"I Would Never Abandon You"

Written by The Sensational SpiderDom321

Chapter 2

"I wish every day could be Halloween. We could all wear masks all the time. Then we could walk around and get to know each other before we got to see what we looked like under the masks."
~R. J. Palacio, Wonder

~Tails' Workshop – Mystic Ruins - Afternoon

The rest of the morning didn't go so smoothly for Tails. He'd spent a few minutes to an hour watching the OK K.O. and Sonic trailer again, doing nothing but replay the last clip where Sonic ditched him for some kid he barely knew. He didn't know how to feel about this. He didn't know how to register it into his mind. And as if watching the trailer over and over again didn't make him feel bad enough, he also spent countless minutes reading the comments.

Most of them supported the fact that Sonic and K.O. were best friends.

Only five comments said otherwise.

But not even the nicest comments in the section could put the kitsune in a good mood. Focusing on them was hard when negative reinforcement was clouding his mind. It was troublesome to go through the morning without hearing the voices of those comments whisper in his head.

In an attempt to make himself feel better; Tails sat by the TV with a bowl of mint candy in his lap. This was an odd activity for him to be doing.

He did like to watch TV shows now and then, mostly science fiction and fantasy ones, but he preferred to spend his time either going on an adventure with his friends or tinkering with his machines.

But he wasn't in the mood to go on an escapade nor was he in the mood to work.

He needed some mindless entertainment to take his mind off the trailer.

With T-Pup beside him, he was watching a show where four jokers would get together and compete either against/with each other in a regime of whacky challenges. If a joker earned the most thumbs down in the challenges, they would have to do something embarrassing as punishment. It was quite an odd program.

But Tails didn't mind it because he wanted something that could clear his mind.

As he tried to forget the last scene in that clip, he looked at the television and saw that one of the jokers was trapped in a dark room, strapped to a table that sat in the middle. The only source of light that illuminated the darkness was a table lamp that was stuck to the ceiling. Tails raised an eyebrow. He knew that the joker was stuck in there because he got the most thumbs down in the challenge, but he wondered what his particular punishment was going to be. T-Pup panted and curled himself beside Tails' side. The fox wrapped his arm around his dog and rubbed his ears. The joker screamed and shouted inside the room, hoping that he would be free of this contraption. He tossed and turned, hollering in fear.

With his curiosity growing stronger, Tails eventually got the answer to his question.

A figure dressed in a black hoodie emerged from the right of the room; a box was in his hands. He approached the joker and slowly opened the box. To which the joker continued shouting.

Tails' frown suddenly morphed into a smile.

A huge, black, furry tarantula emerged from the box and slowly crawled on the joker's stomach. As soon as the spider approached the joker's face, the latter started screaming like a girl. He proceeded to toss and turn, shaking his hands and wiggling his knees. He opened his mouth and shouted; his eyes were close to popping out of his skull.

And as if things couldn't get any worse, another tarantula came out of the box.

Tails laughed at what he was watching. Memories of watching the crossover trailer started to wipe away from his mind… sort of. He was still thinking about it, but the imagery of two spiders crawling on someone's stomach distracted him from those thoughts. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the couch, laughing at the poor joker's punishment.

Before he could see what else was going to happen, his Miles Electric rang.

Reaching beside him, Tails grabbed his communicator and answered it. Honey the Cat was on the other side. She was standing in a boxing ring located in Green Hill Zone. Behind her, a brown-furred Manx with a brown tube top and tight jeans was tossing blows against a punching bag.

"Hey, Tails," the orange cat happily greeted with a smile.

"Hey, Honey," Tails smiled, trying to contain his laughter. "How are you?"

"I'm doing as Sonic would say, way past cool!" Honey winked. "Just chilling at the boxing ring with this new student. I'm training her to be a fight and so far, she's doing pretty good-"

The cat stopped talking because she noticed something wrong with the fox; his eyes were red and puffy. They were like that when he was crying from reading all of the comments earlier. Honey's heart dropped and she lowered her ears.

"Hey… are you all right?"

Tails knew what she noticed so he wiped his eyes and sniffed. "I'm all right, Honey. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Tails, I can smell secrecy from a mile away. You're hiding something, aren't you?"

"Nothing, I'm perfectly fine."

Honey sniffed the air and gave the fox a stern look. "Tails… what's going on?"

"N-nothing," Tails nervously chuckled. "What makes you think I'm hiding something?"

The cat just blankly stared.

"What?" Tails inquired, still chuckling. "What are you doing? Why're you giving me that face?"

Suddenly, the yellow cat left the conversation.

"Hello? Honey?" Tails asked, as he watched his screen turn black. "Hmm… I guess she fell for it."

"Think again," said Honey, as she suddenly appeared behind Tails' couch.

"GAH!" The fox rapidly turned around and shouted at the top of his lungs. T-Pup was frightened by this and jumped off the couch, barking at the cat behind him. Tails fell off the sofa and landed on his back, knocking over his bowl of mint candy.

Honey jumped over the couch and looked down at the fox, offering him her hand.

Panting in fear, Tails grabbed the cat's hand as she pulled him back up.

"Honey!" Tails snarled, still breathing heavily. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Well, that's what you get for lying to me."

"What?"

"Tails, I know you're hiding something. Your eyes are pink and puffy, which means you were crying about something… tell me what's wrong. Cats are very good listeners."

Exhaling another breath, Tails closed his eyes and finally gave in. Rubbing his face, he began his explanation. "Have you heard of this cartoon called OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes?"

"Yes," Honey replied. "Never watched it, but yeah, I've heard of it. Why?"

"Charmy called me this morning and told me they're making a special episode starring Sonic and me. When you hear it, it sounds cool. But when you see it, it's… well, it isn't as good as it sounds."

"What do you mean?"

Tails grabbed his communicator and handed it to Honey. He loaded the video and showed her the clip.

"Here, just watch."

"All right," Honey replied, as she looked down at the screen.

She watched as Sonic kneeled down to K.O.'s level.

"What's your name, kid?"

"K.O.!"

"Well, K.O., how would you like to be my new little buddy?"

"WHOA, WHAT!?" Honey screamed at the highest pitch. "He did not just say that! Did he just say that!? There's no way he said that!?"

"I did some research online," Tails nodded. "That line's in the script."

"Why would they do that!? That's not cool! Do they think Sonic's some kind of narcissistic jerk or something!? Who wrote this dialogue? Someone who needs to be fired, what's who!"

Tails shrugged.

"But why are you so worked up over this?" the cat inquired, as she raised an eyebrow. "It's just a stupid cartoon. You know it's not true."

"I know that," Tails replied with a low sigh. "But watching that clip has me thinking… what if Sonic should have a new little buddy?"

Honey gasped and punched the fox's arm. "Tails! How dare you say something like that!?"

"Ow!" Tails moaned, as he rubbed his arm. "What if it's true? What if Sonic does deserve someone better?"

"Now, you're just being dramatic!" Honey shook her head in disbelief. She wrapped her arm around the kitsune. "You and Sonic have been there for each other since day one. You helped him blow up the Death Egg, he helped you through the Death Egg Fighting Tournament, the two of you took on Perfect Chaos, fought Dr. Eggman when he used Chaos Control to split the world apart, everything! You two are like two peas in a pod, peanut butter and jelly, ketchup and mustard… stop me when you hear something you like."

Tails gave a soft smile at Honey's joke. But that didn't do much to change his demeanor.

Gently taking the cat's arm off his shoulder, Tails slowly walked over to his tool-infested desk and leaned against it. He lowered his head and closed his eyes.

"Why do you feel this way?" Honey asked.

Tails hesitated to tell her for a second; although, he really wanted to say something. He wanted to tell his thoughts, but he didn't know how. He glanced down at his dog, who was sitting down and whimpering softly; he felt bad his owner was feeling this way.

Honey pressed her hands behind her back, waiting for an answer. She was about to walk towards the fox and give him a hug, but she stopped once he turned around.

"I may be Sonic's best friend… but I'm nothing like him."

Honey raised another eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Tails pressed his hands together and paced around his workshop. "When I first met Sonic, I was just a scared little kid who admired him for his bravery and heroism. So, when he tagged me along for this adventure, I knew I wanted to be just like him… but like I said, I was too scared. I didn't think I'd be able to defend myself like he can… it wasn't until I saved a couple of islands from these guys: The Battle Bird Armada and Wendy Witchcart and her Witchcarters. While I mostly had to improvise my tactics during those adventures, I slowly felt my confidence increasing. But what really inspired me to start fighting for myself was when I saved Station Square from Eggman's missile… since then, I've been helping Sonic take down many enemies and overcome any obstacles that stood in our way."

Honey smiled, as she sat down on the couch. T-Pup jumped on her lap and snuggled beside her chest.

The fox smiled after telling Honey about how he slowly started to become a hero, but he suddenly frowned when he told her the second half of his explanation.

"But lately…" he rubbed his shoulder and bowed his head in shame. "It feels like I've become too scared to do anything… instead of helping… I've done nothing but stand on the sidelines, cheering Sonic on like some kind of cheerleader… and… and… and…"

Honey watched as a tear dropped down Tails' cheek.

"It's embarrassing," Tails said. His voice shook as he spoke. "How did this happen? One moment, I'm Sonic's trusted sidekick and best friend… next thing you know… I'm just some useless pawn in his shadow…"

The cat frowned, as she slowly got up from her seat.

Approaching Tails, she slowly placed her hand on his shoulder.

Tails continued crying. Salty tears down poured down his cheeks and his eyes were bloodshot from crying. He wiped them to keep Honey from seeing them; he didn't want her to see him cry as he felt it was humiliating for someone his age to do. But he and Honey both knew he was still a kid, meaning there was nothing wrong with the way he was acting.

Honey gently turned the fox around and wrapped her arms around him, embracing him in a warm hug.

Tails did the same thing to the cat. He closed his bloodshot eyes, as more tears dropped against the floor as hard as rocks. T-Pup jumped off the couch and sat down in front of the two Mobians, looking at his owner. He whimpered softly before he rubbed his head against his creator's leg. With one hand, Tails patted his dog on the head; his other hand was still wrapped around Honey's body.

"Why would Sonic wanna be friends with a dope like me?"

Shopping Center – Soleanna – Afternoon

Sonic the Hedgehog would rather be anywhere in the world than where he is now. He'd rather fight another one of Eggman's poorly crafted inventions and he would definitely prefer to be going on another midday run than spend his time here.

He felt the whole world collapse around him.

He felt the walls of his mind cave in.

He heard his mind screaming at him to get out of there was soon as possible.

Anywhere other than here would make him feel a millions times better, but he couldn't find a way to escape. He tried a million ways to get out of the situation he was in, but he found no such luck. Not even his clever wit could help him out this time. His palms began to shake, and his forehead began to sweat rapidly. Looking up at the ceiling light above him, he wondered how much time has passed since he arrived here. And he was curious about how much longer this was gonna last.

Sonic the Hedgehog… was helping Amy shop for clothes.

Inside of the Soleanna Shopping Center, Amy Rose, Cream the Rabbit, and Cheese were shopping for outfits to wear for a slumber party the pink hedgehog was having tonight. They invited Sonic and Cream's caretaker, Gemerl, to help them with this task. Gemerl didn't mind being here because he wanted to Cream out of the house for a while, but Sonic wanted to be someplace else.

He had spent a total of two hours inside the shopping center and that was way too long for him.

Now, hanging out with his friends didn't bother him at all. It was the fact that Amy was taking too long to choose an outfit. While Cream picked out her attire; an Easter-themed dress, Amy couldn't decide between two dresses that looked similar to the one she's currently wearing.

"Hmm?" Amy asked, as she stroked her chin. "I can't decide. Should I choose between this one or this one?"

"They both look nice, Ms. Amy," Cream replied with a smile. "Why not pick them both?"

"Took the words right outta my mouth," Sonic whispered to Gemerl.

"I can't, Cream," Amy shook her head. "As much as I would like to have both, I only have enough money to get one. But which one should I buy?"

"I really don't understand why you're having such a hard times, Ames," Sonic said, folding his arms. "They're both the same thing!"

"Clearly, you don't understand the dilemma I'm having, Sonic," Amy rolled her eyes with a snarl. She picked up both dresses and showed them to the Blue Blur and the Gizoid. "This one on the left is made of a soft silk that's maroon red and it's got stars on it while this other one is crafted with polyester with some printed flowers. And it's also colored dark red. Don't you see the differences? They're so obvious."

Sonic was confused.

"Gemerl, you see the differences, don't you?" Amy asked.

"Please, don't drag me into this again." Gemerl replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"I just can't decide which one looks better on me. The one with the stars or the one with the flowers?"

"I change my mind, Ms. Rose," Cream said. "I think the one with the flowers would look cute on you. What do you think, Gemerl?"

Gemerl tilted his head to the side and scratched it. "Hmm… I guess so. I'm no expert on fashion, but the flowers suit her better. The star one looks a little wonky."

"Don't tell me you're buying into this nonsense, Gemerl." Sonic rolled his eyes.

"What? I'm just expressing my opinion." The Gizoid nodded.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter which one you pick, Ames" Sonic groaned. "Just pick one so we can get out of here."

Amy looked down at the flower dress, as she tossed the star one over her shoulder. She smiled and nodded.

~Soleanna Castle Town – Soleanna - Afternoon

After making her purchase, Amy and her friends left the shopping center and strolled down Soleanna's Castle Town. There, dozens of people were eating cuisines at the food court while the Soleanna Boys were playing a game of hide and seek. The Soleanna Guards were doing their daily patrol of the town, but they would stop for a bit to greet the locals. The group of friends waved to the guards, as they crossed over a bridge and walked to the main plaza.

"What should we do now?" Cream asked. "Should we head home to prepare for your slumber party, Ms. Rose?"

"Nope," Amy smiled, as she shook her head. "I think we should see a movie. I hear that new tiger queen movie is out in theaters."

"Isn't that a remake of the original?" Sonic inquired. "Why would anyone wanna see that? The original one is a classic! Just because you make this new version more realistic doesn't mean it'll be good."

"Eh, I have desire to see it," Amy nodded in agreement.

"I wouldn't mind watching a movie," Cream smiled. To which Cheese nodded.

"How about we watch an action flick!" Sonic smirked, as he mocked action hero poses with his fists. "I hear that Chao in Space 3: The Dreamcast finally came out."

"Heck yeah!" Amy nodded with glee, clapping her fists together. "Honey and I have been wanting to see that movie for days!"

"Can we see it?" Cream asked. "Can we please see it?"

"I don't know, Kiddo," Gemerl scratched his head.

"Uh oh, Gemerl's activating his babysitter mode," the cobalt hedgehog chuckled.

"It's not my fault Vanilla's picky with letting Cream watch movies," the three-eyed robot shrugged. "I'd love to let you see the movie, Kiddo. But we'll have to check with your mother first."

"Okay then, Gemerl," Cream nodded and smiled.

"Hey! You know who else wants to see that movie?" Sonic asked with a bright grin. "Tails. He's been dying for a Chao in Space 3 ever since he and I saw the second one on opening night! I'm sure he'll wanna join us."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Amy smiled. "Go get him!"

"Will do!"

Sonic got down into a running position.

"Up, over, and gone!"

With a gust of wind blowing against Amy, Cream, and Gemerl, Sonic the Hedgehog took off like a light and ran across the ocean.

~Tails' Workshop – Mystic Ruins - Afternoon

Spending the last few minutes venting to Honey benefited the two-tailed fox. For starters, his eyes were not a red as they were before, and he was no longer crying. Now, he was sitting on the couch with T-Pup next to him. Honey was in the kitchen, making her and Tails a drink to calm themselves down.

The fox reached over to the coffee table and took two tissues out of the box. Wiping his eyes, he sniffed one more time before he gave a sigh of relief, thankful he was able to get his feelings out of his system. Granted, he would have felt better about himself if he told all of this to Sonic but telling someone was good enough for him. Letting out another sigh, Tails leaned back on his soft, velvet pillow and rubbed his eyes. T-Pup jumped off the couch and began picking up the pieces of mint candy his owner dropped before. But as soon as he came across once piece, he sniffed it before he put it in his mouth.

However, his systems couldn't take the flavor, so he spit it out.

Tails chuckled at his dog, as Honey came back with two mugs of tea in her hands. But there was something odd about the tea that the fox noticed… it was blue.

Raising an eyebrow, Tails gently took the mug Honey handed to him and inspected the tea, wondering why the color was so strange.

"What is this?" he inquired.

"Blue tea," Honey replied. "Mighty always makes it for me when I feel down."

Tails took a sip of the tea and smacked his lips together; he found it delicious. "This is pretty good… what makes it blue?"

"You don't wanna know."

Tails raised an eyebrow at that comment. How would he respond to that?

"How're you feeling?" Honey said, placing her mug on the coffee table.

"Well, I'm not crying anymore so that's a start," Tails replied with a slight chuckle. He took another sip of blue tea. "But I do feel a lot better than I did before. Thanks for listening to me, Honey. It was nice to get all of that off my chest; although, I could have gone without the crying."

"Hey, sometimes you just gotta let it out," Honey nodded, as she took another sip. "Have you spoke to Sonic about this at all?"

"Nope… I only found out about the crossover just this morning. I haven't had the chance to talk with him… honestly, this is gonna sound a little unlike me, but I don't know if I should talk to him."

"Why is that?"

"Knowing Sonic, he's probably happy with the portrayal of his character. He was pretty impressed with his incarnation on that show, Chao Boom. Which got cancelled after two seasons."

"First off, it got cancelled before the video games were horrible. Second, if Sonic watched that trailer and saw that last clip, I'm sure he'd raise a million questions. Heck, he would probably storm into the cartoon studio and send the writers flying into next week."

Tails snickered. "Sounds like something he would do."

The cat slurped down one last drop of tea before she placed her mug on the table. She gently wrapped her fingers around the fox's hands. "Listen, Tails. I really think you should talk to Sonic about this. I think it can benefit the both of you… I wish I could stay and help you talk to him, but I gotta get back to work. My student's gotta continue her boxercise lesson."

The fox nodded, as Honey got up from her seat, hugged Tails one last time, and opened the front door.

"Let me know how everything goes, okay?" she said.

"I will."

"See ya later, Tails."

"Bye, Honey. Thanks for everything."

"Es no problemo."

The cat closed the workshop's door.

Tails rubbed his eyes one more time before he finally stood up. He paced around the couch and took another sip of blue tea. For the most part, he felt better about himself; however, he was anxious about how he was gonna tell Sonic what he was feeling. He drank more tea to calm his thoughts, but not even the sweet flavor could do the trick. He shook his head and scratched his back, internally debating his plan.

T-Pup approached him and sat down.

"What am I gonna do, T-Pup?" Tails asked the canine. "Why do I feel so nervous about talking to Sonic? He's my best friend, I should feel that I could talk to him about whatever. Why does this feel so different? Do I feel that he won't understand, or do I think he won't listen to me? I don't think it's both of those options because that's not like Sonic; it's not his character… is it? I don't know! Sometimes, he confuses me!"

The robotic dog stopped panting and raised an eyebrow.

Tails gently facepalmed himself, as he kneeled down to his dog's level. "Look at me, T-Pup, I'm going insane. I shouldn't be getting worked up over some stupid cartoon… but it's not just the cartoon that has me upset, it's what it symbolizes… I've been on a losing streak lately and watching that trailer made me feel like Sonic would be better off with a new best friend. One who can actually do stuff instead of sitting around, tinkering with machines."

"BARK, BARK," said T-Pup as if to say, "Tails, Sonic's your best friend. He'd never leave you."

"You got a point, buddy," Tails patted the canine's head. "Boy, what a day this has turned to."

A knock suddenly occurred at the door.

"It's open!" Tails called.

Opening the door was none other than Tails' best friend, Sonic. The blue hedgehog entered and closed the door behind him.

"Hey, little bro," Sonic smiled and winked.

Tails gasped. Sonic was here in the flesh after he had a whole discussion about him with Honey. What was he going to do about this?"

T-Pup barked happily and rushed towards the hedgehog, jumping into his arms and licking his face. Sonic laughed, as he placed the dog on the floor and rubbed his ears.

"Hey, T-Pup! Who's my favorite robot dog?" the hedgehog sat down and played with the dog. "Who's a good robo puppy? Yes, you are! Yes, you are! Who's a good robo puppy?"

Feeling like vomiting at the mouth, Tails kept his equanimity by taking a few deep breathes. The sight of Sonic playing with his dog did make him feel better… slightly.

Getting off his knees, Sonic approached his best bud and fist-bumped him. "How ya doin', Tails?"

Tails fist-bumped him back. "I'm… all right. How are you, Sonic?"

"I'm way past cool. Hey, listen… Amy, Cream, Gemerl, and I are gonna see Chao In Space 3, you wanna come with us?"

"Did it come out already. Finally! Fans have been demanding a third since the sequel!"

"I know! You wanna come see it with us?"

Tails hesitated to answer at first because of how much he wanted to tell Sonic about his feelings. He really wanted to express his thoughts on that one scene from the crossover's trailer; however, Sonic was in a good mood as usual, he didn't want to bring him down by talking about something so dramatic. But then again, he's been wanting to see Chao in Space 3 for the longest time. So, he figured seeing a good movie would prepare him for his conversation with his brother.

"Did you even need to ask?" Tails chuckled with his reply. "Of course, I'm coming with you!"

"Sweet!" Sonic winked and jumped with excitement. "Let's do it to it! Last one to the movie theater's a rotten Eggman!"

With that, Sonic took off at the speed of sound.

"Hey!" Tails called. He twirled his twin tails and flew off the ground. Flying out the door, he tried to catch up to Sonic. "Wait for me!"

Both brothers ran down the Mystic Ruins.

~Soleanna Castle Town – Soleanna – Afternoon

Gemerl stood outside the movie theater, waiting for Sonic and Tails. Amy and Cream were inside getting everything all set up. He looked left and right in search for both brothers. At first, he was about to walk inside and tell the girls there's no sign of them, when he suddenly heard a whoosh come from the ocean in front of him.

Turning his three eyes to the water, he saw a large wave splash onto the surface, which soaked a few pedestrians and some guards. The wave was caused by the speed of Sonic the Hedgehog, who ran up to the theater's entrance with Tails by his side. They both stopped in front of the Gizoid.

"Looks like you're the rotten Eggman this time, Sonic," Tails joked.

"Pfft! No way! Did you see how fast I was going?" Sonic replied with a snicker. "I think you're the rotten Eggman around here, buddy!"

"There you guys are," Gemerl said. "What took you so long?"

"What took us so long?" Sonic asked. "Gemerl, did you forget who I am? I was nearly gone for five seconds."

"One minute and ten seconds, actually," Gemerl replied.

"Nobody likes a math whiz, G," Sonic rolled his eyes. To which Tails chuckled.

"Whatever. The girls are inside getting tickets and popcorn. If we hurry, we should make it on time for the movie."

"I hope we didn't miss the previews," Tails said. "They're annoying, yes, but sometimes you find some really good ones."

"What are we waiting for, boys?" Sonic cracked his fingers. "Let's do it to-"

"MR. SONIC! MR. SONIC! MR. SONIC!" a young male voice called from the left. Sonic, Tails, and Gemerl looked in that direction and saw two Mobians coming their way. One of them was a purple bird with yellow eyes, a blue vest, orange pants, and brown boots. The other one was a green cat with orange eyes, a yellow shirt, purple shorts, and skeleton-themed sneakers. They both looked to be around Sonic's age. They stopped in front of the heroes and started panting. "Excuse me, Mr. Sonic!"

"Hey, kiddos. Sorry, I'm not signing autographs nor am I taking selfies right now," Sonic smiled. "I'm gonna go see a movie. But maybe I'll talk to you later."

"Oh, we're not hear for an autograph," the cat said. "We're here to ask you a question."

"What's up?" Sonic inquired, stroking his chin.

"Is it true you're replacing Tails with K.O.?"

Tails felt his heart jump at the end of that question. His eyes widened and his brain rattled.

Sonic raised both eyebrows and folded his arms, tapping his foot in confusion.

Gemerl just blankly stared.

"Um… what?" Sonic said.

"That crossover teaser clearly showed us you admire K.O. than you do Tails. Is it true you're thinking of having K.O. as your new little buddy?" the bird inquired.

Tails clenched his chest. Now, he had the urge to throw up.

"I'm sorry, who the heck is K.O.?" Sonic asked.

"You know, from OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes!"

"OK Who? Let's be what now?"

As if Tails' stomach couldn't feel any worse, he heard another sound coming from behind him. He turned around and saw another group of kids running towards him and the group. They were the Soleanna Boys and one of them was dressed like K.O. Tails cupped his hands over his mouth and grabbed a garbage can, hoping to puke his problems away. But no matter how much he tried; nothing came out of his mouth.

"Hi-ya!" the kid dressed like K.O. shouted, spoking the heck out of Sonic and Gemerl. "I'm K.O.! The best superhero in the world! Come with me, Sonic! We must fight the forces of evil! You know because we're best buds!"

"Is this some kind of internet joke I don't know about?" Sonic inquired.

"All right, guys," Gemerl stood in front of Sonic. "Back off. The Hero of Mobius would like some peace. What the heck is this K.O. show you all talk about?"

"You didn't see the trailer, Mr. Sonic?" the bird asked, as he wiped out his laptop. "Here, let me show you!"

Tails popped his head out of the trash can and shouted, "Wait! Don't show him the trailer!"

The two Mobians, the Soleanna Boys, Sonic, and Gemerl all looked at Tails.

"Why?" one of the boys asked with a sneer. "Jealous that K.O. is a better hero than you?"

Sonic and Gemerl shared a shocking glance when they heard that remark.

"Hey!" the former snarled at the civilian. "What gives you the right to talk to my friend like that?"

"Friend?" the green cat raised a brow. "You're kidding, right? Tails hasn't helped you in the slightest. Have you seen what he's done during the Phantom Ruby War? All he did was cheer for you, some other Sonic, and an inexperienced Rookie. He didn't contribute to the War at all."

"Yes, he did!" Sonic snarled again. "He's the one who found out information about the Phantom Ruby!"

"But did he fight anybody?" the green cat folded her arms.

Sonic snarled and clenched his fists. "Of course, he did!"

"That's not what resources and videos online say."

"You should totally pick a new friend like K.O.," one of the Soleanna boys suggested. "K.O. has superpowers and can actually do stuff. He doesn't sit on the sidelines; all he does is fight."

"Yeah," the purple bird nodded in agreement. "Why would you wanna be friends with a dope like Tails?"

It was at that moment where Tails felt a spear go through his heart. He felt his brain explode and his composure collapsed. He couldn't believe someone said what he thought this morning. Why would you wanna be friends with a dope like Tails? Why would Sonic wanna be friends with a dope like me? The two-tailed fox repeated both quotes through his head, playing them back as if he was mind was a record player and his thoughts were a record. He couldn't believe this was happening. He didn't know what to do.

Everyone else looked at Tails, doing nothing but glaring at him and suggesting to Sonic that he'd replace him. Just like all those comments from the internet.

Sonic and Gemerl exchanged another glance before the blue hedgehog got in front of the group. He growled at everybody and pointed at them.

"That was low," he grunted with aggravation. "That was low! How dare you say that to my best friend?"

Tails backed up slowly.

Sonic noticed this.

"Tails… are you okay?"

Backing up more, Tails huffed and puffed as he tried to keep himself calm. He attempted to remember what Honey told him this morning, but his mind was blank. The only things that clouded his mind were all the negative comments from ChaoTube and the ones he was getting now.

His eyes were turning red, as tears flowed down his cheeks.

Sonic slowly approached the fox, but he was too late. Twirling his tails around, the kitsune flew upward and away from the area. Sonic rushed towards him, but he stopped as soon as Tails flew so high enough, he went over a building and disappeared from sight. Gemerl tried to look for him as well, but under Sonic's orders, he was told to stop.

Both heroes were flabbergasted. How could these kids say something like that to Tails?

Gemerl found this hard to believe, as he knew Tails had been fighting alongside Sonic for the longest time.

Sonic, on the other hand, turned around and gave death stares to every civilian that insulted his friend. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, praying that karma bites every single one of these kids.

"Get… out."

"I'm sorry?" the green cat asked.

"I SAID GET OUT!"

With that shout coming from the top of the hero's lungs, the Soleanna Boys and the two Mobians huddled away like rats from a sinking ship. They were gone in an instant, leaving Sonic to pant in an angry fashion. He felt like picking something up and throwing it at the kids for saying those harsh things about Tails. How could they compare a real-life Freedom Fighter to a fictional character?

Gemerl was confused about this too, as he approached Sonic. He placed a hand on his shoulder.

Gently taking the Gizoid's hand off his shoulder, Sonic turned around and tried to take a deep breath, but the angry thoughts in his mind distracted him.

"Why would they say those things to my little buddy?"

"I don't know," Gemerl replied. "But what makes me concerned is… why did they think you were replacing him with this K.O. character?"

Sonic shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever this cartoon is has got my little buddy worked up… and I'm determined to find out why… sorry, G. But I gotta bail. Tell Amy and the others I'll see the movie some other time!"

With that, Sonic ran down the streets in hopes of catching up to Tails.

Whatever's going on with you, little buddy… I promise to help you through it.

END OF CHAPTER 2