It was a beautiful, sunny day in the Kingdom of Mobius, and Miles "Tails" Prower was spending it in the garage near the cabin that him and Sonic the Hedgehog shared down by Azure Lake Zone. At this moment, he was working on his 1982 Suzuki RM250 motocross bike, nicknamed the "Mud Fox". While ordinarily more into aviation, Tails had become a rabid motocross aficionado after Sonic once brought home a 1978 Yamaha YZ400. Granted, he sort of lamented having to take a long shower to get all the dirt and stuff off of him, in addition to having to hose the bike down, but he figured that it was worth it. Plus, he found that his little two-stroker was easier to maintain than any of the Tornadoes, which made it easier for him to get lost in his own little daydreams. However, he was snapped out of one when he heard knocking on the little side door to the garage.

"Who is it?" asked Tails.

"It's Shadow."

Tails froze for a second. He wondered why Shadow the Hedgehog of all people would be here given that him and Sonic were bitter rivals, but he knew that when the Ultimate Life Form did something, he had a very good reason for it, so without question, Tails set his tools aside and answered the door.

"Hello, Shadow," said Tails. "What brings you over here?"

"Do you have a ratchet set I can borrow?" asked Shadow.

Tails nodded. "I have a few. Do you need Metric or Imperial?"

"I should only need Imperial, but if you have one that has both, I'll gladly take that, please."

"Sure, just give me a moment to look…"

Shadow surveyed the garage while Tails looked for a suitable ratchet set for him. Shadow noticed that there were tools and parts strewn about in addition to various diagrams and blueprints hung up on the wall, but in spite of it seeming chaotic, Shadow could sense a certain method to the way things were placed. Soon enough, Tails came back with a ratchet set.

"Here you go," said Tails.

Shadow opened the ratchet set. Satisfied that all the pieces were there, he closed it.

"Thank you," said Shadow.

Tails smiled. "You're welcome! Just one question…"

"Yes?"

"May I ask what you needed it for?"

"I was going to do some maintenance on my Trans Am, but Rouge filched my ratchet set to work on her Corvette and has yet to return it."

"Oh, OK. Still, I'm pleasantly surprised that you're such a gearhead, Shadow!"

"Gerald did give me detailed knowledge on mechanical trades."

Tails' eyes widened. "Wow, it sounds like he really wanted to make you the best you could be!"

Shadow smiled. "Well, he didn't call me 'The Ultimate Life Form' for nothing."

Tails frowned, and then raised an eyebrow. "Wait…Shadow…are you smiling?"

"Why shouldn't I? You're the kind of person I can hold a conversation with without wanting to strangle." Shadow then frowned. "Actually, while I'm here, I have to confess something…"

"Yeah?"

"About Sonic…I…I don't really hate him anymore. Actually, to be honest, I never really hated him; it's just that Dr. Robotnik's influence blinded me to the truth, and then there was Black Doom." Shadow smiled nervously. "I have to be honest, I really love that he can save the world with a smile on his face."

Tails smiled. "Actually, it's interesting that you should speak so highly of Sonic, because he tells me that he loves how you can just say what's on your mind without worrying what others think!"

Shadow chuckled. "Perhaps him and I should get together for a little chat someday. But until then, I'm going to leave before this gets too sentimental. Have a nice day, Tails!"

Tails waved "bye" to Shadow. "You too!"

"CHAOS CONTROL!"

Shadow teleported away, while Tails returned to working on his RM250, this time with a smile on his face, knowing that there was light even in the darkest of places.


Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.