"I Would Never Abandon You"
Written by The Sensational SpiderDom321
Chapter 3
"I would rather be a little nobody, then to be an evil somebody."
~Abraham Lincoln
~Neutral Garden – Chao Garden – Late Afternoon
So far, the day has gone from bad to good to even worse.
Miles "Tails" Prower had hoped that spending some time at the movies with Sonic cheer him up after watching the trailer for the OK K.O. and Sonic crossover special but going there only made things worse. Instead of making it to the movie, he wound up getting bullied by people who thought a cartoon character would make a better sidekick for Mobius' hero. How could they say such horrible things like that? Did they know Tails would feel horrible hearing those insults? What were they thinking?
Sonic obviously gave them a piece of his mind, but that wasn't enough to appease the fox.
Tails was still hurt by those words those kids said and he was hurt by the comments he read online earlier. He couldn't take it anymore, so his best instinct was to do the last thing he'd want to do…
Run away like a coward.
Now, he sat alone in the Chao Garden; a beautiful area where Chao resided. A slight breeze drifted through the air and caused the tears flowing down the fox's face to fly off his cheeks. The grass was soft beneath the kitsune's rear, but he could care less about how the grass felt.
He sat there alone, crying. Wondering why he couldn't stand up for himself like he did long ago.
Wiping his eyes, he sniffed and curled his arms around his knees, gently sobbing.
Around him, Chao of many varieties were playing in the fields. They would occasionally look over at the crying fox and wonder what's wrong. Once in a while, they'd walk up to him in an attempt to ask him what the problem was, but they figured it'd be no use since they couldn't speak proper English. So, they would just mind their own business.
Tails looked up and watched the Chao, hoping it'd take his mind off what happened, but despite being surrounded by wonderous, adorable, and extraordinary creatures, his mind was only focused on one question… Would Sonic be better off without me?
Burying his face into his palms, Tails continued contemplating his thoughts and letting out his emotions. He really wanted to go back and tell Sonic what the problem was, but he couldn't work up the courage to do it. It annoyed him because he knew he was brave once before… but all of that bravery somehow went away.
As he tried to find out why he'd been feeling useless for a long time, he heard soft footsteps from behind.
A dark voice suddenly spoke. "What are you doing out here?"
Tails knew that voice well. He leaned up and looked over his shoulder.
Standing behind him was the Ultimate Life Form himself, Shadow the Hedgehog.
"S-Shadow?" the fox sniffed, as he wiped his nose. "What are you doing here?"
"I asked you first." Shadow replied.
Tails turned around and folded his arms. "What's the point? You probably wouldn't care."
"If I didn't care, I wouldn't have asked," Shadow replied. "You won't know if I care unless you tell me."
Tails raised an eyebrow after hearing that. He never heard Shadow say something like that before. Letting out a low sigh, he explained his situation. "For the longest time… I haven't been feeling like myself… what I mean is, Sonic and I have gone on multiple adventures together, but when the Shattered World Crisis happened, Sonic kind of went off on his own. Granted, he had Chip with him, so he wasn't completely by himself, but ever since then… he's been flying solo. Every time he fights Eggman, he does it by himself and just lets me watch or he saves me and gets me away from the fight, not even letting me fight Eggman at all… it's been happening so much, that… I feel like a different person."
Shadow listened closely and folded his arms. He sat down beside the fox. "So, you and I are having the same problem? Didn't think we'd have that in common."
Tails' eyes widened, as he quickly turned to the black hedgehog. "S-same problem?"
Shadow nodded. "Since the Black Arms Invasion happened, people have thought of me as some brooding edge lord who tries to outwit Sonic in everything he does… an example comes from one of these."
Reaching behind him, Shadow whipped out a comic book that featured him, the rest of Team Dark, and Sonic fighting against a bunch of roboticized Mobians that acted like zombies. He flipped through the pages, as Tails looked over his shoulder, admiring the artwork.
"You've seen these, I assume?" Shadow inquired.
"Yeah," Tails replied. "First off, I never knew you read comic books. Second, I have some of these. Some comic book company made these to celebrate the aftermath of the Phantom Ruby War."
"That's pretty much the story of these comics," Shadow added. "They're supposed to tell what happened after the War. Granted, none of these comics are completely accurate, but they're still a good read. The nineteenth issue came out not too long ago and when I read it… let's just say I wasn't happy with the portrayal of my character."
Shadow found the page he was looking for and showed it to the fox. On the page, there were drawings of Sonic covered in a metallic goo, telling Shadow that he needed to get civilians away from roboticized Mobians called Zombots. But there were drawings of Shadow refusing to do that. Tails read one panel where Sonic, whose body was mostly silver due to the Metal Virus infection, spoke to Shadow about a plan to evacuate civilians. Tails read each of the speed bubbles carefully.
"I'm gonna go take care of my infection. Thanks for bringing the truck," said Sonic's first text box. The one right beside his right ear read, "Don't let the Zombots touch you."
"I know," Shadow's speech bubble replied as the picture showcased him folding his arms.
Tails' eyes darted back to Sonic's bottom bubble, which said, "If it happens, you should be fast enough to run it off."
What happened next caught Tails by surprise. He turned the page and saw a panel where Shadow's face was up close. The black hedgehog had an angry look on his face and a dialogue box said something that made the fox realize why Shadow was upset.
"Cowards run; I win."
Tails read the next several pages, which showed Shadow walking up to the Zombots and attacking them, getting infected in the process. He gently took the comic and read it to himself, appalled by how out of character this page alone makes Shadow. He flipped to the next page and saw more images of Shadow fighting Zombots.
"Wow… this… doesn't seem like you at all. In fact, this isn't like you at all," Tails said. "I mean, you can be a bit stubborn sometimes – no offense – but… you would never leave pedestrians behind."
"That's what I said," Shadow nodded, folding his arms. Tails returned the book to him. "It's amazing that people are able to abuse their Freedom of Speech like this. In other words, people use the internet, comic books, TV shows, and other sources of media to insult or misinterpret things other people, especially us Freedom Fighters. They dumb us down just to make us appeal to a younger audience. Nobody wants to see the truth… they just want to see spectacle."
Shadow lowered his head in shame, as Tails thought about what he said. He was right, people do misuse their freedom to say whatever they want to offend people. What could drive people to ruin others' days? Tails thought about this, but even he couldn't think of an answer to that.
"I didn't think bullying meant a lot to you, Shadow," Tails said.
"Maria was bullied on the Ark because of her illness; kids would walk up to the hospital doors, stick their tongues out, or call her names. I would do everything in my power to shoo them off, but Maria always told me not to bother with them… When she said that, I would ask why, and she said something that I promised myself to remember for the rest of my life… Some people may look at you and say you're not good enough, but some day… you'll prove them wrong."
The kitsune smiled hearing that last quote. He felt bad for underestimating Shadow's emotions like that. Nodding his head, he pressed his hands against the soft grass and glanced towards the black hedgehog.
"Thanks, Shadow," Tails smiled. "I… I really needed that."
"You're welcome," Shadow replied. "I know you'll realize that you're more than just Sonic's sidekick, you're his best friend: a fellow Freedom Fighter who's just as strong as he is… I know you're in a bit of a funk right now, but you'll get out of it. It won't happen immediately, but it will…"
Tails smiled again. "And I can say the same to you."
Shadow looked at the fox, surprised he would say that, and gently smiled. The two of them leaned back against the grass. They both looked up at the many clouds in the sky; a bright yellow sun shined down upon them. The tender breeze continued to brush against their fur.
~Tails' Workshop – Mystic Ruins – Late Afternoon
As Tails continued to bond with Shadow, Sonic the Hedgehog resumed his hunt for his best friend. He tried to catch up to him a while ago in Soleanna, but he somehow lost him. He figured that Tails flew over the rooftops and hid from plain sight, but Sonic scoped the entire city twice, but he hasn't found any trace of him.
During his search, he wondered what those kids were talking about when they insulted Tails. They kept claiming that some kid from a cartoon would make a better sidekick for Sonic than the one he already has. What were they talking about?
Sonic would have taken the time to look this up on the internet; however, finding and comforting Tails was the only thing on his mind. He spent a few hours of the morning looking for him, but he didn't find anything.
He checked all of Tails' favorite spots like Emerald Hill, Casino Forest, his lab in Emerald Town, and Seaside Hill. All of those places had no sign of the two-tailed fox.
So, the only place Sonic would think Tails would go to… was his workshop in the Mystic Ruins. While it may seem like the most obvious place to go, he still wanted to see if he was there. He ran across the Mystic Ruins and approached the workshop.
He knocked on the door. "Tails? You in there, buddy?... Tails?"
No answer.
Rubbing his head, he knocked a second time. "Tails, it's me, Sonic!... Are you home?... I wanna talk to you about what happened earlier… Tails, are…" the hedgehog let out a low sigh. "…you home?"
Still no answer.
The third time he knocked, he accidentally caused the door to open; the creaking sound it made was so loud, the Flickies that roamed the area jumped. Sonic opened the wooden door and slowly entered the shop, seeing nothing but tools, machine parts, and other supplies scattered across multiple desks and tables. The Tornado was sitting all the way in the back, parked on a wooden deck painted like a roadway. A single lightbulb kept the room lit.
Sonic stepped inside and closed the door behind him, wandering around for any sight of Tails.
"Buddy?" he asked. "You in here?"
Approaching a soft bed, he flipped open the covers to see if Tails cried himself to sleep, but no one was there. Only pillows and a quilt were under the blankets. He put them down and continued searching.
"Tails?" he called again.
No answer was heard from the interior.
Sonic the Hedgehog was all alone.
Or at least…
…that's what he thought.
"Arf! Arf!"
"Huh?"
The blue hedgehog's green eyes looked to the right and saw the one thing that could potentially help him in his quest – T-Pup. The yellow/silver dog came out from his bed in the corner and ran toward the hero, where he stood up on both hind legs and rubbed his paws against his furry knee. Sonic chuckled softly before he leaned down and rubbed T-Pup's ears, getting a few cheek kisses in return.
"Hey there, T-Pup," he greeted with a smile. "You wouldn't happen to know where T-Pup is, do you?"
The golden dog's face morphed into a frown when he heard his creator's name.
Three whimpers escaped from his mouth, and he closed his eyes.
He curled beside the hedgehog and whined softly.
Just as Sonic was about to call out Tails' name again, he looked to the side and saw something on top of a desk: a picture frame that fell on its side.
He picked up the frame and saw that it was a picture of him and Knuckles holding Tails up by his legs. In the fox's hands was a golden trophy that said, "1st Place Winner" in bold. In the background of the picture, Team Rose: Amy, Big, and Omochao were congratulating the winners. Team Vector: Vector, Silver, and Blaze did the same thing and Team Dark stood in the background. Rouge had a smirk, Omega had a neutral expression, and Shadow was eating some popcorn he stole from a Chao sitting next to him.
Sonic smiled at the sight of this picture. He remembered posing for this when he and his friends competed in Dodon Pa's World Grand Prix. One of the only times where he and Tails got to showcase their teamwork.
He sighed and placed the picture down on the desk, wondering where Tails could be.
"Where are you, little buddy?" he whispered.
Just then, the door opened up, which startled the hedgehog.
Entering the room was none other than Knuckles the Echidna: Guardian of the Master Emerald himself. He walked inside; unaware Tails wasn't home. "Hey, Tails. Do you have any batteries?... Oh, what are you doing here, Sonic?"
Sonic shrugged his shoulders. "Looking for Tails… something happened a while back and I want to talk to him about it."
"Is he okay?" Knuckles said, concerned. "Eggman didn't hurt him, did he?"
"No, it's not Egghead this time," Sonic replied. He sat down on the couch beside him and sighed again. "Tails and I were going to see Chao in Space 3, when he was suddenly bombarded by these kids who kept insulting him. They called him useless and told him he doesn't deserve to be my friend."
"Dear Chaos…" Knuckles snarled, slapping his fists together. "How could they say those things?"
"It gets worse."
Wanting to know more, Knuckles sat down next to his friend.
Sonic leaned back on the cushion and replied with, "They said I'd be better off fighting alongside some cartoon character than Tails."
Knuckles looked confused when he heard the words cartoon and character. He scratched his head and stroked his chin. "A cartoon character making a better partner than Tails?" he replied in a sarcastic tone. "You're gonna have to explain that to me."
"I'm serious, Knux. That's what they said… and the saddest part is that I don't know what they're talking about. They said something about me having a crossover with some popular TV series… you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
"Nope, sorry. It's hard to watch TV when I'm too busy guarding the Master Emerald… although, I somewhat recall Charmy talking about the same thing you told me. Something about you and Tails in an episode of… of… gosh, what was the show called?... KO OK?... Nah, that's not it… OC KO?... Nope, that doesn't sound right either."
Sonic rolled his eyes, as Knuckles tried to remember what the show was called.
"Anyways, why are sitting here when you should be looking for Tails?" the red echidna inquired.
"I am looking for him," the blue hedgehog replied. "I just… don't know where he is."
"Did you call him?"
"Three times, he wouldn't answer."
"Hmm… where else did you go?"
"I checked all of his favorite spots. No sign of him anywhere. I'm starting to get worried Eggman kidnapped him as he was running away from those kids. If that happened, then you and I are marching over to Egghead's base and teaching him a lesson!"
"As much as I would love to do that, I don't think we should jump the shark like that. We don't know for sure if it was Eggman."
"Good point… maybe he was captured by somebody else. Tails had made a lot of enemies over the years. The Hooligans, The Witchcarters, The Battle Bird Armada, The Deadly Six. Any one of them could've captured him."
"Again… let's not jump to conclusions. Even if he was kidnapped, he's strong enough to take care of himself. He's the same guy who disabled a missile in Station Square for Tikal's Sake."
"Then, where do you think he is?"
"He probably went to see someone. If you want, we can go around town and ask our friends if they've seen him."
"That would be nice, Knux." Sonic replied. Just as he was about to head out the door, he stopped and turned toward the echidna, shooting him a snarky grin. "But wait, don't you have a giant rock to take care of?"
"First off, it's not a rock, it's the Master Emerald. Second, Tikal and Chaos are guarding it as we speak. So, I can help you out for a bit and then head back."
"Sounds good!" Sonic winked and gave the echidna a thumbs up. "Come on. Let's go find him before it gets dark."
With that said, the fastest thing alive bolted out the door at the speed of light. The echidna clapped his fist together and ran after him.
~Seaside Hill – Afternoon
Later that day, Tails and Shadow were strolling through Seaside Hill. The former told the latter about why he ran away from Soleanna and how he wound up in Chao Garden. He also mentioned the OK K.O. and Sonic crossover trailer that made him upset. As he finished explaining, Shadow stroked his chin and folded his arms.
"So, that's why you were so upset," Shadow said. "You're feeling down because of some trailer?"
"The way that trailer portrayed Sonic made me think he feels like that in real life. He really thinks of me as a useless nobody who just tinkers with tools," Tails replied. "I know I sound a little overdramatic, but that's how I think he feels."
"Out of curiosity, does he know about the trailer?"
"I don't think so. Normally, when Sonic sees himself in external media, he gets all excited and starts telling me about didn't say anything to me about this teaser. I initially thought he was planning to surprise me with the news when it came on TV, but I didn't think that was a possibility."
Shadow stroked his chin again and looked down at the crystal-clear water underneath his feet. "Now, you told me you tried talking to him about this, but you decided to save it for after the movie, am I right?"
"Yep."
"So, this solution seems pretty self-explanatory. Just walk up to him and tell him the problem."
"I… I don't think I can do that."
"Why not? He's your best friend, isn't he?"
"Yes, but… I'm scared that if I tell him about my problem, it may come across as whiny and pathetic like how I acted on the Lost Hex, when he agreed to work with Eggman."
"To me, it doesn't sound like you're coming across that way," Shadow said, keeping his tone low. "I know Sonic, and while his cocky attitude may annoy me sometimes, I've seen the two of you interact and I can easily tell he deeply cares about you. If you keep this problem to yourself, it's just going to make you feel worse."
Tails nodded in agreement and folded his arms. "I know that, but I'm not sure how to tell him about throwing up. What if he thinks I am whiny? What if he goes, "Shut up, Tails, I'm the star of the show, you're just a useless sidekick?' "
"Now, you're just overreacting. It's simple, just meet with Sonic and talk to him. But if I were you, I'd do this when it's just the two of you. It would make the conversation more meaningful."
Tails nodded again and took a deep breath.
"You all right?" Shadow inquired.
"Yeah… I'm fine," the fox rubbed the back of his head. "I just… need some time to think about what I want to say. I want our talk to be just right… thanks again, Shadow. I owe you one."
Shadow shook his head. "You can pay me back by talking to Sonic. Let me know how it all goes in the end. Now if you excuse me, I must be going. Rouge, Omega, and I have a mission to do. Good luck, Tails. I hope everything works out for you."
"Thank you, Shadow. And the same for you."
Before the ebony hedgehog could teleport away…
"Wait!"
The two-tailed fox had something to say.
Shadow raised an eyebrow and stopped himself.
Tails took a deep breath before he smiled. "Just so you know… I wouldn't let that comic book affect who you are."
Shadow registered that and nodded, thanking him in silence.
With that, he used Chaos Control to teleport away from the area. Tails looked into the starry night sky one last time before he jumped into the air. Twirling his twin tails together, he took to the skies, planning to return to his workshop.
He figured he would get some sleep before he talked to Sonic tomorrow morning.
~Chaotix Detective Agency's Office – Evening
Speaking of Sonic, he and Knuckles spent the entire day asking people around different towns and cities if they've seen signs of the two-tailed fox, but all they got were negative responses; everyone just said no. But because of those responses, Sonic and Knuckles were more determined to find him.
But after spending multiple hours of searching… they still found nothing.
Turning to their last resorts, they asked their friends if they've seen any trace of Tails.
They asked Silver and he replied with no.
They asked Mighty and Ray, but all they did was shake their heads.
They asked every member of Team Rose and each of them said they haven't seen him all day.
Not even their closest friends knew where the fox was, which made Sonic worried at first, but he had no intentions on giving up so easily. So, his last hope was to turn to the people he hasn't spoken to yet…
Team Chaotix.
Sonic and Knuckles approached the doorstep of their office and knocked on the door, hoping that they would get some good news. It didn't take long for the Chaotix Ninja: Espio the Chameleon to answer the door. A cup of tea sat on his right hand.
"Sonic, Knuckles, nice to see you two," Espio greeted politely. "What brings you two here tonight?"
"Hey, Espio," Knuckles waved. "Tails had a bit of a problem this morning and he ran away. We were wondering if you saw him anywhere."
"Ran away?" Espio raised an eyebrow. "What happened?... Here, come inside."
Doing as told, both the hedgehog and the echidna entered the office. Vector was sitting by his desk, reading a comic book while Charmy was running around the room. He was dressed as K.O. and was playing with action figures that looked like Sonic and Tails.
Vector looked up from his comic and smiled. "Sonic, Knux, good to see you guys. What can I do for ya? Need anyone found?"
"Yes," Knuckles said. He sat down with Sonic, as Espio handed both of them each a cup of tea. "We were wondering if you and the team saw Tails today. He had a bit of an incident this morning."
"Uh, oh, what happened?" Vector inquired.
Sonic sipped his tea and explained. "I invited Tails to see Chao in Space 3 this morning, so we head over to the movie theater in Soleanna to meet up with Amy, Cream, and Gemerl. Next thing you know, these rotten kids show up and start insulting him, saying that some cartoon character would make a better sidekick than him."
"Cartoon character?" Vector said, as he exchanged a glance with Espio. "It's not the duck that calls people despicable, is it?"
"Nope, not him."
"What about the yellow bird that always outsmarts the black cat?"
"Nope, not him either. They said it was some character named… OK? No, I don't that was his name… OOK?... Nope, wasn't that either. It was-"
Sonic's sentence was cut off because Charmy was reenacting the OK K.O. and Sonic trailer with his action figures.
"What's your name, kid?" Charmy said, mocking Sonic's voice.
"K.O.!" the bee said again, adjusting his costume and saluting his figure.
"Well, K.O.," Charmy said in Sonic's voice again. "How would you like to be my new little buddy?"
Sonic, Knuckles, Vector, and Espio gasped once they heard that last line. They turned around at the same time and stared at the bee. Charmy was about to say Tails' line from the trailer, when he suddenly looked over and noticed that all eyes were on him.
"What?" he asked.
"K.O.!" Sonic shouted. "That was the character's name!"
"That's right, I remember now! Charmy told me that you were having a crossover special with that K.O. character!" Knuckles inquired.
"Oh, can I assume you guys saw the trailer?" Charmy replied. "It was awesome, wasn't it?"
Sonic raised an eyebrow. "What trailer?"
"You don't know? There's a trailer for the OK K.O. and Sonic crossover special. Tails watched it this morning and was enjoying it… although, he did get slightly upset when he saw the scene where you accepted K.O. as your new little buddy."
Sonic looked at Vector, Espio, and Knuckles when he heard that. He became curious as to what scene he was talking about.
"Show me the trailer."
END OF CHAPTER 3