Sonic watched from the 2nd floor window as the car pulled into the driveway. Even though the blacked-out screens prevented him from seeing inside it, he was quite certain of his occupants. A smile washed over his face. The hard part was over. They had arrived, hopefully in one piece.
Sonic sped down the stairs. By the time he got to the ground floor door, the pair had already exited the vehicle. They were both dressed the same: a tan dress coat with reflective sunglasses, all topped with a black fedora. As Sonic unlocked the door to let them in, the car they had arrived in put their pedal to the metal and sped away to the horizon.
The pair scurried through the open door, and Sonic locked it. He turned around to see the large man taking off his hat and goggles. A red face was revealed, which beamed a happy expression towards Sonic. Sonic was relieved to see his best friend back with him. It had been so long since they had seen each other, so many close calls that they did not have each other to rely on. It was euphoric for them to be together again.
But Knuckles wasn't the one he was most excited to see.
Sonic turned to the other disguised figure. She removed her fedora and sunglasses, and Sonic laid eyes on her face. To him, her visage was easily more beautiful than the Mona Lisa. Sonic could stare at it for hours without getting bored or looking away. He wanted to reach into those balls of beauty and get lost in them. Sonic was glad that she was safe. He was even gladder that they were finally united. He had dreamt of this moment ever since they had first parted ways, back when Eggman had first taken over. It had pained the group to separate, but they had all known it was the right call. And now they were together again.
Sonic wrapped his arms around the pink hedgehog. She responded in kind. A single tear escaped from Sonic's eye. They were together at last. Sonic breathed in through his nose, collecting her scent and savoring it.
This isn't the first time I've seen her. Sonic thought. His mind replayed all the dreams he had of her. A small part of his brain began whispering into his ear, telling him that this was just another dream, and that any moment now he'd wake up. He told that part to shut up.
Too soon for Sonic, the hug broke. The trio sat down in the living room. Sonic served his friends some freshly brewed coffee, and they discussed what they had done during the time they had separated. Sonic gave them a run down on his and Tails double life and the body-morphing serums. He left out the parts about weed. He didn't want to force all that on them, and felt it'd be better handled as a private affair.
"So who are these friends you were telling us about?' asked Knuckles, between sips of his black coffee.
"So one day, I was running through the sewers with my super sonic speed." Sonic explained, gesturing around with his hands as he excitedly told his friends the story. He decided to avoid the embarrassing parts. "Then, a rush of water hit me and knocked me off my feet. It was like a tidal wave in a surfer movie. I got knocked out cold."
A look of fright passed through Amy's face. Her hands began to shake slightly as they held her coffee mug.
"Don't worry Ames." Sonic said. "It takes more than that to kill this Hedgehog!"
Amy seemed to calm down, and added a tablespoon of sugar to Coffee. Sonic was happy, he didn't like it when she got stressed out. When she began to take a sip, Sonic went back to his story. He told them about meeting Moses the Rat and Dr. Lazarus, and the underground town they lived in, full of Anti-Eggman Patriots.
"When can we stop by?" asked Knuckles, who had finished drinking the last of his coffee.
"Not today." Sonic explained. "I don't want anybody to get suspicious about the new people in town snooping around in the sewers. We'll wait a few days, and then I'll take you."
Then Sonic's face took on a more serious expression. "Tails dosen't know any of this yet, and he isn't going to." Sonic ordered.
"Why?" Knuckles asked, with a spark of curiosity gleaming in his eyes.
"Tails is…. uh… really stressed out with school and exams and … stuff." Sonic said, sweat gushing down his neck and onto the sofa. The real reason was because Sonic wanted Tails on his A-Game before they did anything dangerous together. Luckily, the didn't question it further.
"Are we really gonna have to crawl through the sewer pipe?" Amy asked, looking as if she might vomit.
"Yes." Sonic replied. "I know it's gross, but we all need to make sacrifices for the Salvation of the Nation. Trust me, you'll get used to the smell."
"The fact that you have is honestly revolting." Amy replied disgustedly. Sonic laughed it off. It felt good toe be back with them.
Several hours latter, Tails trudged home. He had borrowed some of Fiona's makeup to hide his injuries, but that was just on the surface. Beneath that, his burned still tormented his skin. Tails crawled up the stairs leading to the door like he was scaling Mount Everest. When he opened the door, his jaw dropped to the grimey floor with a clang. Standing in front of him were his friends, casually chatting with his blue brother. They had been separated for so long that at first, he thought they were a mirage, or a hallucination from the Foxweed he had recently used. He rubbed his eyes to make sure they weren't faulty. Any second he thought that the figures would fade away into the wind, revealing that the whole circumstance was just a result of his neurons in the fox's brain mixing up the wrong way. Tails thought this was a dream. It wasn't. This was real life.
Knuckles spied him loitering in the doorway with a dumbstruck look on his face. He shot Tails a smile, and waved him over with his gloved fist.
"Well, look who it!" Knuckles joyfully proclaimed. "Come on over. Long time no see."
Tails shuffled over, his mouth still agape with awe. Amy poured him a cup of coffee. As he regained his berings, he took a deep sip from the porcelain mug. His mouth filled with bitterness. He put the mug down.
They spent all night swapping tales with Tails about what they had done in their time apart. They told Tails about how Sonic was in contact with them, and how he told them to come on over. Tails felt betrayed. Why wouldn't Sonic tell me about this? He wondered absent-mindedly. Before he knew it, the night had grown old, and the full moon hung in the sky. The group went to bed, which was easy due to the multiple guest rooms the house had, which was a priority Sonic had when he chose it.
Tails laid in bed for a long time that night, contemplating the interaction. How much does he hide from me? Tails thought. Does he not trust me? An angry frown formed on his lips. He didn't sleep that night.
The next mourning, Tails got up and out from his bed. He sauntered off to the kitchen, where Amy was making breakfast. Deep in thought, Tails consumed the food in front of him like a chopper raining down terror on the battlefield. Bacon, waffles, orange slices, and berries were systemically picked up and shoved down his throat, before being washed down with a glass of mike.
"Looks like someone's hungry!" Sonic commented light-heartedly. Tails didn't respond. After the rest of them ate, Knuckles took their plates from them and began to wash the dishes. Tails excused himself from the table, and began to commute to the bathroom. But before he get there, his phone began to vibrate in his back pocket. Sonic groaned, but then grabbed it out and flipped it up. The words UNKNOWN CALLER were blazened in red capital letters across the screen. Tails thought about hanging up on them, but decided that it couldn't hurt to talk with the mystery caller, who Tails assumed was probably going to try to scam him for his Social Security Number. He couldn't be further from the truth.
"Who is this?" Tails demanded, speaking into the phone.
"Your Boss" A menacing voice said back.
A cold shiver ran through Tail's spine. It was Scourage.
"What… what do you want?" Tails said, the breath knocked out of him by the shock. "It ain't Tuesday yet."
"I wanna show you something." The voice on the other side of the line said back.
"Where? I can't leave my house right now, but if you give me a few hours…"
"Oh, you don't need to go far. Just step out into the back yard."
"What the… why do…" Tails asked, but he was cut off.
"DO IT NOW YOU MISERABLE SACK OF MANURE!" Scourge yelled from afar. "I don't take questions from you, you take orders from ME!"
Tails gulped, but obeyed. He quickly but discreetly slipped out the back door. Standing in the backyard, he faced Carlista's house.
"No, face your house, not her's." Scourge snickered.
"How can you…" Tails wondered aloud.
"I'm running out of patience," Scourage barked. "And you wouldn't like me when I'm out of patience."
Nervously, Tails did what he was told. Does he know I'm planning on scamming him? His mind raced. How could he?
Facing the window, Tails could see that Knuckles was still washing the dishes from breakfast. His mind was utterly concentrated on the task at hand, and so the Echidna did not see his friend outside. Suddenly, a bright red dot appeared on his face. What is that? Tails thought. A zit? A flashlight? Then Tails realized, and his heart sank.
It was a laser pointer. The kind you'd find on a Sniper Rifle.
"S-Scoruge No P-P-Please" Tails stammered out he looked everywhere for the shooter. "Don't do this please. He's not involved. Why would you do this? You don't need to take his life."
"Calm down." Scourge said, enjoying every word. "He's not dying, today at least."
The laser pointer disappeared. Knuckles did not take notice of the whole affair, still focused on doing the dishes.
"I've worked with people with swollen brains like yours before." the phone cracked. "Sometimes, they get too smart for their own good. Sometimes, they reckon they can take over."
Does he know? Tails thought, as he swallowed.
"So think of this as a vaccine against those treasonous thoughts." Scourge explained. "I have people all over this town. I make one phone call, and all your little friends go pop."
Despite this, Tails breathed a sigh of relief. Scourge didn't know.
"You try and fuck me, and I will fuck you." Scourge said. "Do we understand each other?"
"Yes." Tails said immediately. He was going to say more, but then Scourge hung up with a beep.
If I go after Scourge, Tails contemplated, and he lives, he's going after everyone I love. Tails's mind flashed with images of everything he had to lose. Knuckles, Amy, and most of all, Sonic. His palms began to sweat. He closed his eyes, and in his mind he saw the house burning, their charred corpses everywhere. Tails steadied his breathing. Taking a shot at Scourage would be a selfish move. It would risk the things he held most dear, his friends.
"So I better not miss" Tails whispered, alone.