A/N: Hey there! This is a "what-if" fanfic taking the ending of Sonic Forces and remixing it. Really, it's used as a vehicle to explore some of the themes that I thought could be interesting in Forces that are immediately dropped, with dealing with characters having to cope without Sonic, as well as a fun exercise in plopping the Fleetway version of Sonic into the game world.

Expect a lot of character writing and relationship dynamic exploring here. Tags are going to only be added as they come up to avoid spoiling anything.

Hope you enjoy!

CHAOS CONTINGENCY

Chapter 1: Familiar, Yet Different

It had been a month since the war had ended, since Eggman had used the power of the Phantom Ruby and the mercenary known as Infinite to take over the world. The battle to take back their planet still weighed heavily on the Resistance, especially a certain two-tailed fox. Tails had spent much of the war on the sidelines, shaken up by what had transpired at the beginning. Watching Sonic, his hero ever since they'd first met what felt like an eternity ago, be easily beaten by the copies of old foes created by the Phantom Ruby – it had shaken the young fox.

Of course, Sonic had only been imprisoned, but for those first few weeks, as Eggman and Infinite gained power across the planet, everyone believed that the blue blur was gone forever. When Tails finally got to see his 'older brother' again, it felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulder finally. Only, that happiness was quickly taken from him again. Sonic had used the building confidence of the Resistance, with the help of a particular recruit and the young Sonic from an alternate reality, to gather the Chaos Emeralds to help counteract the power of the Phantom Ruby.

Tails still remembered the moment well, as everyone watched the two Sonics and their newest ally go to take on Eggman after the defeat of Infinite. No one could really see anything from their perspective, but things seemed to come to an end with a brilliant, golden flash. Of course, that meant at least one of the Sonics had gone super. But when it was all said and done, Eggman was gone…and so was their Sonic.

Not long after, the alternate Sonic faded too, his presence in their reality likely being due to the Ruby, and everyone else slowly had to return to work – dealing with the stragglers of Eggman's army, and the reparations of their world. Even as Sonic still never showed up. Tails took the longest to come around. In fact, he still hadn't really. But everyone had to move on, even if they weren't ready to.

Even now, as he, Knuckles, and Amy took care of some remaining Badniks in the middle of the ruins of the metropolis that had been the epicentre of one of their encounters with Infinite, Tails thought about Sonic – what he might do or say in this situation, it was something that had plagued the fox's mind a lot since first thinking he'd lost his brother for good. He was always stuck on how to fill those shoes – it felt like it had to be him, with how close they were, but he wasn't close to as capable as Sonic had been.

He once thought such doubts were behind him, back when he'd taken on Eggman all by himself during their time on Earth, destroying the Egg Walker in Station Square after stopping a botched nuclear strike from the mad doctor in one of the few moments he'd truly snapped. But Tails was still a kid, and one moment of bravery hadn't been enough to truly deal with the pressure he could put on himself. He'd always be the sidekick; it was just the kind of gig he was best suited for.

"Tails! Badniks at six o'clock! They're closing in on some civilians!"

Amy's voice broke Tails out of his wallowing and he looked from the pink hedgehog to the small building where one or two members of the Resistance were about to get overrun, slowly backing themselves up against the walls of the building where some unarmed people were ducking behind windows and tables alike.

"Got it!" The fox assured his spiky ally, shifting his Cyclone Mk. II into gear. The once-retired mech having been redesigned to give Tails some kind of combat capability against the large groupings of Badniks the Resistance were encountering.

The stomping of the mech was enough alone to distract the Badniks – a grouping of Egg Pawns – from their initial target. As their cannon arms came up, the fox was already on the trigger, watching the targeting system as it locked on to four of the bots at once, the small missiles firing into the Badniks and shredding them.

"Get inside the building, guys! Keep watch over the civilians!" Tails instructed, before using the jets in the feet of the Cyclone to quickly strafe past a laser blast directed his way. The improved mobility of the new Cyclone made it trivial to dodge the Egg Pawns. Tails almost felt cocky, confident in the moment. Maybe he did have this.

Then he heard a sputtering as one of the jets died out mid-evade. The sudden imbalance of propulsion sent the Cyclone rotating.

"Crud, crud, crud!" The fox cursed. If only he'd had more time to test the Cyclone before having to deploy it. If only he could fight more effectively without it.

There it was. The doubts. Again.

The Cyclone slammed onto its side, and as Tails tried to use the working jets to flip it back up, the Egg Pawns fired at him. He'd managed to evade two of the three shots in the rotation of the mech getting upright, but one blast caught it right in the chassis, ripping through the front some. A red light flashed on the screen within the cockpit. The targeting system had been taken out.

"Oh, come on!" Tails whined, before gritting his teeth. He could still do this. He had to do this. Amy and Knuckles were busy enough without him having to call for help. No, he wouldn't be a burden. The fox walked around the pawns, using the working jet in short bursts to clear blasts as he tried to manually aim.

Every shot got closer, but he couldn't quite make the target. He'd always relied on his machines for precision. Tails had never figured out quite how Sonic could just jump across enemies, using the moment of each bounce to perfectly hit the centre of the next one. He made everything look so easy. Tails felt his fur getting a little damp with sweat as he tried to focus, tried harder to really line up his shot. This time, he'd get one. He was sure of it.

And then one of them aimed for the legs of the mech. Whether the bot had figured him out or was just lucky in where its targeting system led it, the blast got a clean hit on the leg with the working propulsion system, and the fox found himself on the ground again.

Tails grunted as he shook in his seat from the impact, almost banging his head. This time, the fox didn't even need to look at any of the lights or screens on his panel to know the Cyclone was done. That he was grounded. He couldn't stay inside the mech – much like the original, the cockpit was open, and the Pawns were already firing up again. The fox gripped at his seatbelt and fumbled with the lock, having to scramble to climb over his prone mech. Just in the nick of time, feeling the heat of a few energy blasts sizzle at his tail-tips.

The fox backed himself up against his mech, feeling frozen in place. He barely heard what sounded like Knuckles shouting – no doubt calling to Amy to tell her that he was in trouble. He could see the echidna's shape in the distance. Of course, he'd failed. Everything was so chaotic, he was only good when he had time to think, to plan. He could never think fast on his feet, not like Sonic.

Why couldn't Sonic be here? He could handle the three remaining Pawns, no problem.

He wanted Sonic to be there.

He needed him.

But Sonic wouldn't be there for him again.

And then the wind suddenly shifted.

Tails opened his eyes, eyes he hadn't realised he'd closed, removing himself from a foetal position he hadn't realised he'd taken. He heard it – the quick, sudden succession of smashing metal. The wind still whipped around him as he shakily climbed to his feet and peered over the Cyclone. What he saw made his eyes grow wet.

In the centre of what was now scraped Egg Pawns was a familiar figure – blue spines, white gloves, red shoes. In his excitement, Tails didn't even consider some things. As he jumped over his busted mech, he didn't really consider the short, slightly more unkempt shape of those quills, nor the lack of Sonic's golden buckles.

"Sonic, you're really here! I thought you were—" Tails didn't get to finish his exclamation, his steps slowing as the blue hedgehog slowly turned to him.

And he didn't see that trademark grin. The green-eyed hedgehog, instead, scoffed.

"Well, of course I'm here, pixel-brain. Smashing Robotnik's bots is kinda my thing?"

Tails' wet eyes widened, his brow lowering in confusion, "H-Huh…?" The tone was completely unlike Sonic. And the fox's confusion only caused the hedgehog to roll his eyes.

"So, anyway, where'd the machine come from, buddy? I know you're a geek and all, but I've never seen you build something like this. Did Kintobor help with this thing?"

Tails had never felt so lost, he was more confused than he'd been meeting Sonic's mute, alternate self, "What—?"

"Sonic!" The cheerful cry of one Amy Rose broke off Tails' train of thought. Of course, 'Sonic' proved to be as strange as he had been since showing up as he walked towards the cry of the pink hedgehog.

"Is that Knuckles and – wait, is that really…?" The blue hedgehog began, watching as the red and pink figures closed in on his and Tails' location. His green eyes widened in surprise at seeing Amy as she got closer.

The pink hedgehog almost tackled the blue blur as she hugged him, "Oh, Sonic! It's so good to see you…I knew you'd show up again!" Amy said, almost sounding on the verge of tears, much like Tails had initially been.

"Yeah, I guess you just needed to relax after taking out Eggman. Would'a been nice if you'd told us, but…I guess that's never been your style, huh?" Knuckles said, smirking as he looked over the slightly overwhelmed looking hedgehog. He didn't see anything wrong with the picture.

But Tails had noticed. He wasn't even pulling away from Amy. He looked more confused than exasperated by her usual clinginess. "Uh, g-guys…" Tails began, but found himself lost again as 'Sonic' spoke once more.

"Woah, Amy, what's with the new look? You're way girlier than I remember." Sonic said with a chuckle, "Not that I mind, it's not a bad look."

Amy's eyes widened and she stepped away, confused, "Sonic…?" She asked, green eyes peering towards Knuckles' violet, both sharing an unsure look.

"What, feeling a bit shy? Oh!" The blue hedgehog smirked, "I bet you did it for Tekno, right? I kinda figured you two might be a thing. You seemed to hang out with her way more than the rest of us."

Amy blinked, and then she saw the wide-eyed look Knuckles was giving her and her muzzle turned pink, "I-I have no idea what he's talking about!" The echidna's expression didn't change, "Really!" The pink hedgehog insisted before looking to 'Sonic' again. "What happened to you after the fight with Eggman, Sonic?" She asked, both concerned and wanting to quickly move past the topic that was getting her some conspiratorial looks from a certain echidna.

"Who the heck is Eggman?" The blue hedgehog said, looked bewildered.

"Guys." Tails finally spoke up again, breaking the sudden silence that came from the confused blue hedgehog's question. All eyes turned to the fox, who suddenly looked crestfallen again, despite his hero seemingly being right there in front of him. All of the hope had dispersed, along with that fleeting wind – leaving everything quiet and still once more.

"I don't think this is our Sonic."