Chapter 11: It Runs in the Family
"So, how did you like your sandwich, Sonic?" Amy asked, hands clasped in anticipation.
"It sure beats hospital food, Amy!" Sonic attempted to congratulate the pink hedgehog.
He instantly realized he said something wrong by the shocked expression on Amy's face. "WHAT?! I made those sandwiches especially for you, and you compare them to HOSPITAL FOOD?!" Amy shouted back.
"Now, Amy," Chuck tried to diffuse the situation. "Didn't you and Cream make this lunch for all of us? And Sonic meant that as a compliment, not an insult."
"Well I'll show him a compliment!" Amy continued unabated as she pulled out her trusty Piko Piko Hammer. "How about I ask him how good my swing is?!" She may have forgiven Tails for interrupting her breakfast two days ago, but she clearly still harbored a grudge against the hedgehog who had purposefully gone into space and left her behind.
"Amy, wait!" Chris intervened while he moved between the two hedgehogs. "You can't swing that in here! You might accidentally hit someone!"
"That's the idea!" Amy replied as she advanced on Sonic across the small hospital room.
"Come on, guys. The hospital rules already state that there's too many of you in here as is. If you cause a disruption, you might all get kicked out," Tails worried. "And I really don't want to be stuck here alone."
"T-Tell that to Amy, bud!" Sonic muttered as he backed against the wall, arms up over his head in protection.
"Ha ha ha! Looks like I got here just in time for the show!" a diminutive, flying robot cried from the open window across from Tails' bed.
"Bokkun? How did you even find us here?" Sonic averted his attention to the small, black robot that had shown up uninvited.
"Well it wasn't easy. Luckily Doctor Eggman programmed me with a keen sense of intelligence and unparalleled tracking skills," Bokkun boasted.
"I doubt that. I think you just read a newspaper or watched any recent news broadcast," Chuck replied.
"Hey! M-Maybe..." Bokkun reluctantly admitted.
"Mommy, why would one person being in the hospital end up on the news everywhere?" Cream inquired.
"Normally it wouldn't, but if that person is considered a celebrity, dear, then everyone wants to know about it," Mrs. Vanilla explained.
Frustrated at the interruption, Amy now shifted targets with her hammer. "Buzz off, you little pipsqueak!" Amy shouted.
"Humph! Fine then! I did have an important message for you, but I guess you don't want it!" Bokkun saucily replied as he used his built-in jetpack to hover back through the window.
"Wait a minute, please Bokkun?" Cream spoke up from the sofa next to her mother, "Please don't go yet. Can you at least tell us what the message was about?"
Bokkun looked almost about to blush at Cream's demure request. "O-Of course! Sure! Now that you've asked nicely," he answered as he hovered back into the room. "Actually, it's not a message this time. Doctor Eggman wants to talk to all of you personally in a live video what-cha-ma-call-it. So you'd better listen good and mind your manners!" Bokkun proceeded to pull out one of his small, yellow televisions from his green duffle bag.
"What does Egghead want this time?" Sonic inquired.
"How should I know?" Bokkun retorted. "All I know is it's very important and has something to do with your sick buddy over there."
"Me? What does Eggman have to say about me?" Tails puzzled.
Bokkun was fuming as he adjusted the short antenna at the top of the television. "Grrrrrr…! I already told you losers, I don't know!" he yelled. "Now do you want me to turn this thing on or not?" the small robot concluded as he hovered at the foot of Tails' bed.
"Alright, let's hear it," Chuck accepted as everyone in the room gathered around Tails' bed to see the small TV screen.
There was plenty of static at first as Bokkun continued to adjust the archaic-looking antennas. Finally Eggman's voice came through clearly, although the screen remained blank. "Ah, there we are! Greetings, my most bothersome hedgehog and friends! It's so nice to see you again!" Eggman gave his usual smug, toothy grin.
"See what, Egghead? All I see is a whole lot of nothing," Sonic replied.
"What? Decoe! Bocoe! What's wrong with the picture?" Eggman could be heard yelling at his assistants.
"There shouldn't be anything wrong with the connection now, Doctor," Bocoe's voice replied. "Maybe something is wrong with the camera?"
"Well then, fix it!" Eggman shouted, clearly enraged at the delay. The sound of tinkering came from the small TV as the screen sputtered with occasional static.
"I don't see anything wrong with it, Doctor Eggman!" Decoe eventually said while the screen remained pitch black.
"Ugh! Do I have to do everything myself?" Eggman grumbled as footsteps were heard approaching the malfunctioning camera. "Let's see… Hmmm... YOU IMBECILES! You left the lens cap on!" The TV screen suddenly came to life, showing a rather unglamorous extreme close up of Eggman's face.
"Ugh! I think it looked better before," Chuck muttered in disgust.
"Grandpa!" Chris scolded while everyone else chuckled.
Eggman didn't catch the offhand remark as he was busy walking back to his chair. "Ahem! Greetings, Sonic and friends!" Eggman started over. "I am glad that you volunteered to talk with me on such short notice. Normally I wouldn't be this rude in interrupting your visit to your foxy little friend, but I have something to show you that you could say is a matter of life or death."
"OK, Egghead," Sonic answered again. "I'll bite. What's this all about?"
"I'm so glad you asked, Sonic," Eggman replied with a grin. "Although what I have to say will be a bit personal for Tails. Perhaps he'd rather hear it alone first?"
This definitely got Tails' attention. Eggman was never so... courteous? "What could you possibly know about me that I haven't already told my friends, Eggman?" Tails spoke.
"Fine. Have it your way, Tails," Eggman acknowledged. "I have recently discovered something in my grandfather's logs that you may find interesting. Would you care to see what it is?"
"Enough asking! Just tell us already, Eggman!" Amy shouted.
"Wait a minute guys!" Tails interrupted with a scowl. "Eggman tricked us like this only a week or two ago. What makes you think this isn't just another trick?"
"OOH ho ho hooo! Always the cautious one, aren't you, Tails?" Eggman said with a hint of mirth in his voice. "You have every right to be suspicious, but I assure you that after I show you these videos and offer my explanation, there will be no doubt as to their validity." Eggman turned his head to address his off-screen assistants. "Start the presentation, you buffoons!"
"Yes, sir!" came two robotic voices in tandem. The screen flickered, then changed to a paused image of an elderly man with a face very similar to a skinnier, more aged Dr. Eggman.
"This is my grandfather Dr. Gerald Robotnik's video research logs on his work on what he called Project Guardian," Eggman's voiceover explained before the video started playing.
"Research log, Gerald Robotnik, introduction to experiment.
Over time I have learned much about these other beings called Mobians. When I first stepped through the portal into their world, I saw only potential lab specimens and intellectual inferiority due to how these creatures were all anthropomorphized versions of the dumb animals on Earth. Now I regret my obvious prejudices and the unintentional atrocities I committed as a result.
These Mobians are a mostly peaceful people composed of many different civilizations and species that far surpass our own human race. However, they lack the centralized government and unity to protect themselves against large-scale threats, regrettably like myself. I have decided to try and redeem my past misuse of these creatures by supplying them with the knowledge of self-defensive warfare and helping them form a united coalition that will protect Mobius against future threats to its remarkable cultures and civilizations.
To this end, I have perfected a unique virus intended to induce largely beneficial mutations in Mobian subjects. The subject types to be administered the virus are a male and a female each of the rabbit, echidna, hedgehog, gator, dog, cat, bat, and fox species. All of the test subjects were chosen for their already high vitality and good physical condition from a list of volunteers. Tomorrow begins the infection of all subjects in the controlled environment of Space Colony Ark's experimental subject containment area. Each subject will be isolated in their own comfortable cell for both quarantine and control measures."
Already bored, Sonic let out an overexaggerated yawn. "Interesting stuff, Egghead," he sarcastically quipped.
"Yeah, I don't get it," Amy spoke next. "What does any of that have to do with Tails?"
"Oh, you'll see!" Eggman replied. "Play the next log!" The screen went to static momentarily before the face of Gerald Robotnik reappeared and began speaking.
"Project Guardian, head researcher's log, 24 hours after first exposure to mutagenic virus.
Disaster has already struck my experimental subjects. The negative effects of the mutagenic virus' initial infection stage have been seriously underestimated. To my great dismay, precisely half of the subjects have succumbed to a perilously high fever combined with various respiratory or cardiac complications.
At the time of this entry, I have confirmed the death of the male subjects of the echidna, rabbit, hedgehog, and cat species, as well as the female subjects of the gator, dog, bat, and fox species.
All the other subjects are showing promising signs of improvement in their conditions. It is fortunate for this experiment that no entire species has lost both male and female test subjects. However, no obvious change has been seen in the subjects' appearance or aptitude as of yet, either. If all my surviving experimental subjects do not see marked improvement in their abilities after they recover, then this experiment will be a failure, and I will have only succeeded in murdering more innocent Mobians.
Oh, Maria, please forgive your foolish grandfather!"
There was a soft gasp of horror from the edge of the group as Cream's mouth hung agape. "That's terrible!" she blurted out. "He killed all those people!"
"Science has its price," Eggman quickly defended his ancestor's actions.
"Not if it's done humanely! Surely there was some other way to test the virus before he just gave it to them," Chuck argued.
"Maybe there was and maybe there wasn't. But let's not forget that these Mobians were all volunteers that understood the risk," Eggman countered. "Remember that my grandfather was trying to invent a virus to actually help you mangy Mobians. His ambitions were saint-like compared to what G.U.N. wanted to do with it! Ah, but I'm getting a bit ahead of myself..." Eggman paused as the next video log began.
"Project Guardian, Gerald Robotnik's log, 48 hours after exposure to virus.
All the surviving subjects have completely recovered from their illness and now show both increased muscle and brain activity. They have become slightly stronger and smarter than their own personal baselines before the experiment began. In addition to these generalized improvements, each different species has also developed a natural 'superpower', for lack of a more fitting term.
The cat and bat species have both developed uncanny reflexes, unmatched by any other living being. The surviving female hedgehog has demonstrated remarkable regenerative powers that render serious physical injury all but impossible. The remaining male dog specimen seems to be able to sniff out and identify any substance known to man as well as having a kind of sixth sense for danger. The gator and echidna races seemed to attain an even higher level of musculature improvement and fighting power than their already impressive pre-experiment baseline. The male fox has developed an enormous capacity for knowledge and higher-level thinking. And lastly, the rabbit test subject seems to show incredible hearing capabilities and even slight physic powers such as the levitation of small objects.
I have succeeded in my goal to elevate these creatures beyond their previous limits, to create a new breed of super Mobians. And yet, at what cost? Can I consider my virus a success when half of the Mobians injected will face certain doom?"
Tails crossed his arms, clearly drawn in by the story so far. "So he feels bad for what he did, even if it ended up working. But what's that got to do with G.U.N.?" he asked.
"Just wait. You'll see," Eggman promised as the next video began.
"Project Guardian, head researcher's log, 72 hours from exposure to virus
The experimental subjects continue to improve and their new skills are being refined by practice. The female rabbit's physic powers show the most improvement as she can now levitate herself for short periods of time. The male fox also shows an unlimited aptitude for intelligence which makes him quite the MacGyver as he slipped his containment cell today after rewiring the force field generators. All other subjects seem to shine better in combat training, which is never difficult enough for them.
My government superiors have become concerned that a revolt from these augmented Mobians would be unstoppable. They have demanded a security measure that will ensure the unconditional loyalty of each subject. Begrudgingly, I have created a new strain of the mutagenic virus to address this concern. This time it will alter their genetic code to specifically cause the subject's body to produce lethal amounts of a potent biotoxin that must be offset by a regular injection of antidote. This ensures that any revolt would mean the loss of this antidote and the eventual death of the subject.
All remaining subjects were infected by this new strain at precisely 16:00 GMT today."
"Hold up there, Eggman!" Chuck interrupted before the next log entry. "So this new virus is really just a poison?"
"Weren't you listening, you second-rate scientist?" Eggman replied. "This new strain of virus causes the host to mutate just like the first one did, but it's also designed to create a very specific mutation. Namely, that the infected individual will begin producing lethal toxins within their own body. This means that, without the antidote being administered regularly, the subject's own body will eventually produce enough biotoxin to kill themselves."
"That's cruel!" Tails objected.
"Actually, I consider it to be a stroke of genius!" Eggman proudly said. "Now for the next part, and please listen closely this time so I don't have to explain everything," Eggman said with a groan as the video logs resumed.
"Project Guardian, Gerald Robotnik's research logs, 24 hours after second infection by modified virus,"
The bat, dog, and, very surprisingly, hedgehog specimens have succumbed to the rigors of the second exposure to the modified virus. All other specimens are currently critically ill following the second dosage of the virus. I had hypothesized that a secondary exposure of the virus would be far less life threatening than the first infection. Clearly I was very wrong. I find myself both appalled and yet relieved at the usefulness of these sound-proof containment cells. Dear god, what have I become...
The amount of improvements that the virus can safely cause without seriously harming the host is becoming apparent. The bunny specimen now seems to be permanently paralyzed from the neck down from unseen complications. The gator and echidna subjects seem to show a significant drop in IQ to below pre-test levels, but have kept all, if not more, of their improved strength. The surviving female cat test subject is now extremely UV sensitive and has begun shedding profusely. Regrettably, the fox specimen remains so ill at the time of this recording that I do not expect him to last the night. Oddly, he is the only subject so far not to show any noticeable negative mutagenic effects from the second exposure, save for a strange growth near the root of his tail. Likely an autopsy will reveal it as some sort of tumor.
Tomorrow it will be time for the first administration of the antidote after verifying that the survivors' bodies are indeed producing the neurotoxin as intended."
A moment passed by before Eggman's voice was heard. "Why are you stopping there, bolt-brains?! Keep going until I tell you to stop!"
"Sorry, Doctor!" Decoe replied. "We were just getting so used to interruptions between logs, that we thought..."
"You weren't created to think! Now play the next video!" Eggman retorted, and quickly the logs resumed.
"Project Guardian, Gerald Robotnik's research logs, 48 hours after second infection and 12 hours after first antidote administration.
More bad news as a clear mistake on my part has led to the death of the gator specimen. I have learned that the neurotoxin is manufactured at a proportional amount per body mass. However, the lethal dosage per subject does not apparently scale at a similar ratio. In lay man's terms, the bigger the individual is, the more toxins its body produces, but it still only takes a comparatively small amount of the toxins to shut down any subject's nervous system entirely. Failing to realize this, I administered an equal ratio of antidote to all participants, which proved inadequate for the male gator subject. As a result, the subject experienced sharp chest pains, followed by progressively worse seizures, and finally ending in a coma before the subject's vital functions ceased to operate entirely.
All other subjects responded well to the treatment, especially the lighter cat specimen. However, no improvement has been made in the adverse mutative side effects of the bunny, cat, and echidna subjects. Intriguingly, they have all also shown astounding improvement in their enhanced special abilities. The complete paralysis of the bunny subject has been recompensed by the ability to create powerful physic force fields and levitate even large objects indefinitely. The rapidly balding cat specimen now shows reflexes so highly tuned that it has no difficulty in dodging a single bullet at close range. And the spirited, but tragically dense female echidna demonstrates the power to penetrate even six inch steel plates with her bare fists.
Not previously mentioned above is the male fox, who has somehow miraculously pulled through his prolonged sickness and, once again, proves to be the most interesting specimen of the bunch. The area around his natural tail that had been merely a large growth yesterday evening has sprouted into a second, identical tail! The subject appears to have also discovered a way to rotate his twin tails in a rotor-like fashion to achieve flight, despite all indications from the subject's skeletal structure proving that this should be an impossible feat. I have no theories on why the fox specimen would show such different results from the others, or how his fragile body has endured two intense periods of sickness that have proved lethal to much more hardy species."
"Wait, a second tail that he could spin around just like mine?" Tails mentioned. "What are the odds that such a specific mutation would show up in two completely different foxes? And those symptoms: chest pain, seizures, a coma... How can they be so similar to what I'm going through? Unless..."
"Ah ah ahh!" Eggman stopped Tails short as his image waggled a scolding finger. "Now listen here, fox-boy, the only thing worse than people who talk during a movie are the ones who spoil the whole ending right at the most interesting part! Only one more log entry to go, then I'll explain everything." The TV again switched to a picture of Gerald Robotnik, only this time he was noticeably leaning closer to the camera than usual as the picture was filled with intermittent static.
"Project Guardian, Dr. Gerald Robotnik, one day after last entry.
Loud banging noises were heard somewhere off-screen. Gerald's image turned to look towards the unseen source, then hastily returned to recording his message.
"Space Colony Ark is currently being raided by military commandos from our own supplier, G.U.N.! They must have grown impatient and decided to steal my research to use for military purposes. This cannot be tolerated! My attempts to form an army of super-powered Mobians are meant to preserve the peace and safety of their world, not become the ultimate weapons of this one! I have managed to send all the remaining test subjects back to their homes in Mobius using the Chaos Emeralds' portal. I then scattered the Emeralds through the portal itself before it collapsed to ensure that they can never be used to power the Eclipse Cannon or any other weapon.
Project Guardian has utterly failed to accomplish my goals of improving Mobians' lives. In fact, though I sent each of them home with as much antidote as I had at the time, each of the test subjects has only a week or two's supply at best. Perhaps if any of them has any hope of prolonged survival, it is the male fox specimen who might be capable of reverse engineering the antidote before running out. But since the antidote contains some compounds that are simply not found on his planet, I very much doubt any chance of success. So much blood on my hands... And yet, my research cannot be allowed to fall into G.U.N.'s clutches, or countless more deaths will be added to them. This sole encrypted copy accessible only by my own descendants will be the only remaining-"
A bright flash and loud boom nearly cut off the video entirely. When the picture cleared, soldiers were storming inside the lab behind Gerald, rifles raised as they shouted orders at the frightened researchers in the room. Gerald reached for the keyboard in front of him to terminate the log, but was stopped short by a commanding voice.
"Freeze! Come with us quietly, Doctor Robotnik! Press so much as one button, and we'll shoot your granddaughter!" a soldier ordered, as only his weapon appeared on the edge of the screen.
Gerald froze in terror as he stared off-screen at the sound of a little girl's scream. "Maria! You were supposed to leave like I told you earlier!"
"I'm sorry, grandpa!" the young girl shouted back. "I had to help Shadow! They would have killed him!"
"Oh, Maria," Gerald replied with a heavy sigh. "I don't know how you ever turned out so different from the rest of your family. Despite our best intentions, somehow everything we make inevitably leads to immense destruction. Yet you have always thought only about helping others. Please... forgive me, Maria!" Gerald shouted through his tears as his fingers darted across the keyboard. In the split second before the video cut off, there was the unmistakable sound of a single gunshot being fired.
Everyone in the room shared a collective gasp at the implications of the final noise. "Nooo!" Cream screamed. The young bunny quickly buried her head into her mother's skirt while Cheese hovered over to Cream's shoulder and patted the young bunny on the head, also crying as well.
"Shadow did say that Maria was taken away from him back when we fought Eggman on Space Colony Ark," Chris tearfully remembered. "But... I never thought that this was what he meant."
"Yeah, not like this," Sonic agreed as he finally understood why Shadow had harbored so much hate for humanity.
"It's no wonder why Gerald turned evil!" Chuck said as he, for the first time, pitied the madman who had almost posthumously destroyed the world.
"Hey, what about me?!" Eggman's voice came from the small television as his picture again reappeared on the screen. "I may not have been born yet, but I still lost family in this fiasco! Don't you have any pity for me and my evil ways?"
"Not a chance!" Amy instantly remarked. "You chose to be evil all on your own, without the help of anyone else!"
Eggman placed a hand on his chest, feigning insult at Amy's cruel remark, but his twisted grin betrayed his true nature. "I would be deeply hurt by that remark, you pink brat, if it didn't happen to be entirely true! I can't help it; I love being evil! Whoo ho ho ho ho ho hoooo! Oh, but I had it easy compared to you, Tails! Although my parents died when I was young, you were an orphan almost at birth!"
"Wait, what?! So then my father really was..." Tails started to voice his assumption again, but Eggman cut him short.
"Oh ho! Yes, Tails. The fox in my grandfather's experiment... was indeed your father," Eggman revealed with a toothy, self-satisfied grin. "Would you like to know his name?"
"Hang on just minute! How do we know you're not lying to us again, Egghead?" Sonic interrupted. "These logs, this whole thing could just be another fake like before!"
Eggman continued to grin as he stroked his moustache thoughtfully. "I will admit, with my evil genius and technical prowess, I could certainly pull off an elaborate ruse such as this," Eggman praised himself. "But not without considerable time and effort, I might add. Put very simply, you blue pest, neither you nor your fox buddy are worth that much of my time."
"That's not even a real argument, Eggman!" Chuck retorted at the small TV.
"No, he's right, Chuck. I believe Eggman's telling us the truth this time," Tails countered.
"Huh?! But Tails...!"
"Think about it, Chuck! Why would Eggman try the same trick again?" Tails reasoned.
"Doesn't he always try the same thing over and over, Tails? Build a different robot, Sonic kicks its big metal butt, build another robot..." Amy chimed in.
"Hey!" Eggman interjected with indignation.
"Amy has a point, Tails," Chris agreed. "Why is this behavior any different for Eggman than normal?"
"Because he hasn't had enough time yet, guys!" Tails explained. "Eggman may not be half as smart as he thinks he is, but he's no fool, either. Why try a half-baked plan like before if he knew he was working on a much more elaborate one that would be ready in another week? He had to know that it would only make us more suspicious, so he would have waited. Unless he really did just stumble across these logs like he's saying."
"Why, thank you, my furry yellow wannabe," Eggman replied with a grin, returning with the same half-compliment, half-insult. "Now, are we finally ready for the big reveal? My grandfather's notes were quite meticulous, as you would expect for such experiments. Here is a file with the names of all the participants in his little experiment," he continued as the image of a spreadsheet appeared on the screen.
Tails had to lean in close to read the tiny print. "The male fox's name was... Keylow M. Prower?" he announced out loud as he squinted to make sure he was reading it correctly.
"That's right. I guess your annoying little name is less of a pun and more of a tribute, Tails," Eggman noted. "He was married to Elisa Prower, your mother. Judging from my grandfather's final log, he must have returned home and lived just long enough to conceive you."
"So then... Tails never saw his daddy? But, at least he had his mommy, like me, right?" Cream timidly asked as Vanilla reflexively put her arms around her daughter.
Tails slowly shook his head. "No, I didn't. I was told my mother died in childbirth because of complications during her pregnancy. I... I always suspected that these had something to do with it, but..."
"Well at least you had foster parents, right, dearie?" Vanilla inquired.
Tails' face got even more downcast than before. "Well, yeah, kind of," Tails answered. "They weren't really thrilled to have a freak for a son. They tried to hide me from everyone else, locking me away in a workshop whenever someone came over to visit. Pretty soon I was just living in there, barely getting more interaction than it took for them to leave a tray of food for me. One day I just... left. They probably didn't even notice I was gone for a whole day or more."
"Why didn't you tell me any of this before, little bro?" Sonic marveled as he compassionately placed his hand on Tails' back.
"I... I just..." Tails paused as his eyes welled up in tears, rubbing and sniffling his nose in the process. "I just thought it was all my fault, Sonic. If I hadn't been so different, other Mobians would have accepted me. And my mother might not have..."
"Tails..." Chuck joined Sonic at Tails' bedside, adding his hand to the sobbing fox's back just below Sonic's. "You know it's not your fault. Now more than ever."
"Y... Yeah. Now... Now I know that it's my father's fault!" Tails shuddered as he spoke, not sure if he was more sad or angry. "He... He had to have known I might be born with the same mutations he had! Why would he chose to have me knowing that it could be dangerous to my mother? And knowing that I could turn out like a freak and have to live my whole life bullied for it?"
"Tails, bud... Are you saying that you'd rather have never been born? That your life with all of us isn't worth all the terrible stuff you went through?" Sonic asked the laser-guided question. "And your second tail and super nerd brain have saved us both from a lot of bad spots, remember! It's not like it's all bad, bro."
Tails was left speechless. He hadn't followed the train of thought all the way to this natural conclusion yet, but Sonic was right. Was his past so miserable that he'd be willing to trade away his life now and his future to have it erased? "S-Sonic, I... I..." Tails tried to give an answer, but the flood of emotions in his head suddenly got even more jumbled. His brain felt like it was in a fog as Tails started getting incredibly dizzy despite sitting still.
"Tails? Tails?!" Sonic noticed something off about his buddy's face. Tails was getting unresponsive, his expression drooping as his body was now only still sitting because of his and Chuck's support from behind. "Somebody get the doc back in here! I think he's-!"
"Ugggh... Now what?" Tails groggily mumbled. He stood up from the invisible floor he'd found himself laying on amid an endless white void. "O-Oh no! Not this place again! Did I pass o-OWW!" he flinched as a brilliant flash of red light blinded him, accompanied by a sharp pain in his head like a hammer blow to his skull.
"No... No, no, no! I-I don't want to do this again!" Tails remembered the last experience he'd had just like this one. But another flash of green made him stagger backwards, undeterred by Tails' begging. As he looked up once more, the horizon was quickly filling with violent colors, flashes of equally brilliant and vibrant lightning surging between the waves of colors. "N-NO! STOP! Th-This is my mind, and I'm telling you to stop it, so- AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Tails screamed as the storm didn't even so much as acknowledge his combined willpower. It simply washed over him just like before, plunging the fox into a chaotic sea of agony.
He fell into a tight, protective ball almost immediately, but it offered no respite whatsoever. Even with his eyes guarded and held shut, the lights flashed just as brightly and painfully behind his eyelids. All Tails could do is writhe in agony, screaming for help when he knew there wouldn't be any. He couldn't tell if it lasted for seconds or minutes or hours like this before finally the colors stopped.
Encouraged that the lights wouldn't return by his prior experience, the crying fox finally emerged from his fetal position. "I'm not sure how many more of those I can take," he whimpered, sitting on the invisible ground with his tails still wrapped around himself for comfort. He wiped his tears on the back of his gloves, looking out into the endless white expanse.
"Miles..."
The fur on the back of his neck stood up in fright. Tails quickly whipped around to face the unexpected voice.
"Miles..." the spectral figure from before repeated as it slowly came into focus. But instead of a faint, blurry image like before, this time the ghostly Mobian was getting more defined with every passing second. As its body became less and less transparent, Tails could make out features of the individual, particularly confirming its two long tails. His face finally came into focus, and Tails found himself staring at it intensely. It was full of sorrow, the evidence of tears on the older fox's muzzle although none ever fell from his incorporeal visage.
"...Father?" Tails reached out to grab this stranger's hand, but his own hand passed right through like this was a hologram.
"Miles..." the figure spoke again, now fully manifested and as solid in appearance as Tails himself. "It's all my fault, Miles. If you're hearing this, then it means this curse I bear was indeed passed along to you. I tried to convince your mother that it was too dangerous, but I think a part of her believed that through you she could still hold on to a part of me."
"Of course... So that's why," Tails suddenly realized. "Father, it doesn't matter to me anymore. I just...!"
Keylow talked right over the top of Tails, not even acknowledging the younger fox's words. "I won't ever be there for you, son. By the time you are born, I'll be long since dead. There's no time to explain how I got my second tail and this curse began. The only important conclusion is that I can't cure myself of this curse, and I guess I couldn't prevent it from spreading to you, either. But rather than waste my remaining time trying to save myself, I did come up with a vaccine. I can't be there to see if it actually worked or not, to see how old you've grown up to be, my son. I hope your life has been full of happiness. That is... until now."
"It has, father! I'm... I'm actually really happy now. My friends..." Tails tried to tell him, but was cut off again.
"Forgive me, Miles!" Keylow's tears started anew, although none ever seemed to fall towards the ground once they dripped from his downcast muzzle. "Whether your life has been long or short, happy or tragic... it's at its end now. This message is encoded in your brain to play only after you experience a massive seizure, which will be a sign that the toxins in your body are reaching lethal levels. I'm so sorry, son. But... now you will die... the same agonizing death as me before you."
"Father, wait! The vaccine! Tell me how you made it! I have friends that are really smart, and maybe we can find a way to..." Tails begged.
"It's all my fault, Miles. It's all my fault..." the image seemed to revert back to the beginning of the conversation, now beginning to fade once more.
"No! Wait! Father!" Tails shouted as he futilely tried to grab on to the disappearing apparition.
"I'm so sorry, son..." Keylow's ghost got more and more transparent, slowly becoming harder to spot against the white backdrop. "Now you... die... same...as me."
"No, father! Don't go! There's still a chance!" Tails pleaded until he couldn't see or hear his father's image any longer. "DAD!" he yelled out at the white void, trying to summon the spirit of his father to come back. But it was no use. "Dad, I... I really am happy. I just wish... you could somehow know that," Tails muttered as he sniffled through fresh tears of his own. There was no concept of time in this empty expanse. Tails had no idea how long he sat there crying to himself, muttering for his father before he lost consciousness once more.
Tails once again slowly opened his eyes in his hospital room at Station Square Medical Center.
"He's awake!" Chuck shouted.
"Well, well, well! I thought that this might have been Tails' final gasp, but I guess he is a fighter after all," Eggman taunted from the live feed on the TV Bokkun carried.
"Oooohhh," Tails moaned as he tried to sit up in his bed again. "How long was I out this time?"
"Just a few minutes, thank goodness," Amy answered. "You were jerking around and screaming for a good part of it."
So it really was another seizure, just like my dad said, Tails realized. Combining the vision he'd just had with what Eggman had shared with them already, Tails had no more room for doubt. It was all true, which meant that...
"Are you really going to die, Tails?" Cream asked while her eyes quivered with fresh tears.
"Chao…?" Cheese also muttered in the saddest little tone ever.
"Huh?! What makes you ask something like that, Cream?" Tails was stunned to hear his own thoughts suddenly vocalized by someone else.
"I took the liberty of enlightening the rest of your friends while you were out, Tails," Eggman boasted. "Surely you've already figured it out, I assume?"
Tails took a deep breath, resigning himself to the awful truth. "I... I inherited my father's mutations, including the one that makes my body produce the same neurotoxin that killed him. That's what's happening to my body right now. It's finally building up to lethal amounts inside me because my father's vaccine has wore off," Tails recapped somberly.
"Vaccine? None of my grandfather's logs mentioned anything about a vaccine," Eggman was caught off-guard for the first time in the long conversation. "Where did you learn about this all of the sudden, hmm?"
"Well, ummm… My father told me... just now," Tails cringed as he realized how ridiculous his explanation was going to sound.
"Now I'm confused. Tails, I thought we just learned that your parents were both dead," Amy wondered.
"They are, Amy. But my father... Somehow he placed a recording of himself in my head that I just saw after my seizure. He told me how he gave up trying to save himself in order to create a vaccine to protect me. Only, I guess it didn't work," Tails summarized.
"On the contrary, Tails, I think your father's vaccine is the reason you've managed to live this long," Eggman hypothesized. "And why you've enjoyed such remarkably good health up until just recently as your body has weakened. Yes... A sample of this vaccine would definitely assist me in my efforts to fabricate a cure."
Chuck snapped to attention, raising his eyebrows at Eggman's comment. "A cure? What could you possibly need with a cure, Eggman?"
"Oh ho! Isn't it obvious? I develop a cure that will spare your foxy friend's life in return for a... small remuneration," Eggman laid bare his intentions.
"Remur-what now?" Sonic quipped as his foot tapped in irritation.
"Payment, Sonic. He's basically holding my life hostage... again. Only this time, he's not just kidding," Tails explained dourly.
"Oh come now! It sounds so... inhumane when you put it that way. I'd prefer to think of it as an honest transaction for services rendered," Eggman replied.
"And let me guess, Eggman. The fee will be the same as last time, too? All six of our Chaos Emeralds?" Chuck refused to argue semantics and got straight to the point.
"Heh heh! Well, if that's your initial offer, then I certainly accept," Eggman responded.
Sonic slammed his fist loudly on the railing of Tails' bed. "No deal, Egghead! This time we actually know what's wrong with Tails, and Chuck's doctor friends can figure out a cure without your help!" Sonic vehemently refused to go through this same ordeal all over again.
"Oh, can they? Given enough time, you're probably right, Sonic," Eggman admitted. "But Tails probably has at most a week left to live. And the only person with both access to the original logs detailing my grandfather's virus and a complete breakdown of Tails' fathers' genome, might I add, is me. Your best doctors there would need months just to figure out which of Tails' genes makes his fur yellow and not brown or orange, for example."
The room was silent as everyone contemplated the situation. Eggman was probably right, there simply wasn't enough time left to save Tails without his help. But now it was back to the same moral dilemma as a week ago. Was Tails' life important enough to grant Eggman nearly unlimited power in return?
"The answer is no, Eggman," Tails spoke up, breaking the silence. "I would rather die than give you all the Emeralds."
Sonic abruptly grabbed Tails' hand. "Tails, I know you're being all noble and stuff, but... some of us aren't ready for you to go just yet," Sonic pleaded.
"Sonic's right, Tails," Chuck surprisingly sided with the concerned hedgehog. "I voted to err on the side of caution last time, but I just can't throw your life away again. Not when we still have a choice."
"But it's not your choice, Chuck; it's mine!" Tails rebutted. "Look, I... I don't want to die either. I love you guys, and I've known most of you for the happiest years in my life. But if I'm being asked to make a sacrifice to save the whole planet, I'll do it."
"Tails..." Amy muttered, turning away to hide her watery eyes. Cream and Cheese had already done the same, burying their faces into the long gown of Vanilla's dress.
"Who could have guessed that such a wimpy little fox had so much spunk?" Eggman interrupted the somber moment. "I'm a practical man, after all. And I'd much rather get something from a deal than have Tails die for nothing. So... how about you give me five Chaos Emeralds, and I'll call it even."
"How about we just fly up there to your Egg Moon and take the cure ourselves!" Sonic threatened. "You must not know as much about us as you thought, Egghead. My buddy here just finished improving the X-Tornado so it uses two Emeralds now. That means we can fly up to your moon base and trash the place if you don't cooperate!"
"Oh, I highly doubt that," Eggman quickly saw through Sonic's bluff. "That being said, if you can actually hand deliver the Chaos Emeralds to me on my Egg Moon, I will agree to leave you with enough to get back home again. After all, the last thing I would want is my arch nemesis and his friends all stuck running around my evil fortress sabotaging my plans. But I get four Emeralds, no less! Deal?"
"I don't know about this, guys," Tails remarked. "Making any kind of deal with Eggman is pretty risky."
"And not making any deal at all is even worse, Tails," Sonic pointed out. "Eggman won't have all the Emeralds, and you'll still get your cure. Come on, bro. This way, no one has to die."
"Well, I..." Tails stuttered as he looked around at the concerned faces in the room. He wasn't really wanting to be a martyr, as heroic as that would seem. And he knew that many of his friends had already been through tragic loss, especially Cream and Cheese who were recently forced to destroy Emerl, their friend. And if he did survive this and went on to live a long, happy life... that's exactly what his father wanted most for him. "OK, Eggman, it's a deal. Four Emeralds only," Tails finally settled for the compromise.
"I'm so glad that you are being reasonable, Tails!" Eggman happily replied. "Now, Bokkun will take that sample I need to assist my research. Bokkun!"
"Yes, Doctor Eggman!" Bokkun said with a dutiful salute. He sat the yellow TV down at the foot of Tails' bed, then began rummaging through his green duffle bag. Finally he pulled out a comically large syringe and giggled gleefully. "Yay! I've always wanted to play real doctor! Now hold still..."
Tails' eyes grew wide as saucers at the sight of the huge needle. "WHAAA! No! Get it away from me!" he shouted, frantically trying to get up out of his hospital bed. He was getting all tangled up in the sheets and various tubes and probes coming off his body, however, making escape impossible.
"There's no need for all this barbarism," Chuck spoke as he thankfully came to the rescue. He handed Bokkun a large vial that contained a blood sample taken from Tails earlier. Chuck had intended to send the sample off to the best biologist the government could find, but Eggman had convinced him that it would be futile. "This should be more than enough for Eggman to get all the information he needs."
"Awwwww… But I wanted to use the needle!" Bokkun whined. He did reluctantly return the oversized needle back to his bag, though, along with the sample. Then the small robot dutifully picked up the television again.
"Excellent! As soon as I have that sample I'll begin work on a cure. I know I'm no molecular biologist, but for an evil genius like me, honestly, how hard could it be? Have my Chaos Emeralds ready to deliver the moment I'm ready, Sonic. Oh, and Tails? Try not to end up like your father before I can finish," Eggman snidely remarked. Then the transmission abruptly ended and the TV screen went blank. But only a moment later, an emblem of Eggman's head appeared on the screen and started a five second countdown.
"Aaaahh! Doctor Eggman! I thought you promised this one wouldn't blow up!" Bokkun shouted in horror. He was still looking for somewhere to ditch the small TV as the countdown reached zero and a small explosion rocked the room. The hospital's sprinkler system immediately kicked in while smoke billowed out of the open window. Bokkun was left a bit blacker than normal, still hovering in the center of the room with a shocked expression.
"Ha, serves you right for being so rude!" Amy quickly insulted the undamaged robot.
"That's not fair!" Bokkun cried out as he quickly turned and flew out of the smoky room via the same window.
"Is everyone alright in here?!" a nurse appeared and shouted into the room. "We heard what sounded like an explosion!"
"Aha, yeah... Just a small one," Chris called out as he and the rest of the people in the room fought back the smoke-induced coughing. "But I think Tails is going to need a different room now." It was about this time that the sprinkler system kicked off, leaving the occupants of the room soaked and shivering. The nurse could only gawk from the doorway, completely unprepared for this eventuality.
"That won't be necessary, Chris," Tails replied, his wet fur being the final straw in how uncomfortable he felt staying in this hospital room. He started pulling off tiny sensors from his chest and tossing them aside. "I'm checking out of this place."
"But, you're still sick, Tails!" Cream objected, Vanilla forcing the younger rabbit to breathe through the fabric of her long dress to filter out the smoke. "Shouldn't you stay in the hospital until you're better?"
"There's nothing they can do for me here, Cream," Tails replied. "And if I might only have a few days left to live, I'm going to spend them at home."
"How about my house instead, Tails?" Chris asked. "Your workshop out in the Mystic Ruins is pretty remote if there's an emergency."
"That's actually what I meant, Chris," Tails corrected himself. "Could someone please help me out of all these wires and tubes and stuff?" He finally realized that he'd need professional help disconnecting from the more intrusive equipment attached to his body, especially his IV line and catheter.
"Well, normally patients aren't just allowed to check out whenever they want to, Mr. Prower," the nurse tried to talk Tails into staying. "We still have a lot of tests we could run to try and find out what's wrong with you."
"Nevermind those, we already know the full story," Chuck informed the oblivious nurse. "I'll go find the doctor and try to explain everything the best that I can. Chris, you call Mr. Tanaka to come give us all a ride home."
"But... But I... I'm not authorized to..." the nurse stammered as she realized she had no control over her soggy patient or his visitors.
"Look, are you really going to tell the Hero of Station Square what he can and can't do?" Chuck pressured the nurse. "By the time I'm done speaking with the doctor, I'll have his discharge order already signed, so just get him ready to go, okay?"
"A-And maybe some warm blankets?" Sonic added, shivering like everyone else that was soaked to the bone in the cold hospital atmosphere.
All the nurse could do was nod her head and run off compliantly to fetch said blankets from the floor's warmer. This was going to be so much extra paperwork. Why did dealing with celebrities always end up involving extra paperwork?
