Forelock was fighting the cloud monster in a warehouse "You took everything from me! This is for my family!". A crowd was casually watching from the side "Pause". The simulations stopped and the real Forelock was standing at the side wearing a strange grey outfit "Yeah, can we just fast forward to the end?" "Yep, standby". Quark forwarded the projection "Alright, fly, fly, fly, zap, zap. Pause". It stopped and Forelock examined it "I'm not in love with this choreography but it'll do. Kill image". The projection disappeared "De-cloak drones". A small army of Flappers appeared "Weapons" "You want to weaponize?" "Yep". Quark nodded "Weapons only. Stand by". The drones all fired on a pair of stone columns "Stop. Something. I don't know what it is. It's something. Just… You know what? Double the damage and then run it again" "Alright. Cover you ears". The drones all cloak and create the cloud monster. It swipes at the columns, and they break in half. The fake Forelock fired beams destroying the monster. The real Forelock cheered "Whoo! That is good! That's good. We on schedule?" "Oh, yeah. Uploading software hack to Cream's network. With her drones, we'll create an event big enough to cover an entire city" "Alright, well done. Make sure every drone is weapons hot. We need maximum damage". Lew grinned sceptically "That's gonna cause a lot of casualties" "Oh, yeah. The more casualties, more coverage I got to cut through the static. Knothole is a beautiful city, and it will suffer, but they can rebuild. If I'm the next Sonic, I need to save the world from a Chaotix-level threat".
He presses a button on his wrist and the fake Forelock hovers down and joins with him putting his fake costume on "But when its new saviour descends, all those casualties will be forgotten. Janice, you'll be there with my quick-change armour for the victory lap?". She stood up "Of course. Do you wanna try…". His hand started to shimmer "What's going on? What's happening?" "Oh, uh. One of the drones that came back from the plaza was missing a projector". Forelock glared up at Quark "Wait, and you're…? You're telling me this now?" "It's one drone. The image will still be perfect" "That projector is evidence. It's going to tell people what we're doing and how we're doing it". He scowled and broke his disguise off "I am trying to fool 7 billion people here, including Abraham Tower, who happens to be the most paranoid and most dangerous person on the planet. And if he catches on before I've killed him, he'll put a bullet in my head. And nobody wants a bullet in their head, right?". A few of the drones came down at targeted everyone in the room "Right? Quark, pull up Cream". Quark fearfully did "Hello, Forelock" "Yeah, hi, honey. I need a level-five search, full-resource protocol for this device" "Magnifying". A holographic map zooms in on one of the buildings "There. Search everything going in and out of that building". Footage of Barby picking up the device "Located". The footage then showed her talking to Tails making Forelock scowled "You know, Quark, one day, after I've had to kill Miles Prower because of this, I hope you remember that his blood is on your hands!".
In his hotel room Tails closed all the curtains "I can't believe I gave Forelock those glasses. How could I be that stupid? He's probably spying on me right now or sending a drone to come and kill me". This caught Barby off guard "You had access to killer drones?" "Yeah, I didn't really want them, especially after I almost killed Stu" "You almost killed Stu?". Tails took his phone "Look, I have to call Mr Tower and tell him that Forelock is a fraud, but I think he tapped my phone" "So, what're you gonna do?" "I need my stuff and I have to fly to Twilight and talk to Mr Tower I person". Tails put his new disguise on along with the rest of his equipment. He then realised that Ray was standing at the door "Oh, Ray, perfect" "Uh, the costume looks great for the costume party at the prince's castle" "She knows, Ray. I told her". Barby shrugged "He didn't tell me. I figured it out" "Oh. That's cool" "Like, a long time ago". Tails got between them "Look, Forelock is a fraud" "What? But he saved me, and Dina's lives" "No, he's been faking the whole thing with illusion tech. He's been using these, like, hologram projectors". Ray looked impressed "Whoa. That's crazy". He then frowned "So, you guys were working the case together or what?" "It's been mostly me" Barby said. Tails rolled his eyes "Ray, I need you to call Bunnie, get her to call Mr Stewart, say she wanted me to stay with family in Twilight until this all blows over. Okay" "Okay, got it". Barby shrugged "Wow, you guys lie with such ease" "I gotta go" "Wait, wait, wait. The projector. You're gonna need this". She threw him the device "Don't tell anyone about this, okay? Anyone who knows is in danger". He flew out and Barby stared out of the window as Ray came up behind her "So you know, too. It's cool. I've known first, and I've known longer, but it's not a competition".
In Twilight Tails flew off the roof of a train. He landed in front of a female fox "Excuse me. Do you know where-?" the fox just run away in fright. Tails sighed but then a car came up in front of him and the window came down revealing Tower "Get in". Tails got in and they drove away "Mr Tower-" "You've got a lot of explaining to do. Wait until we're secure". Tails nodded and sat back in his chair. Tower glared at him and gestured to his seatbelt. Tails nodded and grabbed the seatbelt but accidently tore it off. He awkwardly looked at Tower before putting it down.
The two entered an office where Topaz was waiting "So, is there anything you want to tell us about your girlfriend" "He's talking about the AI". Tails leaned against the table "I know I made a mistake, and I'm sorry, but he's not who you think he is. Forelock is a liar. His powers, the Elementals, it's all fake. He has some sort of holographic based illusion tech. That's how he tricked you and tricked me into giving him Cream". He threw the projector across the table "It's a projector. I pulled it off the fire monster in Frontier Canyon". Tower looked sceptical "So, all that death and destruction we witnessed was created by this?" "No, not just this. I think he's using drones" "Well, if this is true, then Forelock's very dangerous and we need to be smart. Who else did you tell about this?". Tails however suddenly froze, "Prower? Prower? What is it?" "It's Forelock. He's here" "What?". The entire room along with Topaz started to disappear "Topaz?" Tower took out a gun. The building was revealed to be a warehouse with scaffolding around it "Look out!". A shot came through the wall and killed Tower "Tower!". A drone flew in and shot Tails in the chest throwing him down to a lower level. He tried to get back up as he heard Forelock's voice "Wow, Miles, wow. I thought we were close. Tower always had to die, but not you".
Tails grasped the wound in his chest as he felt it burn. Drones surrounded and targeted him "Stop hiding!". He tried to shoot one of the drones with his cannon, but it moved out of the way and disappeared "I tried to help you walk away. Now you're making me do this". Tails' surroundings all turned black and his disguise disappeared. There was a loud crashing sound forcing Tails to cover his ears. He was suddenly in a school hallway with Forelock "You told me you were just a kid". Tails fired his cannon, but it just blew out smoke. Forelock was now behind him "You told me you wanted to run after that girl". Tails tried to punch him but actually hit a stone pillar hurting his hand then "Help me!" "Barby!". He broke through a door and found himself at the top of a tower. Barby was standing next to him "Tails, what's going on?" "I know this isn't real" "Do you?". Forelock appeared and grabbed Barby by the throat strangling her, "Barby!". Forelock dropped her "Barby!" Tails jumped off the tower after her, but he hit the ground that was just ten feet below where he jumped "I don't think you know what's real, Miles". Tails was punched though a glass wall and fell down a dark chasm. He was now outside and hit a car. He got to his feet and found himself back in his disguise. He looked around erratically as more drones broke through windows and surrounded him creating another illusion. Giant glass shards fell around him. Tails could see his reflection inside "I mean, look at yourself". The reflections all came alive and broke through the glass and overpowered Tails "You are just a scared little kid in a sweat suit". The duplicates disappeared and Tails was now back in his old black suit "I created a hero to give the world someone to believe in".
Tails was standing on a giant destroyed statue of Shadow the Hedgehog. In front of him was an intact statue of Forelock "I control the truth. I am the truth". A Forelock flew in, Tails tried to drag him down with his grapple, but he instead hit a crane that broke through the illusion and nearly crushed him. Forelock fired a beam and Tails was now standing in front of a gravestone "If you were good enough, maybe Sonic would still be alive". On the stone it read "Sonic the Hedgehog". Tails stared at the stone when a hand burst out of the ground. Tails fell back as a skeletal Sonic crawled out towards him "Deep down you know I'm right. You made your choice. And all you had to do was step aside. And now you have-". Suddenly all the illusions stopped. Tails was outside and Forelock in his effects suit fell down unconscious with an injured Tower behind him. Multiple cars arrived and surrounded the area. Tails took a relieved breath "Tower" "Forelock's people are trying to find everyone who could expose him. Who'd you tell". Tails didn't understand "Um…" "I know you told someone, so just tell me. Who did you tell? Who else did you tell!?". Tails tried to think back "Uh, just Ray and Barby from my class. Maybe Ray told his girlfriend Dina, but that's it". Tower started to chuckle confusing Tails "What?" "You are so gullible". Tower disappeared laving a smug Forelock in his place "Now all your friends have to die". Tails backed away "Oh, Gaia". He was back in the dark completely blind "It's easy to fool people when they're already fooling themselves". Tails stumbled back in fear "For what it's worth, Miles. I really am sorry". The illusions disappeared, Tails was on a track and before he could even react a train hit him. Forelock watched as the train disappeared through a tunnel "Cream". There was a pause then "Yes, Forelock" Cream replied sounding slightly angry, "Access files to Miles Prower's class trip. I need them to fly home from Knothole".
An exhausted Tails climbed inside the train and fell back onto one of the seats. He turned off his disguise and checked his wounds. He started to cough before finally passing out from exhaustion.
Tails woke up heavily bruised with a black eye. He saw two men sitting next to him with flags painted on their face "Hey" "Where… Where am I?" "Municipal holding facility. They said they found you unconscious at the train yard. Very dangerous". Another man on Tails' other side tapped his shoulder giving him a fright "And we gave you the shirt because you seemed cold". Tails looked down and saw that he was wearing an orange shirt twice his size "Thanks. You guys are nice". He recognised the flags "You guys speak really good English" "Welcome to Somers". Tails sat up "I'm in Somers, right now?" "Yep" "Bye". Tails jumped up and looked through the bars "Guard!" "The guard is on a break. Probably talking to his wife. She's pregnant". Tails sighed and crushed the lock and opened the cell door. He ran through and stopped at the guard's office seeing his equipment on the desk, it was all crushed and beyond repair. Tails ran outside and found himself in a small village. He ran over to a stand where an owl was working "Excuse me, sir. Could I borrow your phone?" "Yeah". He gave Tails the phone "Everyone is so nice here". Tails tried to think of who to call before finally deciding "Please, pick up. Please, pick up. Oh, hey. I missed up. I'm sorry, I need a ride… Uh, where am I. Excuse me, sir. Where am I?".
Tails limped across a field as a Hedgehog Industries jet landed in front of him. The doors folded open, and Antione stepped out "Tails? Are you okay?" "Ant, is that you?" "Yes, of course it's me". Tails held out his hand "Stop! Tell me something only you would know". Antione tried to think "Only I would know… Uh… Remember when we went to Echidnaopolis? You pay-per-viewed a video in your room? They did not list the titles, but I could tell by the price it was an adult film. And you did not know how I knew-" "Okay, fine! It's you. Stop". Antione walked over to him concerned and Tails hugged him "It's good to see you". Antione comfortingly hugged him "You will have to tell me what the hell is going on here".
Now on the plane Antione was stitching up a wound on Tails' back "Okay, hold still. There we go". Tails grunted "Ouch" "I thought you had super strength" "It still hurts". He sighed "Ant, come on" "Alright, relax. Just a few more. There we go". Tails jumped and hit the table "Oh, Gaia, Ant!" "Relax". Tails angrily stood up and moved to the other side of the plane "Don't tell me to relax, Ant! How can I relax when I messed up so bad? I trusted Forelock. Right? I thought he was my friend. I gave him the only thing Mr Sonic left for me, and now he's gonna kill my friends and thousands of people, so please do not tell me to relax". He sat down and held his head in his hands. He sobbed "I'm sorry, Ant. I'm sorry. I shouldn't shout". He looked up, his eyes were red and full of tears "I just really miss him". Ant nodded understandably "Yeah, I miss him too". Tails lowered his head "Everywhere I go I see his face. And the whole world is asking who's gonna be the next Sonic…". He struggles to get the words out and wipes his nose "And I don't know if that's me, Ant. I'm not Sonic". Antione again nodded "You are not Sonic. You are never gonna be Sonic. Nobody could live up to Sonic. Not even Sonic". He smiled reassuringly "Sonic was my best friend. And he was a mess. He second guessed everything he did. He was all over the place. The one thing that he did that he didn't second guess was picking you. I don't think Sonic would have done what he did if he didn't know that you were gonna be here after he was gone". Tails looked up listening, "Now, your friends are in trouble, you're all alone, your tech is missing. What are you going to do about it?".
Tails face slowly changed to a determined expression and he stood up "I'm gonna kick his ass" "Cool. But I mean right now. We've been on a tulip field for the past 15 minutes". Tails nodded and tried to think "Right. I can't call my friends because he's tracking their phones. Give me your phone". Antione nodded and handed him the phone. Tails tried to open it "What's your password?" "Password" "You're head of security and your password is password?". Antione looked ashamed "I don't feel good about it either". Tails found a livestream by Ash "Hello, governor. Cup of tea for you? I'm gonna be in Knothole soon" "They're in Knothole". Antione got up and ran to the cockpit "Okay" "I need a new case". Antione stopped and grinned before pressing a button on the wall "I can do better that a case". A room in the back of the plane opened revealing advanced machinery making a strange pod. Tails watched amazed and then pressed his hand on a scanner "Okay, um… Bring up everything you have on…". He sighed "The Prowl". Holograms showing all the different equipment he's used, and he began selecting and modifying each one. Antione smiled warmly at him; Tails noticed "What?" "Nothing. You take care of the equipment. I will take care of the music". Antione pressed a button in the cockpit and a familiar song played "Can't hold on much longer. But I will never let go. I know it's a one-way track". Tails laughed "Oh, I love Zebrahead". He continued to work on his new stuff "Tell me now how long this'll last. I'm not gonna think this way. Nor will I count on others". Antione sat in the pilot's seat and took off "Close my eyes and feel it burn. Now I see what I've gotta do. Open your heart, it's gonna be alright".