activated chainsaw at him, narrowly missing his head. It detonated upon impact with a tree trunk, and smoking parts flew in every direction. Filled with rage, Shadow roared and began throwing rocks at high speeds, so the vulpine promptly made his escape while dodging them. Following the ordeal, Tails traveled home, had a breakfast of waffles and pie, and decided to wander into the adjacent forest to collect his thoughts.

Back to the present.

He zipped over and under branches, around trunks, and over logs, and was just about to cross a wide, rocky stream when he heard a brief whirring noise preceding a THONK! He hit the ground, landed on his upper back, and immediately wondered how he could’ve collided with something since there had been absolutely nothing in his way. It just wasn’t like him to smack into something. As he sat there rubbing his forehead, he saw to his right a light-grey, female fox wearing a green t-shirt. She appeared to be his age, and he was stunned to see that she, too, possessed twin tails. A short distance away, next to a small boulder, rested a small, black object resembling a CD case.

“What’s the big idea?! Are you blind?!” she blurted while stumbling around with her hand on her head.

Before Tails could reply, the scream of jet engines could be heard approaching fast. The stranger gasped as a silver, plus-sign-shaped robot came within view. It had a maneuverable turbofan engine situated vertically on each of its four points, a gun above and below its small, spherical center, and a trio of arms dangling beneath it, each ending with a clawed, eight-fingered hand.

Tails quickly grabbed her by the arm and hid behind a large, moss-covered boulder as the machine roared into the clearing where they had just been standing. Using wide, flat, blue laser beams, it scanned the area for its target, and made numerous beeping noises as it noticed the CD-like object lying on the ground. Appearing interested, it flew toward it, and right as it was about to grab it, Tails climbed atop the boulder and leapt onto the top of the robot. As it went into panic mode, Tails removed a small, handheld plasma torch from his belt pouch, severed the dorsal gun, held it inside the resulting hole, and scorched everything inside. The machine spun around, sputtered, and hit the ground right after Tails hopped off.

As Tails approached the object, the awestruck stranger shouted, “Hey, stay away from that!” and ran out into the open.

Tails picked it up, curiously observed it, and asked, “What’s this for?”

She immediately snatched it from his grasp, and blurted, “Gimme that! It is a very important piece of software I stole from Robotnik earlier. I had everything under control, by the way, until you clumsily bumped into me.”

Frustrated by her thanklessness, Tails replied, “Obviously. You would have just kept running until it eventually tracked you down to your base of operations, alerted that corpulent maniac, and you’d have probably ended up dead!”

Her expression indicated slight remorse, but she frowned and responded, “Well, I still could have handled it.” As Tails rolled his eyes and walked off, she began to act as though she was going to say something. Tails noticed this, but kept on walking regardless. Finally, she said, “Hey, uh, I need, um, somebody to decode it. I don’t have the equipment I need.”

Tails stopped, looked back, and said with a faint smirk and raised eyebrows, “I have decoding equipment. If you’d like, you could accompany me to the Freedom Fighter headquarters. We’d be more than happy to help.”

Her eyes widened slightly at the mentioning of the famous group, and she replied, though after regaining a serious countenance, “Sounds good.”

“Alrighty,” answered Tails, “Follow me.”

The two foxes twirled their tails and took off in the direction of the Freedom Fighter headquarters. Within the HQ, Sonic was informing Knuckles about the occurrences of hours previous, and each sentence was fragmented with intermittent laughter.

“And...and I actually HEARD his skull smacking against the ceiling, even over the speakers! It-it was so epic!” exuded Sonic with tears streaming down his face.

“Sonic...you’ve told me that story three freaking times already. I GET it. You pranked Shadow super-hard this morning. It’s NOT FUNNY anymore...and it’s giving me a migraine,” said the red echidna while giving a stern look.

As Sonic continued laughing, Tails quietly entered through the front door. Following him was the grey fox, holding the black object that the robot from before had coveted so deeply. She examined the place with silent enthusiasm and curiosity.

“Hey Tails!” shouted Rotor, “Welcome back! Who’s your new friend?”

Flustered, the guest tactlessly blurted, “I’m not his new friend, I’m in need of assistance pertaining to an information chip I snagged from Robotnik earlier.”

Mildly embarrassed by her rudeness, Tails added, “We sorta bumped into each other a few minutes ago. She was being pursued by one of the Bloated One’s cronies, so I annihilated it. The chip must be of particular importance if Robotnik wanted it back badly enough to send a specialized type of flying thug. The thing was actually menacing looking.”

Seated next to Antoine on a couch across the room was Bunny, who commented with her characteristic Southern accent, “Well, we’re certainly glad ta have ya here, Miss, eh...say, what is your name?”

“My name is Kaolin,” she replied, “and I would appreciate this if this was done quickly, because it won’t be long before Robotnik sends more of his mechanized irritants to hunt me down.”

“That would be my job,” said NICOLE as she, in her corporeal-holographic form, walked over to the newcomer. “I am NICOLE, the supercomputer of the Freedom Fighters. If you would, please allow me to take that off your hands, and I shall decipher it for you.”

Though reluctantly, Kaolin handed it over, and NICOLE entered the computer room and analyzed the data.

“What’s it say, Nicky?” asked Sally as she entered the room shortly thereafter.

“It appears as though Robotnik is...enriching uranium,” answered NICOLE, sounding more frightened. “It says he is planning to build his own nuclear weapons. There is a map showing where his facility is.”

Sally looked at the map, squinted, and said with a shocked and almost disturbed tone, “Does that say Yellowcake Bakery?”

Everyone within earshot started to chuckle and snicker. Giggling, Amy added, “Heh, another dumb name. It’s like those Egg-Grape Chambers at the Egg Vineyard, the Egg Fleet, or the Egg-Beater. The guy has no taste whatsoever in naming his garbage.” Julie-Su burst out into laughter.

Sonic narrowed his eyes, shot up from his chair, and exclaimed while pointing into the air, “My fellows, it has come to my attention that another mission is at hand! Let us go forth, brethren, and extinguish the threat before it leads to cataclysmic suffering and ruin!”

The team looked at him like he was crazy, due to his uncharacteristic usage of more sophisticated dialogue.

“Looks like I get to drive!” exclaimed Tails as a grin traveled across his fuzzy orange-and-white face.

“No, Tails,” responded Sonic, “You must stay here with Rotor and monitor the mission progress. It is much too dangerous fo-...”

Tails cut in, “Oh for crying out loud, I’M PART OF THE TEAM TOO!”

“Yes, and you can play a part by helping with the satellites.”

“Let me come along.”

“Not this time.”

“Wh-...”

“I’m so glad you agree! Come, friends! The Rotund Menace beckons!” Sonic finished. As the group gathered equipment needed for the operation, Kaolin observed Tails’ sadness and angst at his blue friend’s callousness. She thought about comforting him, but her ego pushed itself in the way.

“It appears my purpose here has ended. If I may have my chip back, I shall be bidding you all good day,” she said, while watching Tails accompany Rotor with her peripheral vision.

NICOLE handed her the chip, and Kaolin grabbed it, succinctly thanked the gang, and departed. When she heard Tails tell her it was nice to meet her, something deep down inside felt odd. She went outside, stood next to a tree nearby, and wondered if she should leave. She had nobody else; no parents, no friends, no teammates, no boyfriend. Part of her yearned to go back in and offer her services, and perhaps even request to become a member of the team. Deeper still, however, she knew what it really was. She liked Tails. When she had bumped into him, well, after she had regained coherence, she couldn’t help but notice his twin tails. He was the first of her kind that she had ever seen, besides herself. Silently, she was thrilled that she wasn’t the only freak in the world. He wasn’t a bad looking freak, either. She had noticed and was impressed by his strength and bravery when he defeated the robot, and knew he was right when he basically said she didn’t have things under control. She was truly scared during the pursuit. Thoughts raced through her mind as the Freedom Fighters rocketed off in a small hovercraft, so she barely noticed them. Not wanting to leave, she flew up onto a branch, reclined on the trunk, and resumed thinking.

Around thirty minutes later, she heard a shriek within the headquarters, nearly causing her to tumble off her perch. The sound had been Tails, who had just discovered that his comrades had been captured by that grotesque genetic anomaly called Robotnik. The front door rapidly swung open, and Tails darted out and into the sky. Out of curiosity, she decided to follow him, flying above and behind so as to stay out of sight.

As the two foxes made their way to the Yellowcake Bakery, Robotnik was cackling absurdly as he watched his captives perform janitorial duties, due to control collars he had placed around their necks.

“How does it feel, rodents? HOW?! Ha ha! It’s humiliating, isn’t it? You get caught with your pants down one moment, knocked unconscious with gas another moment, and end up as my new slaves! I find this terribly amusing, but even more so because I know you are still aware of your surroundings! BWAHAHAHAHA!!”

While dusting an energy capacitor and wearing an especially humiliating maid’s outfit, Sonic shouted, “You have gone WAY too far this time, Ro-butt-nik! You wo-...”

Robotnik interrupted, “Won’t what? Get away with it? Silly flea magnet, I ALREADY HAVE! Look at you, you have absolutely NO control over your movements aside from speech. Speaking of which, that little freedom is about to be repealed as well. I command each of you to SING! Sing praises and hymns to your new master! And do it in the form of...OPERA!”

Unable to resist, Sonic, Sally, Amy, Knuckles, Julie-Su, Bunny, and Antoine began chanting various fawning phrases in an exaggerated, operatic manner. Ivo could hardly contain his overwhelming glee.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! This sails beyond the realm of entertainment! Laugh with me, Snively, LAUGH WITH ME!!”

Snively looked up at his uncle and replied, “Do I really have to? Scrubs is on, and I kinda...”

“DO AS I SAY, NEPHEW! LAUGH!!” blurted the maniacal doctor as his face turned crimson red from his jolly paroxysm.

Snively halfheartedly began laughing, frustrated by the fact that he was missing a brand-new episode of his favorite television show. It didn’t have the same actors or actresses as the original from twelve-thousand years in the past, but the remake was just as funny. He silently wished that his uncle would drop dead from a massive heart attack, just so he would shut up and let him enjoy some quality televised programming. The concept actually seemed highly probable, since Ivo was grossly obese and laughing harder than previously thought possible.

Suddenly, Robotnik contained himself, cleared his throat, pointed toward Amy, and shouted, “YOU! Pink thing in red! Approach your glorious king!” In tears, Amy complied. When she got within four feet, he commanded her to stop, demanded silence, and asked, “So, uh, what’re you wearing underneath that dress?”

She lost all color in her quills, and her pupils shrank to pinpricks.

Meanwhile, Kaolin was struggling to keep up with the orange hero. She almost lost control when she was hit by the shockwave resulting from Tails achieving transonic speed. As he broke the sound barrier, a fascinating vapor cone very briefly appeared around his torso. It wasn’t long before they reached their destination, and Tails plowed through a metal wall using a spin-dash. She slowed down, landed as quietly as possible, peered through the hole, and observed the unfolding event.

As Tails came to a stop, he was mortified by what he beheld. Not only were his friends singing obnoxiously loud while meticulously cleaning various things, Amy was dancing in front of Robotnik like a monkey, all while wearing a bikini. Ivo looked like he was about to explode from his uncontrolled laughter.

Snively happened to notice the orange vulpine, and tapped his uncle on the shoulder, “Uncle! We have an intruder!”

Robotnik came-to, looked at Tails, and exclaimed, “Ha ha! I was wondering when you’d get here! SNIVELY, activate the trap!”

Tails stepped out of the way as a trap-door opened in the floor beside him. He glared hatefully, but in a concerned way as well, and said, “You...you SICK pervert! I could see Sonic enjoying Amy doing that, but YOU?! This pushes it.” Across the room, Sonic grimaced.

“And what will you do, you little ginger stain? You’re a pathetic, juvenile furball who couldn’t harm me if he wanted to!” mocked the portly scientist.

With a menacing grin, Tails grabbed a long metal pipe nearby, ripped a segment from its sockets, and said, while tapping the end on his hand, “Your butts are my property, now.”

It has been said, on that day, that the single worst beating in recorded history was dealt upon Ivo and Snively. Every living individual in the Robotnik/Kintobor family line felt an unusual stinging sensation all over their bodies, and each of Ivo’s ancestors literally rolled in their graves. The flogging lasted every bit of ten minutes, and after Tails was done, the two were lying on the floor, twitching, and covered in throbbing lumps.

As he observed their pain, Tails concluded, “You’re both nothing more than a Muffin McWeaksauce. Remember this day, and remember it well, as I have spared your lives only so you could wallow in the fact that a young fox swiftly handed your butts to you on a silver platter. No, scratch that, a GOLDEN platter, with shimmering diamonds of lamentation lining the edge. Never, ever show your faces to me again, or you will face retribution far surpassing the magnitude of today.” With that, he freed his friends, called in an air-strike, and made his way to his point of entry.

Kaolin flew atop the building and surreptitiously waited for the group to depart. She was extremely impressed by Tails’ display of power over those two clowns, and this only increased her interest in him. She observed as the hovercraft took off, and followed it as it got far enough away. Moments later, two GUN aircraft roared overhead and demolished Robotnik’s reactors with powerful demolition bombs, though ignoring Robotnik’s actual location.

Over the course of a few days, Kaolin stalked her person of interest, whether by spying on the HQ with a pair of binoculars, quietly observing him as he shopped for groceries, or hovering above him as he did things outside or went on missions.

One day, as Tails was exploring the forest for wild chives, a gust of wind caused Kaolin to lose stability as she hovered high above, and her tails spun harder to regain her balance. Tails’ ears caught the sound, and he managed to get a glimpse of his stalker as he rounded the corner of a wooded path. Tails buzzed over to a vine-covered cave entrance, where he landed on the soft soil and jogged inside. Kaolin hovered in place for a few moments, but her inquisitiveness prevailed again, and she flew down to see what Tails was up to. She peeked inside, curiously scanning the area with her piercing-blue eyes, and noticed some sunlight cascading through an exit at the end of the cavern. Tails was nowhere to be seen. As she turned around, she came face-to-face with Tails himself, and zipped into the air after nearly coming unglued.

“Why are you stalking me?” asked the orange hero.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to sneak up on people like that?!” she exclaimed while trying to catch her breath.

“I can’t say it’s polite to stalk, either,” he replied.

She hovered back down to the ground, looked at a large tree nearby, and answered, “I was...observing your actions...just, uh...g-getting to the point, I want to join the Freedom Fighters. I’ve seen how you and your friends work, and it interests me.”

Tails approached her with a grave look in his eyes, and replied, “Being a Freedom Fighter can be very hard and dangerous work. Some of our team members have been injured and even killed before. Are you sure you want to make that commitment?”

Her expressions grew more somber, and she responded while looking at the ground, “I witnessed the deaths of everyone I knew and loved. I even had to watch my own parents suffer before they died, and all because of that hideous waste of existence we all lovingly refer to as Doctor Robotnik.” She then looked Tails in the eyes, and continued, “I am fully willing to accept the risks involved.” Most of her reason was, of course, being close to Tails.

Tails gained a more pleasant countenance, and answered, “Let us head back to the HQ, then. We’ll have to consult the senior members before anything official occurs.”

The two flew back to the HQ, and Kaolin made a mental note to control her anger. After the team heard Kaolin’s story and how she managed to get the chip from Ivo, she was accepted as a new Freedom Fighter. One week later found them enjoying a tournament on a particularly violent fighting game. Suddenly, NICOLE rushed into the room and informed the group of a serious emergency downtown. It appeared that Bean had taken hostages in a large bank, and not only was he wearing a very powerful suicide vest, he was making threats right and left.

“Ready for your first mission, Kaolin?” asked Tails as he smiled.

Kaolin gave a confident smirk, and replied, “Absolutely.”

The Freedom Fighters gathered into a circle, gave some words of encouragement to each other, and headed out on their new mission.

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Fin

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Sonic the Hedgehog characters, objects, and places are copyright of Sonic Team/Sega

Scrubs is copyright of whoever owns that

Kaolin, story, etc are copyright of myself, NuclearCookout