Remember how I said last time that everything so far has been tame compared to what I had in mind for Tails? I wasn't kidding. Enjoy this chapter that is about as long as all the previous chapters combined!
Tails
When Sonic finally arrived in Central City, he quickly ran up the side of a nearby building to avoid being seen. Once he reached the top, he got a good look just how much the city had changed.
First of all, the city grew quite a bit, there were now many more buildings than there was before. Second, the technology in the city appeared to be a lot more advanced… not that he really understood what any of the new stuff was or what it did, but he could tell that there were a lot of upgrades.
Satisfied with his view, he began running again, hoping from rooftop to rooftop on his way to Tails' house. On his way there though, one of the buildings he was standing on began to shake as a plume of smoke began to rise nearby.
Quickly regaining his bearings, Sonic made his way over to the smoke to see what was going on. He had to take a detour though, in order to remain on the rooftops.
When he got there, he discovered that the source of the smoke was a bank, which was currently being robbed. The robbers were currently loading their loot into the getaway car, and Sonic was able to get a good look at them.
"The Hooligans? Those guys are still around?" Sonic said, watching as Nack, Bean and Bark began driving away. "Guess they went from mercenaries to common thieves."
Sonic was now in a sticky situation, he couldn't let The Hooligans just get away, but he also did promise Knuckles that he would try and stay hidden, and jumping out into broad daylight to fight crime isn't the best way to do that.
Eventually though, his heroic heart won over, and he was getting prepared to jump in and save the day.
That is, until a yellow ball of energy flew into the car, blowing it up.
After the smoke cleared, Sonic could see Nack raising to his feet.
"Alright, who's the wise guy?!" He yelled out.
"You know, I was wondering what happened to you guys. Guess you haven't been having the best luck with finding work, huh?" Said a familiar voice, causing Sonic to smile.
A little ways down the road, wielding his old arm cannon, stood Tails, who, to Sonic's amazement, looked very different to what he remembered. The obvious thing was that he was now a lot taller, now being a good foot taller than Sonic, on top of that, the hair on his head was now a good bit longer, with some now hanging off the back of his head. A good bit of his ears now had a slight brown coloring to them too. He was also wearing what appeared to be a lab coat. But most of all, he just seemed to ooze with confidence now, something that made Sonic as happy as could be.
"Oh hey! It's the little yellow dude! Something's different about him… did he do something with his hair?" Bean said.
"… He's not little anymore Bean…" Nack said.
"Oooooooh… that was my third guess!" Bean said.
"I am going to give you guys one chance, give up and turn yourselves in, or I will put you all in a world of hurt." Tails said, getting ready to fight.
"HA! You and what army?" Nack asked.
"Actually, I think it is you that needs the army." Tails quipped back.
"Alright wise guy, let's see how you handle THIS!" Nack said before pulling out his gun and firing a couple of bullets.
Tails then pulled something out of his coat pocket, and suddenly a barrier was forming around him, blocking the bullets. Tails then sped towards the trio at blinding speed. He had gotten a lot faster. He wasn't quite as fast as Sonic yet, but the speed increase was definitely noticeable. When he reached Nack, he quickly grabbed the weasel's arm, and slammed him to the ground, disarming him in the process. As he was doing this, Bark started winding up a punch from behind. Tails saw this coming however, and used his namesakes to grab Bark's arm and began spinning him around rapidly, before sending him flying towards Bean, who was currently lighting one of his bombs, which then exploded, knocking the two of them out.
When the smoke cleared, the crowd that had gathered gave Tails a round of applause, this included Sonic, who was still on the rooftop.
Shortly after, the police arrived, and Tails turned the three in, before flying off somewhere in a hurry.
Deciding to follow Tails, Sonic began running again, though he was careful as to not get seen by his friend. He was curious as to where the fox was going, seeing as how he was currently traveling away from his house, after all.
Eventually, Tails landed in a park in the north end of the city. When he got there, Sonic leapt down from the roof and into an alley, and began listening as Tails began talking to someone.
"Thanks for watching him. I couldn't just not go." Tails said.
"Don't worry about it, just be thankful that I was passing by on my break." Said a somewhat familiar voice, though Sonic couldn't quite figure out who it was. "Well, I should probably be getting back, I will see you two soon!"
"Bye-bye!" Said a new, clearly young voice.
And with that, Sonic could hear the footsteps of the mystery friend as she walked away. When she was gone, Sonic got a good look at the park. When he saw that, aside from Tails and one child that was playing in a sand box, the park seemed to be completely empty. Seeing this as the best chance he had, Sonic began to approach.
—
Tails was sitting on the bench of the park, watching as the young child he was watching was playing by himself. There were plenty of families here before he left to deal with The Hooligans, but they were gone now.
"I guess all the commotion made them decide to leave…" Tails said to himself. He was going to get ready to leave himself, but he decided instead to sit and reflect for a while. That fight reaffirmed that he had come a long way over the past fifteen years, but he still had his doubts.
"I wonder if Sonic would be proud of me if he saw that…" Tails said to himself.
"Do you really have to ask that? I feel like you should know the answer." Said a voice from behind him, making him jump.
When Tails turned around, he saw the grinning face of his best friend… the same best friend who had been missing for the past fifteen years…
"…No…" Tails sighed out.
"Uh… no?" Sonic asked, unsure as to why Tails said that.
"Why do some people still insist on doing this?" Tails asked. "Ok, what are you, a hologram?" He said as he put a hand on Sonic's chest. "No, so a machine made to look like him." Tails said as he pulled something out of his pocket.
"… uh… is that supposed to do something bud?" Sonic asked.
"That's weird, this usually works on machines…" Tails said.
"Maybe it's not working because I'm not a machine?" Sonic suggested.
"Ok… so if you are not a hologram or a machine, then what are you?" Tails asked.
"Uh… Your older brother…?" Sonic said.
"But… that's not possible… you're…" Tails said. "You're… Is… is it really you?" Tails said, voice filled with hope.
"Yeah, it's me bud, good to see you." Sonic said, arms held out for a hug.
Tails just looked at him for a moment, before suddenly embracing his long lost friend, as tears began to pour out of his eyes. "I-I thought that you were dead!" He said. "You just vanished, and no-one could find you and… and…"
"Shhh, just let it all out." Sonic said.
After about a minute, the two finally separated.
"Sorry about that, guess all the emotions that I had been bottling up just kinda… let itself out just now." Tails said as he wiped a couple of tears away.
"It's cool, I probably would of been the same way." Sonic said, wiping away some of his own tears.
"So, what happened to you?" Tails asked.
"Time travel, turns out that the Chaos Emeralds can send you forward, and I assume backwards in time." Sonic explained.
"Huh, I always knew that it was a possibility, but I never thought it would actually be true." Tails said.
"Yeah, Whisper told me as much." Sonic said.
"Oh, you bumped into Whisper already?" Tails asked.
"Yeah, she actually had to give me a ride off of Angel Island. She and Knuckles say hi by the way." Sonic said.
Tails then began connecting the dots.
'So that's what Knuckles meant in his message!' He thought.
"So, when did you take up babysitting?" Sonic asked.
"Uh… babysitting?" Tails asked.
"Yeah, I thought I heard you talking about watching a kid, and I heard the kids voice, so I figured…" Sonic said. "Wait… if you weren't babysitting, then what were you…"
"Um… excoose me?" Said the same young voice from before.
Sonic then looked down, and finally got a good look at the one kid that was in the park.
A young fox, no older than three, that looked almost exactly like Tails when he was younger. The only major difference being a brown stripe on his tails… both of them.
"Are… are yew Uncle Sawnic?" Said the kit.
"Wh… wha?" Sonic breathed out.
Tails just let out a light chuckle, as he kneeled down.
"Sonic, meet Skye… my son." Tails said.
…
…
…
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"
Meanwhile, on Angel Island.
Knuckles was currently relaxing by the Master Emerald with Rouge, who had just come for a visit. He had already informed Tangle about having to cancel their expedition.
"Ok, what's up?" Rouge asked.
"What do you mean?"
"You were really looking forward to today, and you just decided to cancel?" Rouge said.
"The Master Emerald called for me, what I am supposed to do?" Knuckles asked.
"You and I both know that whatever it was that the Master Emerald called you for, you could of gotten done with plenty of time to spare to make it to the expedition. So, what's up?"
"I don't know what you are talking about." Knuckles said. He then felt his communicator vibrate. He pulled it out and got a look at what was sent to him, and he started laughing hysterically.
"What?" Rouge asked, reaching for the communicator.
"Oh no, sorry, not spoiling this surprise!" Knuckles said.
"So you were hiding something!" Rouge said before leaping at Knuckles, snatching the device from his hands.
And she was shocked as to what was on the screen.
A picture of Sonic looking incredibly shocked, with the caption "Just told him about Skye."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Sonic finished, not even noticing Tails taking a picture and sending it to Knuckles. "You… You're a DAD?!"
"Yeah, crazy huh?" Tails said, lifting Skye up onto his shoulders.
"Uh, yeah! I'll say!" Sonic said. "Wait, he called me 'Uncle Sonic'…"
"Yeah, you did just say that you were my older brother, didn't you? Though, I guess right now you're the younger brother?" Tails said.
"I'm… I'm an uncle…" Sonic breathed out.
"Yeah, you are." Tails said.
"I… I need to sit down…" Sonic said before sitting in the nearby bench.
"Is Uncle Sawnic alwight?" Skye asked his father, causing Sonic to breath heavily again, causing Tails to chuckle.
"He's fine, he just needs some time." Tails said. "After all, I was ten the last time we saw each other."
"Where did he gwo?" Sky asked.
"Well, here I guess." Tails responded. "It's… a bit weird."
After a brief pause, Skye nodded his head. "Ok."
Finally, Sonic was able to collect his thoughts. "How long…?"
"About two and a half years now." Tails said. "Been married for just over three though."
"M-M-M-M-M-M" Sonic began stuttering.
"Aaaaaaand I broke him again…" Tails said with a laugh, which Skye joined in on.
"So wait… you got married when you were…" Sonic said
"Just under Twenty Two years old, yeah." Tails said. "I know, kinda young… but when you find that someone in your life… you just kinda… go with it I guess."
"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Sonic asked.
"To be honest, even I don't know. It just felt… right to get married, so, it just kinda happened." Tails explained. "And honestly, I don't ever want to go back."
"Well, as long as you're happy with it, then so am I!" Sonic said patting Tails on the shoulder. "So… who's the lucky lady?"
"Hmmmmm… Nope, sorry, not telling you!" Tails said before turning around, while Skye started giggling.
"What?! Why not?" Sonic asked.
"Cause I want you to find out for yourself. You are going to stay for dinner, aren't you?" Tails asked.
"Of course!" Sonic said.
"Well, let's get going, I should probably get started on dinner before she gets home." Tails said before walking towards the exit to the park.
"Hold on, Knuckles said that I should lay low for a while… actually, now that I think about it, how come no-one noticed me here yet?" Sonic asked.
"I figured Knuckles would of said something like that, so I got you covered. Don't worry, no-one can see you right now, as long as you stay close to me." Tails said.
"Alright, if you say so…" Sonic responded as he began walking. "So, other than the whole family thing, what else have you been up to?"
"Well, I am still making inventions, I am actually one of the world's leading scientists right now, in charge of creating all sorts of defense systems, robots, you name it!" Tails explained.
"That's great! Always knew you were the smartest guy on the planet, guess this proves it!" Sonic said.
"Thanks, but that's not all. I also try to stay in shape, and keep my skills sharp in case something like that bank robbery earlier happens." Tails explained. "You were watching that, weren't you?"
"Of course! I was actually about to jump in when you showed up. Gotta say, I was really impressed." Sonic said.
"That's good… that makes me really happy." Tails said.
"Yeah, you really improved a lot over the years."
"I kinda had to… even with Eggman gone, there were still a lot of threats to the planet. The Deadly Six, Metal Sonic, Starline… even though he isn't much of a threat anymore… and even more." Tails explained. "Someone needed to step up and take charge, give the people a hero to look up to… and I guess that was me."
"I have to admit, that makes me more proud than you could ever believe." Sonic said, and it was true. He knew that Tails was destined for great things, but the fox just lacked the confidence to actually do it. To see that young fox like this, he couldn't be prouder.
"Thanks Sonic, that… that makes me really happy." Tails said, wiping a tear from his eye.
"So, anything else happen?" Sonic asked, and he was surprised when Tails looked physically nervous as a result. 'What's that all about?'
"Nothing really, though, I have been working on a super robot lately. One designed to be pretty much an unstoppable defense system." Tails said.
"Oh really? Well, with you working on it, I am sure it will come out great!" Sonic said.
"I hope so…" Tails said.
After a while, the three finally arrived at the house, though Skye did fall asleep on Tails' shoulders along the way. When they got there, Sonic noticed that the place was, in fact, a good bit bigger.
"After Skye was born, we decided that we needed more room, so we expanded a bit." Tails explained.
"I can see that. Looks good!" Sonic said.
"Well, let's go in." Tails said before opening the door.
When they walked in, Tails carefully laid Skye down on the couch so he could continue his nap. Looking at the child, Sonic couldn't shake the feeling that something was bothering him about Skye. Deciding to ignore it for now, he started to take a good look around, trying to find some pictures to find out who exactly Tails' wife is. To his surprise and disappointment, there were none.
"No wedding pictures?" Sonic said as Tails took his lab coat off and placed it on a nearby chair.
"They're upstairs… don't try it." Tails said.
"Oh come oooooonnnnnn, I just want to know who it is!" Sonic said.
"Well you won't have to wait to long, she just messaged me telling me that she is on her way home." Tails said.
"Was she working or something?" Sonic asked.
"I guess you could say that."
"Cool, so, how did you do that anyways?" Sonic asked. "You know, the whole keeping me hidden thing?"
"Oh uh, well… you see…"
Sonic then suddenly grabbed Tails' lab coat from the chair. "And how did you fit all of those devices into this coat's pockets?" Sonic asked. When he reached into the pocket, he was surprised.
There was nothing there. Not the shield generator, not the device he tried to use on Sonic… nothing.
"Uh… where did all that stuff you were using before go?" Sonic asked, and he grew worried when Tails didn't answer. "Tails?"
"Sonic, you should probably sit down for this one…" Tails said, to which Sonic complied. "A couple of days after you disappeared, there was a bit of an accident…"
"An accident? Are you alright?" Sonic asked.
"Oh yeah, I am fine. I guess you can say that I came out of it better than I went into it." Tails said. "But… well… maybe I should just show you."
Tails then raised up a hand, which began to glow a light red. Then a familiar sound rang out, and suddenly a new chair was in the center of the room.
"WHAT HE HECK?!" Sonic said, jumping out of his chair in surprise, waking Skye up in the process.
"So… you remember the Phantom Ruby, right?" Tails asked as he made the chair disappear.
"You… you can use Infinite's power?!" Sonic asked. "How did that happen?!"
"Well, after you disappeared, we went looking for you. While Amy and a few others went searching towns and the various zones, me, Knuckles and and a couple of others went and searched some of Eggman's bases." Tails started. "The first one we went to was one that we had recently discovered. As it turns out, it was the base where Eggman was doing his research on the Phantom Ruby… and where he created Infinite."
"Ok, so how did you…?"
"Well… I got a bit… hasty with some of my actions… made a big mistake… and a machine containing what I guess was the energy from a bunch of Phantom Ruby prototypes blew up in my face." Tails explained. "The energy infused with my body, and I have been able to do this ever since. And before you ask, yes, I did use this to keep you hidden before."
"Ok, but what about those bullets earlier? You can't expect me to believe that the Phantom Ruby's power works on bullets. They don't have minds to trick!" Sonic asked.
"Well, that actually wasn't a shield generator, it was just made to look like one. What really happened was I created an illusion of a shield around me, and while I was hiding behind the illusion, I was actually dodging the bullets!" Tails explained.
"And why would you do that?" Sonic asked.
"I thought it would look cooler." Tails said. "Especially since all I really needed to do was duck."
"… Ok yeah, that did look cool." Sonic admitted.
"Glad to see that you agree." Tails said.
"There is just one more thing that is really bothering me though." Sonic said.
"What's up?" Tails asked.
"With Knuckles and Whisper, barely anything changed, but with you… so much happened!" Sonic explained. "Did you notice that?"
"Yeah, I guess my life was the most eventful out of all of us." Tails said. "Might be because I was the youngest of the group, most room to grow, you know?"
"I guess…" Sonic said.
"So… you aren't upset?" Tails suddenly asked.
"Why would I be?" Sonic asked.
"Infinite used that power to… you know…"
Sonic just smiled. "Listen, what matters is not the power that you have, but what you do with it. Infinite used the power to hurt people, but you use it to help people. That's what really matters." Sonic said while patting Tails on the shoulder.
"Heh, my wife said the same thing." Tails said.
"Really?" Sonic asked.
"Yeah, I kinda hated this power at first… she was the first one to notice, and she convinced me that it could be a good thing…" Tails explained. "I think that might of been what started it all for us."
"I see, well, I can't wait to meet her." Sonic said.
"You already did, it's just a matter of you finding out who it is." Tails said. "That's the only hint you are getting by the way."
"So, it's someone I know?" Sonic asked. He then got to thinking. His first thought was Cream, but he realized that when Tails was twenty one, she would of been about nineteen, a bit early for marriage. And Tails only mentioned that HE got married young, which probably meant that his wife was older than him. So, while the two of them certainly got along well when they were younger, Cream was out.
His next thought was Amy. While it is still certainly a possibility, the fact that there weren't wedding pictures all over the place told him that it probably wasn't her… either that or she changed a good bit over the past fifteen years.
After a while, he gave up, and decided to wait. And finally, the front door opened.
"Hey! I'm home!" Called a familiar voice. Tails then walked towards the front door.
"You're home early, something happen?" Tails asked.
"Yeah, we had to cancel, he said something important came up and that he couldn't make it." The girl said.
"That sucks, you were looking forward to it too!" Tails said.
"Yeah, I know. Oh well, there is always… next… time…" Said the girl, as her eyes landed on Sonic.
And suddenly, everything made sense to the hedgehog.
Who the girl Tails was talking to back in the park was, and what it was about Skye that was bothering him.
Those weren't stripes on Skye's tails… they were rings.
"SONIC?!"
"TANGLE?!"
End of Chapter 3
That's a twist, isn't it?
I told y'all that there was going to a lot of stuff with Tails, and I wasn't messing around. This is my favorite character after all.
So, let's start with the obvious thing. Yes, Tails is married to Tangle and has a kid. Honestly, you might of been able to figure this out if you noticed that I was mentioning Tangle and Tails a lot before this revelation. There are a couple of reasons I did this. One is that I wanted to include a rare pairing for once. I have barely seen anyone pair the two up, even when it is purely platonic, and I feel like the two of them would get along very well, mainly because of the whole tail thing that they have in common. I also really liked the moment in Tails' workshop in chapter 16 of the IDW comics. Also, they are gonna be working together in the upcoming chapter this Wednesday, so there's that. The next reason… will actually be explained much later in the story. There is something I want to do, and it will only work if these two are together. It isn't a big thing by any means, but it will be a fun thing. And finally, for a simple reason… For some reason, in almost every single universe in this franchise, Tails has the most success in his love life than ANYONE! Don't believe me? Archie Sonic: Get's married to a pop star (in one time-line at least). In Sonic X: let's be real, if Cosmo didn't die, they would of probably of gotten together at some point. Even is Sonic Boom there was an entire episode about him getting a girlfriend. THE BOY HAS GAME!… although that whole Fiona fiasco may be some points against him. Oh, and if you think the age difference is weird… Zooey, Tails' girlfriend in Sonic Boom looks to be about Sonic's age, which Tangle is as well, so I think it's fine.
Anyways, the next thing I want to talk about is the whole Phantom Ruby thing. There was a fan theory before Sonic Forces came out that was about how Infinite might of been Tails. It was obviously not true, and got debunked really quick… but it stuck with me for a while. There is a story out there that uses this theory very well and I am loving it so far. I don't want to spoil it for anyone though, so I will not be mentioning the name. Shout outs to that dude/dudette, they would probs know who they are (I did leave a review on that fic as a guest recently after all ;) ). Read it if you get the chance, it's good stuff. Anyways, I didn't want to do a story about that myself because well, I felt like I would of been copying that idea. So, I went with including this in this story. It's also good for character growth, so there's that.
Next up is the fact that Tails really shaped up to be a great hero! I feel like if something like this were to happen to Sonic, given enough time, Tails would be the one to step up and be the hero and leader that everyone needed. He did it in Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, and I feel like he could do it here.
Also, I am still learning to write action sequences well, so I hope I did a good job with the Hooligan's fight. Tell me how I did :)
Anyways, next time, will be all about ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ so look forward to it!
…
Three Days After Sonic's disappearance…