Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Sonic and the characters used in this fan fiction are copyrighted by SEGA, Sonic Team Corp., DHX Media, and Archie Comics.
Took me long enough to get back to this damn thing, didn't it? Welcome back to Fists of Chaos, ladies and gents. Time to pick it up where we left off. In the first round of the tournament, Sonic the Hedgehog went blow for blow and prevailed over the twin tailed fox, Miles Prower. After the fight, the two decided to get better acquainted. Let's take a look at what happened!
Two Tails are Better than One
"NOW APPROACHING AERO COLONY DISTRICT ALPHA. ALL HANDS, MAN YOUR STATIONS, MAN YOUR STATIONS."
"Sooooo, I'm curious. Just how exactly did you learn to fly, anyway?" Sonic asked his youthful opponent, Miles "Tails" Prower. "Y'know, it's a long story, actually," replied the fox boy. "Well, it's only the first round of the tournament. So, I've got nothin' but time. Spill it."
The kitsune began, "O-okay. Well, see, I was really born with these two tails." "Let's take a sec to skip pass the obvious, kiddo," Sonic remarked. "Oh, Right. Anyway, I was told that this was all because of some sort of "disruption" in my genetic code during my embryotic state. Of course, this caused the mutation I've kinda grown attached to. Literally. Hehehe," Tails bashfully stated. "Hm. I'm surprised I understood what you just said. Maybe those biology lessons weren't a bunch of nap sessions, after all," Sonic joked, "I bet you had your ups and downs dealing with those two tails... Er…metaphorically speaking, anyways." Tails sighed, "Yeah. I was pretty much bullied since birth, as you can tell: I've had my tails tied in a knot; kids poured sticky slime on me that took a week to get out; I've been hung from a pole by my tails, too. And that's just abuse MY TAILS had to endure!" "You mean that wasn't where they'd let up?" Sonic queried with a stint of concern. Tails shook his head and continued, "When they weren't making fun of my "condition", they were destroying some of my models and inventions and beating me up almost daily." "Well, that had to be some kind of incentive for you to train in martial arts," said Sonic. That, it did, as the young fox grinned with confidence.
"Actually, when I was 6 years old, I got a chance to see this airship for the first time during a field trip. I meet a Chief Sergeant who claimed to be a good friend of my father's. When he asked me how I was coming along, I told him I was getting picked on, and he volunteered to train me in the art of Tae Kwon Do. It was pretty hard in the beginning, I'll admit, but I eventually learned a bunch of techniques I thought I could never do. He even told me, himself, that I was learning at way quicker than he expected." "Well, at least that explains your skills. Now, about that propeller of yours…" Sonic reinstated. "Oops. I almost forgot. Haha! Well, Chief Sergeant told me that one of the many purposes of martial arts, aside from self-defense, is to unleash your mind, spirit, and body's full potential. So, I decided to train my tails so desensitize myself to previous agony, as well as turn my tails into an extra set of limbs to strike with. I've done some weird but effective exercises for my tails, individually and simultaneously rotating them in a bunch of different directions. One day, I thought I'd save some time by doing alternating tail circles, but I somehow found myself levitating off the ground, a little. That's when I decided to continue doing these exercises to gradually increase the height of my levitation and the speed of my acceleration. And, well, the rest is history." "Dude, that's friggin' awesome! I guess you're a genius in more ways than one!" Sonic complimented. Tails scratched the back of his head with embarrassment. "Gee. Thanks, Sonic. I still don't have a cool style like yours, though. How did you learn all your moves, anyhow?"
Considering the grim family history Sonic tried to conceal from so many, he was a bit reluctant to respond at first. Be that as it may, he was still willing to give the little canine combatant the gist of his martial arts experience. "Well, I sorta learned it from my older brother. Ya see, his biological mom from Chun-Nan taught him a little bit of Wushu when he was really young, but she passed away from a disease. That caused my dad join the military to support my bro and himself. They moved to Kyutozaka under military orders, and my dad n' bro learned Kenpo while they were there. This was a little bit before I was born, though," Sonic explained, "Anyways, we eventually moved to Central City, and my bro was getting in a bunch of fights with punks. Seeing this guy in action was as awesome as it was a little bit scary. And heaven help you if he ever decided to resort to his wooden sword." "Whoa! He knew how to handle a sword, too?" Tails asked in amazement. "Yep. He wasn't like "samurai-level" or anything, but he knew enough to deal some damage. But that's beside the point. To keep me from running away or getting my ass kicked by punks, I agreed to train with him after school. Gotta say, I was pretty quick to catch on. Hell, by the time I hit 10 years old, big bro started running outta stuff to teach me!"
"Neat! So did you ever learn anything new from him since then?" asked Tails. "Nah. I we kinda lost track since then." Sonic responded. "Where is he now?" "Hmph. Don't know. Don't CARE." Sonic spitefully thought, but he casually shrugged his shoulders in Tails' presence. "Where did you learn all of those spinning moves you did on me? It was like you were a spinning ball of doom, or something?" Sonic laughed and answered, "Well, when I was 12, I started doing a lot of parkour, tricking, and even breakdancing just for kicks. I eventually became obsessed with all three, yet I still had knack for wailing on anybody that caused trouble in my city. Now, I remembered most the techniques I was taught down to a "T", but doin' all that traditional B.S. can be a real drag, y'know? So, I decided to mix everything I've learned, and put a stylish flare on it. That way, I can kick ass AND look good doin' it! Kinda messes with my opponent's head, too." "It sure worked on me!" Tails joked. The two laughed and continued to converse as the airship approached is destination.
After 30 minutes, the airship finally concluded its excursion and the crew began to depart for the day. Meanwhile, Sonic and Tails were still locked in a warm conversation. "…N' that's when I told him, 'DUDE, that's not a beaver in your trash can. THAT'S A GIANT RAT!' He totally freaked out! Said he didn't take out the garbage for a year!" The conclusion to one of Sonic's many stories made Tails double over in hysterical laughter. "That's terrible. Hahaha!" the fox commented. "Why's it so terrible? It ain't MY trash! Heh." Sonic chuckled. As the two came down to from their moment of humor, Sonic slowly came back to his senses, remembering the objective he had to focus on. Nevertheless, he wanted to bid the fox boy farewell. "Well, I'll admit it, Tails; it's been awesome getting to know you, bro. You're a cool kid, despite what the rest might've thought of you, but I gotta split. I need to train before the quarter finals," said Sonic. "Y-you're leaving?" Tails asked with a hint of disappointment. "Yeah. It's been fun n' all, but I gotta get going. There's important stuff I gotta handle. But you keep practicing, dude, and remember to be more confident! Catch ya later!" Without a chance to respond, Tails only saw a blue flash leaving the airship. "Hey! WAIT UP!" Tails exclaimed as he impulsively proceeded to chase Sonic.
The blue blur dashed through the hovering highways and byways of the Aero Colony's District Alpha. As usual, he was causing chaos amongst drivers transiting through the aerial metropolis. Sonic wasn't the least bit concerned, of course. "Not a bad city. Not bad, at all," Sonic thought while capturing the view of the illustrious sky city. As he checked his reflection on a nearby building, in his peripheral vision, he noticed an oddly familiar yellow-orange figure trailing about 20 yards behind him and closing. "Wait. Is that…" Sonic took a look behind him, and he noticed none other than Tails tracking him on foot. "Seriously? Hmph! So you really think you can hang with the big boys, huh? Let's just see how long THAT'LL last!" Sonic decided to pick up his speed in order to out-run his twin-tailed stalker, and, unsurprisingly, it was working. Sonic managed to gain an additional 100-yard lead on Tails in mere seconds. "I'll never catch up to him at this rate!" Tails said dismay. However, where there was a will, there was a way, and Tails certainly had will power! Using his tails as a propeller, Tails allowed himself to levitate a few inches from the pavement and accelerated to catch up to Sonic. It only took a couple of moments, but Sonic was surprised to find Tails only 10 yards behind him. "What the hell? How was he able to make it here so fast?" Sonic thought, becoming gradually more annoyed, "Doesn't matter. Time to lose this brat for good!" And with that intention in mind, Sonic dashed towards a succession of immense hovercraft traffic. The blue hedgehog jumped from vehicle to vehicle, both high and low, yet Tails was able to quickly weave through the line of traffic. Sonic decided to throw Tails for a loop by dashing through the metallic balconies of a cluster of towers, but Tails flew right behind him without slowing down. Thinking that he could use diversionary tactics to ward Tails off, Sonic sprung between buildings and around corners to avoid him. Initially, Sonic thought he had finally rid himself of the twin-tailed pest, but it came to his horrific realization that Tails caught up to him in a matter of seconds. "ALRIGHT! THAT'S IT!" Sonic irritably exclaimed, finally fed up with the game of "Cat and Mouse." He came to a screeching halt and spun around to face Tails, who also tried stopping, but bumped into Sonic.
Once he came to, Tails was frightened to find a thoroughly peeved Sonic standing above him. "What's the big idea with you followin' me around, huh?! Start explaining!" Sonic demanded. Tails nervously answered, "W-well, I- I just thought that y-you might need some h-help before your next match!" Sonic smacked his forehead in disgust and replied, "So, you decided to chase me halfway across this city just for THAT? Kid, are you outta your friggin' mind? And what could you possibly help ME with?" Thinking of a legitimate reason to spare himself of the hedgehog's wrath, Tails gulped and said, "M-maybe, I can help you find the other Chaos Emeralds. Here! You can even take mine!" Sonic watched as Tails fearfully retrieve his yellow Chaos Emerald, and his aggravation slowly began to subside. He realized that he had forgotten to take it from Tails. "Okay, you've got a point. I AM gonna need this for my mission, after all," Sonic said as he grabbed the gemstone from Tails, "Still, I seriously doubt I'm gonna need your help finding the other 6 emeralds. That's what I've got this radar for." Pondering another excuse to prevent Sonic from escaping, Tails commented, "Maybe you'll need someone to fix it if it crashes on you. Or better yet, maybe you'll need a radar that's more efficient. Uh...Yeah. Yeah! I can invent a radar better than yours that can cover a wider range and with faster re-" "Kid, stop beatin' around the bush and fess up: You just wanna tag along, don'tcha?" Sonic interrupted, looking rather unamused. "WHAT? NONONONONO! THAT'S NOT IT! I JUST…um…Well…you see…" Sonic remained unamused as Tails stammered and struggled for an alibi. "Tsk tsk tsk," Sonic shook his head in disbelief, "Look, squirt. I really appreciate the fact that you've taken a liking to me. I didn't even expect that vibe from you when we first met, but ya gotta understand that this is a solo mission for me. I've got a gut feeling that's it's gonna get pretty ugly, down the line. If I let YOU get involved, we might be running the risk of you getting hurt. I don't want that to happen, and I'm willing to bet that your mom and dad would flip their lids, if it did." Sonic saw Tails look away from him, hanging his head in sadness. With his mood shifting from annoyance to deep concern, Sonic kneeled down and said, "Hey. I'm sorry if I came off a bit harsh, but I'm just trying to look out for you." "No. I understand you mean well," Tails replied, nearly choking on his words, "It's just that…I actually don't have a mom and dad. I'm…I'm an orphan."
At that moment, Sonic was overtaken by a sense of agony and empathy for the young fox cub. He somewhat related to Tails, considering his father and brother went missing and his mother and sister were deceased. His uncle was all he had left, and now HE was gone. The only difference between Tails and himself was Sonic actually had a family that cared deeply about him since day one. Without any relatives, true friends or influential elders to turn to, it seemed that the fox only had a little bit of hope and his dreams to hold on to. Unfortunately, those dreams had instantly tarnished in their previous battle. "I don't wanna bring him into this situation, but I can't just leave the little guy hanging, either. I can't let him continue to endure the type of treatment those guys give him. *sigh* I'll never forgive myself if anything happens to him, but I'm probably gonna regret leavin' him or takin' him, either way." Making a thoughtful, yet risky decision, Sonic extended his hand to Tails and helped him to his feet. "Y'know what? I heard that there's an opening for a new assistant on this mission. It requires an aptitude for technology, a good heart and high motivation. Seems like nobody's been applying, and the position's still open. So, I was thinkin' maybe, JUST MAYBE, you could…Well, y'know…" Sonic hinted and winked at the boy. Tails' eyes flashed with vigor when he realized what the teenage hedgehog was implying. "S-Sonic, I would be honored to be your assistant!" he eagerly replied. Sonic grinned and said, "GREAT! You're hired! Just make sure that you try to keep up, or you'll get left behind. Got it?" Tails nodded in confirmation, "I won't let you down!" "Alright. Since we've got that outta the way, let's jet, squirt!" The two immediately departed to begin their new journey together. As he and Tails raced each other through Aero Colony, Sonic thought "I know it's risky, but I promise I'll look after him the best I can. Who knows? Maybe, I'll end up bein' an even better big brother than…"
A little bit heart-warming, huh? No? Well, I tried. Can't lie, though. I was pretty damn close to scrapping this chapter and just continuing with the fights. I fought through it anyway! Had to figure out a way to start that brotherly bond between Sonic and Tails. I'm probably gonna continue to put more "calm before the storm" chapters in the future for the sake of humor, drama, foreshadowing, and obligatory filler (c'mon, you knew it was coming). Well, that's about it for this one, ladies and gents. Tune in next time for Round 2 of Fists of Chaos. Deuces!
Author's Inspirational Playlist:
The Splendid Performance- Final Fantasy X OST
Urban Sight- Tobal No.1 OST
Don Corneo's Theme- Final Fantasy VII
Tenderness- Soul Calibur 3 OST
Eternal Wayfare- Soul Calibur 3 OST