Tails had lost count of exactly how long he'd been locked up, but he suspectec it was several hours. His cell was in a brick walled building at the edge of Eggmanland. A leak deteriorated the ceiling tils above his head, causing water to drip on his bed every five seconds. In other cells in the aisleway were locked up humans, a result of Sonic's mecha soldier's exploits on small villages. Rumor was that all Mobian villagers had been spared.

He couldn't believe it. Sonic had actually captured him. Question was what was he planning to do to him? Would he keep him here to rot? Would he roboticize him? Would he hold him for ransom? Would he let him go?

Tails shivered as a result of the cold cell. He caught himself wishing Sonic would at least install a heater. He wrapped his tails around himself, which helped less than he expected.

Thirty minutes later and he was about to resign to his fate (whatever that would be) when a cloaked figure stopped in front of his cell, pulled out a gooden key, and unlocked the cell door before opening it with a loud creaking noise.

Tails stepped out hesistantly. He couldn't see the stranger's face in the dark and the last time he'd encountered a cloaked figure... he ran into Lien Da.

"Follow me," the stanger whispered quietly enough so that Tails couldn't identify the voice but loud enough for him to hear.

"Who are you?" the kitsune inquired. His voice bounced off the walls.

The stanger quickly shushed him. "Shh! I'm not supposed to be here!"

Whoever it was, he started walking off and beckoned Tails to follow. Reluctantly, Tails obeyed. He followed the stanger all the way outside into a forest clearing just outside Eggmanland. The moon shone high and the crickets created a quiet atmosphere. The wind was much warmer compared to his cell that he actually smiled for a moment.

Tails clicked his tongue and narrowed his eyes studiously. "Now will you tell me who you are?"

"No," the stranger replied curtly. Tails noticed that at the back of the figure's head was a bulge in the shape of hedgehog quills and that height wise, he wasn't so far from... no way.

"Sonic, is it you?"

The figure spun on his heel revealing wide green eyes. "Um... I..."

"You let me go," Tails pointed out with a satisfied grin. "You proved my point. You're not evil,"

"This is strategic!" Sonic exclaimed, waving a finger around like a mother scolding her child.

"How?"

"Uh... like I'm gonna tell you!"

Tails chuckled softly. "Sure. That's the reason,"

Sonic growled as his tan muzzle turned beet red and snapped. "Just leave and don't come back!" After taking a breath, he added. "I have your plane parked about a mile south from here,"

"Okay, I'll go," Tails agreed reluctantly. He took a step forward and to Sonic's suprise, he hugged him tightly. "But I will never give up on you,"

For a second, Tails thought that Sonic was going to hug him back, but the second faded a quickly as it came and the hedgehog pried him off forcefully. "Hey, enough of that!"

"See ya later, Sonic," the kitsune said with an uncanny smile. He may not have gotten through to him, but he still witnessed enough to know that his brother was salvagable.

Sonic huffed and rolled his eyes. For a moment, they flashed red before returning to their natural green. "We'll see about that,"

Without another word, he took off through the night in the form of a red blur. Red... why was his blur suddenly red, Tails wondered. And his eyes...


A/ N: I bet nobody can guess what the red blur and eyes are about :p

Sayunara!