Tails Doll © Sega and Sonic Tea. That's right. Blame it on them.
CHAPTER 4
I slept in a sleeping bag in Samantha's room that night. She explained to the single mom she lived with (the mom was dressed in a Vanilla outfit) that I was a good friend of hers and she, along with my parents, allowed me the night on one condition: that I wouldn't do anything perverted with Samantha. God knows how hard it was to resist with that dynamite body she had. It was her idea to sleep together in her bed, but I insisted we listen to her mom this once and took the sleeping bag. It was orange to match my costume. I still wore the fake fox ears with the orange nightshirt she gave me while I caught a few Zs.
About eleven thirty, Samantha woke me up and told me it was time. We got into our costumes (I used the bathroom to give her some privacy) and left the house carrying our map and a large lantern. The full moon overhead shone on the town with silver light.
We followed the map into the woods and found the metal box. We gasped. It was wide open. The lock was fragmented to shown the box had been forced open from the inside.
At that moment from the town, we started to hear screams.
"Oh lord…" I muttered quietly to myself while Samantha and I dashed back. The whole town was in an uproar when we returned. My one-eyed blood-soaked stuffed Tails doll was floating two feet off the ground right in the center of the main plaza. Townsfolk were around the edges, gasping and staring at the demented toy. We broke through the crowd to the front of the pack. Once again, another dumb idea. As soon as we did, the doll turned to face us and looked with one big vacant blue eye that reflected the light of the moon.
"Blast," I muttered. I figured it wouldn't be a good show of character to curse in front of Samantha.
We slowly backed up into the crowd. The townsfolk parted to give us space (some retreated back into their homes) as we took each step with great caution in the direction the exit leading to the church. With each step we took, the doll turned to continue staring us down. I tried not to show fear. I think Samantha was doing the same.
After a minute, we were standing between the Tails Doll and the path to the church. After glancing about with my eyes to make sure the coast was relatively clear sans the world's deadliest toy, I took Samantha's hand and dashed out of the plaza. The Doll reacted and darted after us.
I let go of Samantha when she gained a good amount of speed and we both ran for our lives toward the church. How we managed to keep ahead of the Doll, I'll never know. Maybe the costumes were giving our legs extra power.
It took several minutes to reach the church. In cartoon-like fashion, I got ourselves in and timed the closing of the door so the Tails Doll would run into it. I figured that I needed something to laugh at when I looked at the incident in retrospect.
The inside of the church was much like any other church one might see, only without all the Christian symbols and an altar that consisted of a large podium and the oracle, a large Sonic doll, sitting on top of it. We rushed down the aisle, our footfalls echoing in conjunction with the pounding of the large wooden doors, towards the altar. With each pound, the oak began to splinter.
Samantha grabbed the Sonic doll from the altar as soon as we were in reach of it and passed it to me. She asked me if I had a plan. I said, sorta. I pulled a music CD case out of my pocket. The cover slip read "Sonic Boom of Tunes: Music Spanning the History of Sonic the Hedgehog." I told her I made that CD a couple years back. I had noticed the speakers in the corners of the chamber and I told her to get the CD in whatever sound system this church used and get ready to play it on my signal. She nodded and hurried off.
I turned to the doors, Sonic doll behind my back. Right then, the portals swung open with a crash. I hoped to myself that the city wouldn't charge my parents for the damage to the doors and walls.
The Tails Doll entered in the fashion of a Western bad guy walking into a bar. All the while, its single eye seemed to look right into my soul.
"I have you at last," its voice slithered in my mind (it sounded like the voice I gave giant reptilian monsters when I read books), "There's no escape from me this time."
I looked around the room nervously. It was an act, but I was starting to feel slightly afraid. "Can you feel the sunshine?" was running through my head.
"Your soul is MINE!!" it screamed as it darted at me.
I acted on instinct. With all my might, I threw the Sonic doll down the aisle at it.
It couldn't react fast enough and was took a direct hit. A split second later, there was a large flash of light.
The two dolls collapsed on the floor. The one-eyed Tails, I was glad to see, was totally blood free.
Hovering above them, recovering from the recoil, was the real Tails Doll, just as it appeared in Sonic R, only it had taken on the stains from the blood that it had shed from the innocent.
After it recovered, it stared at me as it spoke in my mind. "How dare you… I'll drive you insane with the song!"
"Can you feel the sunshine…" suddenly became loud. Painfully loud. I grabbed my ears in pain, but that didn't help in the slightest. My knees started feeling weak. I didn't know what to do; the Sonic doll was too far away for me to recover it. I was on the verge of screaming, and that would be the end of me.
I suddenly stuck my right hand out. For a moment, I didn't know why. Then a microphone landed in it.
I didn't question how it got there. One doesn't question miracles. I signaled Samantha to start the CD.
I made sure the mike was on as "Open Your Heart" from Sonic Adventure began to play loudly over the church's four speakers. The Tails Doll's plush head reeled around for a few moments and then returned its attention to me. The two songs began to push against each other in my head. The pain the sunshine caused resided some.
When the Tails Doll's music didn't die, I started singing along with my music.
"Thunder, rain, and lightning
Danger, water rising
Clamor, sirens wailing
It's such a bad sign.
Shadows of dark creatures
Steel clouds floating in the air
People run for shelter
What's gonna happen to us?
All the steps we take
All the moves we make
All the pain at sake
I see the chaos for everyone
Who are we? What can we do?
You and I are the same in the way
That we've got our own styles, that we won't change
Yours is filled with evil and mine's not
There is no way I can lose
Can't hold on much longer
But I will never let go
I know it's a one-way track
Tell me now how long this'll last
I'm not gonna think this way
Nor will I count on others
Close my eyes and feel it burn
Now I see what I gotta do
Open your ears, it's gonna be alright"
I stole a quick glance. The Tails Doll was gripping its plush ears in the same pain I was experiencing only half a minute before. It struggled to continue screaming its music in my brain. I decided to press the advantage.
"Ancient cities blazing
Shadows keep attacking
Little children crying
Confusion, hopeless anger
I don't know what it can be
But you drive me crazy
All your cunning tricks make me sick
You won't have it your own way
Can't hold on much longer
But I will never let go
I know it's a one-way track
Tell me now how long this'll last
I'm not gonna think this way
Nor will I count on others
Close my eyes and feel it burn
Now I see what I gotta do
Open your heart, and you will see!"
The Tails Doll screamed in pain as light began to shine forth from within, kinda like how the memory of Lord Voldemort died at the end of the second Harry Potter movie. When the light was just about to consume the room, the doll exploded in stuffing. It began to rain plush around the room. The music stopped coming from the speakers. "Can you feel the sunshine…" had stopped too, much to my pleasure.
I smiled as I stumbled, hunched over, towards the Sonic and one-eyed Tails doll on the floor. As I reached for them, I suddenly blacked out.
I woke up in my bed at home in southern California, wearing my regular nighttime garb. My one-eyed Tails doll was lying right where I usually left it at night, spotless. I felt very well-rested. My alarm clock read "5:30 AM" and was beeping like crazy. School day? I thought the school was closed. Nevertheless, I got up.
While I was getting ready for school, I told my parents about the gas leak that was supposed to have closed down the school. They said there never was a gas leak and stop trying to cut class.
Then I told them about that second trip to Washington. They replied that there never was a second trip.
Then I told them about Samantha's hometown. They said they never heard of it. We got through Oregon on spring break without any hassles or unscheduled stops.
I couldn't concentrate on my studies that day (which actually wasn't weird). I was too busy thinking about everything that had happened. That town… that costume… the love of my life… had it all been a figment of my imagination? Or had the Tails Doll had its final revenge against me by clearing everyone else's memories, as the stories had often told? I was distraught. Samantha was the one human girl I had ever felt closest to actually being able to spend the rest of my life with, and here I was, doubting that she ever existed.
I was checking my e-mail that afternoon, my heart still heavy, when my brother came in. He was carrying a plastic grocery bag filled with something white and orange. He tossed it on the bed, told me that it was probably mine since it wasn't his, and left.
I looked in the bag and I recognized it instantly. It was my Tails costume! Not a thread was out of place.
I looked through my e-mail and found an e-mail from Samantha. Either I was seeing things or someone had sent a very convincing piece of spam mail.
I double-clicked and opened the mail.
Yosie, I read,
I hope you remember who I am, for I remember who you are. After you blacked out in my hometown's church, I quickly ran out to you. I knew that the Tails Doll would attempt to hide the memories of our adventures, so I quickly grabbed the oracle and moved your hand to touch it before the remains of the Doll caused me to black out. I recovered in my bed, and when I asked my mother of your condition, she told me that she never heard of you. But I knew the truth. I hope that this e-mail has reached a real person and that you are not a figment of my imagination. I do not believe you are; the Tails Doll can fool the mind, but not the heart.
I am well, as is the rest of the town. I am the only one that remembers the curse returning to my home. Perhaps it is better that way. Truth is often better disguised as fiction. And even if no one else remembers, I do, and I pray that you will too.
When I am old enough to set out on my own, I will move down to southern California to be with you. No curse could ever make me forget how much I love you. Once I have, we can finally embrace each other again. Just a few more years now. It'll be over before you know it.
I hope to see you again.
Forever yours,
Samantha
I read and re-read the e-mail at least three times to let it sink it. So it did happen… and I could love a girl that nature itself created, a real woman, and not some hottie that I just imagined.
Then I remembered something else. I picked up that heart-shaped frame right where I left it. Samantha's Tikal-like face smiled at me. I felt both extremely happy, and that I was in an episode of Star Trek: Next Generation.
And, for the first time that day, at her warm face I smiled back.
THE END