Rotor the Walrus and his family members Sherman, Skeeter as well as Tails and Sonic are copyright to Sega. We intend no copyright infringement with this tale.
* * *
It was a cold winter day; Sean stood alone on the beach wearing a coat with nothing on underneath but his swim trunks. He belonged to a group of people that called themselves the Walrus'. They were people that would swim in icy cold water purely for the thrill of it. Some said it slowed the aging process, others simply enjoyed cold water. In Sean' case, he had a fear of the water, not a fear so bad he couldn’t bathe but one that made swimming difficult for him. Sure, he'd taken lessons, but he was never any good at swimming. In the time his peers had advanced to a level advanced enough to teach their own classes; Sean was still only intermediate. For him, swimming in frigid water was a personal test, to show he could handle not only the water but also the cold. Somehow, he hoped, the water would seem less foreboding if he removed the cold factor. It had worked to a point; he wasn’t afraid, but he still wasn’t comfortable. Today he decided was the day he overcame his fear. He was going to skinny-dip in the lake before him. He felt if he could handle that, then a pool for example would seem like a cakewalk.
There was also another reason, with his friends Ben, Timothy and Kyle having vanished over the past couple of months, Sean needed something to focus on. Otherwise, he’d obsess about the conspiracy he thought there was against him and his friends. He never believed Kyle had turned into Tails; no he thought the young man had found out something about a new game and someone had silenced him. Despite how outlandish that sounded, it wasn’t as insane to him as the idea his friends were becoming fictional characters. He’d decided to spend the weekend a few hours from home to get his mind off the situation.
Sean looked at the lake, the salt in the water the only thing keeping it from being frozen solid. Sean wondered some times if other people were right and this sport really was crazy. But he was tired of chickening out of challenges he had made for himself and he owed it to his friends and family to prove he could overcome his fears. Sean pushed down mental images of drowning, hypothermia, undertow, and far less realistic pictures such as giant squids, great white sharks, a surprise forest of jelly fish, to ghosts of drowned people coming back to devour the souls of the living. Breathing in deep and knowing he had to start before he changed his mind, Sean deposited his coat on the sandy empty beach and began his warm up exercises, working out the kinks and knots making himself ready for his personal trial, his muscles heating up in the frigid weather.
The 20-year-old man began to his psychological warm up speech as well. "To the edge of the bay and back again Sean, you know there are no boat lanes to worry about, nothing is going to go wrong, all you have to do is go."
Sean looked up, not a seagull in the sky, and after one final assurance that no one on the beach to see his modesty. (Thank Heaven, then he'd have a -real- excuse not to do this)
Looking at the edge of the bay: his goal and turn about line, and one last check to spot Peeping Toms, Sean reluctantly slipped off his swim trunks. Instantly he felt his body being bitten at the cold in the air. And there were idiots who paid for this sort of thing to be done to their bodies? Bending his legs a couple of times and pointing his arms in a dive pose, Sean made a small jump and dived clean into the surf.
A girl with Spanish features in cloths rather unbecoming for the weather (nondescript knee length skirt and tank top with sandals) watched Sean go off through the waves, from the wharf support beam she had been standing against from the start.
This part no longer required her direct attention, as much as she felt it her responsibility to watch each one personally. Her partner's superiors would give her a tongue lashing for what she was about to do next, but for once, she wanted to tell herself there was still something that separated her from the enemy. A thought later and she was somewhere else.
Sean swam under the water, still a little nervous to do more then just submerge for a few seconds before coming up for air. He surfaced and looked around; he was freezing cold and still felt uneasy. The feel of the water against his naked body was cold, yet in a way liberating. If anyone was watching him, they'd never know of his nudity and that made him laugh, warming him up a bit. Just as he dove under, He felt a tingle go through him, must have been the cold. He considered returning to the shore and surfaced to think it over. Looking at his arms, he saw the goosebumps covering them. There were no hairs on end at the ends of said goosebumbs; of course that was normal. Hair got in the way when swimming, so he had to shave it off.
He scratched at his head, feeling the bald spot he'd had on top for the past few years. He'd started losing his hair at a young age, he didn't know why, and didn't think anything of it. He was feeling warmer and more comfortable in the water. Did the temperate go up? Am I suffering from hypothermia so bad the water feels warmer? He started to swim back towards the shoreline, only to find those worries melt away. He wasn’t cold to begin with; this was why he loved swimming in the icy water. While today was colder then he was used to; it was somewhere he felt normal. His nudity was not a concern, he may have worn clothes around humans for their sake but he felt no reason to when alone. Submerging, he stayed underwater for three minutes, normally a near maximum for a human to go without air, yet he felt no worry, no concern; not even when he felt his head and it felt slick, not a traces of hair to be found. This was normal; it had always been like that.
* * *
There was a knock on the door of the house that belonged to Sean' family. Sean' father was there first and after looking through the peephole saw a foreign girl dressed like a hooker in this weather.
"Mr. Williams?" The girl said before he could say they didn't want any. The girl had a talent for guessing; he could give her that. "I am here to talk to you about your son Sean, I think I might be best if your wife and son join you in the living room." Sean' family didn't exactly have enemies and Sean' dad, Trace, didn't think this small teenage thing could be that much of a threat.
Sean' younger brother was in his elder siblings room checking out some of the downloaded art on his computer. Most of it not of furry girls but of a purple Walrus. Sean had explained it was a character from the Sonic cartoon before his brother's time (Sean' brother, Tom, was more into the video games, period). Sean said the character related to him a bit, both where shy, fascinated by the technological, and a bit of a recluse.
Before Trace let this unknown girl into his house, he had some basic questions, "Who are you, and what does this have to do with my son?"
"If you have to call me anything call me Julan." She said directly behind him.
Trace started and whirled around, how had she done that! It wasn't possible! This had to be a dream, so he might as well play along with it.
"Honey! Tom! In the living room right now!" He said in his best commanding voice.
"Dear? Who is this?" Asked his wife wanting to know about this stranger in their home as she came from the dinning room.
"I think you have the wrong block miss." Said the teenager Tom, coming to the same conclusion as his dad but also too polite to say it out loud.
"You may call me Julan," she said directly behind the woman just as she had done with the man surprising her. "And I wish to discuss your oldest son."
"Sean isn't in right how, he's … at a club meeting." The woman lied, not wanting to talk about the outlandish fad her son was into.
"Your son is out ice swimming," Julan said now directly back to back with Tom, honestly scaring him. Trace had the strange thought of getting out the salt and holy water.
"He is not in any danger." The girl now said standing with her arms in front of her clasped like a Japanese maiden minus the kimono. Like she had since Trace had seen her through the peephole, she was now in front of the family couch.
"You may wish to sit down, I'll do so as well if you wish."
"I think I might want to stand for this." Trace said not allowing himself to be afraid of some cheap trick.
"This is a major decision for your entire family. It requires important thought on all your parts."
"Have you kidnapped my son?" Trace demanded.
The girl looked like she honestly didn't know how to answer that. Before Trace could draw guilt from her silence she lifted her fallen head up and said. "He has been recruited, for part of a team with a monumental task in front of him. His unique personality type and interests qualify him to fill a position needed on that team."
"Are you with the government?" Tom asked, thinking, ‘Fahrenheit 911.’
"Not precisely, and you may want to leave the paranoid ranting and Ray Braidberry's works separate."
"How ... did you know ... " How did she know what he was thinking? "Are you an alien?"
"No, I'm ... . part of something far larger then a the life of a single individual or even of a civilization. I can't reveal more about myself then I already have. This isn't about me, this is about your brother and a choice all of you need to make; weather you wish to go with him. I'm trying to ask you all to become a part of something ... important ... bigger then your lives, something that could save a world," Julan said.
"Are you trying to recruit us to join the military?" Trace asked, folding his arms.
"Who are you? I don't think you can read minds; I think you just made a lucky guess," Mrs. Williams said.
"You want to believe me but you're too afraid of what I could be," Julan said.
"How ... no, it's still a lucky guess," Sean' mother said.
"Please, you need to trust me. The team your son has been recruited for is not with your government or it's military," Julan said.
"Are you a terrorist trying to use propaganda to make my son join your cause? If so," Sean' father started, Julan raising her right hand to request he stop.
"Sean would never do that. I know him as well as you do, possibly better. What we've recruited him for is," Julan said. She stopped to consider how to explain what she was about to tell them. She knew they were skeptical of her and had to gently ease them into the story.
"Imagine that your universe is but one of an infinite number of universes; each one neither more or less valid then the next. Sean has been chosen if you will for a role in another universe, one whose reality parallels what for him is a fantasy," Julan said.
"Go on," Sean' father said, still skeptical but wanting to hear her out. If nothing else, her story might make an interesting tale to tell at work the next day.
"What to him is a character he has an affinity for and shares common traits with is a real person where I come from. We need a replacement for him and Sean is that replacement," Julan said, not wanting to say least she expose her identity.
"Lady, I think we need to call the guys in white coats. Now please tell us what you've done with our son!" Sean' mother said.
"Please, I'm neither insane nor am I lying. This character is a Walrus named Rotor; Sean has been selected to become him. Rotor needs a family, and as his family on this world, I've come asking if you'd like to become his family on the world he'll soon be joining."
"Rotor?" Tom asked was she nuts? She wanted Sean' to become Rotor and go to some other world. This was too much even for Tom. He was worried about Sean however.
"Who is Rotor?" Trace asked.
"If you want to us to believe what you're saying, we'll need proof," Sean' mom said
"For Sean, Rotor as I said is just a fictional character, you know that don't you Tom?" Julan started,
She did it -a-gain! - Had she been spying on them? The lad's reaction was all the parents need to see to show that Tom did indeed know what Julan was talking about.
"You want proof I'm more than what you see? I'll have to show you I'm-" Julan started. No, other eyes were watching, could be watching, just because of her station, didn't mean she was invincible, and she couldn't afford for that to happen. But what could she do without giving away -what- or -who- she was? "I'm not a demon, but I don't have the right to call myself an angel." While Trace knew she could be acting, there was something almost, shameful in her voice. "The livelihood of a few dozen, versus the lives of six billion … not to mention countless generations of lives down the line on top of that. Verses the ever spreading number of lives that will never be here." She seemed to be saying this to herself rather than any of them. Trace began doing the math for tackling her if worse came to worse.
She looked at Tom intently; her eyes narrowed, but not darkly, like sadness being kept at arm's reach.
"Tom. Yes or no, would you join your brother there?"
Tom laughed. "Sure sounds like fun!"
"I'm not genie Tom!" The girl's demeanor shifted. "I can't abuse wording. If it meant sacrificing your life here, would you want to be there with him as he risks his life elsewhere?"
Tom was honestly taken back, the sheer seriousness of the girl's voice struck him to his core.
"I would," Mrs. Williams said sternly. Julan turned around surprised, the first real movement any of them had seen out of her. "I don't believe a word you're saying, but I would drop my life here so I could be with my son as he went off to war or whatever? Of course I would. He's my son." Julan collected herself. The look on her face mirrored the one on the woman in front of her, decision.
"If that is -your- choice. Normally the work would be done and you would be sent there. But if this is how I can show you the reality of things; let me show the grim cruel reality of things."
Trace was ready for whatever crazy stunt she was about to pull. Tom was wondering what delusion thing she was going to pull making a fool out of herself and not even realizing it.
"Please stay calm, both of you." She made no mention to Mrs. Williams to be calm.
Julan knew doing a change this quickly on the spot without a medium was tricky and maybe even dangerous, but the clock was ticking and she could feel the face's arms closing around her own pace maker. It was a rather strange feeling for her of all people. Julan made a sound of effort, and Mrs. Williams wonder what the girl thought she was doing in her mind.
The intensity got her and things looked like they were getting larger. Her body heat rose from the stress of the moment, to see once and for all if this mystery girl was what she claimed. She rubbed her flippers in her aberon, tied across her blubbery body waiting for something to happen. She was surprised when Trace and Tom looked at her like she had turned green with polkadots. Looking herself over, she saw she was the same light violet she had always been so that ended that theory.
"Dear? What's wrong?" Asked Mrs. Walrus of her husband. "Did that girl do something and I missed it?"
"Mom ... you ... you're a ... a Walrus. Just like Rotor!" Tom said.
"Of course I'm a walrus, what else would I be?" She asked.
Trace looked at Juan; she could sense his anger and shock. His views on what was impossible and possible were thrown out the window at that moment.
"What have you done to her?" he asked.
"I ... sense your hostility but it was the only way to prove it. You will be unable to convince her that she was human anymore than you could convince her she was from Mars. She still knows you and your son but as far as she knows, you have always been an alternate species. This is necessary for you to become who you will be. No one can know what's really happened," Julan said.
"This is so cool, I thought it was all make believe. So that must mean, Sean is really Rotor now!" Tom said.
"Tom please. Okay, it seems we have little choice but to believe you but are you saying we'll forget everything we are, including being humans?" Sean' father asked.
"Trace, Tom are the two of you feeling alright?" his wife said, wondering if this girl had driven her husband and son crazy.
"I'm sorry, there is little choice in the matter. You need to be who you will become. You will remember who you are but in a different context. I'm asking you to make this sacrifice not just for Sean but for everyone on my world. Your life is but one life. I cannot force you into this and if you wish, I can restore your wife and be gone ... you would remember nothing. Sean however ... we need him, we all need him. I need you to choose, do you want to make this sacrifice for him or allow him to move on alone?" Julan asked.
"I don't want to leave my brother alone! If I have to be a walrus and think I always was one then that's cool. We can’t leave him; can we dad?" Tom asked.
"No," his father responded, putting his hands on the boy’s shoulders. "We cannot."
"Very well then," Julan said.
Sean' father and Tom both felt a warm sensation. They stood there seconds later without any clothing, not that they ever needed any; they didn’t need it for modesty and their blubber kept them warm enough. At first the room seemed bigger but when they saw everything was the proper size, they dismissed that concern.
"It is done," Julan said.
"What’s done? What is it you were going to do to us?" Sherman asked.
"Yeah, you said you were gonna do something!" Skeeter protested.
"Can we be with Rotor again? We don’t want him to be alone," Mrs. Walrus asked.
"He'll be home soon." Julan said in the most simplistic of tones.
The family's view was consumed in a myriad of shifting colors. The last few minutes in a haze dulled by the pretty display, their vision returned to the modern facilitated igloo that they knew was their home that they had waited most of the day for Rotor to return. Skeeter went back to checking out his brother's workshop, his child mind looking on in wonder at Rotor's technological marvels as Sherman's wife return to the dinning space, Tails was due to arrive soon, they just hoped Rotor got back in time to greet his friend.
* * *
Sean grinned as he stroked through the salty sea, nearly nipping his lip, pity he had always had overbite, his tusks creating a current all their own as he swam foreword. Opening his eyes to check his progress underwater without surfacing he felt the salt water sting his eyes, giving him a slight tingle, didn't bother him at all, he was just under half way there. He had shifted from a frog kick to a full underwater long stroke, the only kind of swimming style he really ever used.
Sean knew his body was perfectly resisting the cold, as it was neither pale, nor blue but his normal healthy deep purple.
Then again, since when did -he- have to worry about the cold? His skinny shape, healthy frame, protective layers of blubber had always taken care of that. It was weird watching his friends often having to wear wet suits in this kind of weather. Sean brought his fingers and toes close together like those of an aquatic animal, like those of a sea mammal, like the flippers of an unevolved version of his kind.
Set’s round body shoot through the water like a torpedo, leaving a wake in his path. He saw the underwater wave breakers that marked the end of the bay coming closer by the second.
He didn't see the wave breakers as a wall of any kind, his swimming ability made riding waves fun. Besides, he loved how they felt against his body. He shot towards the breakers, staying under for several minutes yet feeling perfectly calm and not at all like he needed to come up for air. His fingers tingled for a few seconds, the water flowing between each digit feeling ... odd. He surfaced to look at his fingers only to see that all three fingers and his thumbs were present on both hands, the skin a slightly darker purple then his arms as normal. He went back under as his thighs and hips became warm. His feet felt odd, as though the toes were wiggling on their own. It faded seconds later and he wiggled the three large toes on each foot. Nothing seemed out of place or different from how he remembered them. Seto touched his hips, as normal they were at the sides of his body. He stayed under, keeping his eyes open as their natural immunity to the water allowed, a useful ability he had always enjoyed.
He swam right to and under the wave breakers, grinning as he entered the ocean. For an unusual few seconds, his body felt lighter, a little too light for a walrus. He shivered a bit until he felt a compaction like sensation. It faded before he had time to mentally process it and everything felt normal again. He was his normal size, smaller then a human, probably around the size of his animal kin if they stood upright. Swimming through the icy waves, Soto dove deep into the ocean depth, the frigid water comfortable against his skin. He's always enjoyed being able to do this. His friends may have thought him nuts and others may have called him a freak but they couldn’t dive a hundred meters down in waters this cold.
Swimming near the ocean floor before he knew he needed to come up for air, he swam upwards with grace, seeing shimmering light deeper then he expected to. He wondered if perhaps that he was higher then he thought. When Sotor touched it, for a few short seconds he felt warm, and didn't seem to be in the water anymore. The temperature was tropical, or so what he would consider tropical; humans and most other species would consider it cool. After a few seconds, the water returned and he was again below the surface. Rotor surfaced and breathed the cold arctic air into his lungs, breathing a sigh of relief. He always swam to de-stress or have fun and now felt totally relaxed. He knew his buddy Tails was going to be here soon and didn't want to miss out on seeing him. He started swimming in the direction of his house.
Coming to the edge of the ice flow as it clashed with the Frozen Tundra's ocean borders, Rotor pulled his mass onto dry land. While most Mobians dreaded water just because it took the better part of an hour to dry and the water in your fur would drag you down, the water just slipped off Rotor's slick skin.
Rotor was satisfied to find his old worn yellow baseball cap where he had left it next to his utility chest belt on the snowy ice. Slapping on his cap backwards as always and clicking his belt into place Rotor felt whole. It might have just been a few pieces of cloth and a bunch of pockets full of tiny technological junk, but they were worth a world of memories to the walrus.
Of course there were other things more in life important too, and one of them was now a dot on the horizon and getting bigger. Rotor may have been considered as slow as molasses by the standards of people like Sonic, but he could still get a move on when he needed to. Jogging inside the igloo's entry hall he called to his family.
"Mom! Dad! Skeeter! Tails is here!"
"It will be nice to formally meet some of your friends when we aren't zombified." Said Sherman to his son following him outside as they went followed closely by Skeeter and his mom.
All four walrus' were waiting happily outside their icy home by the time Tails made a circle around them. The fox was inside a metal blue biplane with yellow trim, the side featuring a familiar logo of two fox tails. As the plane turned to fly over them, the wings folded in on themselves and the packages on either side extended into legs, the firefly jet on the machine's tail end shifting into hovering position enabling the walker to land vertically. Thankfully Tails cut off the engine before it could melt the ice. Rotor actually chuckled at his family gasping at the Tornado III's transformation.
"Hey Tails!" Said Rotor walking up to his young friend's pride and joy.
"Rotor?" Tails said his eyes intense for an unknown reason.
"Hey I know it's been a while but don't tell me you've forgotten me that much."
"You just . . . look older than I remember."
"You sure that's it buddy? You look like you've seen a ghost," the twenty-two year old Walrus asked.
"Yes ... I'm fine, I just missed you while you were away," Tails answered.
"So, you doing okay? I hear your parents are away."
"Yeah but I got Rings to watch over me; he's cool. He does spoil me a bit. Careful buddy, I think he just may be more in love with machines than you!"
"Speaking of machines, want to see what I've been working on while I was away?" Rotor asked.
"Do I?" Tails asked, his eyes lighting up and a huge smile crossing his face.
"Come on in buddy!" Rotor said, motioning for his friend and protege to enter their house.
Tails greeted Rotor’s family. Tails seemed amazed to see them as though he was seeing the Walrus’s family for the first time in his life. Rotor led Tails inside, where the fox greeted Rotor’s family. Rotor wondered what was going on but dismissed it, perhaps he and his family *had* been away for too long.
"So, go on any interesting adventures while I was away?" Rotor asked.
"Well," Tails told Rotor about the fire at the mall and how he’d met Rings.
"Great job buddy!" Rotor said.
Rotor noticed Tails seemed to be thinking of something as they walked. He knew how hard the little guy thought, if he appeared thinking for more then a few seconds, something was wrong.
"Say ... Rotor, where you were away, were there a lot of humans there?"
"Humans? There are humans all over the place. Why do you ask?"
"No reason, just wondering," the fox answered.
"You sure, you look like you have something on your mind. It's okay if you tell me, we're like bros.," Rotor said.
"When you were away, did anyone call you anything different?" Rotor cocked his head at the fox, what was he getting at?
"Skeeter likes to call me Boomer, you know that. What else would anyone call me? Is someone calling you something different? Sonic's not calling you Miles is he?"
"No, I … just wanted to make sure. Forget I asked," Tails said, a smile crossing his face. "So, let's see what you've been working on."
Tails' made the smallest of sighs, which Rotor's less than giant ears didn’t pick up. Going through an already open door, Tails marveled at the forever frozen cave of ice, waterproof always worked. It reminded Tails almost of his workshop. Some might have found it strange for Rotor to own his own personal submarine, a little Beaut' he named the Aquasphere, but Tails himself could fly and owned a biplane, and knew what it was like to get exhausted several dozen feet in the air. Rotor's problems far out to sea where no different.
"So Rotor, where this marvelous device of yours?" Tails asked looking around.
"If I had known I'd have it done by the time you came I'd have had you bring Sonic along for the ride, catch." Rotor tossed a small machine with a wrist latch to the small fox. Tails started, the machine had three yellow pieces on its center that vibrated at the slightest touch parallel to each other but not to the bracelet itself.
"The Bounce Bracelet?" Tails said to himself.
"What did you say?"
"Oh nothing, what is it?"
"Just a little something for Sonic, I rigged to respond to his nervous system so he can use it without having to touch any controls. I've done the math. If he does his spin technique and turned it on at the height of his jump, it should shift all the force downward creating a giant shock wave when he hits the ground; not hurting himself of course, but doing plenty of damage to anything he lands on."
Tails tossed the device up the air a few times catching it, like he expected it to vanish or something.
"And here I thought I got to invent all of Sonic's toys."
"I know he's your favorite guinea pig to try out your latest stuff, but you gotta share ya know." Rotor laughed.
"Hey!" Teased Tails. "You know I wouldn't give him anything I thought could hurt him. He does that enough on his own!" This amused both.
Rotor asked. "So how long are you gonna be staying?"
" . . . Not too long, you may be able to handle both temperate and freezing weather but my fur starts to freeze off I try to so much as try to -swim- here."
"Bet you wish you had my protection." Rotor jested.
"Are you kiddin'." Tails took off hovering a few feet above the ground. "There's a reason why I watch my weight, no offence Rotor."
"None taken."
"So you going to move closer to the rest of us?"
"No, not right now, my family is pretty much chained to this place, I don't want to leave them until I'm really needed. From what you've told me, Robotnik's in one of his nasty but petty phases right now."
"Which means big and nasty is sure to follow." Tails thought out loud.
"Don't worry, you've taken everything I could teach you, and most of what Sonic's had the short lived patience to show you all to heart."
"I guess you're right." Spoke Tails using his arms as a pillow for the back of his head as he shifted his tails so they were face to face with the ground. "But I guess it wasn't right without you around."
"Sorry, I had to go away for a while buddy, I wish everyone else would come back too. It's strange that everyone went away at once. Think of it this way, at least you've got Rings, Sonic and me to keep you company. And now, Sonic has a new toy to play with," Rotor said.
"Yeah, I know, it's just ... weird that everyone had to go away at once," Tails said, there was sadness in his voice as though he were concealing something.
"You sure you're okay? You can tell me if something’s bothering you," Rotor said, rubbing his chin carefully as to avoid his tusks.
Tails landed and put his hands behind his back; he looked down and pitched forward a few times. Something
Was definitely up and Rotor wanted to know what. He had a feeling it had something to do with everyone’s absence.
"You ever get the feeling there's something you need to do ... something big but you don't know what it is and are afraid of it?" he asked.
"Does this have something to do with me being away?"
Tails wanted to tell his friend what was wrong but something held him back, like he wasn’t allowed to. Instead he had to say something generic rather then tell the walrus about they're both being formally human but only Tails and a few others knew it. He sadly nodded his head before sitting on a stool to Rotor’s right.
"I keep thinking someone wanted us to be away, that something bad is going to happen and they didn't want us here 'cause we'd stop it before it started kind of thing. What if it's too late to stop this?"
Rotor regarded the fox. It was rare for Tails to speak in riddles like this and Rotor worried that something had happened to Tails and someone had made him forget. Rotor smiled a gentle smile while putting a comforting hand on Tail's right shoulder and taking Tails left hand into his right.
"Whatever reason we were all away, whatever's going to happen to you ... to us, we'll get though it. Do you really think any of us would let someone hurt you? It'll be cool, we'll get through this and before ya know it, we'll all be looking back on this as just another crazy adventure."
Tails smiled at his friend and his emotional state improved in seconds, somehow, the walrus’ words comforted him, like a parent telling their child it was going to be all right and the child knew it was. Tails leaned in and gave Rotor a hug, thanking him.
"Not a problem pal; we're like bros. and I'm here for you no matter what," Rotor said.
Tails released the hug and wiped the tears from his eyes and jumped off the chair.
"Hey, there's this one really cool modification I made to the Tornado. Want to see it? Rings thought it was cool but I dunno, maybe he was just being nice to me." Tails says.
"Sure, I'd love to take a look at it," Rotor said.
"Let me guess, you added -another- transformation?" Tails took the lead out of the house taking a heavy pipe lying against Rotor's wall. "Maybe later. But you have to see this to believe it." The fox dropped the pipe into Rotor's flippers as Tails landed neatly in the walker's cockpit. "Okay, now hit the leg as hard as you can." Rotor looked hesitant.
"I promise it won't electrocute you, just trust me." Still not liking this, Rotor gave the side of one of the legs as hard as he could, leaving a slight dent.
"Again."
"What?"
"Again. Hit it again until I ask you stop, please." Rotor complied and continued hitting it until the dent in the casing was huge and well out of shape, finally Tails told him to cease his assault. "Okay, now watch this!" Instantly the Tornado shifted, the legs splitting apart revealing wheels for each corner of the machine as it took on the shape of a speedster.
"Tails, I'm sorry to say, but you showed me this configuration already."
"That's not the improvement, this is!" Tails cheered and hit one of the controls; the machine transformed back into its previous form. However, the damage Rotor had done to the casing, was reduced to how it was after he only hit it once.
"Tails ... How did you-do that?"
"Isn't it great? I can repair structural damage by converting into one mode and back again now! You can tell that it isn't a sure-fire fix all and having a part blown off isn't exactly something this system can repair. But from how I've done the math I can repair the Tornado's system efficiency by 40% or even more now! I don't even need to repair bullet holes now!"
"Where do you put it all?" Said Rotor; he was not talking about repair materials. "And how does it all fit in that little head of yours?"
Tails grinned, and he felt his cheeks get warm. He'd have blushed if it weren’t for the fur on his face.
"Oh you're just bein' nice to me," Tails responded.
"No, really, you're amazing."
"Thanks ... I wonder what 'ol egghead is gonna say when he sees this feature?" Tails asked.
"I think it'll give him something to think about," Rotor said.
"I'm glad you're back man, things do seem so much better now. Well, I should be getting home; I don't want anyone to worry about me. If you ever want to come and visit, you're always welcome at my place," Tails said.
"I just might take you up on that offer. In the mean time, keep in touch!" Rotor said.
Tails pressed a button that converted the tornado back into flyer mode. He took her up, waved goodbye to Rotor and took off. Rotor watched until Tails disappeared over the horizon. He nodded his head and walked back into his igloo, seeing his family sitting down together watching TV.
"Hey guys," he said
Sketter tapped an empty space on the couch beside him, beckoning Rotor to sit down.
"It feels good to be back and all together again," he said.
Feeling happy, Rotor sat down beside his brother. He thought for a second about what Tails had said. Perhaps something was going to happen. But, he knew they'd get through it as they always did and that he'd be there for his family and to assist his friends in any way he could.
Somewhere, a young looking Mobian watched over the group and the young fox as he returned home. So far, things were working out. Kyle seemed nervous, which she understood but knew he would come through. Her task was far from complete however. With determination, she considered her next assignment before fading out.