A/N: Sorry for the late update! I was tired all last week, not to mention I had internet problems. Anyways, here you go, and if you have anything to say, don't be afraid to speak up!

Back at the shop, things were going smoothly. Well…except for one thing…

"Tails, did ya figure out what you're gonna get for Shadow and Rouge?"

Tails shook his head. "Not yet."

"Yeah, well, neither did I. I got a couple of ideas, but it seems like all the good ones are taken."

"So what are you gonna do?"

Sonic sighed. "I dunno. Maybe I'll just get random crap and hope that they like it."

"Sonic, are you sure that's such a good idea?"

"To be honest…no. However, it's probably the only way I'm gonna hit paydirt."

"I won't stop you, then."

"Now if you'll excuse me, I am up, over and gone!"

Sonic sped out of the facility and headed for the Emerald Place Mall.

A few minutes later, Sonic returned with a large rectangular box.

"Tails, dig this!"

Sonic opened the box, revealing a robot. It resembled one of those classic-style robots seen in older TV shows and movies, with a square head, square body, and appendages that seemed to have been fashioned from flexible duct hoses. Meanwhile, a few workers had gathered around to see what was going on.

"Sonic, don't Shadow and Rouge already have Omega?"

"Yeah, but I figured they could use a kinder, gentler model, ya know, one that Robuttnik didn't get his filthy mitts all over."

Tails stroked his chin. "OK, I can see that. Let's try it out."

"Here goes…"

Without further ado, Sonic opened up a small compartment on the back of the robot's head and flipped a switch to the "ON" position. The robot made some bleeps, bloops and blorps along with other analog sounds before becoming fully operable.

"GREETINGS," said the robot. "I AM GENER-O-BOT 9000. PLEASE INSERT GIRDER."

"Please insert girder!?" said Sonic. "What do ya think this is, the year 3000!?"

Gener-O-Bot turned to face Tails. "GIRDER DETECTED. MUST FORM INTO NEW SHAPE." He then began approaching Tails.

"Uh oh!"

Tails made a break for it, leaving the shop in the process. However, Gener-O-Bot pursued him with equal speed and vigor. Seeing his best friend in danger, Sonic gave pursuit.

Outside, Tails attempted to fly away, but Gener-O-Bot sprouted a jetpack and went after him. Seeing this, Sonic used his speed to run up the side of a building and jump to the top of another. From building to building, the Blue Blur jumped until he finally reached Gener-O-Bot and clobbered him with a homing attack, shredding him like tissue paper and showering the ground below with assorted bits of metal and plastic. Both Sonic and Tails stopped to take a look at the wreckage.

"Man…I'm so wrong!" said Sonic.

After disposing of Gener-O-Bot's remains, Tails went back to work, while Sonic came back with another gift: a box of chocolates.

"I know Cream and Omega already got one of these," said Sonic, "but I know Rouge really loves this stuff, so I figured, ah, why the heck not? Wanna try some?"

"OK" said Tails.

So, Sonic and Tails each took a chocolate. When they bit into them, they got a nasty electric shock.

"Sonic, let me take a look at those chocolates…"

Tails grabbed the box and looked at it. There, in bold serif font, was the word "SHOCOLATES", with lightning bolts replacing each S. He thrust it back to Sonic.

"Did you even look at the label!?" said Tails.

"Of course I did!" said Sonic. "How was I supposed to know that these things were gonna shock us!?"

"Uh…I don't know! Weren't the lightning bolts warning enough?"

"Big deal! Warheads don't actually explode when ya eat them, so I figured these were safe!"

"I…" Tails paused before saying anything further. "You do have a point there. Still, I wonder why these things haven't been taken off the shelves."

Sonic shrugged. "Who knows? I'm just gonna get something else for 'em."

It didn't take long for Sonic to show up with another gift…

"Dig this, man!"

Sonic handed Tails a DVD.

"Sonic, why are you giving this to Shadow and Rouge?"

"Well, I know how much Shadow is a fan of those Executioner movies, so I figured he might have missed one," said Sonic.

Tails narrowed his eyes. "Did you even look at the title?"

"Yeah! So?"

"So, this isn't even a real Executioner movie! It's just a low-budget ripoff!"

"Re-he-he-he-heally? Prove it!"

"OK, what about this?"

First, Tails showed Sonic the movie title, which was actually The Executioners. Next, he showed him the back cover, which showed the logo of The Asylum in the bottom right corner. Ol' Blue facepalmed.

"Aw, crap! Guess I might as well get rid of this one…" Sonic tossed the DVD over his shoulder.

"Ow! Hey, watch it!" said one of the workers.

"Sorry about that!" Sonic turned to Tails. "Go outside, man. I'll be back with another gift, and this time, I'm gonna make sure it's something they'll flat out enjoy!"

"OK!"

Tails spent at least half an hour waiting for Sonic. In the meantime, he fidgeted around, hoping not to get arrested for loitering. Then, he heard a rumbling off in the distance, which got louder and louder, until finally, the source of the rumbling arrived: Sonic had brought an M26 Pershing with him. When the tank came to a stop, Big Blue popped out of the driver's hatch.

"What do ya think, man?" asked Sonic.

"Where did you get that thing?" asked Tails.

"I got it from a government auction! Ain't it cool city?"

Tails scratched his head. "Well yeah…but…why would Shadow or Rouge need a tank?"

"Hey, ya never know! They might need the firepower!"

Tails rubbed his chin, looking off into the horizon. "Yeah, I guess I could see…WATCH OUT!"

Tails tackled Sonic just before a missile struck the tank, blowing it to pieces.

"What the hell!?" said Sonic.

"AHAHAHAHAHA!"

Not long after, the source of the missile was upon them: it was Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik, piloting his Eggmobile, which – aside from a guided missile launcher – was also equipped with a laser Gatling Gun.

Sonic got to his feet. "Jeez, Robuttnik, don't ya have any idea how much that rod cost me!?"

"Look who's talking!" said Robotnik. "You're the one who has no idea how much my creations cost!"

"Screw that! Tails, you distract Robuttnik! I got somethin' that'll make him think twice!"

"You got it!" said Tails.

Ergo, Sonic rushed back into the shop, while Tails ran from Robotnik. Laser bolts chewed up the ground around the Two-Tailed Wonder as he sped on. Though his heart was beating wildly, he kept a cool head.

(Time I did what I do best!)

With that, Tails took to the skies. Robotnik fired a missile at him, but he stopped flying just long enough to sneak under the missile, which struck a nearby building.

(Come on, Sonic, hurry up!)

Just then, Tails saw Sonic emerge from the shop, carrying the AK he'd bought for Shadow. A few workers also came out, curious about all the noise.

"Nothin' to see here, guys!" said Sonic. "Just get back to work!"

The workers shrugged and went back inside.

"SONIC! NO!" Tails made a sharp dive for Sonic, who was taking aim with the AK. He grabbed it before Big Blue could fire a single shot.

"Tails, what are ya doin'!?" Sonic took the AK back.

Tails snatched the rifle away from Sonic again. "Didn't I tell you to get rid of this thing!?"

Sonic seized the rifle again. "I don't remember, so no!"

Tails took the rifle yet again. "Well, you told me that you wouldn't be caught dead with one of those! Plus, what if you get hurt because it malfunctions?"

Sonic grabbed the rifle yet again, oblivious to the impending danger posed by Robotnik. "That's a chance I'm willin' to take! Besides, our lives depend on it!"

Sonic prepared to take aim, but Tails wrested the AK away, only this time, Sonic wasn't letting go. The two got into a fierce grappling match, sweat pouring out of their hands and through their gloves as they tried to gain control of the rifle. Suddenly, it slipped out of Tails' hands, causing Sonic to fall backwards and drop the rifle. Upon hitting the ground, not only did the rifle discharge a round, but the receiver also burst open. Fortunately, neither Sonic nor Tails were hurt. However, at the same time the rifle fired, the Eggmobile's attachments blew up, causing it to spin around wildly and fly off into the horizon.

"I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!" yelled Robotnik.

Sonic and Tails remained on the ground for a few seconds before getting to their feet. Just a few moments after that, a black M60 Patton with red stripes came to a stop outside the shop. Then, one of the hatches on the turret opened, and Shadow emerged.

"Nice try, Sonic."

Shadow ducked back inside the hatch and drove away, leaving Sonic and Tails with the still-smoldering remains of their tank.

"OK, so what if that one was a bust?" said Sonic. "This next gift is gonna be dy-no-mite!"

Once again, Tails waited outside, while Sonic returned with the next gift: a blue '72 Chevy Impala lowrider. The car's sound system was blasting "Low Rider" by War, as per contractual obligations.

"Sonic, are you sure about this one?" asked Tails.

Sonic gave a thumbs up. "Of course I'm sure! Check this out!"

Sonic hit the hydraulics switch in random directions. Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right. Suddenly, when he let go of the switch, the car started bouncing by itself.

"Hey, you ain't supposed to do that!" exclaimed Sonic. "HEY! WHOA! STOP! I…THINK…I'M…GONNA…BE…"

Just then, there was a loud "poof", and the Impala vanished into thin air.

"SONIC!"

Tails rushed to the spot where the lowrider had been. He frantically looked around, hoping that Sonic would somehow reappear.

"Sonic, where are you!?"

"Over here, man!"

Tails turned around and saw Sonic walking down the sidewalk. The Blue Blur now had a gray beard + mustache and was using a cane.

"Sonic, what happened to you!?"

"Well…ya see…I kinda had to take the long way back. Can ya fix me up?"

Fortunately, Sonic and Tails found a newly-opened rejuvenation clinic, where Big Blue was able to get an all-natural overhaul. Unfortunately, this cost them a great deal of money, and they were forbidden from ever buying beef jerky again.

For the rest of the time the shop was open, Sonic locked himself away in the office. Given all the failed gifts he'd gotten, he decided to take a break for now. At the end of the day, Tails came up to the office…

"Hey Sonic, it's just about time to…Sonic?"

Actually, Sonic wasn't in the office. Seeing that, he decided to ask around…

"Excuse me, have you seen Sonic?"

"Nope, I ain't seen him in a while," said a gray hippo.

Tails moved on to the next person. "Hey, have you seen Sonic anywhere?"

"Sorry, haven't seen him," said a blue chicken.

"Hey, where's Sonic?"

"Hell if I know, kid," said an orange beetle.

Unfortunately for Tails, none of the employees knew where Sonic was, until he remembered that there was one person he'd forgotten to ask…

"Mr. Schmidt, do you know where Sonic is?"

"I'm not sure," said Schmidt. "He could have gone home, Tails."

"OK, I'll look there! Have a good day!"

"You too!"

So, Tails headed back to the cabin. To his surprise, Sonic wasn't there. Upon further reflection, he figured that the Blue Blur probably went out for another run. Therefore, the Two-Tailed Wonder shrugged it off and decided to put his jetpack away.

"Huh!? What the…"

To his surprise, he discovered that the Tornado 1 was missing from the garage. Although Tails knew that Sonic much preferred running, he also knew that he would occasionally take one of the planes out for a spin. Problem was, Big Blue preferred flying by day rather than night. Another surprise cropped up: in the distance, Tails could hear a Stuka-esque whining noise. It was this that caused more than a few neurons to fire in his brain.

(Could that be…OH NO!)

Knowing that something was extremely wrong with that picture, Tails strapped on his jetpack, donned his flight goggles and fired away. The air resistance didn't matter to the Two-Tailed Wonder, for he was used to high speeds. He was also used to the adrenaline pumping through his veins. Knowing what could potentially come up next, however, was something that would take him a little getting used to. Still, he pressed on.

As he did, Tails came upon what he feared: Sonic was indeed piloting the Tornado 1, and he was heading straight for the ground. Tails did his darndest and went for the plane. Fortunately, he was able to grab on and pull the plane up into a sharp climb, thereby preventing it from hitting the ground and exploding. Keeping the plane on track, however, was a whole 'nother story, for Sonic attempted to push Tails off.

"Tails, what the hell are ya doin'!?"

Tails maintained his grip on the control lever. "Trying to save the one person who really matters to me!"

Sonic gave Tails a sharp shove. "Yeah, well maybe some of us wanna be left alone, ya know!?"

Still keeping on, Tails pulled the plane into a right bank, avoiding an oncoming tree.

"No, I won't let my best bro do this to himself!" said Tails.

"You can and ya will!"

Sonic shoved Tails with as much force as he could. This time, Tails could feel his grip on the stick slipping away, and no matter how hard he tried, he ended up letting go entirely. Fortunately, he saved himself by grabbing on the edge of the Tornado 1's cockpit.

Having regained his grip, Tails attempted to pull himself back in. However, Sonic took notice and started pounding on his hands. Tails tried moving his hands around to avoid the blows, but Sonic managed to land a few anyways. Knowing that he was going to falter at any moment, Tails intentionally let go and grabbed on to the plane's lower wing. Pulling himself forwards, Tails re-activated the jetpack, and after a short burst, got back to working on the control stick.

"FINE!" shouted Sonic. "Wanna keep messin'? I'll give ya somethin' to mess with!"

This time, Sonic aimed a punch at Tails, who attempted to dodge it and got grazed. Despite the pain, Tails kept going on, hoping to get the plane to land again. By now, the situation had broken out into a full-blown grappling match. Sonic threw another punch at Tails, but the latter grabbed it and wrestled his glove off. Then, Tails bit Sonic's ungloved hand, causing him to let out a loud yelp and grasp his hand, hoping to ease the searing pain.

"OK, if ya want it that way…"

As payback, Sonic bit into Tails' shoulder as hard as he could. Tails screamed as the pain radiated from his shoulder. Still, he carried on, and he flipped random switches, shutting off the Tornado 1's engine. Although part of him wanted to pass out, Tails directed the plane towards their cabin, hoping to sustain enough momentum to land safely. Seeing this, Sonic maintained his bite and attempted to grab the control stick.

Despite the intense hurt, Tails found the strength to punch Sonic's hand, causing it to get pinched on the interior of the cockpit. This caused Sonic to cease biting and instead grab his hand. Now that the pain had let up a bit, Tails found it much easier to control the plane. Eventually, he brought it to a soft three-point landing on a makeshift airfield near the cabin. Having landed safely, Sonic and Tails hopped out. Then, Tails started shaking Sonic.

"What were you thinking, Sonic!? You could have been killed!"

Sonic grabbed Tails by the collar and began tapping him on the head with his fist.

"Hello!? HELLO!? Anybody home!?" said Sonic. "That was the whole idea! Why'd ya have to go and screw it up?"

Tails gently pushed Sonic away. "Because I care about you, you inconsiderate moron!"

Sonic grabbed Tails' arm and started hitting him with it. "Stop hitting yourself, man!"

Tails pushed Sonic away again. "You better have a good explanation for all this!"

"FINE! Ya want an explanation, well here goes: I've had it with all this jive! I got no family, I got very little money, I'm deep in debt, and I tried gettin' good stuff for Shadow and Rouge and it's all blown up on me! I can't face Shads if I don't have a gift for him, and I don't wanna give him the satisfaction of rippin' me in half!" Sonic fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands. "I can't freakin' take it anymore…"

Tails put his hands on Sonic's shoulders. "Please, don't do this to yourself! The Sonic the Hedgehog I knew would never give up on something like this! He always comes out on top no matter how bad things look! Remember when Robotnik tried to destroy the planet with the Death Egg?"

Sonic uncovered his face and nodded. "Yeah."

"Or how about the time when Metal Sonic tried to destroy the future?"

Sonic nodded again. "Uh-huh?"

"And what about the time when Mephiles tried to destroy the entire space-time continuum?"

Sonic blinked, holding it for about a second. "Wait…how do ya still remember that?"

"It's simple: Brown's Theory of Memory Continuum states that…"

"OK, never mind that! Just get to the point!"

"I'm saying that if you open your heart, it's gonna be all right! Don't think of this as something you have to do! Think of it as something you want to do! Don't you wanna show Shadow how much you care about him?"

"That's a very interesting question, bro. I wouldn't exactly say I care about Shads, but on the other hand, he's done some real disco stuff for me, so…ah, whatever…you're right. There's just one problem…"

"What's that?"

"It's gettin' kinda late, so I think we're gonna have to can the whole groove for now."

"That's all right, the party doesn't start until lunchtime tomorrow!"

"That's keen!" Sonic got to his feet. "Thanks for the kindness, man! That meant a lot to me!"

"Any time!"

So, with smiles on their faces and warmth in their hearts, Sonic and Tails hugged each other. After breaking off from the hug, the duo put the Tornado 1 back in the garage before concluding the night with some video games and watching Bomb Cop. Failure was always an option, but Sonic knew he wasn't done yet…