Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic; everything about Sonic belongs to SEGA.
This story is set after the events of Sonic Rivals 2. The most thrilling adventure can be found at the most unexpected places, even in the safety of your own house. Enjoy.
Don't mess with the Chaos energy
After a few years of travelling, Tails and Sonic managed to build a small house in Mystic Ruin, a swampy and overgrown rainforest far from civilization, but since Sonic would disappear to who-knows-where at times, the house was practically registered under the fox's name. Although everything was usually quiet and peaceful inside the cozy place, there were times when loud screams coming from the place that could be heard from miles away, mostly Sonic's. Even though Sonic was more than capable of dealing with anything thrown at him by Eggman or any super-powered gods or aliens, he still had problems dealing with the 8-year-old Tails' crazy antics and equally crazy inventions.
The story began on a summer day, after the events orchestrated by Dr. Eggman Nega and the rise of Ifrit. Tails was sitting in the lab of his house tinkering with a project. Meanwhile, Sonic was relaxing in the living room, taking a break from his hero's duties for a few days, now that Eggman had decided to lay low. "I need a vacation from Eggman." thought Sonic as he lied down on the sofa. Suddenly, Sonic heard some noise coming from the basement. The hedgehog had long gotten used to clanging noises that would annoy the hell out of any visitor coming from the lab, so he didn't mind much. After surfing through the channels aimlessly, Sonic turned off the TV and went down to check on Tails, for the kid had been down there for more than three hours. When he was down there, he saw Tails sitting on his desk, working with something that looked like a glowing glove.
"Yo Tails." said Sonic as he tried to catch the attention of the earnest inventor, "About time for a break, don't you think?"
"Nah, I'm almost done with this project." said Tails without turning his head to look at his housemate and still tinkering. "This will be my most amazing inventions yet."
"You said the same thing about the exploding toaster that destroyed half of the house a few years ago." Sonic jokingly reminded the fox about his malfunctioned creation.
"That was then, this is now. This invention of mine is going to be big."
"If you say so." said Sonic as he headed for the stairs, "I'll be upstairs enjoying some chilidogs if you need me." After that, Sonic left Tails alone to his work.
Half an hour later, Tails was done. He held his invention up in the air proudly and admired its shimmering beauty. His latest invention was a glove with glowing cyan lines all over. Tails threw his goggles and his tools back on his desk and ran upstairs to show Sonic the completed works he had put his heart and soul into.
"Sonic, check out my latest invention." said Tails as he practically shoved the glove into Sonic's face while he was watching TV.
"What is it this time?" said Sonic, slightly annoyed that he was interrupted.
"It's called the ESP Glove." Tails said proudly and clearly as he pointed at his prized creation.
"I can see that it's a glove Tails. What does it do?" Sonic paused a little when he heard the word ESP. The design of the glove looked oddly familiar to the speedy hedgehog, like he had seen it somewhere before. Suddenly, it hit him. Sonic had indeed seen the glove before; it belonged to Silver the hedgehog, Sonic's time-travelling friend with a gift of telekinesis.
"Tails? Did you steal Silver's gloves?" asked Sonic in surprise.
"What? How could you say that? I have never stolen anyone's belonging before, except your sneakers…" Tails replied in a slightly annoyed tone at Sonic's little "accusation".
"You did what? When did you take my sneakers?" Sonic jumped out of the sofa and looked at his sneakers like they were ticking time bombs. Knowing how out-of-control Tails' inventions could be, there was a possibility that they could blow up at any given time.
"A few years ago, but that's not important right now. This is not Silver's glove, but its replica, okay." Tails "expertly" tried to change the subject.
"Okay? Why do you want to replicate Silver's glove. His psychic powers are innate, so the glove is practically useless."
"Of course I know that. Just listen to me. This ESP Glove can harness the power of the Chaos Emerald and allow me to move objects at will." said Tails as he put the glove on, eager to test it out.
Tails had always been fascinated by his friends' unique abilities. For example, Blaze's pyrokinesis, Shadow and Sonic's ability to use Chaos Control, and also Silver's telekinesis. He had always loved to study them and create technologies that could produce the same powers. Sonic, however, knew that messing with powers one couldn't control could result in a catastrophe, if not a cataclysm.
"You said it's powered by the Chaos Emerald, but we don't have any remember?" said Sonic as he tried to dissuade the fox from trying his latest and potentially most dangerous inventions in years.
"No problem, Sonic. I have this." Tails replied as he pulled out a perfect replica of the yellow Chaos Emerald that he had created before the incidents of the space colony ARK. "It has the same wavelengths as the real emerald, so it should be enough to power up my glove." Tails said cheerfully.
Sonic smacked his face in resignation. He knew there was no way he could talk Tails out of this. Seeing the kid's joyous expression made Sonic happy and terrified at the same time. Tails had managed to keep the number of indoor explosions to a minimum for the last few years, but this glove could very well put an end to that streak.
Tails excitedly put the replica Chaos Emerald close to the glove. The ESP Glove started to absorb the energy the emerald emitted and glowed up. If one didn't know any better, he would surely accuse Tails of stealing Silver's glove like Sonic had. After a while, Tails put the emerald on the table and began his test. The fox waved his hand at the TV and it immediately floated in mid-air, which made Tails laugh with glee.
"Yes, it works…It really works. Look Sonic, it's floating. Told you this would work." Tails exclaimed excitedly at his success. Sonic, however, didn't look very happy. He had known Tails for a really long time, and he knew full well that if the first try was successful, the fox would be tempted to go for a second try, which he really did. Soon, there was nothing in the house that wasn't floating, including Sonic himself, much to his dismay.
Tails excitedly ran out of the house to test the glove's powers on bigger objects like boulders and logs, and he managed to accomplish those feats with ease. Sonic followed Tails closely to make sure nothing bad happened to his younger charge. Along the way, Tails continued to levitate anything he could find in a childish manner, from tangible things like grass, woods…to intangible things like water.
On the way, the duo ran into Amy, who was on her way to Tails' workshop to continue her endless, and apparently fruitless, quest to woe Sonic. Seeing Amy only added to Sonic' dismay as he frantically looked around for a bush to hide in. However, it was too late for the speedy hero because he had already been spotted.
"Hello, Sonic." said Amy as she struggled to stay calm. "What are you doing all the way out here?" she then flashed him a flirty wink, which terrified Sonic.
"Hi, Amy." Sonic said, trying his best to stay calm, "Just accompanying Tails on his little test run." Sonic pointed at the kid, who was still busy levitating things with his invention.
"Oh, is that so? Well, how about I accompany you then?"
Sonic was about to voice his protest, but Tails suddenly jumped in between them.
"Amy, have you seen my new ESP glove? It can levitate things like Silver does, it's really cool." Tails then levitated a huge log behind Amy to demonstrate, which amazed her. Although Amy had always known for a fact that Tails was a genius capable of anything, she was still amazed by the kid's abilities.
"That's incredible Tails. Silver'd better watch out for a new techno psychic in town." Amy playfully remarked.
"Yep, there is more. Check thi…" Tails was cut off by a sudden glow from the glove. The light changed from cyan to crimson, which spelled trouble for the three friends.
"That doesn't look good." said Sonic nervously as he watched. A few minutes later, the glove suddenly shone brightly and levitated everything within a radius of three meters, excluding the three friends. Tails desperately tried to regain control of the glove as he pressed some buttons on it to dissipate the Chaos Emerald's energy. After struggling for a few minutes, Tails succeeded, and the glow stopped, much to his relief.
"There, everything is under control." Tails said proudly as he waved his hand at Amy, which accidently activated the glove and it lifted Amy's skirt slightly. Needless to say how mad Amy was as fumes could clearly be seen on top of her head.
"Tails…You are so dead." shouted Amy.
"I'm sorry, Amy. I swear I didn't see any hearts, oops." Tails innocently blurted out in his fright, which in turn added more fumes to the already wrathful pink hedgehog. If she had been fuming a few seconds ago, her head was practically an erupting volcano now.
"You're both dead. D-E-A-D. DEAD. I'm going to bury you six feet under, you perverts." She then took out her trusty Piko Piko Hammer and started waving it furiously at Tails and Sonic, making the two flee in fright. Nothing could scare Sonic like an angry Amy Rose wielding her menacing hammer. Sonic quickly grabbed Tails' hand and ran back to Mystic Ruin.
When they were back inside the safety of Tails' workshop, both Sonic and Tails sighed in relief as they had escaped certain doom, albeit barely. Tails took off the glove and placed it on the table.
"That was a close call…Tails…" said Sonic breathlessly, "no more experiments with Chaos energy for the next two months, except for the Tornado."
"Yeah…"said Tails, "I think I can live with that."
When they returned, it was already evening, and both of them were worn out from their little excursion, so they both headed to bed after a quick bite. Tails turned off the light in the living room and went to his room upstairs to get a shuteye after a tiring play day, and soon drifted to sleep. Sonic did the same. However, little did they know they were in for a sleepless night. Tails, in his haste, had absent-mindedly placed the ESP Glove next to his the fake Emerald, and the glove began to glow dimly as it absorbed the power from the source next to it. Soon, cyan turned into crimson, and troubles ensued.
It was midnight, both Tails and Sonic were sleeping quietly in their comfortable beds. Suddenly, there was a really loud crashing sound downstairs that woke them up almost instantly. In a millisecond, Sonic arrived in Tails' room to make sure the fox was okay.
"What's that sound?" asked Sonic.
"I don't know, Sonic. Could it be a burglar? Or maybe Eggman's drones?" Tails replied nervously, fearing the former more than the latter. He wasn't scared of Eggman's robots with state-of-the-art technologies, but he was terrified at a burglar with a sharp knife.
"Let's check it out." Sonic and Tails then went downstairs. The living room was dark, not a single glimmer of light could be seen. Tails managed to find the switch and turned the lights on, but he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Everything was where they should be.
"That's strange. I thought I heard something." said Sonic as e looked around to identify the source of the strange noise, but to no avail. After a few minutes of searching in vain, both Tails and Sonic decided to go back to sleep, hoping that only their minds had played tricks on them. Tails and Sonic returned to their beds and soon dozed off.
However, fate decreed that they would not sleep a wink that night. Another sound was heard from their bedrooms, this time, it was the sound of something being moved along the floor.
Once again, Sonic and Tails jumped out of their beds and ran downstairs to investigate, and once again, nothing out of the ordinary was seen, until Tails looked saw the TV.
"Sonic? Did you move the TV this morning?" Tails asked shakily, hoping that Sonic would say yes.
"No. Why?" Sonic turned around and looked at the direction where Tails was pointing at and saw the TV. If it was just about the TV, there would be no need for concern. However, the TV was at a very unusual position; it was on the sofa. Sonic's eyes opened wide as he looked, and so did Tails. The fox immediately whimpered and was about to cry. If Sonic hadn't done this, and there were only two people living in this house, then the only plausible explanation would be the doing of paranormal activities, or more specifically, ghosts.
There were two things that scared Tails more than anything in existence. The first was thunder, and the second was ghost. If thunder sacred Tails speechless, then ghosts scared the fox witless. Sonic cold see the kid's fear from the way he was shaking uncontrollably. He quickly threw an arm across Tails and pulled him into a tight hug, hoping to calm the fox down.
"Tails, calm down. Whatever that is, we'll find it, but I can assure you, there is no ghost." Sonic smiled gently at Tails, which managed to make him feel less scared.
"But if it's not a ghost, then, what could possibly move things…around…on. THE GLOVE." Tails suddenly shouted into Sonic's ear, making him fall back flat on his butt.
"Geez, Tails, what did you do that for?" asked Sonic as he gingerly caressed his butt where he had landed on.
"Sonic, have you seen my glove and the fake Chaos Emerald anywhere?" Tails asked as he frantically looked around searching for the two items. He remembered leaving them on the table, but even the table was gone.
"Wait, are you saying you left your glove lying near the emerald and now it's gone amok?"
"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up." Tails covered his face with his palm in embarrassment. "We need to find them quickly before…"
Tails was cut off by a sudden noise. The entire room shone crimson and everything began to float. It was undoubtedly the work of Tails' invention. Without warning, the levitating objects flew straight at the duo. Tails and Sonic managed to dodge everything and quickly began to search for the glove in question. They had to dodge their household objects, now turned into lethal weapons capable of impaling even steel, and search for the glove and the fake emerald at the same time. Everywhere they went, there was danger. Sonic went to the kitchen and to find the missing objects, only to be greeted by a barrage of kitchen knives flying right at him. The speedy hero managed to dodge and escape instant death by impaling. He looked back and saw that the knives had creatively formed the word "DEAD" on the wall.
"Ouch." was all the hedgehog could mutter at the sight. In the bathroom, Tails was having trouble of his own. As he tried to find the glove, the sinks and some bucket of waters splashed him, soaking the fox from head to toe. "Good thing Sonic is searching in the kitchen" thought Tails to himself. After scanning every corner of the bathroom and making sure that his targets were not there, Tails quickly ran out of the bathroom before a second wave of water soaked him. He quickly ran back to the living room and met up with Sonic.
"Dude, what happened to you?" Sonic said as he saw the drenched fox in front of him.
"Never mind that. Have you found the glove yet?" Tails asked Sonic, only to get a no from the hedgehog. At that time, they knew that there was only one place they had not searched in the house: Tails' lab. Quickly, they both went to the basement. As they were about to open the door, it was blown up by a laser beam from the other side, luckily, no one was hurt. Tails and Sonic took a peek inside the lab and saw their targets, the ESP Glove, the fake emerald, and of course, the table. This time, the glove was controlling the laser guns Tails had invented for the Tornado, and they were very dangerous.
"Can't we just wait for the glove to run out of energy like the last time?" asked Sonic.
"No we can't. The glove is right next to the emerald, which is the endless source of energy by the way. Thankfully, it's only a fake, so its power is nowhere near the real thing."
The laser guns continued to fire relentlessly in every direction, destroying everything in Tails' lab. Thanks to the sturdy walls built to withstand a nuclear explosion, nothing outside the room was damaged.
"Okay, Tails, on the count of three, I'll run in and distract the guns. You take care of the glove."
Tails nodded in response, acknowledging his part. Sonic then began to count down. At the count of three, Sonic ran straight into the room, using his superb agility to evade the deadly laser beams and destroy the guns. After all the guns were destroyed, more objects went flying at Sonic, mostly Tails' tools and electronic devices. He did his best to avoid everything thrown at him and keep them away from Tails.
Tails stealthily crawls across the room and soon reached the table where the glove was. He grabbed the glove and tried his best to separate it from the fake emerald, but to no avail.
"It's no use Sonic, the emerald's magnetic pulse is too strong, I can't separate them." Tails shouted out to Sonic, who was busy running around at top speed for his dear life.
"Then we'll just have to destroy it." said Sonic as he ran toward the glove and attacked it with his spin dash. After that, Sonic quickly grabbed Tails and jumped out of the way, allowing the pursuing objects ram into the glove at full force. The glove flared up and exploded a few seconds later, making the entire foundation of the workshop shake. Sonic was blasted off, but he landed on something soft and fluffy. Sonic stood up and tried to look for his young charge in the thick screen of smoke.
"Tails? Where are you?" Sonic shouted out loud as he waved his hands around to clear the smoke.
"Right here Sonic." replied Tails, but Sonic couldn't see him.
"Where are you, buddy?"
"Under your butt."
Sonic then looked down and saw he was sitting on Tails' back. The fluffy thing that had broken his fall was actually Tails. Sonic got off of Tails and helped him back to his feet. Tails looked around what was left of his lab. Thankfully, most of his blueprints were safe in the vault; everything else, however, was a different story. The lab was a complete mess.
"Is it over?" asked Sonic as he looked around for the fake emerald and the defective glove.
"Yeah, I think so, look there." Tails pointed at the table where the two items in question were. The gloves had been destroyed, while the fake emerald was shattered to pieces by the explosion. Tails and Sonic sighed in relief that their nightmare was over.
"Tails," Sonic began, "no more Chaos Emerald-powered gizmos for two months, got that?"
"Got it." replied Tails sheepishly. "I've had enough fun for one night. I think we'd better go to bed." Tails then yawned, making Sonic feel sleepy as well. Without another word, they both headed back to their bedrooms after carefully throwing away the pieces of the fake emeralds and the glove just in case. The rest of the night passed peacefully.
The next morning, Tails and Sonic woke up early despite the commotions they had gone through the night before. As usual, after breakfast, the fox went straight into tinkering with his devices in the living room while Sonic went out for a run. After a few hours, Sonic returned to find the fox had not moved from his location.
"What are you doing Tails?" said Sonic as he looked over the fox's head.
"It's a new invention of mine." Tails replied cheerfully. "It's called the Fire Ring."
Sonic gulped as he heard the name. In his mind, the image of Blaze appeared, along with the memories of how she burned all of Eggman's robots into a crisp.
"So, Tails…" Sonic asked warily, hoping this new ring was just a portable heater. "What does this do?"
"Well, it can manifest and manipulate all kinds of flames, you know, like Blaze does. Learning from my past mistakes with the ESP Glove, I'm not using the Chaos Emerald to power up this ring. Instead, I'll be using the Chaos Drive, which is less powerful and less potent, not to mention more unstable."
Chaos Drive, in essence, was crystallized Chaos Energy, so the potential and threats it presented were comparable to a Chaos Emerald, but to a much smaller scale. However, Sonic was not going to take his chance again and have Tails burn down the entire workshop to the ground. Without warning, he grabbed the ring that Tails was holding and ran outside the door. While running, he could hear the kid scream "NO" at the top of his lung.
After Sonic had reached the farthest corner of the Mystic Ruin, he destroyed the ring, preventing further chaos brought about by Tails' curiosity. After that, the hedgehog waved his hand at the sky above and quietly in his breath.
"I need a vacation from Tails. Sure hope Eggman is available." After that, he sped off to Eggman's nearest base, hoping that he was home.
THE END