Emerald Coast Docks - Catchup

[Topaz Mutiny]

Tails squinted against the massive gale battering his entire body, his limbs and fur flapping everywhere in the buffeting wind, save for one, as that arm was being held by Sonic. It was also the hedgehog who was causing the massive turbulence, as back in the courtroom Tails felt Sonic grab him tightly by the arm, and he was suddenly and quickly whisked away into Station Square.

Tails knew Sonic was probably headed back to Mystic Ruins, but they couldn't go just yet! They needed a boat and scuba gear, which Station Square could readily supply, because the genius fox had discovered where, if not the exact location, Eggman's latest base was hiding. And it was underwater, a fact that Sonic of all people needed to know, since he couldn't even swim.

"Sonic, slow up!" Tails shouted over the roaring wind, fanning out his twin tails and spinning them backwards, creating an impromptu drag force to slow the hedgehog down. "We can't leave yet!"7.0

[Tony]

Ah, things were going swell. Sure, Shadow was on this emerald-collecting spree and was no doubt wreaking havoc back at the courthouse, and sure, Eggman was probably doing more damage, and sure, Metal Sonic was probably throwing around his share of knocks...

But they were back there, and the blue blur was here, right on the beach, making a mad-dash back to the Ruins to resume the rescue operation.

... Or, rather... it -was- a mad dash, except for the fact that... the hedgehog noticed that the scenery was whipping past him at a much slower rate than before, and he was having slight difficulty keeping Tails going with him... That was when he realized the fox was trying to catch his attention, telling him to do the one thing that would normally be uncharacteristic of his personality.

Sonic quirked a brow, and screeched to a halt, kicking up sand everywhere with the resulting skid. When he finally stopped, Sonic let go of Tails' arm, and crossed his own, glancing at his two-tailed buddy. It must've been important, whatever it was, if the fox actually wanted Sonic to stop... "What's eatin' you? We gotta get back on track with the mission, right? No time to lose? That kinda thing, you know..?"

[Topaz Mutiny]

Finally, he -stopped- running. Tails looked at Sonic, a flash of annoyance crossing his face as Sonic reminded him of the mission; ironic considering that was all the kit was thinking of at the moment. The fox had to resist the urge to roll his eyes before replying.

"Exactly." Tails rejoindered, sparing little time for geek talk. Mainly for Sonic's impatience, but also because the hedgehog was right, and they -were- on a rescue mission. "I think Eggman's latest base is hiding underwater." Tails added bluntly, raising an urgent arm to point at...

THE OCEAN.

By pure coincidence, an orca was seen surfacing just as the bi-tailed fox pointed out to sea.

[Tony]

The hedgehog followed the direction in which Tails pointed, and he quirked his brow again as he realized just, exactly, where the location of the base happened to be. Upon seeing the whale on the surface of the water, Sonic's eyes simply dipped into an annoyed flat-stare, his blue ears folding back somewhat. "Oh. Under the ocean. ... Out there, huh...?"

Inside, it definitely made him uncomfortable. Not only did he have the inability to swim, but he seemed to have this constant bad luck when it came to running over surfaces of water, be it on a dock or a pier, as a whale of the Orca variety always seemed to be right on his tail, destroying everything that he left behind in his dust. For all he knew, by this point, they probably learned how to drill into steel walls or something, and would be right on his behind the moment he ventured into the base.

He wasn't about to show how unnerved he was, especially to Tails. So, what did he do?

He simply covered everything with the sight of just being plain irked. Though... he did try a bit too hard...

As he thought for a moment, gazing out at the treacherous waters, he realized... how the heck were they even going to -get- there?

"Ahh..." The hedgehog paused as he scratched behind his ear, eyes closed with slight annoyance written upon his visage... "And... how are we gonna get down there without becoming a snack for somethin' fifty times larger than us?"

[Topaz Mutiny]

Tails felt bad for Sonic. Despite the hedgehog effectively covering up his discomfort, the fox knew him long enough to tell he was hiding more than what he showed. Sonic had plenty of reasons to hate the water.

"The only way I can think of is either a submarine or SCUBA gear." Tails said, replying to Sonic's question. "That's why I needed you to stop. The Seafox is too small to transport all of us, and Station Square probably has something we can use lying around." He explained, looking worried. As he looked to the Emerald Coast, he noticed that the whale had GOTTEN CLOSER. What, did that thing just somehow KNOW they had stopped here?

"As for that black and white buddy of yours... our only hope is to be lucky we don't catch his attention, as far as I know."

[Tony]

The hedgehog stared at the giant mass of an animal as it seemed to inch closer to their position along the coast, and managed to sport a small, cocky grin. "Heh... Even if it tried anything... we could take it! We just need the proper... defenses, I guess." The blue one paused as his grin faltered slightly, the gears turning in his quilled head... "... But where can we get stuff like that? S'not like there's a shop for submarines or something..."

Sonic turned his back on the ocean and took a few steps forward, looking out to the vast metropolis of Station Square... "... Unless, somehow... I missed somethin' in this vast city..?"

... Maybe a junk yard?

"Huh... Hey! Wanna go back to the courthouse and borrow some of Metal for a bit?"

... Sure.

[Topaz Mutiny]

Sonic had better inform Houston quick, as Tails' eyebrows had lifted off.

"... Not really." Tails mewled. He had messed around with the metallix enough for one day- antagonising the robot further was not exactly high on his list, contrary to Sonic. Though the hedgehog was right: the quickest way to a submarine was to either ask GUN for one, or build a new one himself. The former was very unlikely to happen, and the second would take way too long.

"We could try looking for SCUBA gear instead." Tails offered. "I'm pretty sure a place near the Hotel might have something we can use."

Of course, the bad part about that would be that he'd have to worry about Sonic going too fast that he'd either get gas cramps, or the Bends. JOY.

[Tony]

The hedgehog gazed at Tails a little, his expression showing a bit more worry than he probably would have preferred to let on. And... was that a hint of a nervous chuckle...?

"Wait, uh. Scuba gear? Like... for diving? ... Like, -swimming-?"

There was a pause.

"... You know, uh... that one thing that I can't do because if I try to do it, then I won't do it for very long, because I -can't- do it at all? That thing? ... Doesn't it involve a lot of -that-?" His foot taps got rather quick in their pace as he leaned forward towards the fox with fists on his hips. After a moment of this unnerved staring.. The hedgehog crossed his arms and straightened himself out, glancing up at the clouds with a normal expression of slight irritation upon his face. "Y-yeah, that's cool. I mean, I don't need to run, right? I'll be... sinking. ... And we gotta do that to get to the base -anyway-, yeah...?"

Of course, there was the whale... Oh, right, how could they contend with -that- when he had little to no skill for swimming -away- if it decided that it wanted to have some fun...?

His foot began to tap rapidly again.

[Topaz Mutiny]

"It's not like we have much of a choice here." Tails chastized, "And that's probably why Eggman put his new base underwater. He knows you can't swim, and knows you'd be too chicken to try and get there." Tails bit his lip, knowing that what he said was harsh, but true. He didn't say it to be mean. Tails felt obligated to do this, and Sonic having a hissy fit wasn't really a good way to start off.

"But then, we'd still be three strong if you just manned the boat while Knuckles, Amy, and myself went in."

[Tony]

So... the option that was available to them was...

... for Sonic to guard the boat while everyone else left to kick Dr. Eggman sunny-side up.

...

Yeah. That totally wasn't happening.

"Tails, buddy... Errgn. Keep a good tab on me and direct me to the base beneath the water. I'll be fine. ... I'll just need extra lift to get back -above- the surface. Rockin'?"

[Topaz Mutiny]

The fox kit nodded determinedly. "Right. Let's go get the gear." Tails said, revving up his namesakes before speeding off towards the shops along the docks.

Oh, and that whale? It was right up along the coastline.