calvin-kim

"I can't believe it's been almost two years since we set foot on Mystic City." Wave intertwined her fingers together while twiddling her thumbs. She looked over to the fox next to her, the fox who now devoted his life to helping homeless kids all around the country. "I know. It feels much longer than just two though, doesn't it?" Tails, who now had a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes, gripped the umbrella he's been using since the day he went blind. He was just as excited to meet his friends as Wave was to get a proper bed and some sleep. Living on the road meant they would sometimes lack adequate sleeping quarters, the one thing that Wave sincerely missed from her previous life. "A lot has happened since we left, hasn't it?" Wave sighed, watching the trees outside the tracks rush by her at blazing speed. Either the trains have gotten faster or her life has gotten slower. Wave couldn't tell. "Well, a lot has happened to us since we left, and I expect the same logic to be applied

Arty looked up at the plane that his role model used to fly before all this happened. He had heard the news that Tails the fox, resident hero, had gone blind from the big boy papers that were left on the front porch every day. It was several months ago at this point, but that was something that he thought about every day. Now that he actually met his favorite hero though, it was even more relevant in his everyday thoughts. Tails was his favorite hero out of the countless heroes in this world. A lot of kids his age loved Sonic and Shadow since they were hip and cool and had street cred, but Arty could not relate to them. Tails, however, was what Arty dreamed to be. A young orphan who was bullied for his abnormality that became a world-saving badass hero that could fly. The latter half of that sentence was only a dream for the little old Arty though, since he was a parrot who couldn't fly. Tails was only a couple of feet away from him while sitting on a stool as he listened to a podcast

"So that's that, huh? The world lost a hero?" "Yeah, no more hero business from me. Sonic's strong enough to deal with Eggman by himself nowadays anyway." Tails sipped from his coffee mug. He was out getting coffee with Wave at the moment, and he was talking about the latest adventure he had with Sonic, which was most likely going to be the last adventure he ever had with him. "Not to mention that Egghead's plans are getting worse and worse," Wave added, making a purposefully loud noise through her straw. Tails got a cup of espresso, and Wave got a milkshake. "Well, he still managed to make me go blind. So I guess that's one way he managed to get a victory over the heroes-" "Are you Tails the Fox?" Tails was cut off by a young wolf boy with big round glasses who was holding a Crush 40 album. He couldn't have been older than how old Sonic was when he adopted Tails. Around 11, was the fox's best guess. "Um, yes? Is there something you need?" He turned towards the origin of the voice

"Hey, Tails. Can you do me a small favor?" Knuckles asked one day while he was chilling with Tails. Tails often had days where he would do nothing but vibe with some music turned on, have snacks, and just chill. This started happening a lot more often now that he was out of a job and no longer doing any hero business. Other people started joining him in these activities lately as well. Yesterday, Sonic came by to do nothing but sit in his beanbag with a chili dog in hand, and Wave came by to get some ice cream with Tails. Right now, Knuckles was here to eat some homemade nachos and salsa, right until he asked Tails for a favor. "Depends on what it is," Tails replied, temporarily turning off the music coming from the radio. "I have to draw the line somewhere." He was willing to do most things, considering all the things Knuckles had done for him in the past. "I need to get my plane fixed. The one you gave me, remember? It's still broken and I have to go check up on the Master Emerald

Tails woke up and instantly felt great, despite waking up much earlier than he usually did. This was something he hasn't experienced in a long time. Ever since he went blind, waking up was a complete hassle that he never enjoyed. Waking up from a dream where he could vaguely remember what everyone looked like, and realizing that in the real world everything was black and depressing was not a good feeling. However, today was going to be different. He was going to be flying his beloved Tornado again. He couldn't believe that he was going to be pursuing his lifelong dream even after what happened to his eyes. He was not going to loaf around in bed, struggling to get up on a day as important as this. He woke up at sunrise, not wanting to fly after the sun had set. Even if vision was not an issue he would have to deal with if things went right, flying in the dark was sort of a jinx he didn't feel comfortable doing. Tails got up and headed downstairs, straight into the workshop where his

"So why are you doing this again?" "I don't want to go on thinking 'what if'. I want to try everything I can before I officially give up. If this doesn't work, so be it, but I think this will really work Marine." It had been a few days since Tails met Wave's dad. After mulling it over for a few days, Tails ultimately decided to try everything he could before raising the white handkerchief. "So you think that'll work, eh? Thank you for trusting my abilities!" She leaned on the Sonar machine and smacked it a couple times, proud of her work. While Tails had been moping away, Marine worked on a sonar machine Tails could use. She herself was of the mindset that even if Tails decided against using it, it would have been good practice. "I trust you to follow my instructions well with your own ideas." Tails smiled, slapping his own creation in response. The Tornado was back to its original, handsome form. Tails sighed, happy to know that his most prized possession was no longer broken down and

There were dragons when I was a boy "Dad, that's How to Train Your Dragons by Cressida Cowell, not your life story" "I get the two mixed up sometimes. Can you blame the old man? Also, stop interrupting me. When I was a young boy, I was an extreme gear rider just like my girl here. The sport is very famous to Avians, as you probably know by now. And just like every other edgy teenager in their angsty youth, I believed that I could become a world class gear rider. Unlike all those other teenagers, I actually succeeded. Well, partially. I was a recognized name in my region at my prime but I never made it past that point. But I could have! And don't let anyone tell you otherwise!" "Dad, I've seen videos of you in your peak before. Your form was completely amateur and-" "Shut it! My form may be amateur by modern standards but it was revolutionary at the time. And again, stop cutting me off." Tails smiled silently. He wasn't sure where he was going with this, but he liked Wave's father. He

Rotor was discussing parts with Tails based on the list of things Marine gave to him. Cream waited near the entrance since there was an old couch for her to sit on. Wave had finished her business with the walrus, so she decided to wait for Tails along with Cream on the sofa. "So how do you know Tails?" Wave asked, leaning her head to one side as she asked the adorable rabbit. "Oh! Um... I knew Mr. Tails since we were young…" Cream returned to her habit of being a bit too formal when she was nervous. She had to admit she was just a tad bit intimidated by Wave. She wished she could just leave, but she couldn't leave Tails here all by himself. "Are you two... In a relationship?" Wave asked, with just the tiniest bit of acid in her voice. Cream shivered and wondered what it would be like to get on the bad side of the swallow. She felt bad for anyone who had happened to experience that firsthand. "N-No, T-Tails and I... Um... I have a partner" Cream coughed, bringing her hands forward on

"I don't think that this design would be very..." "Very what?" "Very...Aerodynamic" Marine scratched her head with the end of a pencil and stared blankly at Tails' messy blueprint. Considering that it was made by a blind person, she had to give credit where credit was due. That there was an effort made. But other than that, she couldn't think of anything nice to say about it. The instructions were very unclear and hard to understand, even after learning Tails' method of deciphering his writing and drawings. "What do you mean by not very aerodynamic" Tails asked. Marine squinted at the crude artwork of an airplane that had its rear end overlapping with its wing. "As in that, it would need an extra spacial dimension to be functional" "That would be a massive hindrance to its functionality, yes." Tails agreed, rubbing his chin in thought. "I might have some of the blueprints I created before I went blind. Let's see if those are any better." Tails went ahead and dug through his neatly

The Rabbits had a lovely little cottage. Despite what their attitude, mannerisms, and lifestyle showed, they were actually very wealthy folks who chose to live a modest and humble life baking cookies and planting flowers. Cream didn't mind her mother's choice one bit and preferred the calm atmosphere of the quiet life she led. Well, it wasn't exactly quiet what with Sonic and his friends around, but most of the time she led a peaceful life with her mother, Cheese and Chocola, and Gemerl... Gemerl was dysfunctional at the moment. She didn't like to think about it. When Blaze and Silver came by last night and explained their situation, Vanilla was more than happy to help. After getting permission to stay at their summer home on Bygone Island, Blaze wanted to have a moment and talk with Cream. "Cream," she said, scribbling an address on a blank piece of paper and handing it to her. "Tails is going to come over tomorrow and ask you to guide him to this place. It's where Marine lives You've