That night was not an easy one for the fox. The events of the day remained imprinted in his memory. Dreams - nightmares - plagued him as he tried desperatly to escape the immense feeling of guilt, intertwined with something else... Something he couldn't quite put his finger on... Something that was keeping him going.
He was at the crash site, but everything was frozen in time. Slowly, reality started crumbling away, leaving nothing but an infinite black void all around with himself standing on a small patch of light. Much to his surprise, someone stepped out of the darkness.
It was Amy, perfectly fine and seemingly happy. Suddenly, her forehead imploded and spouted blood in every direction. "You killed me," she said. Then, another Amy appeared next to her, and then another one, and then another. They formed a circle around the scared fox and started murmuring, unitelligible sounds slowly morphing into words as they grew louder and louder. "Killer, killer, killer, KILLER, KILLER, KILLER!"
The voices were overwhelming and Tails collapsed to the ground, trying as hard as he could to block them out, but all was in vain. Just as his head was going to explode from the incessant chanting of the apparitions, silence came, sweet as never before. The fox was trembling, tremors shaking his small body. He mustered up the strength to stand and did so. When he opened his eyes, though, he wasn't where he was expecting to be.
Four drab concrete walls surrounded him - there was no door, one small, dim light on the ceiling, and what seemed to be a mirror that adorned the flat grey surface. Tails slowly approached it. It was completely flat, fused with the concrete, and spotless. The image was perfect aside for one thing - Tails' reflection wasn't moving.
What is going on here? he thought to himself. Unsure of what to do, he touched the smooth cold surface.
Suddenly, the reflection looked straight into Tails' eyes. "Hello," it said, the voice coming from somewhere beyond the wall.
The fox jumped back in shock, but his image remained calm. "W-what are you?"
"Well..." began the reflection, "I am you. A figment of your imagination, to be precise. This is all a dream, if you haven't figured it out yet."
"What? A... dream?"
"Exactly. Well, now we've gotten that detail out of the way as well," the reflection comtinued. "What's more important is why you are here... Your actions."
"My actions... Amy!" The fox was distressed as the partially clouded memories came back with full force.
"Yes. Amy. The inoccent girl you killed not six hours ago. She was only worried about Sonic. It's natural for someone in her position to be angry. You know that now - and you knew then. The reason you did it was not because you felt angry at her - it was because she gave you an excuse."
Those words were like a cold shower for Tails. "Are you saying that I did it because... because I... wanted to?"
The answer was simple. "Yes."
"Wha... ARE YOU CRAZY?!" the fox yelled, furious at the image in the mirror.
In reply it said, "Well, since YOU are, that makes me insane by default. I'm you, remember? Anything I say, you know. Anything you are, I am. The only difference is that I don't lie to myself - to you."
"I DIDN'T DO IT BECAUSE I WANTED TO!" Tails was still outraged.
"Go on, decieve yourself! Deep down, you know I'm right! Come on, tell me I'm not! Will you? CAN you? Why run away from what you are? The cold, hard truth is that you liked every moment of it!" The reflection was not the least moved by Tails' emotions.
"But I... I didn't want to..." The fox was devastated. He knew that there was truth in the words of his doppelganger. He knew he could have stopped himself from picking up that wrench - he knew he could have let Amy live - but he wanted to do it. He knew he felt sick pleasure as he drove the tool into the soft tissue, but he wouldn't admit it to himself. Now, though, when the facts had been thrown in his face, he really couldn't do anything else. He couldn't fool himself. His head dropped, his eyes closed, a tear ran down his face.
It seemed the reflection sensed this, but it remained emotionless. "Look at you. You're crying in fear of yourself, of what you might do. Stop. Stop torturing yourself. This is who you are. If you're a shadow, embrace the darkness, don't resist it..."
The fox did stop crying. He looked up and opened his eyes - they were dark and distant. The reflection stepped out of the mirror, if a mirror it was, and gave Tails his hand. He slowly stood up. "Go on, and let them see..."
Tails' mouth formed a small grin as he completed the thing's sentence, "...the darkest side of me."
He was thrown back into reality. His bedsheets were drenched in sweat. He took a minute to collect his mind. I need to get out of here, he thought. Using an intricate system of hidden switches, he opened a safe under his night table and took out his and Sonic's chaos emerald. These should come in handy. He climbed out the window and ran off into the woods.