Tails poked his head into a little air vent in the ceiling. He gazed down, watching Sonic and Eggman square off.
Sonic had strictly ordered Tails to stay put, but the fox just had to see what was going on. What really struck him as odd was the fact that Sonic had told him to keep low…usually he let him frolic with him wherever he went.
Nevertheless, Tails was loyal to his best friend…he wouldn't want to betray his trust and interfere with whatever master plan he had running around in his noggin.
All the thoughts melted away as Tails watched through the air vent, horrified. Eggman had Sonic strapped to a chair with a blaster pointed at his neck.
The doctor cackled menacingly as he pressed a button on his machine. Sonic bared his teeth.
"You'll never get away with this!"
"It looks like I just did, hedgehog."
Sonic coolly smirked. "Hey, whatever, egghead," he smiled. "My friends'll be back to avenge me, if you do kill me."
Tails' pupils shrank three sizes. KILL?!
Dr. Eggman crossed his arms. "Well, it was fun while it lasted. Goodnight, rodent!!"
Just before the beam had a chance to get to Sonic, the blue hedgehog looked up at the air vent in Tails' eyes. He smiled, ever so slightly.
Then, flashing.
Not bringing himself to see anymore, Tails crawled up the air vent and ducked into the main room on Eggman's Egg Craft. Tears running freely now down his cheeks, the two-tailed fox floated gently down to the ground--where he wept.
Suddenly, he saw two figures running towards him--Knuckles the Echidna, and Amy Rose. Tails gazed at them, not knowing what to say. The only thing that ran through his mind was, Sonic's dead. Eggman has won. Everything is gone.
"Hey, Tails!" Knuckles was the first to call. "You and Sonic were supposed to meet up with us a little big ago." As the two halted near Tails, Knuckles put his hands on his hips and looked around. "So, where's that mangy rodent anyhow?"
Not thinking of anything else to say, Tails muttered through his tears, "He's dead."
Knuckles jerked his head around to Tails, and Amy screamed horrifically.
"No!" Amy cried, grabbing Tails by his muzzle. "You don't joke around like that! Sonic isn't dead, so where is he?!"
Tails stared at Amy's worried eyes, and bowed his head. "I-I couldn't save him," he replied. "Dr. Eggman had a laser right up to his neck. He fired it, and I flew out…"
Amy, in spite of herself, dropped Tails and felt tears welling in her eyes. "So…Sonic…is…really…?"
Knuckles helped Tails off the ground. "You're really serious about this, huh?" Tails nodded.
"A joke like this would be so sick I couldn't forgive myself."
Knuckles furrowed his brow, but Tails knew that the echidna wouldn't cry. Tough, strong echidna with dreads never cried.
Amy stared miserably at Tails and Knuckles. "So what do we do now, guys?" she asked. Tails sighed.
"I'm not really sure what we can do…" Suddenly, his thoughts snapped back to Sonic in the chair.
My friends'll be back to avenge me, if you do kill me.
Tails looked his friends bravely in the eyes. "Sonic told Eggman that if he killed him, then we would be back to avenge him." Knuckles and Amy exchange puzzled looks as Tails turned to stare at the Death Egg, still floating in the sky.
"Eggman killed Sonic. But we're gonna kill Eggman."