Y'know, it's funny. Time's always gone fast for me, like really fast… but for others, it's just whisked by. Sometimes, I find it pretty hard to believe, both jarringly and meekly, but I guess the world's just like that. It never really stops, and I doubt it ever will… at least until the sun moves house. That'll be the day…

I don't get how people can sit around all day, just relax, as if there's nothing more to do—there's a lot to do, but they just don't see it. Freedom is so radiant and underrated; people should take advantage of it while they can, because some just can't.

At least, that's what I figure at this point in my life. Man, what kind of deep speech am I giving here… I guess captivity's just made me realize a lot of things. Never thought of that.

Eggman got me. I screwed up, and I don't need a letter spelling it out to even know that. He's constantly mocking me on the speaker anyway. Jerk. But then, who am I to blame him? Probably a massive achievement of his lifetime…

I shouldn't have been messing around. I know I shouldn't have, but there's just something that's been bugging me lately. Something that's been pestering me to no end… annoying as all heck, but I can't shake it off. Why was I joking around? Was it because I didn't take them seriously, and this is where I ended up because of it? Or was it just me being me as usual, taking long strides just to be mocking? Or… maybe… Maybe it's that I find it somewhat hard to believe Eggman would be responsible for this… since it's a sentence so brutal—there's part of me that thinks he still has morality, no matter how crazy that Doc might seem.

Hurting Tails… I admit we all want someone to blame, and he seems the healthy decision, since he's always behind it. I'm a little bit pissed, let's be honest, but… I'm starting to somewhat doubt my theory… Would Egghead really try to kill an eight-year-old? Of all people, Tails? I'm pretty sure there's rivalry going on there, yeah, but…

It's like our jobs to do what we do. If we were gone, then what would the Doc be able to do, apart from rule over his make-believe empire? If I died, all the excitement would go… if Tails…

If… Tails went, who would Eggman have to pit his brains against? If he was going for Tails anyway, he knew what he'd go up against… wouldn't he? What kind of sick person would go after a child otherwise?

I know, I know. Maybe it's just me with my wild theories, but man… Maybe just this one time…

?

What's that noise…?

Probably a new toy… Wouldn't be surprised if Eggman wanted to test it against me or something. Bit loud though… heavy-footed, maybe. The ground's vibrating quite a bit. When's he going to learn that big fat robots won't defeat me? He should be focusing more on speed… then the big guns. Man.

Ugh. Here I am, sat there and just thinking about stuff. I suck for all of this… Why did it have to be now? My little bro needs me, no matter how much he denies it or freaks out about it. I need to do something, not just sit around and do nothing.

I need to get out of here… and I will. I'm going to find out what the Hell's going on here, even if I die trying.

Hang on, Tails. I'm coming.


"…Tails…?"

The echidna was blinking blankly at his friend's words, wondering what on Earth he meant.

The kitsune looked down, almost shamefully, his face a wasteland full of barren hope and despair as he shook his head slowly.

"It's…" he hesitated, "…it's my fault this happened. I… At Eggman's base… remember when I said he had little to do with it? I wasn't lying… I'm not lying even now. I'm trying to stay as true to myself as possible… because that just wouldn't be me."

"What are you saying?" Knuckles queried, raising an eye ridge. "Explain… I don't want you blaming yourself all over again for nothing."

"You see… that last raid on Eggman's base…"

"The reason the weather was going freaky?" Knuckles quirked an eye ridge. "That wasn't you, and we both know it. If this is leading to—"

"Let me finish," the fox muttered, glaring at the echidna with an irritable expression. He didn't know why, but beneath all of this… he was starting to feel very… stressed, in many ways.

Knuckles, glaring at being interrupted, sighed and nodded his head slowly, in reluctant acceptance. "…Fine… Go on."

"…Well, as I was saying…" Tails trailed, looking around the room with a remorseful gaze. "…We… I… tried to fix it. Fix the mess Eggman was making, per usual… and… fixed it, or so I thought…"

The echidna glanced at the window, ever wary that someone may come in, but turned to pay attention regardless. They'd been here too long… Tails could have gone back and told him… But the kitsune was on an emotional roll now, and he wasn't about to interrupt that. The little guy was going through enough as it was…

"Yeah?" he sighed.

"Yeah…" Tails grumbled. "There was this machine… responsible for the structure of the weather everyday, that had seemed largely unusual for weather patterns recently. I did try to fix it… I honestly did. But… I tempered with it, made it malfunction… and that was the reason such a horrible storm kicked up. I tempered with something I shouldn't because I didn't research it any further…"

"Huh?" Knuckles blinked at him, then his brow furrowed. He tried to shrug it off for optimism's sake. "So you didn't do research. So what?"

"You don't understand!" Tails shot back, the bags under his eyes housing droplets of clear liquid. "It's my fault! It's my fault it's my fault IT'S MY FAULT!"

Within that moment, something in Miles snapped… maybe it was the emotional pressure finally getting to him, but Knuckles had only recently seen him bawling his eyes out moments ago.

"If I had done mo-more research… realized Eggman had set up a failsafe for if—no, WHEN I tried to fix it, then… then maybe none of this would have ha-happened! Maybe C-Cream wouldn't be in a coma! Maybe I wouldn't be in such a rough patch with my be-best friend! I don't even KNOW what to call him anymore because of this event! Maybe that's why he did it… I messed up, and I got what I de-deserved! I'm a bad tinkerer, a bad pilot, and a bad friend! I had eve-everything that came to me! If I—"

BANG!

"TAILS!"

Immediately, the boy tensed up, hearing Knuckles' cry pierce his ears with him being so close and his fist pounding the wall, pupils shrinking in surprise as his eyes held back even more tears. None of this was helping…

After a few seconds, the echidna's expression softened when he realized he'd spoken far too loud and become a hypocrite for judging Tails' loud voices of declaration.

Slowly, the red being breathed in, trying to steady his emotions.

This honestly irritated him. Sick. He was sick of Tails acting like this. It wasn't like him to be so pessimistic! He was meant to have the answer for every little thing Knuckles knew, every little detail, every bit of technological rambling he didn't understand! But yet… the kitsune didn't have all the answers, at least not for himself. He was looking at every little negative detail, but why? Was it really that straining on his conscience? Knuckles knew Cream's coma and the situation with Sonic was heavy… but that was none of Tails' fault! It was an accident…

If only Knuckles could make him realize that.

Tails did not deserve all of the hatred he was giving himself.

Ugh... why are you acting like this? Why don't you just LISTEN to every little bit of reassurance everyone is giving you, Tails?! We're trying to help you… PLEASE listen to us! Why… why won't you listen to us?!

Three words, in the form of an order, were uttered under the red Mobian's breath, holding back anger, worry, and irritation.

"Stop.

Blaming.

Yourself."

"…H-huh?"

"I'm telling you, Tails. I'm sick of it! You are NOT responsible for any of this, and I won't let you say you are! This was all an accident. You were trying to HELP us. It doesn't matter that you failed, as long as you goddamned well tried! You're not a bad tinkerer! You're amazing in that field; you baffle Sonic and I to no end with these gadgets you make everyday… That plane? Yeah, you were driving it. Things went wrong. It's not your fault—it was the weather, so it was Eggman's fault for making that thing you tinkered with. It crashed. So what? You tried to the best of your ability. You TRIED!"

"But… if Cream doesn't make it out… then I'm a mur—!"

"And I'm not stopping there. Bad friend? Not on my life. If you EVEN considered yourself such a thing, then explain this to me: why are you here, visiting Cream, APOLOGIZING to her? If you were such a bad friend, you wouldn't do squat! You wouldn't care! You wouldn't be where you are right now! You'd be an uncaring little git who doesn't give a damn about anyone! I won 't let you blame yourself, Tails, because it just isn't right!"

"…?"

Tails' vacant expression stared at Knuckles' tense form for a whole minute, slowly taking in the information bit by bit.

"If I have to shout at you to get you to understand, then I'm afraid I'll have to do it," Knuckles growled. "Please, LISTEN to me, Tails! Vanilla! Sonic! Forget about everything else! Even if it makes sense to you to blame yourself, it doesn't make sense to us. It's not your fault. None of it is. What will it take for you to understand that?"

"…"

Tails looked down, his face downcast and speechless. What could he say? No words tried to form at this moment…

Beep… beep… beep…

That noise. That noise returned to his hearing. That same noise he had been wailing over moments ago, pestering his hearing inceptors to no end. His failure, his… demise… his friend…

He looked over his shoulder, to Cream, that rabbit that seemed almost peaceful as she slept. It seemed so much like a dream, a nightmare; all he would have to do is go and shake her awake, see her smile as she sat up to greet him as if nothing was wrong. Hug her mother with all her strength, ramble about the great adventure she, Tails, and Amy had been on throughout this ordeal, and then laugh about it, chime about everybody ending up A-okay in the end.

He wished that were so. Heavily, he wished he had that ending.

He shut his eyes, straining his eyelids and trying to prevent more water from leaking, trying to avoid seeing Cream's emotionless face, fists balling tightly—none of him could believe this was happening. But it was, and he couldn't do anything about it, or try to fix it like he normally tried to do.

Tails had tread with no way back.


Hello, everyone! :3 Toxic here; sorry for leaving this for so long! Honestly, this is my baby project, and I shouldn't leave it like that, haha. XD

I have been majorly distracted, and even when I've not been, I haven't really been motivated for fanfictions lately (Many fics I'm writing are pretty behind…).

Anyway, this was more of drama chapter. Hoped I didn't fail, and if this bores you a little bit, I plan to do more next chapter. This is just to get me motivated again.

Thank you, any and all who reviewed, and I hope you readers enjoyed this chapter if you've stuck around so long.

Farewell, my readers; until next time!

-Toxic : )