Proving Ground

So there he stood, a being of fur blazing blue and quills so sharp they could pierce metal. Sonic the Hedgehog watched with sharp eyes, slightly enlarged by disbelief at the fact the this was really happening. Much to Sonic's dismay however it was true and his opponent approached looking to add Sonic's Chaos Emerald to his collection. As the challenger drew near Sonic pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning on and closed the gap between the two only leaving a few small feet between them. No words were spoken, none were needed and they both knew what was at stake. However when the time to begin came as signalled by the others fighting stance, Sonic was reluctant to move and remained still.

"You better fight me Sonic! Don't you dare back down now. Not after what you told me when this all started. Now you raise those hands and defend yourself dammit!"

Sonic flinched at the harsh words, this unfortunately turned out to be somewhat of a serious mistake on his part as that was all the time needed for a swift fist to make contact with his jaw, which was quickly followed by another to his ribcage. Rolling with the force of the blow Sonic sidestepped to the right and brought his knee up into his foes stomach. The reaction was immediate and served to crush any resolve the hedgehog may have once had. For on the ground clutching his midsection was not some evil being bent on destruction, but his own little brother.

Miles "Tails" Prower, the eight year old fox kit Sonic had adopted as a toddler was now on his hands and knees trying to recover his breath from what was actually a fairly vicious attack. Believing that he had seriously injured the kit Sonic ran up to offer aid. The response he received was far from gratitude as Tails grabbed his ankle and pulled causing Sonic to lose his balance and fall backward. Instantly the fox launched himself skyward only to curl into a ball and drop all his weight into Sonics chest. With the wind knocked out of him not to mention at least one cracked rib, Sonic pushed himself back onto his feet and teetered dangerously before finding his balance again.

Needless to say, Tails was not pleased. He had come here to fight The Blue Blur: Sonic the Hedgehog, not Sonic Hedgehog his overprotective older brother. How could he possibly prove to Sonic that he was not some child to be coddled if Sonic refused to take this seriously? Of course, he would use the same tactic Sonic himself uses to cause his opponents to get angry and make mistakes. With a smug look on his face Tails crossed his arms and in the most condescending voice he could muster told Sonic exactly how he felt.

"Wow, I didn't expect this to be so easy. Are you even trying? Because if you are then you really need to step up your game." At this point the smug look changed into a sneer as Tails continued. "What is it that gives you the right to tell me what I am or am not able to do? You know what? It doesn't matter because after today you will know exactly what I can do. Actually you already know what I can do. I built my own spaceship and I collected the other six emeralds and I am going to beat you and take the seventh. Then you know what I am going to do? I am going to go up to the Death Egg II and blow it to pieces and put an end to all this once and for all!

As if that were the cue Tails launched himself once again at Sonic. Luckily Tails' monologue had given him enough time to recover and was able to start parrying the attacks in earnest. A knee to the abdomen was met by a raised shin, a fist was caught and used to pull it's small owner off balance, and a solid tail was met by an equally solid arm. The entire exchange of blows only lasted mere moments before it ended with the two protagonists squared off exactly where they started

As if the attempted assault had never happened Sonic continued the conversation. "No you won't because I could have left you for dead on Westside Island. I could have left you to fend for yourself in Emerald Hill and most likely starve to death or whatever horrible fate that forsaken island holds for small children unlucky enough to be stranded there with no family, no home, and no hope. But I didn't. I took you in and cared for you when no one else would. I fed you, raised you, and protected you. And this is how you thank me? By trying to prove yourself on some suicide mission all because I said you couldn't come up there with me! Don't you understand I care for you too much to let you do this to yourself. It's not that I don't think you can handle yourself, it's that I don't want you to have to." Falling back into his defensive stance, Sonic remained still. After the first incident he absolutely refused to strike at Tails again no matter how things progressed.

Luckily for Sonic, Tails body relaxed somewhat as his eyes narrowed at Sonics last sentence. "What do you mean you don't want me to have to be able to handle myself?" In his wound up state Tails immediately became infuriated at the hedgehogs words believing them to mean something other then what they actually meant. "You want me to be dependant on you forever or something? You want me to be weak and hide indoors all the time hoping my 'Big Brother' gets home early so I can go outside? That's not going to happen Sonic. I refuse to allow myself to be pushed around any longer." Immediately Tails entire body relaxed and and he looked up at Sonic with a somber look. "Don't you understand? I have to do this. For myself."

By this point Sonic realized that there was no way to have Tails understand how truly outmatched he was other than to grant the boy his wish and fight him. Already determined to not hurt Tails any more than he would unfortunately have to, Sonic softened his quills completely just in case. Once again taking up a defensive stance Sonic proceeded to to do something he thought he would never forgive himself for. "Alright Tails, you know who is waiting for you up there and he is my equal in every way except one. He will show you no mercy if you face him. He will kill you if you cannot defeat him. So fine, I will fight you if only to save you."

To the casual observer all that would be perceived would be a blue and orange blur coming together for a few moments before the entire fight ended with the victor looking down at his opponent. If things were to be slowed down that same observer would have seen this.

Instantly after he finished speaking Tails stepped off and closed the gap between himself and Sonic. Throwing a quick jab at Sonics face which was dodged, Tails brought his other fist up to strike Sonic in his already injured ribs. Having so much success the first time he did this he was incredibly surprised when his hand travelled straight through the 'image' of Sonic. Now Tails movements at this point would have clocked in at an impressive 1200kph (745mph), but for Sonic to move so quickly that even Tails could not perceive it. That level of speed was truly incredible and it showed as Sonic reappeared next to the off balance fox and kicked him in the back. Tails tumbled forward but was able to recover and began to get back to his feet. As he looked up though Sonic was mere centimetres from his face. Shaken Tails threw a punch at Sonic, which due to the hasty manner in which the blow was thrown was caught and held in place. Using his height and weight advantage as leverage Sonic forced Tails down to his knees and drew his own fist back. Finally all that was heard was the words "I'm sorry" softly spoken before, for Tails, everything went black.

Two days, it had been two days since the fight and Sonic was still waiting for Tails to wake up. Immediately after the fight Sonic picked Tails up, ran home and placed the little fox in bed, went into orbit and took all his anger, hatred, sorrow, and every other terrible feeling out on the station and it's two primary residents. These actions left nothing but a huge debris field and unconfirmed reports that the stations builder had been destroyed in the blast. After the stations destruction Sonic was able to lose the anger but the depression would remain. He had spent the last two days at Tails' bedside hoping the little fox would be fine. Spending two days with nothing but his own self destructive thoughts was not doing very good for his psyche, doing nothing but berate himself for his actions and running 'what if' scenarios in his head. It was during one of these hundreds of variations that Sonic noticed something, a sign that made his heart soar and his mind slow down... If only a little.

That sign was a tail. One of two actually, starting to wag. Something that only happened when it's owner was conscious and it was done completely independent of thought. Slowly but surely the signs of recovery increased until the point when Sonic was met with two large blue eyes staring straight at him. There was something in those eyes though that bothered him. They had lost their innocence. Instead they showed betrayal and pain. The pain Sonic could well understand, he had punched Tails travelling at almost Mach 2.

"Get out of my room Sonic." Tails sat up to fix his cold stare on the hedgehog properly, teetering slightly in the process. When he had sat up his vision started to swim and he developed a massive headache most likely caused by the large discoloured lump on the side of his head. When he had looked up at Sonic to deliver his demand he was greeted by the most pathetic looking hedgehog he had ever laid eyes on. Sonic was sitting there with his head down, was chewing his bottom lip and was trying to avoid eye contact with Tails. It almost seemed as if he were scared of the little fox's judgement

'I'll leave, but first please let me explain." Sonic had finally worked up the courage to tell Tails how he felt. "Tails..." he began weakly. "You have been my little bro for years now but I care for you so much more than that. I did what I had to do to protect my family. Not from Dr. Robotnik or Metal Sonic, but from himself. You mean everything to me and I would do anything to protect you. Even if it meant forfeiting my own life to save you. I love you far more than any brother can. When I first heard that you challenged Knuckles for his Chaos Emerald I thought it was a joke, but then you won and you continued winning all the way to me. That's when I realized it was no joke... I was terrified that you would somehow manage to beat me and go up into space."

At this point Sonic had stood up from his chair only to sit on the bed next to Tails who was staring blankly at Sonic. His expression completely neutral. Undeterred by this lack of reaction Sonic continued. "Dr. Robotnik is a joke. But Metal, he is powerful. Every time we fight he almost kills me. There was no way I could let my only family face that monster. After all this began I realized something. I care for you much more than any brother possibly could. I raised you from a tiny little fox kit into the strong, brave, and brilliant young man you are turning out to be. And now with pride and honour, instead of little brother I hope you allow me to call you my son."

Sonic finally looked back up into the not-so-little kits eyes only to see the barely held back tears forming there. Before he could say anything however, Tails lunged forward and embraced the hedgehog with so much force that they both went tumbling off the bed. The jolt to his already rattled brain did little to deter Tails as he hugged Sonic and cried into his shoulder. Sonic was stunned by the force of the action and after only a moment of recovery returned the hug. Climbing back onto his feet with the still sniffling Tails firmly held in his arms, Sonic walked downstairs on order to begin his new peaceful life with the person he cherished most. His son.