Post Game 4: Never Alone

Central City

It had been about seven years since Sonic's little trip to the future, and things were going well. He had been working hard to not only keep the world safe from Eggman, but to also set his friends on the path towards a happy future.

There were some things that could be better, but he was making progress.

"One day…" Sonic said to himself as he rounded a corner.

Right now, he was on his way to Tails' place to meet with him. The plan was to get some training in, and even get some practice with Tails' illusions. Maybe if he was lucky, he could get Tangle involved as well.

Speaking of, he was happy that they seemed to be getting along very well, but something was still bothering him.

"When exactly did Tails fall for her?" Sonic asked himself. "We are getting close to when they are supposed to get together… so it has to be soon…"

As it turns out, while Tails certainly was great friends with the lemur, and worked very well with her, he was far from developing romantic feelings for the girl.

"If this keeps up…" Sonic said grimly. He then pulled out the picture he took with Tails and his family in the future and just looked at it for a bit. He then shook his head as he steeled his resolve. "It will work out… it has to."

Eventually, he made it to his brother's place, though he was confused to see that the fox wasn't home.

"That's weird… maybe he's at his workshop?" Sonic said to himself. He then began to run in the direction of the workshop.

He was stopped short however when something caught his attention.

"Huh?" Sonic said as he slowed to a stop.

With the sound of the wind gone, he could clearly hear something coming from a nearby alley.

The sound of crying.

Deciding to investigate, Sonic made his way to the alley.

He did not expect what he saw.

"Tails?"

"Huh?"

Sure enough, the two tailed fox was currently crouched down and curled into a ball, crying to himself in the alley. When Sonic had said his name however, he quickly got up and began to run, only for Sonic to get in the way.

"Tails, are you alright? What's going on?" Sonic asked.

"I… I…" Tails said before he spun his namesakes to attempt to take off, only for Sonic to grab his leg.

"Tails please! I just want to help yo-" Sonic started before the unexpected happened.

THWACK

Sonic fell onto his back and put a hand up to his eye.

Tails just kicked him.

Outside of their sparing matches, Tails had never even thought of hurting Sonic. So this action caught both of them completely off guard, as the fox just looked at Sonic with horror.

Before Sonic could gather his bearings, Tails quickly flew off, out of sight.

"… What just happened?"

Later, at Amy's house

Cream was currently reading through a florist book while Amy was in the kitchen baking some cookies.

"Thanks for letting me come over Amy. It can be hard to get some peace and quite sometimes." Cream said as she turned the page.

"It's no problem Cream! You're always welcome here! And besides, I always like spending my days off with friends!" Amy said with a smile. She then turned to look at the oven. "I wonder if Sonic will like these…"

"I am sure he will. He has been warming up to you a lot lately, hasn't he?" Cream asked.

"Yeah. Soon enough, we will finally be dating! I can just picture it now. He will knock on the door and call my name, and say that he needs to talk to me, something important no doubt… and then…"

"Uh… Amy?"

"And then he will hold out a bouquet of flowers, just for me."

"Amy?"

"And he will finally confess his undying love for m-"

"AMY!"

"Huh what?" Amy asked, being pulled out of her trance.

"Someone's knocking on the door." Cream said as she pointed to the front door.

"Uh… Amy? You home? I need to talk to you!" Said a familiar voice from outside, causing Amy to gasp.

"SONIC?!" Amy shouted before rushing to the door.

"Wait!" Sonic said before she could swing the door open. "Is anyone else there?"

"Just Cream… why?" Amy asked.

"Ok… just need to warn you two… what you are about to see may be a bit… shocking." Sonic said.

"Oh come on, what's the worse that it could…" Amy said as she opened the door. "…Oh."

"Yeah… got a pack of ice I can put on this?" Sonic asked as he pointed to his black eye.

"Yeah, come in and sit down. I'll go get you one." Amy said as he led the hedgehog inside.

"Wow… how off guard did Eggman have to get you to give you that?" Cream asked.

"Uh… this wasn't Eggman." Sonic said as he sat down.

"Really? Then was it the Deadly Six?" Cream asked.

"No."

"Metal Sonic?"

"Nope."

"Starline?"

"Nada."

"Uh… Knuckles?"

"Cream… I will explain when AmyYYYYYYYYY" Sonic said as Amy, rather forcefully, placed the ice pack on Sonic's eye.

"Alright talk, who is getting a hammer to the face for doing this to you?" Amy asked.

"First of all, no-one is getting a hammer to the face." Sonic said. "And second… it was Tails."

"TAILS?!" Amy and Cream both shouted together.

"Yeah… I actually came here to talk about him." Sonic said.

"Ok, so are you two having a fight or something?" Amy asked.

"Not really, it was all really weird to be honest." Sonic explained.

"Ok, so what happened?" Cream asked.

"Well…" Sonic said before telling the two girls about his encounter with Tails.

"So, you went to see him at his house, but instead you found him crying in an alley?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. He gave me this when I grabbed him to try and find out what's up." Sonic said as he pointed at his eye.

"Well, that was your mistake." Cream said. "He was obviously in shock, and you grabbing him really didn't help. I probably would of done the same thing."

"Right… right." Sonic said. "Still, why was he crying like that? I'm just worried about him now…"

"Did anything happen recently?" Amy asked.

"Not really."

"Maybe this is the anniversary of something that happened." Cream suggested.

"If that was the case, then he would be like this every year, wouldn't he?" Sonic asked. "I don't remember him ever being like this…"

"Maybe you just never saw him when this happened." Cream said.

"That's… possible…" Sonic said, remembering how much he travels. "So… how do I fix this then?"

"Well, the first step would be to find him." Cream pointed out. "Then you should try and just sit down and talk to him."

"I agree, though he is clearly in great distress right now, so getting him to calm down, reassuring him, would be the first thing you should do before trying to get some answers."

"Gotcha… now, to figure out where he went…" Sonic said.

"Well, this is Tails we are talking about, so he would probably go and see someone he trusts a lot… besides you of course. Maybe to try and get some stuff off his chest." Amy deduced.

Sonic then went through his options, but then, something crossed his mind.

"I think I have an idea of where he went…"

With Tails, slightly after his encounter with Sonic

"Great… now Sonic's worried, and I hurt him…" Tails said as he flew out of the city. "I… I need to talk to someone about this…"

Tails then went through his options. His first thought was, of course, Sonic, but he didn't want to face his best friend right now.

He then thought of Amy, but he realized that Sonic would probably go there first, so that was out.

Cream was another option, but she was great friends with Amy, so she might just go to Amy for advice.

Knuckles really wouldn't be any help, neither would Rouge, or Shadow, or Whisper. As for Silver… well, he was improving, but he still wasn't that great at this kind of thing.

So, that left only one option.

Deciding on where to go, he flew off.

Spiral Hill Village, Tangle's house

"… I am so bored…" Tangle said as she turned off her TV. "I wonder what Sonic and Tails are up to… probably on some grand adventure to save the world… again."

At that moment, Tangle heard a knock at the door.

"Coming!" Tangle said as she got up to greet her guest.

When she opened the door, she was surprised to see Tails there.

"Oh, hey Tails! Was just thinking about you and Sonic!" Tangle said, but she realized that something was wrong when Tails winced at Sonic's name. "Uh… is everything alright?"

Tails just sighed. "Not really… is anyone else here? I don't want anyone listening in on us…"

"Nope, Jewel's at the museum, so it's just me right now." Tangle said. "Come in."

"Right… thanks."

Tails walked inside and took a seat on the couch.

"Here." Tangle said as she tossed him a bottle of water.

"Thanks." Tails said as he took a drink.

"So, what's up?" Tangle asked.

Tails sighed again. "I… kinda kicked Sonic in the face…"

"Oh, were you sparing or something?" Tangle asked.

"No we weren't… I wanted to just get away from him, but he grabbed my leg… so I just kinda… did it…" Tails explained.

"Really now… and why did you want to get away from him?" Tangle asked.

"He…" Tails started before sighing. "He found me crying in an alley."

"What?! Are you alright?!" Tangle asked as she put her hands on the foxes shoulders.

"Yeah, I'll be fine… it's just something that happens every year about this time." Tails explained.

"Ok, but why?" Tangle asked.

"… Today's the anniversary of when my parents abandoned me." Tails said with his eyes shut.

After a moment of silence, Tails felt something wrapping around him. When he opened his eyes, he saw that it was not only Tangle's tail, but her arms as well.

"I… I'm so sorry." Tangle said, tears in her eyes. "I had no idea that you…"

"No-one knows about this… not even Sonic." Tails explained. "I didn't want anyone to pity me…"

"But still, having to deal with that trauma alone… it isn't easy…" Tangle said before rubbing her shoulder. "I should know…"

"You? How would you…?"

"I… was abandoned too." Tangle explained to Tails' surprise. "Don't know why. Maybe they couldn't handle having a kid, maybe they thought I was a freak with my tail… maybe they just didn't care."

"I'm… so sorry." Tails said.

"It's fine, I moved past it." Tangle said. "Mostly, at least…"

"Mostly?"

"Ever wonder why I am so claustrophobic?" Tangle asked, earning a nod in response. "Well, it's because I was shoved into a tiny box, it was sealed shut, had a couple of holes poked into it, and just left somewhere."

"That's terrible!" Tails said.

"You're telling me… I ended up passing out in that box and woke up here." Tangle explained. "Every time I am in a closed space now… it feels like I am back in that box…"

"I'm so sorry… I had no idea." Tails said.

"It's fine, the only one of us who knows is Jewel." Tangle responded. "Took me forever to tell her about it though."

"I can imagine… must of been tough." Tails said.

"It was…" Tangle said. "Listen, just know this. You are never alone, got it?"

"Yeah… thanks Tangle." Tails said as he pulled her into a hug.

"Don't mention it." Tangle said. "You can stay here as long as you want… but you should probably talk to Sonic about all of this at some point."

"… Right… I should probably do that." Tails mumbled out.

"… How bout this, you tell him your story, and I will tell him mine, deal?" Tangle asked.

"What? But…"

"It's fine, don't worry. Anything to help out a friend." Tangle said.

"Right… thanks a lot Tangle." Tails said.

"You try and relax a bit, I'll try and contact him…" Tangle said. "Uh… any idea where he is?"

"He probably went to Amy's place. Try calling her." Tails said.

"Gotcha, hang tight." Tangle said as she went to fetch her communicator.

'… she really does care about all her friends… huh?' Tails thought. 'She really should think bout herself sometimes though… she deserves it… wait, why am I thinking like this?!'

At that moment, Tails' face turned a slight red.

Later

When Tangle heard a knock on the door, she walked over and opened it.

"Oh geez, Tails did that to you?" Tangle asked, immediately noticing Sonic's still black eye.

"Yeah, where is he?" Sonic asked.

Tangle just smiled. "Follow the tail."

It was then that Sonic noticed that her tail was stretched out, and leading into her living room. Following the tail, he found his best friend out cold on the couch.

"How long has he been like this?" Sonic asked.

"He fell asleep while I was talking to Amy." Tangle said.

"You were talking to Amy?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, she said that you were already on your way over here." Tangle answered.

"Ok… so what's with the tail?"

"He needed a hug, and I gave him one… he doesn't seem to want me to let go though…" Tangle said with a laugh.

It was then that Sonic noticed that Tails was hugging Tangle's tail, and using it as a pillow.

"Well, if that isn't one of the cutest things I have ever seen." Sonic said with a laugh. "… It's obvious that he's been losing a lot of sleep lately though…"

"Yeah, considering what he told me earlier, I wouldn't be surprised…" Tangle said.

"So… he told you why he was so upset?"

"Yeah, but it's not my place to say. He'll tell you when he wakes up." Tangle said.

"Right… thanks by the way." Sonic said. "It… hurt to see him so upset before… but I can already tell that talking to you really helped him out."

"Hey, like I always say, I would do anything to help my friends." Tangle said.

Sonic just smiled. "Truth be told, you are starting to become more like family at this point."

"You think so?" Tangle asked.

"Yeah, we have been hanging out a lot, and the fact that Tails was more comfortable about talking to you about all this than me, really shows it."

Tangle smiled at this. "A family huh?"

"What was that?" Sonic asked.

"Nothing, just thinking about some stuff. Also, if this is your way of asking me out, no thanks, not interested." She said with a laugh, which Sonic joined in on.

"Don't worry, I would never." Sonic responded.

"Anyways… uh…" Tangle said with a little strain in her voice

"… We should probably wake him up, huh?" Sonic said, noticing that Tangle was beginning to struggle to keep her tail stretched out.

"I would appreciate that, yeah."

Sonic walked over to Tails, and shook his shoulder. "Come on bud, time to wake up."

"…Sonic?" Tails said as he began to wake up. Upon opening his eyes, he immediately noticed Sonic's black eye. "Oh geez! Did I do that?!"

"Yeah, don't worry, it doesn't hurt." Sonic said. 'Much.'

"I'm so sorry Sonic, I just, panicked and…"

"Tails, it's cool. Don't worry about it." Sonic said. "Though, you are going to have to explain why you were crying in an alley…"

"Right…" Tails said as he looked to Tangle for support, who responded by giving him a thumbs up. "So… where should I begin…"

After Tails finished his story, Sonic was in shock.

It turns out that Tails had been on his own for a couple of months before the two of them had met. Sonic also found out that Tails was bullied relentlessly before their first meeting, which is probably where his confidence issues came from.

He was even more surprised to hear Tangle's story. She always seemed to sure of herself, he would never think that she went through something like that.

"I'm so sorry you two…" Sonic said.

"Hey, you didn't know. It's not your fault." Tails said.

"Still…" Sonic said.

'Why didn't either of them tell me about this in the future? Did they not want me to know?' Sonic thought to himself. The then got up with a determined look on his face.

"Alright, I am treating you two. Chili Dogs anyone?"

"Sonic, you don't have to-" Tails said.

"I insist! Anything to help cheer up my family! Now come on!" Sonic said before walking towards the door.

"… A family?" Tails asked.

"Yeah, we are brother's, aren't we?" Sonic asked. "As for Tangle…"

"You know Sonic… I was thinking about that." Tangle said. "While I appreciate the sentiment, I think I already have a family." Tangle said, gesturing towards a picture nearby.

Sonic looked at it to see that it was of her, Jewel and Whisper.

"I get it." Sonic said. "Now come on! Chili dogs! On me! I always wanted to see how that Ron guy makes them!"

"Well, if you insist. How about we invite Jewel to come along?" Tangle asked as she followed. "We can eat at the museum."

"Sounds good! Let's go!" Sonic said as he led the two out of the building.

Some time later, the three of them, with the addition of Jewel, were eating their Chili Dogs at the Mineral Museum.

Sonic noticed something though, that Tails often took glances over at Tangle.

Figuring out what this meant, he decided to have a bit of fun.

"So, you and Tangle huh?" Sonic asked.

"Huh?!" Tails said, face turning red. "What are you-"

"Bro, it's cool. I think you two would be great together!" Sonic said with a laugh. "Just be sure to invite me to the wedding!"

"S-SONIC!" Tails said, as he began to chase Sonic, who was running out of the museum.

"… What was that about?" Jewel asked.

"You got me…" Tangle responded. "Hey Jewel?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for being my family." Tangle said as she pulled the beetle into a hug.

"…No problem Tangle." Jewel said as she returned the gesture.

Meanwhile, as Sonic was running, he couldn't help but smile.

"Everything will work out. Just like I thought." Sonic said to himself.

End of Post-game Chapter 4

Fun fact, this chapter is actually being written right after the Sonic Riders real time fan dub came out… you can tell how long I actually planned this for now… and it was freaking BRILLIANT! I highly recommend you watching that video if you haven't. Actually, the idea of Tails being pissed at Sonic, which I got from that video, is what inspired this chapter, which was actually at one point just gonna be a one shot story… of course, Tails wasn't exactly mad at Sonic here, but this kinda just evolved from that.

Tangle and Jewel's relationship really does remind me of Sonic and Tails, so I figured I would include the whole 'They are like a family' kind of thing in here.

Speaking of Family, it is a common motif in this chapter. Who knows, maybe their actual families will become important one day…

Also, I am sure there is a much different reason for Tangle's claustrophobia, but I thought this would be a good explanation.

Any who, I hope you all enjoyed this little explanation I had for how Tails fell for Tangle, cause I never did explain that before. Have a good one, and I will see you next time for Post Game Chapter 5: Together At Last :)