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Parallel Lives
Three's a Crowd
As soon as Sonic and Amy stepped into the living room, Tails, who was resting on the couch at the time, jumped behind it trying to hide from the newcomer among them.
"Tails…" Sonic started. "If you're trying to hide, you've got to be faster than that! Why don't you come out and meet her?"
The kitsune's head slowly peeked out, Sonic noted the newly constructed eyepatch across his face as the fox slowly shook his head. Amy tried to coax him out of his spot.
"Hey bud, it's ok to come out, I just want to meet you."
Sonic pulled Amy aside and started to explain what was happening.
"His name's Miles, I call him Tails, he's scared because all his life he's been beaten up and abused by everyone for his… Abnormality."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I call him Tails for a reason."
"No way."
"See it to believe it, anyways, just say you won't hurt him, be gentle, and especially, don't touch his tails."
"Got it, how old is he?"
"I think around eleven, I haven't actually asked." Sonic deadpanned.
"Well, I've got to say, by the quality of the tracker you had, I thought he would be much older."
"He's excellent with technology, heck, he made himself a prosthetic hand and eye."
"Geez, alright, let's give this a shot."
The two returned, Tails, whom of which had risen from his hiding spot slightly, crouched back behind it the second they returned.
"Tails, I'm not going to hurt you. I promise, you can trust me."
The kit slowly stuck his head out from the side of the couch.
"That's it, come on…"
Slowly he stepped out, and walked toward the two of them, cautiously testing the waters for himself.
"See Tails," Sonic began. "Not everyone is out to get you."
"I g- guess you're right…" Tails replied, slowly stepping up to Amy. "M- My name's Miles, but, just call me Tails."
"I know that already." She replied, grinning as she did so. "My name's Amy, I hear you're pretty good with machines."
The kit blushed at the compliment, "Thanks. What do you do?" He asked, fidgeting with the tip of one of his tails.
"I do research on Chaos Energy, I think you could help me out a bit."
"How's that?"
"There's been something I've been wanting to try for a while now, but I've never been able to build something to actually test it, do you mind helping me out?"
"N- Not at all, I've got some spare parts in the garage."
"Lead the way."
The three of them entered the garage, Sonic started the conversation. "Alright, well considering I'm probably not going to be the biggest help, I'll be in the living room."
"Could you stay in here?" Tails timidly asked.
"Tails, she won't hurt you, I'll make sure of that."
"Al- Alright, I'll trust you…"
"Thanks bud, I promise, you'll learn to like her."
Tails shakily smiled at him as he left, leaving Tails and Amy to themselves.
"So Tails, I just want to ask, how old are you?"
"I think around twelve."
"Do you not know?"
"I'm n- not really sure, my parents left me to live on my own when I was really young because I was a worthless freak, I don't even know when my birthday is."
"I'm sorry to hear that, I think your tails are pretty neat."
"Well you and Sonic are the first, everyone else just seems to hate them."
"They make you different."
"Thanks." Tails replied.
"Don't mention it, so anyways, could you try and help me?"
"Yeah, what do you have in mind?"
Amy quickly explained over her idea, Tails listened with great interest.
"Do you think that'll work?" He asked, questioning the idea he had been presented with.
"I assume so, the research I have seems to suggest it. The only way to find out is to give it a shot!"
Tails couldn't argue with that and they set off to work, Amy providing suggestions for exactly what everything needed to do.
-X-
Sonic was excited, they now had over half of the Emeralds collected, plus, hopefully everything would get easier from here on out. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.
"Wait a second, now did Tails get the parts to help Amy? I didn't leave him that much…"
He peaked his head back into the workshop, the two seemed to be getting along better now, and were focused on their work.
"Tails? Can I talk to you for a second?"
The kitsune nodded and stepped out, "What is it?
"Where'd you get all those parts?"
"You left me with some credits, remember?"
"Yeah, but not that much!"
The kit started to nervously fidget with one of his tails. The other moved down slightly in fear.
"Just tell me, I just want to know."
"I- I might have, found some more credits while you guys were gone…"
"Did you steal them?"
"I couldn't help myself! They were just right there!"
"Tails, we've been over this. You've got to stop stealing."
"It's just instinct! I can't help it! You try to stop doing something you have to do to live! How do you think I've kept myself alive all this time!?"
"Alright, but you've got to stop. One of these days you're going to get caught."
"I'll try, but I've done it for so long, it- it could be a while."
"You'll get better, just try for me alright."
He nodded.
"What are you guys working on?" Sonic questioned.
"I'm not really sure, Amy is just telling me what she needs, a way to draw Chaos Energy out of the Emeralds."
"Well, we know they work as a power source, maybe it's being used to power something."
The kit shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine."
"Well after you guys are done, we're going to try and find the next Emerald, I'll try and pin point its location."
"Nice, once you've got it we'll head out."
"Sounds good, I'll see what's close."
Tails returned back into the workshop, leaving him to consult the scanner for information, there still appeared to be five signal sources left to acquire, including the Emerald they had found on the floating island. Consulting a map to try and figure out the surrounding area and where each would be located.
One appeared to be in a city of sorts, one had nothing of note around it, two appeared near one another, including the one they had tried to get earlier, seemed they'd have to head back there at some point, they also had one in a area that looked somewhat civilized. He'd liked the challenge of the last one, so the one with no surroundings intrigued him.
He figured he had time until the other two were done, so he just decided to get some well deserved rest.
-X-
Tails and Amy busied themselves in the workshop, the kit had significantly warmed up to her after Sonic's reassurance, he was still a bit nervous about having his trust betrayed, as it had multiple times before. But it seemed less and less likely as time passed.
"Alright," he said. "That should be everything to extract energy out of it, what else did you need?"
"So, this could sound a bit strange, but, Chaos energy can be solidified."
"Isn't it an energy though? That shouldn't be possible…"
"Believe me, that's not even half of it. It behaves unlike anything else."
"So what would it need to solidify properly? I need a basic guideline to build with."
"Mostly, just a confined space, using the energy we should be able to compact it into a small enough space that it would solidify."
"So like a, box made out of metal plates that can shrink to press it together?"
"Exactly!"
"I can do that, might need a couple little things here and there but otherwise I should just be able."
"Awesome, about how long do you think it'll take?"
"A couple hours? Not really sure, I haven't messed around with Chaos Energy too much, just enough to know how to use the energy it produces." He explained.
"I'll help you out, it should be somewhat simple. Not going to get into complex parts of it for a bit."
"That makes it lots easier, I'll get started."
Amy instructed him as he build, giving a idea of what everything should be able to do. Sonic joined them every once in a while, but otherwise it was just the two of them. Eventually, their device began to take shape.
"Alright, is that all?" Tails asked.
"Hopefully, only one way to find out."
Tails understood what she meant, the green Emerald was inserted into the machine, causing it to jolt to life. After a few minutes had passed, the container started slowly compacting and eventually it was unable to continue any further due to resistance.
"Sounds like it worked." Amy commented, allowing the pistons to retract, they discovered a small green cube, it was somewhat darker in it's coloring than the Emerald.
"It worked!" Amy yelled, pulling Tails into a tight hug. "I thought there was no way!"
"What is it?" The kit asked, a massive grin across his face. He was enjoying the positive attention he had been getting recently, it was a unusual sensation, but it made him feel warm and fuzzy inside.
"That, is solidified Chaos Energy, it doesn't seem to be at the same amount as the Emeralds themselves, but the fact that it's even possible allows for all sorts of things."
"Like what?"
"It can work as a temporary substitute for a Emerald, it'll let us do a bit more reckless things with them without risking a actual one."
He nodded in response, "That's sweet! You seem to know a lot about how Chaos Energy works, you'll have to teach me sometime!"
"Sure! You'd probably catch on pretty quick, judging by the quality of the machinery here."
The kit instinctively blushed at the compliment. Amy noticed the soft pink his face changed to. "You're just the cutest little thing," She added, reaching out to ruffle his bangs. He instinctively flinched back until he noticed the concerned look on Amy's face, he slowly relaxed and allowed her to lightly pat his head.
"There you go, I won't hurt you." She added.
"I know, it's just instinct, sorry if I scared you."
"I should have warned you, Sonic's told me how jumpy you are."
"I shouldn't be anymore, I know you guys aren't like everyone else I've met. I just can't help it."
"Well, it's alright. We should probably go check in with Sonic, let him know we're done."
Tails nodded in response and they headed back into the main living area, Sonic was waiting for them.
"You guys set? I've got the next Emerald located, so whenever you guys are ready, we can head out."
"I think we're set," Amy replied, Tails nodded in agreement.
"Awesome! So, it seems to be in the middle of a forest somewhere, we'll take the Tornado."
Tails seemed confused by the answer, "Doesn't it only have two seats though?"
"I'm aware, that's why you're flying it."
"Me? I don't even have any idea how!"
"That's why I'll teach you, you'll do great!"
"If you say so, that still doesn't really solve how we're going to get everyone on it though."
"I've got an idea, I'll stand on the wing, hopefully I can stay attached to it."
Amy seemed to have concerns about Sonic's plan, but chose to keep them to herself.
"Well," Sonic started. "Let's get moving, the Emerald isn't going to collect itself!"
They followed him out front, prepped for the next adventure.
Alright guys, that's all for now! Leave a review so I know what your thoughts are and follow to be notified when I update! Until next time!