Sonic laid on the grass, soothed and relaxed after having foiled Eggman's plans once again. Amy petted a Chao far off in the distance while Knuckles ran away from a group of them chasing him. As Sonic slowly closed his eyes, he noticed a familiar figure approaching. He opened an eyelid and immediately recognized him.

"How's it going, Tails?"

Tails loomed over him, his eyes filled with concern.

"Sonic, I need to talk to you about something."

Sonic sat up and began stretching.

"Sure. What's up buddy?"

"Remember that time when you chased the Deadly Six after they turned me into a robot?"

"Oh yeah! I had to go and teach those kids a lesson. Good thing they're gone now, huh?"

"Well…why did you just run off like that?"

Sonic stopped stretching and stared at Tails.

"What do you mean?"

"Weren't you worried when they strapped those…things on me?"

"Sure I was." Sonic replied with a smirk. "But I knew that you were going to be fine after I talked you out it."

Tails' expression turned to anger. "Talk me out of it? I had to reprogram their device just so I can break free from it!"

"Woah, Tails..." Sonic replied with surprise. "Okay, so you deserve some credit in helping out as well. What are you so mad about?"

"You were so reckless that I had to stop you from falling into that trap, and because of that, the Deadly Six captured me and turned me into a robot. After all of that, the least you could've done is…"

"…make things up and save everyone! Don't worry buddy, I know that I was a bit slow for a moment, but you don't have to worry about anything now."

Tails stared at Sonic, his breaths turning intense as he clenched his fists.

"Fine, whatever! As if talking to you was a good idea."

He turned around and walked away. Sonic looked at him, perplexed by his friend's reaction. Amy walked over to Sonic while looking over at Tails.

"Are you two okay?" she asked.

"Yeah." Sonic answered. "I just don't know what Tails is on about. I saved everyone's lives, but he seems to be upset about something."

"Don't worry about it." Knuckles piped, approaching them while trying to get a Chao off from hugging him. "Whatever he's angry about, he'll get over it after a while."

Sonic gave a smile.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

He laid back down on the grass again, looking up at the cloudy blue sky. As his vision blurred, he closed his eyes without a hint of concern.

Zap!

Sonic suddenly woke up.

Tails stood in front of him with his robotic enhancements again. The Deadly Six were all alive as well. He fired a few rounds at them, causing them to panic and flee away from the duo. Tails then turned around back to Sonic.

"Phew, close call!" Sonic exclaimed.

He extended his fist for Tails to bump, but his friend remained motionless. Tails stared at him uncomfortably.

"Sonic, about what happened…"

Sonic grinned. "Don't worry about it Tails! I knew that you wouldn't turn on your old buddy!"

Tails' eyes widened in bewilderment.

"What? No, I meant when you pushed me into that trap. I…"

Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Tails, can we leave that for some other time? I've got to catch up with those guys!"

"Sonic…!"

"You can tell me all about that later though. Don't worry, I'll handle this from here!"

Sonic darted away from his friend. Tails looked at him, partly in surprise, partly in disbelief. He lowered his head, standing alone in silence, his surroundings seemingly darkening. He then turned around and slowly walked toward the destroyed bridge.

Suddenly, Eggman rose from the gap in the bridge with his machine and cohorts. He immediately recognized Tails, and laughed hysterically.

"Well, well, if it isn't fox boy!"

Tails stared at his friend's nemesis. He slowly began to smile, chuckling. His chuckles soon grew to a roaring laughter, to the point where he began holding his stomach in pain.

"Is he okay?" Asked Orbot. "I've never seen him like this."

"Yeah." Shivered Cubot. "He's starting to give me the creeps."

"I'm glad that you're still alive, Doctor Eggman." Tails stated with an evil grin.

"Oooooooooh!" Eggman replied. "I do like the sound of that name." He immediately shook his head. "Wait, what am I saying? Are you trying to mess with me, two tails?!"

"Not at all." Tails answered as he approached Eggman. "But if you want, I can help you destroy Sonic once and for all."

Eggman pondered for a moment, caressing his mustache.

"How do I know that you're not trying to trick me?"

"Oh trust me, there's nothing more I want to do than to teach that stupid hedgehog a lesson."

Eggman looked at Tails' evil grin, surprised at how it resonated familiarly. Almost like how Eggman felt towards his nemesis. He began to laugh.

"Goody! Two brains are better than one, even if mine is greatly superior to yours." Eggman replied, sharing Tails' grin. Cubot and Orbot looked at each other nervously.

"What do you mean, it's garbage?!" Eggman retorted.

"Yeah, just look at those legs. You're practically asking for Sonic to destroy your robot." Tails replied.

Eggman groaned as he took out a wrench to improve his contraption. Meanwhile, Cubot and Orbot were helping Tails in removing his robotic enhancements.

"Wow, just look at all of this!" Cubot gawked, amazed at all of the metal parts now detached from Tails. "I bet that if I wear all of them, I'll be able to fight like one of Eggman's robots!"

Eggman turned angrily at him. "Don't be ridiculous. The only thing you're good at is being a useless hunk of junk!"

Tails chuckled.

"You know, you're a pretty funny robot."

Cubot turned and looked at Tails.

"Do you really mean that?" He asks.

"Yeah." Tails replied. "I mean, you may not mean it, but you can be pretty fun to listen to. And you, Orbot, you're pretty reliable yourself." Tails looked at his removed enhancements. "Thanks you two for helping me out."

Orbot and Cubot briefly looked at each other, and then both proceeded to hug Tails.

"I've never heard such nice words in all my robot life!" Says Cubot.

"It's good to have someone who truly appreciates us." Orbot replied.

"What are you two idiots bumbling on about?!" Eggman yelled. Orbot and Cubot immediately moved away from Tails.

"Nothing boss!" Cubot responded.

"Whatever..." Eggman mumbled to himself. "As long as Tails help me crush that blue pest once and for all, he can stay. But once Sonic is done for…" He grinmed. "Tails can join him too."

Orbot flickered an eye over at Eggman.

"Alright!"

Sonic darted to the extractor machine after having defeated the Deadly Six.

"Now, how do I turn this thing off?" He sighed. "Hey Tails? Could you help me…"

Sonic turned around, his buddy nowhere to be seen.

"Oh…well, not to worry! Time to do some science!"

He inspected the machine's monitor closely. It dimly displayed a giant word: "OFF".

"Hmm…the machine must be turned off!" Sonic deduced. "But how?"

"Why, thanks to me!" Eggman replied, rising from a nearby pit with his robot. "Or should I say, us?"

Another robot figure rose up beside him.

"What...?!" Sonic exclaimed. "Tails!"

The cockpit of the second robot brightened up, revealing Tails at the helm.

"Did Eggman put you up to this?" Sonic yelled.

"Me?" Eggman retorted. "Why, I had nothing to do with it at all. It was Tails' idea all along!"

Sonic stared at his friend. "Tails?"

Tails grinned as he readied up his weapon, firing it at Sonic. Sonic quickly dashed out of the way and dodged it.

"And now, let us destroy Sonic once and for all!" Eggman announced while laughing.

"Us?" Tails replied. As Eggman turned around to respond, Tails flung his robot's arm over and smashed Eggman's cockpit, throwing him off of it as his robot collapsed.

"Ugh…you…you damn fox!" Eggman grunted.

Tails began to laugh. "You should've treated your robot minions a bit better. Maybe then they wouldn't tell me about your plans to get rid of me."

Orbot and Cubot both appeared behind Tails.

"Curse you two useless scraps of metal!" Eggman yelled.

"We're not useless!" Cubot retorted.

"We found a better master who can, shall we say, truly appreciate us for who we are." Orbot replied.

"You lied to me, you little fox!" Eggman screamed.

Tails began to laugh. "Lied to you? About what, destroying that blue hedgehog?" He turned around, facing Sonic. "Oh, I'm still going to destroy him." He gave an evil grin.

"Tails!" Sonic yelled. "But why?!"

Tails began to attack Sonic. As Sonic zoomed away from his attacks, he found a weak spot on the robot's arms and proceeded to attack them. He eventually linked them to aim at the cockpit, delivering one final, lethal blow.

"Aaaagh!"

The cockpit's glass is shattered, and Tails is thrown off of the robot. As the mech exploded, Sonic looked over at his fallen friend.

"Tails!"

He rushed over to him and placed his hand under Tails' head. His body is filled with cuts, his right eye blackened from the impact, and dirt is spread all over him. Tails breathed irregularly, gasping for air.

"Tails…why? Why did you do this?"

Tails grabbed Sonic, pulling himself towards him, struggling for one final breath.

"So you would care."

Sonic's eyes began to widen. He couldn't contain his smirk, which blew up to an enormous laughter, tilting his head to the sky above.

"Tails! I never thought you'd be so pretentious! Of course I care! What were you thinking, buddy? That was really silly of…"

He looks back at his friend with a joyful grin. Tails was limp, his eyes closed, his body motionless without a sign of life.

"Tails?"

His grin slowly faded away as he slowly became concerned.

"Tails…? Tails buddy?"

Sonic slowly shook his friend, trying to get a response out of him. He paused, realizing what had happened. His eyes began to burn, his heart filling with pain; he grabbed onto his friend and hugged him tightly.

He turned his head to the sky.

"Tails!" He screamed.

Sonic raised his back from the grass, gasping heavily from shock. He looked around in bewilderment, spotting Amy and Knuckles playing with the Chao creatures.

"A dream…it was all a dream…" He muttered.

Amy peeked over at him, confused.

"Are you okay, Sonic?"

He looked down for a while, then lifted his head towards Amy, his eyes filled with determination.

"Where's Tails?" He asked.

"Not sure." Knuckles replied. "But if I was to guess, I'd say he's at his workshop as usual."

"I have to go." Sonic immediately got up and darted off. Amy and Knuckles stared at him as he zoomed away, perplexed by his resolve.

A knocking is heard at Tails' workshop.

"Tails?!"

Tails sighed, recognizing the familiar voice. He placed down the wrench that he was using to work on his plane.

"Tails, are you there buddy?!"

He walked over to the door and opened it.

"What do you wa…"

Sonic immediately hugged him. Tails gasped in surprise.

"I'm sorry, Tails. I'm sorry for getting you in danger, for leaving you behind, for not asking if you're okay. I should've listened when you told me about that trap; I should've cared when they strapped those things on you. I…"

His eyes began to water.

"I was reckless. I put you in danger and something terrible could've happened to you. You're my best friend, and I never want to see you get hurt."

He tightened his hug as tears began to roll down his cheeks.

"Tails…I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

The two embraced for a while. Tails hugged his friend back and smiled softly as tears began to fill his eyes as well.

"I forgive you."