Psionic the Hedgehog - Part II

By Shariq Ansari aka DarkeSword

Comments? Email me at darkesword@exphyl.com

* * * * *

Psionic and Tales stood impatiently in the main hangar of Espio's Rent-A-Plane.  
It was a huge enclosure, filled with planes of all sorts:  biplanes, fighters, 
dropships, even a hot air balloon in the corner.  There were a couple of 
mechanics around, working on the various aircraft.

"Hey Espio!  I'm waaaiiiiting!"  Psionic tapped his foot impatiently.  He was 
not to thrilled with being kept waiting at the desk for so long.

"Hold your horses, Psi."  Espio the Chameleon walked out of the back room and 
over to the metal counter.  He was a young looking chameleon, maybe only 18, 
with a single horn on his forehead.  His scales were a deep violet color, but 
they changed periodically with his emotion.  Like a walking mood ring, Psionic 
once told him.

"So, whaddaya need? he asked.

Tales piped up.  "A biplane.  We're doing some emerald hunting and need to fly 
off the island to get to the first one."

Espio laughed and turned orange.  "Emerald hunting, eh?  You guys never give up, 
do you?"

Psionic smiled.  "Nope.  And we never will."  He then leaned forward put a sly 
edge to his voice.  "So whaddaya say, Espio?  How about giving us a discount 
this time around?"

Epsio smirked and turned blue.  "Are you kidding me?  After what you did to the 
Tornado?  I'm still charging  you extra for the repairs!  I don't know what you 
two do out there, but my planes always come back wrecked.  I don't even know why 
I still rent out to you."

Tales pushed her slipping glasses back up her snout with her index finger.  
"Because we're your friends."

Espio shook his head and sighed.  "Yeah, that's probably it.  Well, Psi, you 
need to sign here, and I need to see your pilot's license, Tales."

Tales raised her eyebrows in panic.  "But you've already seen it before!  Why do 
I always have to do this?"

Psionic smiled, knowing what was coming next.  "C'mon Tales.  It's routine," 
said Espio.

Tales grumbled.  "Okay.  FINE!"  She reached into her bag, pulled out her 
license and slammed it on the table.  "HERE!"

Espio picked it up and looked at Tales' picture.  He turned a bright orange 
color and started to laugh uncontrollably.  Psionic laughed too, because he knew 
how much Tales hated the picture on her license, and also because she looked so 
funny in it.

Tales, on the other hand, was steaming.  "Alright, alright.  Are you done?"

Espio's laughter was subsiding now, and he was fading back into his deep purple 
color.  "Yeah, hold on."  He wiped a tear from his eye and copied the number on 
the license onto the form.  "Okay, here."

Tales snatched the license back from the chameleon and stuffed it in her back.  
Psionic could only smile.  "So where's the biplane?" he asked.

"Over here."  Espio walked over to a plane that was covered with a tarp.  
"Behold, my friends!  The Tornado II!"  He grabbed and edge and pulled the tarp 
away, revealing a beautiful purple and gold biplane.

Tales looked speechless.  Psionic raised his brow.  "It's pretty, Espio.  But 
how does it fly?" he asked.

Espio nodded.  "Like a dream Psi.  Like a dream."

* * * * *

"The CED says we're getting closer, Psionic."  Tales looked around and turned 
the plane slightly to the left.  There, she thought, Right on target.  

The sky was a beautiful blue color, with tiny clouds scattered everywhere.  The 
sun was behind them.  Tales was relieved about that.  She hated flying with the 
sun in front of her.  It was just so annoying.

Tales checked her watch.  They'd been flying for about an hour now, and she was 
getting hungry.  She hadn't eaten anything since breakfast.

"You should've packed a snack."  Psionic was sitting on top of the upper wing, 
eating a candy bar.

Tales looked at him angrily.  Get outta my head, Psionic, she thought.

"Okay, okay.  No need to get angry."  Psionic munched for a while and let the 
wind pass through his quills.  "So what exactly are we suposed to be looking 
for, Tales?  A blue emerald floating in the sky?"

Tales pushed her glasses up.  "You tell me.  You're the the one with the link to 
the psycho-chaos field."

Psionic frowned.  "Well that's the thing.  Everytime I tap into the field I get 
an image of an island floating in the sky.  Last time I checked, islands don't 
float."

Tales sighed.  "Well then, I guess we'll just find out when we get there.  The 
CED says that the point is just over the horizon."

Tales looked out to the horizon.  At first there was nothing, but then she saw a 
shimmering cloud approaching.  "Psionic, do you see that?"

"Yeah, I see it."  Psionic was standing up now, his eyes glowing.  "Tales, get 
ready to land."

"LAND?!  Land on what?!  We're in the middle of the ocean!"  Despite her 
arguement, she was already making preparations.  She knew that when Psionic's 
eyes glowed, he wasn't kidding around.  Then she heard him whisper.

"Show yourself, Angel."

A bright light shot out of the sparkling cloud in every direction.  It looked 
like the entire thing exploded.  Tales sheilded her eyes with her arm.  When the 
light died Tales pulled her arm away and gasped.

Floating above the ocean was a massive island.  There were trees everywhere, 
with ancient ruins all around.  Small rivers ran to the edge of the land mass, 
where the water would drop off in tiny waterfalls.  In the center of the island 
was a giant volcano, which looked to be dormant.

Tales rubbed her eyes, to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.  "Psionic, do you 
see what I see?"

Psionic smiled.  "Yeah Tales.  I see it.  It's the Island of the Angels."