Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. - Albert Einstein

The jungle of Adabat is believed to be one of the most mysterious places on earth; for years scientist had come to the jungle to learn of the wonders it had to offer. Tails walks briskly in the thick of it, foliage crunching beneath his feet. He's sure if Sonic were here he'd protest that Tails should stay in the village where it's safe but currently the hedgehog was off chasing Eggman elsewhere. Tails couldn't help but be upset; Sonic hadn't even asked if he wanted to tag along. He supposes it makes sense, the hedgehog was so fast now Tails could hardly keep up with him anyway. Still it hurt to think there wasn't much he could do to help his hero.

Swallowing the lump in his throat he continues down the path he's on, watching the radar on the Miles Electric as it scans the area for energy signatures. One of the villagers had reported seeing something shiny in the jungle and Tails assumed it was most likely a Chaos Emerald. Wanting to be helpful he had entered the jungle in search of it even in the thick of night.

As he walks along his mind wanders back to his hedgehog friend. Lately Tails had just felt…. useless. No matter what he did to help his friend it never seemed to amount to anything. Sonic could take anything on by himself now it seemed, he didn't need Tails help. He couldn't seem to shake the idea that the hedgehog didn't really want him around anymore either.

I guess it makes sense. Why would Sonic want to hang out with someone so useless?

He's drawn away from his thoughts when a cold sensation washes over him making him shiver in response. For a second his mind feels cloudy and he squeezes his eyes shut in an attempt to refocus. After a couple seconds the feeling disappears and he slowly reopens his eyes. He instantly notices fog looming around the trees.

Was that there a second ago?

He blinks a couple times to make sure he's not imagining things but the fogs still there.

I guess I…. probably just didn't notice it before.

He hesitantly continues on his way trying to ignore the sudden chill in the air. He doesn't get much farther when the Miles Electric starts beeping frantically. The device displays an energy signature that appears to be an emerald not too far away from him.

Feeling hopeful Tails runs off in the direction the device indicates. The trees blur past him as he runs through the jungle paying hardly any attention to his surroundings, focusing on his goal. Tails is pretty sure he's almost there when the Miles Electric suddenly completely stops making noise. He looks over the device trying to figure out what's wrong. From what he can tell it appears to be completely glitching out opening multiple dialog boxes and fizzling occasionally with static. Before he gets a chance to figure out what's wrong something falls and lands on the ground nearby making him jump in alarm.

"Owwww crap!"

The fox stands stock-still unsure what to make of that. There's an odd tingling in the back of his mind and he can't help but think the voice sounds... familiar. He works up the courage to move and draws the foliage aside revealing a green bird sitting on the ground rubbing at his arm. Tails watches him curiously for a couple seconds before speaking.

"Um… hi?"

The bird looks up at him and pales as if Tails is a ghost or something.

"What?! Where did you come from?!"

Tails blinks curiously.

"What do you mean?"

The bird sends him an intense glare and Tails naturally shrinks back in response.

"You weren't here a minute ago! How did you find me? Is the hedgehog around?"

The bird frantically looks around while Tails tries to remember if Sonic had ever said anything about a green bird (that wasn't Jet anyway). He can't recall anything so he decides to ask.

"You know Sonic?"

The bird stops searching and pushes himself up off the ground getting in the fox's face.

"Of course I know Sonic freak! What kind of question is that!"

Tails flinches and backs away, deflating at the insult.

The bird seems perplexed by his behavior like Tails response to his insult is somehow unnatural. An awkward silence looms in the air and Tails fidgets trying to think of something to say.

"Um okay well... Sonic's off chasing Eggman right now but I can see if I can get in contact with him if you want?"

The bird simply looks even more confused.

"No. I don't care about him but… why are you acting so weird?"

"What… what do you mean?"

They continue to stare at each other until the bird breaks eye contact kicking at the ground.

"I don't know… you just aren't normally like this."

A chill runs down the fox's spine.

"You… you know me?"

The bird looks up at him in alarm.

"Of course I know you! You messed everything up for me and my Father, how could I forget?!"

Tails mind suddenly goes hazy and he gets a weird sense of deja vu. Like the flip of a lightswitch he suddenly knows exactly what the birds talking about. He knows the birds name, he remembers fighting him, and he remembers Sonic, Amy, Knuckles and all his friends but… not in the same way. Before he can make sense of what's happening it's gone. It's all gone and he doesn't remember any of it but the familiarity of it is still there. It's like he can still feel it somehow.

The bird is still in front of him looking just as confused as before. Tails stands in complete shock looking past him. In a sort of trance his mouth seems to move on its own.

"What's your name?"

He expects the bird to get angry again but instead he just looks concerned.

"Did you hit your head or something?"

"Please I need to know!"

It might help! Maybe those memories will come back!

The bird looks at him like he's crazy.

"Speedy! Don't you remember?"

Tails does remember, just not clearly. It's like the memories are locked behind a door he can't open. I… I fought him. I managed to take his Father down by myself.

He wants to remember the details! He wants to remember all of it! It makes his heart ache and it hurts. It hurts so bad! His vision blurs with tears. Speedy notices, completely surprised.

"What's wrong? Why are you upset?"

Tails backs away shaking his head.

"I… I'm not sure."

Tails doesn't feel like himself. It's as if he's suddenly someone else and everything is jumbled up in his head.

"It hurts."

"What do you mean? What hurts?

"I don't know!"

Tails falls to the ground tears streaming down his cheeks. The jungle goes completely silent in response to his outburst. As he cries he temporarily forgets where he is until the bird shuffles over to him bringing him back to reality.

"Hey you're freaking me out! Just… just try to breathe okay."

Tails latches onto the words and comes back to himself attempting to even out his breathing. Speedy looks around again, preoccupying himself as he waits for the fox to calm down.

A couple minutes go by and Tails begins feeling normal again. Everything still feels hazy but it doesn't hurt at least. Speedy gives him his attention again still looking completely baffled.

"Uhhh you alright?"

Tails nods and moves into a sitting position occasionally sniffling and rubbing at his nose.

"You said you didn't know where Sonic was right?"

"Yeah… he left me behind. He doesn't need my help."

"Really?" He sounds genuinely surprised. "Is that why you were upset?"

Tails shakes his head. A lingering feeling of sadness seems to loom over him.

"No… I just…"

Why was he upset? It was as if his subconscious had completely taken control of him. He stares at the ground and tries to sort out his thoughts. Speedy fidgets unsettled by the silence.

"Ummm…well... can you tell me what you were doing out here before we ran into each other?"

The fox sniffles again squinting as he tries to remember.

"I…. I was…. I was looking for a Chaos Emerald. I wanted to be helpful..."

Speedy's eyes light up and he shifts and pulls something out of his pocket holding it out in front of him.

"I found it a couple minutes ago."

Tails stares at the emerald in awe. Speedy notices and seems to contemplate something before continuing.

"I was gonna bring it back to the Armada. But... I guess if it'll make you feel better you can have it. Just don't expect me to do this again!"

He pushes it in front of the fox forcefully without making eye contact, seemingly embarrassed. Tails briefly hesitates before allowing his mouth to turn up in a small smile.

"...thank you."

Shakily he reaches a hand out. Just as his fingers curl around the emerald the cold surrounding him vanishes and everything seems to change.

Tails sits up looking around in complete shock. The fog is completely gone and the jungle looks the same as it did before. He turns to address Speedy and his heart skips a beat when he realizes he's no longer there.

He looks down to the emerald still in his hand shimmering in the moonlight. Squeezing it he wills himself to remember the memories that had briefly consumed his mind before. I… fought him. I… I can't remember!

Looking off into the distance completely perplexed a feeling of grief consumes him. Moonlight peaks through the canopy of leaves above him and his eyes follow its glow. Staring up at the night sky he becomes aware of truly how vast the universe is, feeling small and alone.

(A/N: Thank you for checking this story out! I know it might be confusing so I'll explain a few things. This story is inspired by time slip/glitch in the matrix stories. Supposedly in these stories a person slips into the past temporarily or a completely different reality. I've been meaning to address Tails recent characterization in Sonic games as well so that also became an important part of this story. To me it feels like Tails is suddenly a different person, like certain things he's done (such as fight Chaos 4) never happened.

This story connects to a reality where Tails Adventure occurred which I'm not entirely sure is canon or not at this point but is an example of how Tails used to seem more confident in himself (I also like Speedy a lot so I wanted to write more of him). So yeah hopefully that clears up any confusion about what happened here. FYI I dont think Tails is useless he's one of my all time favorite characters I just feel like because of how he's been treated lately he would probably begin to think he is. I really do hope they let him do more in the next modern game! (I am super happy he's playable in Mania though!)

If you have any constructive criticism (please be nice about it) feel free to let me know! I'm trying to get into creative writing again so any tips are welcome!)