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Parallel Lives

Breaking Point

Sonic was naturally nervous, he wanted Tails and Amy to leave a good first impression on his family, he had them clean themselves up which prompted some protests from a certain young fox.

"Why do I need to take a bath?" He complained. "I'm clean as is!"

"No, you're not," Sonic commented. "You've got dirt all over in your fur, when was the last time you cleaned yourself?"

"Uhhhhh…"

"Exactly my point, you need a bath."

The kit grumbled in response before conceding. He removed his eyepatch and prosthetic hand before getting in, while they were waterproof, they were still vulnerable to rusting. Sonic was slightly off put by him not having a hand and just a mount he had attached to what was left of his arm.

Tails insisted on his ability to wash himself, but after struggling with only having one hand for a couple minutes, he allowed Sonic to help him. While he was working with the kit, he discovered something interesting. When he went to wash behind the kit's ears, the fox started softly purring and had his eyes roll back slightly.

"Like that?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah…" Tails absentmindedly responded.

Eventually the sopping wet kitsune stepped out and dried himself off, the dirt had been mostly washed out of his fur and he seemed much more content than when they had started. He seemed to like being clean for the first time in as long as he could remember.

"When's your family getting here?" Tails asked, still having several wet spots dotting his fur.

"Sometime later tonight, you look much better without dirt everywhere."

"I even feel clean, and strangely lighter."

"Because you don't have three pounds of dirt weighing you down!"

This response earned a chuckle from the kit. "You might be on to something there!"

Sonic ruffled the kit's wet bangs and then scratched behind the kit's ears again, earning him the same response as earlier.

"You really like that, don't you…"?

"Don't stop…" He replied.

The hedgehog continued for a few more minutes before interrupting, "Alright, I've got to stop now, we need to straighten out that fur of yours."

Tails reluctantly accepted and started to brush out his fur, now that he had access to his hands again, he figured he could do it on his own.

Amy emerged while he was working. "Tails, what did you do to your face!?" She asked. He looked somewhat confused by her question, but quickly realized he had forgotten his eyepatch allowing his scar to be fully visible across his face.

"It's why I have to wear that eyepatch, so I can see properly out if it."

Amy nodded but kept an eye on him as he worked, just to see if he was actually alright.

With his new straightened fur, he looked exactly like he would have a few years ago, before losing his hand and when he still somewhat cared about himself.

"You look great Tails!" Amy commented, trying to get a positive reaction from the kitsune.

"Thanks, you look great as well!" He replied, grinning back at her. He'd been loving his life for the past couple days, he had received so many positive compliments and really felt appreciated for once.

"You sure you're ready for this Tails?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, for Sonic's family visiting."

"I think so, I'm cleaned up now, so I think I'm good!"

Amy gave him a thumbs up, but that wasn't exactly what she meant by the question. She was afraid that seeing Sonic's family could dig up something in the kitsune, hopefully he could keep it under control.

Sonic reentered the room, "Alright, workshop should be cleaned up. You guys made a mess down there!"

"I don't think we're the cleanest mechanics around, sorry about that." Amy replied.

"I needed to clean it anyways, the Chaos Emeralds have been stored downstairs, except for the Ruby, you find anything interesting with that Amy?"

"It's unlike anything I've heard of that's for sure, the energy it puts out is Chaos Energy, but it's so different that it feels strange calling it that."

"Anything you got from those scrolls?"

"Not really, I just can't seem to understand them, I'll need to do more research."

Sonic nodded and they finished preparing themselves for the visit ahead. They busied themselves until Sonic heard a knock at the door. Tails naturally went to hide due to his fear of others, he'd probably be back, it was just a bit overwhelming for him. Sonic answered it and was immediately pulled into a hug by a purple hedgehog.

"Maurice, I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Same goes for you Sonia!"

Next up was a green hedgehog, whom he exchanged a high five with. "Manic! How's it going!?"

"Going great! I still don't know why you didn't want to play guitar?"

"To be honest, I was never really the best at it, you're so much better than I would ever be."

"Thanks man!"

After followed Sonic's dad, Charles. Whom Amy instantly recognized, "You didn't tell me your dad was Charles!" She exclaimed, Charles had done research into the fundamental properties of Chaos Energy and was a respected figure in the field. She quickly engaged in a conversation with him. Finally, was Mercia, Sonic's mother and the one who had call him over the phone. She drew him into a tight hug, her quills were the same color as Sonia's which left Manic with the recessive traits of the family.

"Nice to see you!" She exclaimed, "Who's the girl with you?"

"Mom, we're not dating before you ask, she's just helping with some things."

Sonic noticed Tails peering into the room around the corner, Mercia also seemed to notice him as well.

"Hey little guy! Who are you?" She asked.

Tails recoiled slightly back behind his wall, causing Mercia to take a step back.

"It's ok Tails, this is my mom." Sonic encouraged.

Tails approached a bit more but stayed within the safety of his corner.

"He's…" Sonic began to explain, trying to think of a good word to describe Tails' behavior. "Shy..."

She tried to coax him out of his spot without frightening him, meanwhile Sonic took a seat with Sonia and Manic. "So, how's it going for you guys?"

"Just the usual," Manic replied. "Working with the band, one of these days we're going to blow up and then I'll really be famous!"

"Nice to see you haven't changed, how about you Sonia?"

"Still studying, space is the future."

"So, you've told me that, I still haven't seen everywhere on Earth and you're wanting to send us into space!"

"What, too much for your brain to handle?"

"No..."

"Is it too much for big bro to handle?" Manic teased.

"Quit it guys..."

The other two laughed before Sonia continued their conversation. "What've you been up to?"

"Treasure hunting like usual, been actually going very well."

"Is that why you hired an assistant?" Manic asked.

"She's not my assistant, and she's not my girlfriend before you ask..."

Manic slowly shut his mouth and relaxed again.

"I'm helping her locate something," He lied, not wanting to explain the whole story to them. "It's reall-"

"Well that's neat!"

Sonic looked over at his mother, whom of which had managed to get Tails out of his hiding spot, the fox in question was hovering off the ground. Probably demonstrating his abilities to her.

"Who's the little guy?" Manic asked, seemingly happy that he wasn't the youngest one in the household.

"That's Tails, he's... An orphan I'm looking after."

"Is he yours?"

"What do yo-"

"Like, did you adopt him?"

"What, no! He's nice but he was always bullied and picked on, I just wanted to give him a break."

Mercia walked over with Tails in tow, he seemed somewhat scared by Sonia and Manic so he hid behind Sonic as best he could.

"Tails, they're fine. Nobody here is going to hurt you."

He stepped out from his safe space and was quickly picked up by Manic. "You're just a cute little guy, especially your-"

Manic cut himself off as he realized something, the fox had two tails, out of surprise he set him down. Which caused the fox to recoil in fear, small tear droplets had built up in his eyes as he knew exactly what Manic was thinking.

"Tails," Sonic softly spoke, "He was-"

The fox burst into tears as everything boiled over and he ran out of the room sobbing as he did so.

"Tails wait!" Sonic yelled before being escorted back to his seat by Amy, whom had noticed the outburst.

"I'll talk to him, you stay here." She commanded, before following down the hall Tails had escaped through.

It took her a few minutes to figure out where the fox had gone, she found him huddled in a corner in the workshop.

"Tails, what's wrong? You looked like you were cry-" She began, kneeling down to his level. She spotted the glint of something metallic. "What you got there?"

The kitsune quickly tried to conceal the object behind him, Amy wasn't having any of it, she reached around him and yanked, revealing a short saw that the kit had.

"Tails… Why do you have this?" She asked, fearing for his mental health.

The kit looked down at the floor in shame, he took a short glance at his tails as he did so, and that was all Amy needed to piece it together.

"You weren't thinking about, why would you even- "

"Because I'm a freak!" He spouted out, "The only reason my life is torture is because of this!" He pulled one of his tails in front of himself. "My parents left me because of this! I'm bullied and beaten up daily because of this!" With each sentence his voice rose, and he shook his tail for emphasis. "Everything happened because I am a FREAK!"

Amy was stunned at the kit's angry outburst, so much so that she couldn't find words to answer him. They sat in silence, the only sound was Tails' breathing. Then suddenly, he had tears well up in his visible eye.

"Why couldn't I just have been normal!? I just- want parents who cared for me! Is that too much to ask!?"

Amy pulled the distraught fox into a hug, Tails just rested his head on her shoulder and sobbed. Amy still had no response, she just figured it needed to run its course, the kitsune obviously had some pent-up emotions he was dealing with.

"Why did it have to be me!? Why do I have to deal with this!? Just let me get rid of it, please…"

Amy could feel the desperation in his voice as he spoke through occasional sniffles. "Tails, I- I can't let you do that. It's not healthy to want to hurt yourself like that."

"Please, I can't take it anymore. I just want to be free…"

"I'm sorry you feel like that, but you have to know, your tails are what make you unique."

"I'm not 'unique', I'm a monster."

"You're not- "

"How am I not!?" Tails interrupted, anger tainting his voice as he pushed away from Amy. "Tell me!"

"Tails, I- "

"TELL ME!"

Amy let out a sigh, "Tails, you're our friend, I might not have known you as long as Sonic, but I like having you around. So, please just stop. This isn't you, this isn't my Tails."

For a moment, nothing was said between them. After a minute had passed, Tails broke the silence.

"I get it now… I understand…"

"Understand what?" Amy asked.

"Why you guys wanted to be my friends, I understand… You wanted to feel better about yourselves, so you found the most desperate kid you could and brought him along."

"That's not tru- "

"Shut up! I finally see it, I'm just another toy to you! Aren't I!?"

"Tails have you lost your mind!? We're just trying to help you!"

"You act like that! But I know the truth, you'll just abandon me, just like everyone else does!"

"That's not true!"

Tails' arm morphed into his cannon and he pointed it at her, charging the energy for a blast. "Liar!"

Before Amy could react, the shot slammed into her chest and everything went dark.

-X-

Tails started to cry more fiercely than ever before, in a frenzy he made a dash for the exit, running past Amy's limp form in the process. He wasn't going to be used any longer, on his way he noticed the ruby on the edge of his vision. Considering he would need something to get credits with, he grabbed it and burst out the door, leaving behind his only friends in the process.

Alright guys, that's everything for today, let me know what you thought in a review and follow to be notified of updates. Until next time!