"But that's enough about Sonic's relationship troubles," said Knuckles, smiling. "We should move on to the little guy here."
"Ah, yeah. The one who aced all of his tests and helped me keep my place there," Shadow said.
Rouge chuckled. "How did that start, anyway?"
"Well, Sonic helped to get me signed up, Tails helped with tests, and Knuckles helped with music choices," Shadow said. "Seriously, the day he introduced me to some of the bands I still blast today... it still means a lot."
"Ah," Rouge nodded. "I think I heard Comeback Kid in your earphones when you were training earlier."
"If you're starting to tell them apart, that means you really do care about him," Amy giggled.
"Well, he is a handsome one," Rouge said. "But we're here to talk about a different cutie. So, Tails, do tell us a story"
"When you said cutie, I was wondering where you were going to go with it," Tails said softly. "Well... let's go with what happened leading to my first time bomb test."
"Good place to start," Sonic nodded.
Two years ago...
Tails was sat at his table, listening to music played through his phone to his brain via his earphones, enjoying a cup of coffee as he looked over the test before him. It was about the afternoon, and his friends had gone out to get some vending machine snacks to bring back as lunch. As they were doing that, Tails was studying over a written test he had to do that weekend, and he smiled to himself.
"All right... I think I got this..." He was looking over an observation he'd written down, checking it over. "That's not completely on, though... or... wait, is that right? Did I word that rig- AH, THE HELL!" He yelled and turned to see the owner of the hand that was on his shoulder, gasping. "Oh... hey, Shadow..." He took his earphones out of his ears, turning down his music. "Where are the other two?"
"I got a break from them to check up on you," said Shadow. "There was a surprisingly long line at the vending machines, so I just told them what I wanted and got back here early."
"Ah," Tails nodded. "So... why are you here?"
"I wanted to check on the guy who's keeping me afloat in this place," Shadow said. "I know you've been working double hard on your own after taking days off to help me through tests."
"It's like I told you before," Tails said, "I'm more than happy to help you out here, and you've been making up for it by actually listening and making your own observations."
"I guess you have a point," Shadow conceded. "So, why do you work so hard anyway?"
"My parents instilled that into me," Tails said. "I mean... all right, I've never told this story to anyone before, but my dad had a heart attack when I was younger. The moment he was out of the hospital, he went back to work right away because he and my mum had an idea to work on those implant things you've been hearing about."
"Oh, that's Prower tech?" Shadow asked. "I didn't even know that was them."
"They're keeping it under wraps as there's still a lot of testing to do," Tails said. "But there's plans to put that stuff to use in modern life for people. Folks with disabilities or health problems, and hell, who knows? They could replace prosthetic limbs one day."
"Well, look at that. Your parents are out there trying to save the world," Shadow smiled a bit at that. "Want some help there on your test?"
Tails looked over his notes again, shaking his head. "Nah... I think I might be okay." There was a knock at the door, and in walked Sonic and Knuckles. "Ah, and here is some brain food."
"Remember, don't overwork yourself," Shadow said.
"What test are you working on?" Knuckles asked as he set food down onto the table.
"Oh, the bomb thing," Tails said. "From what I know, people usually either just save the people or deactivate the bomb. Nobody's ever done both, so I'm going to be the first."
"You're pretty confident about that," Sonic said.
"I've been working hard towards it all week," Tails said. "I think I've figured out how it works."
"You won't know until you get in there yourself," Knuckles said. "It could get messy."
"True, but the bombs are filled with paint, right? Messy would be part of it." Tails smiled. "Not that I'm anticipating getting messy at all. I've got this."
"If you say so," Knuckles said. "Let's eat."
Present day...
"Well, I never knew that Tails used to be that confident," said Cosmo.
"Back then, I didn't have you to keep me in line," Tails admitted with a smile of his own. "But yeah... I got in over my head."
"Considering that said head is usually good for this technology stuff, I'm surprised," Shade said. "Can I make a bold swing and assume that you didn't ace the test on your first time?"
"And she knocks it out of the park," Tails said. "But I didn't just mess up. I messed up really badly, and... well, I guess that we should just get to that part now."
Back at the academy...
"All right, today's the big day," Shadow said in his and Tails' room. "Want to run the logistics back to me?"
"I spent all night reading them over in my head, but it couldn't hurt to go it over one more time," Tails said. "All right... hit me."
"The bomb has how many wires?" Shadow asked.
"Five," Tails said.
"What are the colours?"
"One green, one black, one yellow, one blue, one white."
"How much time do you have to disarm the bomb?"
"Twenty minutes."
"How many civilians are there to rescue after you've taken care of the bomb?"
"Five again?"
Shadow looked Tails over, regarding him with a hard stare before shrugging and nodding. "And all correct answers." He checked his watch. "Got ten minutes to get there. Remember, you're not the only one taking the test today, so try and wait it out. Be one of the last ones. Want me to run you back through it when we get there?"
"No, I think I've got it," Tails said. "Thanks, though."
"All right. Good luck."
"I thought you said we had ten minutes," Tails said, raising a brow.
"Cut that time in half from what I said, and then in half again. Better get moving."
Tails shook his head, then a look of panic went over his face before he left the room, quickly heading to the demonstration room. It looked like something he would make himself for training had he enough time and money, and he saw how the environment shifted. When he got there, he saw some targets with bullet holes in them descending into the floor, the trainee police firing at said targets all celebrating their work.
As they left, Tails went to grab one of the bomb disposal uniforms. He knew that the bomb wasn't real, and he wasn't even anticipating saving anyone from such a situation, but he thought that it was a good test of his intelligence as well as a chance to look at some technology for free. He looked to see the bombs being planted in marked areas while a bunch of walls went up, mannequins taking the place of the civilians Tails would have to save.
"All right, today is your standard bomb test," said Mr. Bridger. "You know the drill by now, but for any first timers, I'll run it down for you. You have a total of thirty minutes each. You must disarm the bomb and save all of the civilians. You have tools in your bomb disposal suits to help you, and said suit will protect you from the deadly powder paint that will come out of the bombs should you fail to disable them safely." He looked around them all. "And I need a volunteer, so let's go with... you."
Tails looked next to him, seeing a fellow Mobian who appeared cocky. Tails didn't remember a lot of the half hour after that that wasn't biting his lip or digging his nails into the suit gloves so hard he thought that he'd rip them apart as he fought the urge to yell at everything wrong that the other Mobian was doing. Couldn't find the right tool to twist the cap off quick enough, didn't know how to pull open the screen panel, didn't know the code to type, didn't know which wire to cut... all things Tails knew.
The other Mobian knew he had barely any time left to fully disable the bomb, so in a panic, he cut the blue wire, causing the bomb to detonate. Or Tails thought it was the blue wire, at least. He was in too much of a silent rage to register what it was, but he did laugh a little bit as the embarrassed Mobian walked back over, paint covering his disposal suit which he removed swiftly before Mr. Bridger turned to Tails.
"Ah, you've got a confident smile on your face, I see," Bridger said.
"Oh, uh, that's not it..." Tails said. "Just excited."
"Ah, my mistake. Seeing as you're so excited, you won't mind being the next to step to the plate?"
Tails gulped, knowing it was pointless to deny it. "Not at all."
The two-tailed fox waited as another bomb was set up, Mr. Bridger right next to him using a watch to time it. Tails nodded that he was ready, and Bridger started the time. Tails moved as quickly as he could in the suit, his footsteps slightly sluggish, but he managed to prevent himself from falling as he reached the bomb. He felt the sweat beading from his head, going down his face in a streak. He was sure it was just the heat of the suit.
He had to compose himself. He knew that. He looked up to the cap on top of the bomb, grabbing a screwdriver from the tool belt that came with the suit. He carefully but efficiently removed all of the screws that held the cap, a hiss of gas leaking out, some of the paint inside falling gingerly to the floor. He carefully took the cap off, keeping his breath steady as he gently laid it down to the floor.
Next was the screen panel, a small digital display on the left-hand side of the bomb. There was typically a handle that would show said display, but Tails noticed that it was just a panel without the handle. The guy who went before him had a handle and he didn't use it right, but that was besides the point. Tails got a blowtorch from the tool belt, carefully blasting intense heat on the outside of the panel, leaving a blackened trail.
The panel was soon loose enough to pull off, so Tails did just that, seeing the display pop up. There was a bunch of fast moving numbers, but more worrying to Tails was the fourteen minutes he had left before the bomb went off. He was sure that he was moving faster than that. The faster moving numbers had a tell too, as each of the three correct numbers would show up green instead of red. It took him some time to get the numbers right, but he eventually cracked the code, causing the front of the bomb to his as a cylindrical slot opened up.
As Tails expected, all of the wires were there. But not in the order he'd said them in, which was strange. Maybe they changed them around. That must have been it. Tails grabbed the pliers from his tool belt, looking at the wires. One of these would stop the bomb from ticking down. He had about... seven minutes left to decide? When did that happen? Why is it getting faster now?
Tails looked over the wires again, and he knew that he had to cut the black wire to disable the bomb. But there were many problems. He was having trouble seeing the wires due to a mixture of sweat, his breath fogging the suit's visor, and the panic setting in within him making all of the wires look green, which also didn't help as that wasn't the right colour wire for him to cut.
The fox closed his eyes, the pliers in his hands. He tried to push out any distractions, even with some sweat rolling down his eyelids, and he brought the pliers up to where he believed the black wire to be. He took a breath and snipped, and the bomb let out a loud hiss and beeped loudly before slowing down. He opened his eyes, seeing the bomb stopped with four seconds left on the dot, and he took a breath as he stepped back.
"Congrats," said Mr. Bridger. "You managed to deactivate the bomb. But you took too much time. You got distracted."
"Won't the civilians still be safe with the bomb off?" Tails asked. "I can help them, right?"
"You do know how time limits work, don't you?" Mr. Bridger said.
Tails was confused for a moment until the bomb behind him went off, exploding its powder like paint. Most of it hit the back and left side of the disposal suit, and Tails flinched a bit from the realistically loud noise before sighing and walking off of the course as the next person went after him.
Later, he was out of the disposal suit and had a quick shower, getting changed into some street clothes. He immediately went back to his notes that he'd taken, sitting down on his bet with them on his lap as he crossed his legs. He played some music through his earphones again, shaking his head as he went over it all.
"I don't get it..." he muttered. "I got all the questions right... I did all the things... I thought I'd be ready. I guess that I let the pressure build up too much. Didn't even notice how much the time passed. I tried to forget that anyone else was there, and I couldn't focus. I did everything right, sorted through all the cogs and gears... I can't figure out what went wrong..."
"Well, I'm glad you admitted that before I could ask what was wrong," Shadow's voice said. "Saves me a bit of work."
Tails looked over at him. "Guess you heard what happened."
"I did, and you should stop feeling bad about it right now," Shadow said. "You failed at a test that so many other people botch. You did all of the studying, and I bet that I could ask you about the tiniest details of that bomb and you'd tell me ten things about it, only about two of which I'd probably understand."
"I let it get to my head," Tails said. "Like, I don't want to say that I was obsessed with getting it right, but... dude, it just sucks. I put a lot of work into that, I was looking forward to it, and I failed."
"If that were a real scenario, you would have aced it," Shadow said. "Four seconds left is nothing to sneeze at. If that were real, you could have saved all of those people."
"But it wasn't," Tails said. "And I screwed up. And I'm worried that if I get cocky like that again and let it cloud me, then the same shit will happen. If that happened in a real life situation, that'd be it."
"I mean... you're not looking to work specifically in bomb disposal. That's something you've told me before. But you know, if you wanted to do it, you absolutely could." Shadow shrugged. "You made a mistake and got blasted with paint in an academy where the entire point is teaching you. Part of those teachings include learning from your mistakes and not letting them get to you."
Tails looked over at him. "When did you get so wise about this?"
"What, the street raised former small time crook can't seem educated?" Shadow asked with a smile. "I'm just saying what I think you'd say if that were me." He put a hand on the two-tailed fox's shoulder. "Just because you let something like that get to your brain doesn't mean you should let it change who you are."
"Yeah... I guess you're right..." Tails said.
"I know I am," Shadow said. "Now, how about we go over some of these tests again for next time. Get an early start." He grabbed Tails' left earphone and smiled. "Madina Lake. First album?"
"Second, probably my favourite," Tails said, smiling. "Thank you."
"Any time."
Present day...
"So, Shadow was really helpful to you through the academy?" Cosmo asked.
"And I didn't even clean up anything about what he said to try and make him sound better," Tails said. "That was all him."
"I believe it," Cosmo smiled. "So, another lesson on focus?"
"Sort of?" Tails said. "But not like Sonic's one. Mine was more that I let too much get to me. I let the excitement of doing the thing overtake, and I couldn't make it work with the rest of my head. I sometimes still have trouble, but working at my parents' place whenever I can helped."
"Well, when good people give more good into the world, it helps to push them in the right direction sometimes," Shadow smiled to Tails. "I'm glad that you heeded that advice, though. You didn't let that event change you for the worst." He turned to Cosmo. "He even aced the test the next time he took it."
"Well... I had the right friends to help," Tails smiled back.
And that's another one of these done. My first thing in 2022! Go me! I hope you liked it. Next is going to be a chapter covering Knuckles. I hope you all enjoyed your holidays, and I'll see you soon for the next one of these. Until then, take care, and stay tuned.
