Tails Doll © Sega and Sonic Team, whether they want him or not.
CHAPTER 3
I e-mailed Samantha with my theory immediately. Her response confirmed it. With all the evidence, it seemed my hypothesis was well-founded.
According to her, the Tails Doll first started plaguing her town since a local kid purchased Sonic R a year after the oracle arrived. He completed it 100% and was found dead the next morning. Since then, there were several other murders, which were pinned on the Tails Doll judging from the shapes found in the moonlight. Eventually, the local minister used a combination of the oracle and his own soul to seal the Doll back in the game. Granted, it cost him his life, but the murder spree had ended.
Upon hearing this, I insisted to the police that they keep the toy under lock and key for the night. Even knowing that it would be behind bars, it was still hard for me to get to sleep.
The police called me first thing the next morning. The doll had disappeared and there was a gigantic hole in the wall leading into the outside world. At school, seven more of my classmates had been killed in the same manner as the first set. When I got back that afternoon, the doll, bloodier then ever, was on my front step.
Samantha replied to my update with the only logical solution: I had to bring the doll back to her town, ASAP, to exorcise the spirit of the Tails Doll from it.
How the heck was I supposed to pull that off? I lived in southern California and she in southern Oregon. It didn't take a genius to figure out I couldn't just walk down the street.
Then my break came. My relatives in Washington said they wanted another visit, and when a gas leak closed down school for a week, I was happy enough to go along for the ride. I chained the cursed doll in the back of my parent's car using their old bicycle locks and my dad's power drill and took along my Tails costume. I told my parents I wanted to stop by that town of Sonic lovers we crashed into last trip. My brother asked if it was only for me to see my girlfriend again. I replied with a glare that could freeze water. It was better for my case then a punch to his face.
Just before we left, I e-mailed Samantha one last time to tell her I was on my way. My laptop's wireless Internet did not work without a router broadcasting nearby and I'd never be able to maintain a connection on the highway.
It took two days to get to Oregon. We stayed at a motel the night in-between. I woke up that morning to find the doll beside me in bed, broken chains around its wrists and ankles. At least it used a towel to keep the blood dripping from it from ruining the bed sheets. Five staff members and two visitors suffered the wrath of the Tails Doll that night. I wrenched as much blood out as I could and rechained it in the back of the car before anyone could ask questions.
Eventually, we parked outside the town. I took to the bushes and changed into my Tails outfit. My dad told me we could stay overnight before we had to get back on the road. I was cool with that. If I worked quickly, one night was all I would need.
I grabbed the doll and used the back roads to hurry to Samantha's house, least anyone decided to ask why my toy was caked with blood. I kept it hidden underneath the vest of my costume while I knocked on her door.
She answered and invited me in. There was a minute that was stereotypical of two distant lovers getting together again. After we got ourselves focused on the problem at hand, I showed her the blood-drenched doll.
After a quick snack for energy (more Sonic character cookies and a strawberry yogurt smoothie apiece), she took me and it to the church. I kept the doll under my vest until we got there (I do hate being interrogated). When we arrived, the door and windows were locked. Great. It was only open on Sunday, and today was Tuesday. Samantha told me that the church was open at night while the janitor cleaned it. I told her might as well since the doll only seemed to be deadly at night; during the day, it hung when held like... well, a doll.
She sketched out a rough map of the woods. We locked the doll in a large metal box she had in her basement and dragged it out into the woods, marking our path on the map. We left it out in the woods. Odds were the doll would come looking for us that night. We were close to ridding ourselves of it.
That night was the longest and scariest one of my life.