Boo! Okay, not really, but still. Hope you all are doing well and are excited to read this chapter (because it seriously took forever to type… Ugh!). I'll be honest though, it was definitely one of the more fun chapters I've typed with my co-writer. We really had to stretch our imaginations and had a lot of fun with the dialogue. Anyway, Comments on Reviews! (well actually, I only have one comment on the one review…)

Autumn: That is true… I never really considered the giant robot's breaking him out every single time, but that probably is what happens… (or Sonic is just lazy.)

Sonic's POV:

Since going off to save Tails, I had tried to picture our meeting. None of them had been correct.

"Hi, Maurice." Those two simple words were enough to leave me completely silent. I had no idea what to say, and after a few minutes of trying to find the words, I realized that was the problem. There were no words to say.

I had abandoned the kid to a bunch of strangers in a new town. Never even called after that to see how he was adjusting (even though I was sort of stranded on a flying island, but that wasn't exactly a valid excuse). Robotnik had found and kidnapped him, and I hadn't found out until a week after the incident. Tails had gone through Chaos knows what torture and slave labor. And who was the one to blame for everything? Me.

So I didn't say anything. I just sat down and buried my face in my knees. No tears were shed; I didn't have any left in my system after the days of panic. Every once in awhile I heard a noise from Tails, or sometimes from outside. At one scary moment, these giant metal doors closed around the glass prison and everything went pitch dark in the cell. But after a few moments in the dark, a very dim bulb lit up in the ceiling, painting the room with a very dull yellow color.

Hours had probably passed when the cage suddenly lurched sideways. My head snapped up and I tried not to fall over. We were thrown in the opposite direction as the cell slid the other way. Eventually the movement evened out and became a constant jerking movement.

I finally spoke up. "What was that?"

"We're moving. After all, we're kind of in the belly of a giant killing machine." Tails sounded bitter and resentful. Couldn't really blame the kid…

"Where do you think we're going?"

"A village, probably...maybe a city. What are you asking me for? What do I know about any of this?"

"I dunno, you're the one who's been around Robotnik for who knows how long! I thought you might know something about all this!"

"Well, I don't. Sorry about that."

Sheesh, the kid's gotten sarcastic in the last two months. Or maybe it's just me.

"Tails, look. I know this is my fault, I and I feel really, really-"

"Sorry? Figured you'd say that. And my name is not Tails. It never was."

Ouch. That cut deep. We sat in silence for a while longer, until I couldn't stand the quiet anymore. Unfortunately, I started hearing something much worse.

Screams. Terrified civilian screams.

Great. Just Perfect. Robotnik had the nerve to attack a town or city or wherever we were while I'm stuck in here with a kid who most likely hates my guts, all the while not able to do anything.

Not able to do anything. Oh Chaos…

I grabbed my knees and buried my head; trying to block out the sounds of terror. Not again. Not again…

Every time I went back to that night...that dreaded, life-shattering night, that was the one thing that haunted me. I couldn't do anything. I wasn't as fast I could've been; I wasn't able to to stop the nightmare from happening. All I could do was watch and wait to see the outcome. If I came out alive...or if everyone else came out dead.

Without even meaning to, I slipped back into that scared little boy's mind. I was drowning without any water. All I could do was bury my face and try and stay calm. Nothing helped.

Definitely drowning.

Tails POV:

I was mad. Correction: I was furious. Sorry? Sorry doesn't cut all the pain I had gone through the past two months. And what was the first thing he said to me? "What was that?"

Not even a 'hello,' or a 'how are you?' Just a question about a little movement. Missed you too Maurice…

I glared at the hedgehog after our very short conversation. A high scream shook me out of my deep thoughts. Oh great, the machine I was forced to build was destroying everything in sight…

I sighed. And the reward to the easiest manipulated person goes to...Sonic?

The blue hedgehog did not look good. His breathing was heavy and quick. After an especially loud scream from outside, he curled up in a ball and laid on his side.

What in Chaos?

Very tentatively I scooted closer to him. "Sonic?"

He didn't move.

"Sonic?" I said again, a little louder. Chaos, did I do that to him? No, that can't be right… maybe he's claustrophobic. It would make sense since he's used to running in large spaces.

Still, the hedgehog didn't move.

By this point, I was right next to him. Very faintly I could hear him mumbling to himself. None of the words were distinguishable. "Sonic? Are you okay?" I reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. He recoiled at my touch. Somehow that hurt more than him ignoring me.

Now I was starting to panic. What in Chaos is wrong with him?

Another scream from outside. Sonic winced.

Perhaps...it had something to do with the screams? I shook my head and tried to comfort him again, "Sonic, wake up."

He still didn't move. I tried to put my hand on his shoulder again, but he still pulled away.

I'm stuck inside a giant robot with an insane hedgehog while Robotnik destroys everything in sight with the robot I was forced to build while being freakin' tortured… My anger flared. I grabbed the hedgehog and smacked him right across the face as hard as I could.

That seemed to work. "Hey!" shouted Sonic, rubbing his sore cheek. "What was that for?"

"What's wrong with you? We're inside a giant killing machine, there's no time to zone out! Honestly!"

The hedgehog took a shaky breath. "Right... sorry." He walked around the cell a few times, as if trying to calm his nerves. After ten laps (which took about thirty seconds), he pounded lightly on the glass. "I may have been able to drill through this, if it wasn't glass. One mistake and 'crack.' Hundreds of little shards fall on top of us."

I shivered. "Let's not do that. I'm not really in the mood for any more cuts."

"Maybe we could get Robotnik mad enough at us so he would open the door and try and kill us."

"That may have worked, if I wasn't wearing this collar." I ran my fingers across the horrible device, cringing at the touch of the hated article.

A little confused, Sonic took a closer look. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Electric collar? Yep."

Very softly, Sonic mumbled, "Please tell me he didn't use it."

"Alright, he didn't use it."

"Really?"

"Of course he used it! What, do you think it's just for decoration?"

"Sheesh kid, you got sarcastic in the last two months."

"Shut up, Sonic."

I leaned against the wall and stared outside...well, at the metal exterior. Sonic started tapping his foot on the ground, echoing on the cool surface with a hollow banging. After a few minutes of the sound, I started to grow a little annoyed of it. "Would you stop that?"

"Stop what?"

"Tapping on the floor! That metal banging is...exactly what we need!"

Sonic tilted his head very confused. "What?"

"Can you drill through metal? Like thin metal?"

"Um, I think so… I kinda do it every time I fight one of Robotnik's robots."

I knelt down on the ground and knocked on the floor. "Well, here's your spot."

"Wow... we're idiots."

For once, I agreed with him. Sonic motioned for me to get as far from him as possible. As I pushed myself against the cold glass he started to spin. A few moments later the sound of splintering metal filled the air.

Okay, how can a hedgehog cut through metal? Are his spines made of titanium or something? But at the moment it didn't really matter. We had to focus.

It took about two minutes to actually cut through the metal because Sonic was trying to go slow enough so he wouldn't cut me on accident. In other words, it felt like forever. But eventually, he made it through. He slipped through the jagged hole he had drilled and would've fallen through if he hadn't grabbed hold of the sharp edge.

"A little-*grunt*- help?" he asked. I sighed, grasping his arm and helping him climb out of the hole. Sonic and I peered down into the hole, staring at the grinding gears and pounding circuits.

"Well." said Sonic. "I'm glad I didn't fall down there. That sure wouldn't have been too pleasant."

"Brilliant observation, Holmes. However do you do it?"

"Okay, Mr. Sarcasm, I get it. You're mad at me. Now can we get out of here and then have this conversation?"

"Fine. But this is far from over."

"I think I got that. So what's the plan?"

"What- *sputter*- MY plan was to follow YOUR plan!" He's supposed to be the one with all the experience! Why in Chaos is he asking ME?

"Oh." said Sonic a bit sheepishly. Wonderful comeback, hedgehog. Let's progress to actual sentences next, shall we? I sighed, frustrated.

"Okay, okay! I'll come up with a plan, sheesh! Quit being so crabby." grumbled Sonic. "Here's the plan: We get out. We smash up robots. We kick Robotnik's tail. Any questions?"

"Just one- how do we get out?"

Sonic gave me this look. "We climb, jump and fly. Weren't you listening?" He proceeded to jump into the hole.

I stood there for a second and then sighed. "Here we go again…" I sat down and slid down.

What does the inside of a giant killer robot look like? Picture the inside of one of those giant clock towers and you'll get a small idea. There's just a lot less gears and a lot more hammers and pistons. And with my luck, I landed right on one.

Sonic grabbed me by the neck and yanked me off the pedestal just as a hammer was about to smash down on me. After I calmed my nerves, Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"You built all of this?"

"Didn't really have a choice."

"I gotta say, I'm impressed." Sonic looked around at the gears. "But we should still watch our step."

"No, we should run willy-nilly all over the place. You're the expert at that after all."

"I'm warning you, Miles. One more sarcastic comment and I'm going to flip."

"Yes, Master."

Sonic just glared. Ooh, I'm shaking. "Come on, kid. We've got get out of here." We got about ten feet before our next obstacle.

"I'm telling you we should go right!"

"And I'm telling you we need to go left!"

Sonic threw his arms in the air. "But right is just a few gears. Left has pounding hammers! And I haven't ever been hit with a hammer before, and I don't ever want to start."

"Well you're going to have to start today, because we're going left."

"Okay, you can go left. I'm going right. Let's see who gets hurt first."

I was mad, but I didn't wish death upon him. Yet (I'll give you my final answer in a few minutes). "Alright. Have fun with the missiles."

Sonic froze. "Wait, what?"

"To the right, just past the tiny, harmless gears is the missile loading dock and lighting station. However, to the left is the left leg mechanism, where we can safely drill through to the outside. But let's not do that, let's head on over to the missiles! That sounds WAY more fun!"

Sonic didn't answer at first. Then he snapped his finger to the left. "Left it is." he mumbled.

"That's what I thought." This hedgehog was starting to get on my nerves.

Sonic's POV:

This fox was starting to get on my nerves. First there was the plan issue. Now he's my GPS that leaves out way too many details for comfort.

Okay, I get it. I made a HUGE mistake leaving him in that town. But seriously, we're standing in a killer robot. This is not the time to be sarcastic!

But...I didn't say any of this. I was hardly keeping sane myself. Robotnik put an electric collar on the kid and forced him to build machines of mass destruction. If that's not permanently scarring then I don't know what is. I wanted to find the Doctor and throttle him until his teeth fell out.

"Sonic, we need to go down." Tails motioned into the darkness below.

Great… Another jump that could possibly result in a painful death. Like my day couldn't get any worse. Good thing I'm used to it.

We scaled downward, feeling our way around the darkness. After a few minutes of seemingly aimless climbing, Tails paused suddenly.

"Stop." he said. "Drill, right here." Tails pointed to a dent in the metal. I bent myself into drilling position and spun. In a matter of minutes, I had to shield my eyes from the burst of bright sunshine. Tails leapt out of the hole behind me.

"Finally." he said pointedly. I rolled my eyes. A 'thank you' would've been nice, but okay, whatever.

"What now?" he asked.

"You stay here. I'll be back when this thing is a pile of scrap metal." I was about speed off when he grabbed the back of one my spines.

"Oh no. Remember the last time you left me to fend for myself?"

"You're really bringing this up now?" I asked, frustrated.

"Yes I am, as a matter of fact. We're doing this together or not at all."

"Miles, you've got understand that you are way too young for this! You could be-"

"Tell me, Sonic, just how old were you when you started fighting Robotnik?" Tails interrupted.

"Ten! Four years older than you are!"

"I'm seven! Can't you add?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, the last time we talked, you told me that you were six. Excuse me for trusting your word!"

"My wor-" Tails sputtered. "My birthday was a month ago!"

"Well, Happy Birthday to you, then!"

"It's a LITTLE LATE!"

This kid. Just, just… wow. What kind of a messed up six- sorry, seven year old has this kind of mouth? Apparently this one.

Unfortunately, our argument got cut off by a certain psychotic maniac. We didn't even realize he was there until he turned the robot to us and leaned it forward. He sat up in the cockpit, where the robot's head would've been.

"If your plan was to sneak up on me, you failed miserably." he sneered. "Next time, you might take it into consideration to whisper."

"Were we shouting?" I asked Tails.

"No, my voice is just RANDOMLY RAISED!" he yelled.

"STOP BEING SO SARCASTIC!"

"MAKE ME!"

"Okay, I WILL!" I shouted and was about to cover his mouth when I heard a little cough. Tails and I both turned and glared at Robotnik.

"What?" I challenged.

"Erm… this is all highly amusing, but it's also extremely awkward for me, so should I come back later after you've settled your differences, or…?"

"No! YOU STAY!" we shouted in unison. Robotnik held up his hands in defense.

"Well, exCUSE me if I…" he began.

"Don't you start with the sarcasm!" I snarled. "I get enough from him!"

"Hey!"

"Oh, don't act so offended, you know it's true." I snapped. Taking a deep breath to calm down, I turned to Tails with a grim expression.

"Look. This can wait until after we destroy that bucket of bolts over there. Okay?"

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Fine!"

"FINE!"

"FINE!"

"STOP SAYING FINE!" roared Robotnik.

Tails and I nodded to each other, and I charged, spin-dashing into the robot's cockpit, shattering the glass that separated us from Robotnik. I quickly seized his mustache and yanked him out, thrusting him down onto the pavement. I grabbed his arm and dragged him past the robot and threw him into the nearest dumpster. I brushed my hands off and walked back to Tails, who was staring at me, his face void of expression. After a moment, he spoke.

"That… was the most pathetic fight I have ever seen."

"Gee, thanks."

"I wasn't talking about you. But if you want me to talk about you…"

"Nope, I'm good."

Behind us, I could hear Robotnik trying climbing out of the dumpster, sputtering and gasping for air that wasn't contaminated with the scent of dumpster juice.

"No really, it would be my honor to say exactly what I think about you."

"I said I'm good."

"No, you're actually the opposite of good."

Okay, low blow. LOW BLOW. "You know what, kid? I'm getting really sick of your attitude towards me."

"My attitude? MY attitude? What about yours?" Tails shouted.

"What about mine?"

"You want the basic summary or the whole list?"

"Okay, that's it. I'm done. I am so done with you! I don't even know why I bothered to come save you!"

"I don't know why eith-" Tails let out a sudden yelp, doubling over, moaning and quivering.

"Woah, woah, Miles, what're you- what the-" I noticed for the first time Tails was clutching his throat. I wheeled around to the dumpster. Robotnik had climbed out completely, grinning and holding a small remote. He chuckled and turned a knob.

Tails's bloodcurdling scream rang through my ears, freezing my innards. He writhed on the ground, twisting and thrashing like a wild animal. Robotnik cackled and kept twisting the knob, Tails howling louder and louder. I could see bits of lighting-like electricity dancing on his fur and smelled the sickening odor of burning flesh and hair.

Instinctively, I whirled around and charged at Robotnik, snatching the remote and smashing it on the sidewalk, grinding the bits of machinery into dust with my heel. I ran back to Tails, who was still screaming with the voltage's pain. I tried to hold Tails still enough to grab the collar, wiggling my fingers between his neck and the collar. I could feel bits of electricity singing my hands and had to bite my tongue to keep from screaming.

With both hands I ripped the collar apart with a loud crack. I threw it to the ground and tried to keep Tails still.

"Come on, Miles, it's okay! You're fine now! Stop crying! PLEASE!" I begged, holding Tails in an awkward hug. Tails stopped screaming but continued to sob, shaking violently. I pressed him against my shoulder, him blubbering all over me.

Robotnik was cursing me as he pulled out yet another remote. "You little...rodent!" He pushed the big red button.

Great...he pushed the big red button. Never push the big red button.

Tails POV:

My whole body felt like it was on fire, and that didn't count the fact that Sonic was making it very difficult to die. That was my number one concern. When would the pain end?

He was yelling at me, but my hearing was too fuzzy to understand anything he said.

Why wasn't I dead yet?

What is with me and thinking about dying? Like, I wanted to jump off a bridge… actually, I didn't really want to die, now that I think about it. I just wanted to stop...well everything. I wanted to have everyone else die.

Wow...I really needed to get a grip on my emotions.

So, after that revelation, I pulled myself out of the darkness and slowly came to my senses.

For the first time I realized that the collar was gone and the pain had stopped...well, mostly stopped. Sonic was holding me very tightly making it hard to breath. And Robotnik...seemed to be holding another remote.

Oh no. Please tell me he didn't put another electrocuting device on me...or in me. Oh SWEET chaos, please don't have one in me.

Luckily, that didn't seem to be the case. The giant, now unoccupied robot started to...well, in a nutshell, it went completely insane. Random shots were fired and its arms started to swing wildly. Very slowly, it began to march towards Sonic and I.

Robotnik's shrill voice rang through the air, "Kill them!"

Well, that doesn't sound good…

Sonic stood up and started to run at half-speed away from the robot with me in his arms. Wind blew in my face, whistling through my fur. Even at half-speed, Sonic was still scary fast.

Behind us, the robot stomped and pounded as it chased us through the forest, snapping trees in two with its humongous steel feet. Sonic ran faster until he stopped at a riverbank, setting me down gently under a bush. I had regained most of my consciousness at this point, and I felt confused; what was he playing at?

"STAY HERE!" he shouted, looking frantic. Before I could even open my mouth to argue, he sped off, leaving me to cough in his dust.

I've mentioned how much I hate that hedgehog, right?

The robot followed Sonic across the stream, either completely ignoring me or not seeing me at all. I forced myself up and started to limp in their direction, falling a little behind even though I was moving as quickly as I could; t whole way cursing Sonic for ever being born. I swore, when I got my hands on him I was going to… well, I didn't know what I was going to do, but it certainly wasn't going to be very pleasant, that's for sure.

And… I think we're going to stop there. Hope you enjoyed all of the arguing, yelling, and insulting. (; Well they are going to be 'brothers' so I thought we should have some of that, 'I want to kill you, but unfortunately I can't,' relationship.

Also, Robotnik interrupting… that was just priceless.

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