Sonic X-Z
Arc 1
Chapter 1
"This is the way you left me - I'm not pretending. No hope, no love, no glory - no happy ending."- Mika - Happy Ending
"Sonic, you should really talk to him," A pink hedgehog insisted.
"What do you mean?" The blue hedgehog asked.
"What do you mean 'what do I mean?!'" The pink hedgehog snapped, placing her hands on her hips. She gave the blue blur a disapproving glare. "Tails has been locked up in his workshop for almost six months now!"
Sonic sighed. He should have known that the only reason Amy wanted to talk to him (aside from her usual flirtatious antics) would be to talk about Tails. She had been insisting for him to speak to the two-tailed fox for weeks now, but in all honesty, Sonic didn't really see the big deal.
"You're overreacting Amy," Sonic started. "Tails has always been this way remember? Eggman has been very quiet lately and it's not unusual for Tails to lock himself up in his workshop."
The pink hedgehog groaned. How could Sonic be so non-nonchalant about this? Sure, he did have a point, but whenever she would attempt to drop by and pay the kit a visit he'd act very strange. "I am not overrating Sonic! Yesterday when I tried to give Tails a visit he didn't answer, yet I could clearly hear him working on the Tornado in the garage!"
Sonic was about to respond, but he then placed his hand beneath his chin in deep thought. It was very unlike Tails to blatantly ignore a visitor like that, especially if he was doing something as routine as working on the Tornado. He could easily work on that and chat at the same time.
The blue hedgehog gave Amy a defeated sigh. "Alright, alright, I'll talk to him."
Amy's eyes lit up. "You really mean it Sonic?"
Sonic flashed her a smirk. "Of course I do. Now, was there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?"
"There sure was," Amy cooed, wrapping her arms around Sonic's in a tight embrace. "Me and you haven't been on a proper date in a long time haven't we."
The blue hedgehog gulped. He then looked at his imaginary wrist watch and blurted, "Well! Would you look at the time! Time to go talk to Tails before it gets too late!" Before Amy could protest, the fastest thing alive had escaped from her grasp and ran out of her door in a literal blue blur.
"Propeller, check. Engine, check. Turbo, check. Thrusters, check. All systems green-"
Tails muttered to himself, going down the systems checklist for the Tornado. In truth he had lost count of just how many times he went through his routine checks for the biplane, but it kept him busy and his mind off of a certain event that had occurred approximately half a year ago.
Although it was ironic how the two-tailed fox kept himself literally trapped in his workshop to distract himself from any and all thoughts that may stray into the past, the stark reminder of the event was carefully potted and placed on his work desk where it would never leave his sight.
"Well, I guess that's that," Tails said. He took a look around and noticed how untidy his workshop had become. The two-tailed fox didn't always keep his work garage the neatest, but as it was now, it was less than presentable to say the least. Embarrassed, Tails looked towards the flower pot and gave it a goofy grin. "I guess I should clean it for your sake."
The seed that Tails had planted in the aftermath of the Metarex War had grown quite considerably. Within just the past few months, it had sprouted flowers and stood almost a foot high. It had grown so much so fast that Tails had to switch pots almost every month just to keep up. However, it had never bothered him, in fact, he was almost excited. What would it grow into? Would it be a person? Or would it just be a regular plant? What if the seed was her child? Although Tails couldn't answer any of those questions, he still watered the plant religiously. He wanted to see it through till the end. But even still, he liked to pretend that there was a person inside there, and would often talk to it in-between his work on a regular basis. It helped put him at ease.
"There, all done!" Tails exclaimed. It had taken him a bit longer than he had thought it would to straighten up his workshop, but he was glad to have at least gotten it done. "Well, how do you like it?" Tails asked the flower with a smile, stepping to the side to allow it to "see" his newly cleaned and organized garage.
"Tails, who are you talking to?"A familiar voice asked from the doorway.
The two-tailed fox nearly jumped from his skin. He turned to see a blue hedgehog giving him a curious look.
"How did you get in here Sonic?" Tails asked.
"You left the door unlocked," Sonic replied cheerfully. Letting himself in and closing the door behind himself.
Tails however, cursed himself for his lack of security and made a mental note to lock the door in the future. "Well, what do you want?" Tails asked, albeit a bit annoyed. Although it was like Sonic to come by unannounced, the blue hedgehog usually understood that whenever he was alone in his workshop, it meant do not disturb.
"I just wanted to check up on you and see how you were doing," Sonic replied. "But, you didn't answer my question. Who were you talking to?"
Tails's eyes shifted from Sonic, to the flower pot, and then back to Sonic. "N-No one, it's none of your business anyways." Tails replied sharply.
"I think finding you talking to yourself is totally 'my business,'" Sonic replied sarcastically.
Tails rolled his eyes. "This coming from the same guy who talks to dead robots."
"Hey! You said you never saw anything!" Sonic fired back.
"Well, too bad, I did!" Tails fired right back at him. They both then chuckled at each other. Sonic was glad to see Tails joking and laughing again. He had to admit that the Tails he saw a few months ago was not like the one he saw now, which meant that he was right in assuming that Amy was just overreacting.
"Is that all you wanted Sonic?" Tails asked him.
"Yea, that's it. Glad to see that you're doing okay lil' buddy," Sonic said with a smile. Before the blue blur made his exit however, a rather large flower on Tails's work desk caught his eye. Sonic approached it in amazement.
"Wow! Is this really the same seed I gave you?" Sonic asked in astonishment.
"Yea, it's beautiful isn't it," Tails said with a proud smile.
"Sure is! Hey, I wonder how it feels," Sonic said, reaching his hand out in an attempt to caress one of the petals. Before his hand could even reached the half-way mark, he felt someone smack his palm away.
"Don't touch it!" Tails barked, taking the flower pot and cupping it protectively.
"Tails I-"
"Get out!" The two-tailed fox growled.
Sonic, feeling like he had overstayed his welcome, immediately took his leave. He couldn't help but feel bad for trying to lay his hands on Tails's most treasured possession, he felt like he should had known better. But even so, it was very unlike Tails to lash out in aggression like that, especially at him of all people.
It looked like Amy wasn't overreacting after all.