Based on issue #114 of Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comic

Twice Retold

As told by Clone-Tails

I had that dream again. The same one I had the night before… and the night before that, and the night before that. I'm standing outside that same cave, dark and uninviting, as the wind whips up around me, tousling my fur, and I can feel rain in the air. It's going to storm. I hate storms. The sky looks ominous.

Boy, that cave sure is spooky… But it's about to rain! What do I do?

Before I can make my mind up, something catches my eye, glinting in the darkness. There's no mistaking the demonic gleam of the pair of eyes staring out at me from the shrouded depths. My heart freezes in my chest; fear makes it impossible to run. But somehow, I manage to gasp out, "There's something—

--in there!"

The sentence that starts outside the cave finishes, as usual, in the bedroom where Sonic and I had been sleeping. Once again, I find myself breathless and disoriented, yet perfectly safe. No cave. No storm. No freaky eyes. Just the bedroom… and Sonic.

As always, he's at my side within seconds, expression mildly concerned. He assures me that it's okay; that I'm just having a bad dream.

Again.

I must have woken his parents and his uncle too, because the next thing I know they're all in the room too. Boy do I feel guilty… I didn't mean to ruin everyone's sleep! They all agree that it's strange that I've had the same nightmare every single night without fail for a whole week. Strange doesn't begin to cover it! I've never had a run of nightmares like this before. Maybe there's something wrong with me.

"Maybe a visit to Doctor Quack tomorrow wouldn't be a bad idea," Sonic's mom suggests.

I shudder. "Aw man, no needles, right?"

Did I mention I hate needles? They're all pointy and pokey and they hurt! I don't want anyone sticking a needle in me unless I'm dying or something.

So Sonic's mom and dad and uncle tell us to get some rest, and they leave. And then Sonic tells me something that sticks with me. He tells me that if I have that nightmare again, "Just remember that I've got your back, bud!"

I know I'll have the nightmare again, but I'm not prepared for how soon.

I feel like I want to open up to him. Maybe he can help me understand what it all means. The cave, the storm, the eyes… they seem so familiar. Like I've seen them before…

"What does it mean, huh, Sonic? … Sonic?"

But he's fast asleep. I feel a little disappointed, but I can't expect him to stay awake all night just to talk to me.

I glance to the window. The night is dark and still outside, but something inside of me is churning like the storm in my dream, telling me that I have to go somewhere. I have to do something. I can't silence it anymore than I can stop the dreams from haunting my sleep every night. Maybe if I listen, if I follow, I can make it stop.

I don't know what compels me, but the next thing I know I'm airborne, leaving Knothole village behind as the Tornado soars gracefully up above the trees. The ground falls away, leaving me alone with the sky, until at last, we're there. The Tornado and I. She's never failed me, even now; on a journey into nowhere… we got there in one piece.

I disembark and venture forth.

I don't believe it!

Before I can react fully to the incredibly freaky sensation of seeing that cave right in front of me, I hear a very familiar voice behind me.

"Hey Tails, wait up!"

He followed me all the way here? I should be surprised, maybe even angry. But I'm not. I'm relieved to not be here alone, and touched that Sonic chased the Tornado and me all the way out to this… place, wherever this is, just so I wouldn't be out here alone.

"This is it, Sonic! The cave from my dream!" I tell him. Then I tell him about how I have no idea how I knew how to get here, and that I feel like I should go inside… but I'm scared.

Once again, Sonic promises that he's with me all the way. I feel comforted. I know he means it. I can still hear his voice… Wherever all the way goes! It's all… good?

We stumble out into the cavernous belly of the cave. The light hurts my eyes for a moment. Pure electrical energy, green, flickering… a huge ball of it, suspended in thin air right in front of us. But it's not the chaotic glowing sphere that makes my jaw drop and the fur on the back of my neck stand on end.

"Sonic…"

I whisper the word, my voice shaky with disbelief and confusion.

"I see him, Tails..." Sonic sounds equally dumbfounded.

"He's me!"

The words make no sense even as they spill from my mouth, but I'd know me if I saw me, and that's definitely me inside that energy ball!

"Not quite."

The voice comes from behind us, making us both start. I suppose nothing should surprise me now, but I can't believe my eyes. Mammoth Mogul!

Sonic challenges him, demands to know what he's up to. As usual, the mammoth uses a lot of long words – some of which even I don't know – but he explains how he escaped from a fate of dematerialization by intercepting my transaction with Althair and—

No. No, that can't be right. He trapped Tails in that ball of light and created me to take his place so that his disappearance wouldn't be noticed? I can't take it in. It can't be true. That's crazy!

If Mammoth's telling the truth that means I'm a fake… not really me!

The thought is so simplistic that it horrifies me to the core. I'm not real?

I look up at the floating form drifting listlessly within the energy field crackling above my head. Turbo Tails. My powered-up form. He doesn't look real. How can I be the fake?

Sonic and Mogul are fighting. I should help him. But all I'm capable of doing is standing there, my mind trying to process ten-thousand things at once. I'm a fake. Everything that I believed, felt, saw, shared… all of it aside from the past couple of months never really happened!

But my memories, my feelings, they seem so real!

I have a sudden desire to dash my arm against a rock. Not out of any sense of self-loathing, not to suffer, but just to see… would I bleed? Am I even capable of bleeding? Maybe I'm just pure Chaos. Chaos like the sparkling spitting matter surrounding the seemingly comatose body of the 'real' me.

I'm not real. I'm not real and I never was. It was all a lie. Everything I thought I knew… my childhood, growing up with Sonic, all our adventures, the things we shared… they weren't mine. They were his. I'm not Tails. I'm not Sonic's best friend, the one he calls 'big guy' and 'T2' and 'bestest bud ever'. I'm not the one he'd put his life on the line for just to make sure I'm okay. I'm not the one that the cocky winks and smirks and thumbs ups are for. I'm a phoney. An impostor. Sonic's real best friend is floating there in front of me. All of it is his. He's the real deal and I'm… I'm nothing.

I should just be melting into a puddle right here, but before I can wallow further, I see Mogul powering up to lay the final smack on Sonic. In that moment, I don't care what happens to me, but I'm not going to see Sonic get hurt! I may not be real, I may not have truly earned any of his friendship and compassion… but he's the real deal. I owe all of the happiness I've known to him.

"Guess again, creep!" I yell as I throw as much weight as I can into beaning him in the back of the head with my whole body. He stumbles, and Sonic declares that if we keep it up, the two of us, he'll lose concentration. We'll win.

So I put my all into winning, even though I know what that will mean for me.

Mogul loses his grip. Tails falls from the Chaos cloud, finally free of his Turbo form, and hits the ground with a muffled thud. Sonic hasn't noticed yet. He's too busy celebrating our victory.

I don't feel like celebrating. It's over for me now. With the real Tails back, there's no reason for me to exist any longer. And once I'm gone, it'll be like I never existed to begin with. Sonic will be overjoyed at having his best friend back, they'll catch up together, and they'll move on. Tails won't remember any of the past few weeks, because they didn't happen to him, and Sonic will probably eventually assimilate it all in his memory and forgot that it was me he shared those couple of months with.

"What's the matter?" he asks, as pained tears spill down my cheeks.

"I'm… just a phoney," I tell him, my heart breaking inside my chest as the words force from my lips.

Sonic shakes his head. His arm drapes around my shoulder, warm hand settling there, causing me to blink at him curiously through my tears.

"No way! You're my best bud!"

I look into his eyes and I see that he means it. He doesn't see me as a lie. As far as he's concerned, I'm Tails. Even if I'm just a copy, the time we spent together was real to him. My memories, even if they're only an illusion, still make me who I am. Sonic will never forget me, because I'm the very same Tails that he's been friends with almost all his life, even if my own life has only spanned a few short months. And I'll hold him with me always, too.

"I'll never forget you, Sonic" I tell him, and I smile because I'm happy for him. Happy, knowing that when I'm gone, he'll run to Tails and take care of him and they'll laugh and celebrate and be happy together. And my purpose here is done.

I close my eyes and feel the world melt around me, dissolving into emptiness. The cave, the storm, the eyes… they'll never haunt me again. It's over, and everything is exactly how it should be once more.


Epilogue; as told by Tails

"Three months, huh?"

I still can't believe it. Was I really gone that long? Who'd have thought that Mammoth Mogul would hijack me from my meeting with Althair like that and then use my Turbo form to power his continued existence on this plane? It's a lot to get my head around.

I sip some more hot chocolate and tug the blanket closer around myself, letting my gaze wander around the familiar surroundings of Sonic's living room. There's no place like home.

Sonic's sitting next to me, watching me. He's been watching me like that ever since we left the cave. It's hard to tell what he's thinking; his expression is more unreadable than usual.

"How's yer head, bud?" he asks me eventually.

"Not too bad," I tell him truthfully. I'm doing okay considering that I spent several months as Mammoth Mogul's personal battery pack! I'm a little tired, but Sonic doesn't seem to mind me leaning on him.

"I'm sorry I didn't get to ya sooner," Sonic says after another long pause. His expression betrays guilt, and something else. I can't quite put my finger on it. He's happy to have me back, right?

Almost as if he can read my thoughts, his arm slips around my shoulders and gives me a squeeze. "I'm glad t'have you back, li'l bro."

I look up at him, thoughtful.

"I knew you'd find me," I tell him.

Sonic quirks a brow. "Oh?"

"Yeah!" I say. "While I was in that… that thing… I was thinking about you. I was telling you where to find me. Every night… at least I think it was night… I sent you a message. I knew you'd hear me. I knew you'd follow me."

Sonic's expression suddenly changes. His eyes widen a little and his mouth falls open slightly, like something's just clicked. For a moment, his gaze seems unfocussed, staring off into the distance. I wonder if those are tears clouding his eyes.

Then he smiles with a gentle warmth that I know is meant only for me.

"I got your message, buddy. Loud and clear."

The End.