Tails was awakened two hours later by some knocking on the door. He threw off the blanket, got out of bed, and trudged reluctantly down the stairs. He was not expecting his next guest. He opened his door to see Shadow standing there in the most immaculate polished black tuxedo he had ever seen.
Tails stood there at the door, staring. He had no idea how to process this. It was one thing for Shadow to show up at all. Second, he showed up on Tails' birthday. Third, why was he dressed like that? He had another tuxedo wrapped in plastic around his arms. It appeared he had just gotten it dry cleaned.
"Shadow?" Tails asked. "Why are you here?"
"I've been told someone's got a birthday, no?" He smirked, extending his arm so Tails could reach his own tuxedo. "Put this on."
"Uh, thanks? I wasn't expecting you to show up."
"I did." Shadow grunted. Tails closed the door, returning eight minutes later in his own tuxedo. Turns out he knew how to tie a bowtie.
"You look good." He said. "Let's go."
"You serious?" Tails wondered, confused. "I knew it. There was gonna be a party. I hate surprises. If you're gonna make a party, just tell me."
"False." Shadow scolded. He took out a huge revolver from inside his jacket and pressed it against Tails' side. He closed Tails' front door and quietly took Tails over to his car.
"You don't have to do this." Tails pleaded. "Let me go and I won't tell anyone."
"You know as well as I do that I'm more than capable of pulling the trigger right now. We'll be going now." Shadow grunted, opening the back. He watched as Tails unwillingly climbed in. Shadow closed the back, started the car, and drove off. It only took him a few minutes to arrive at his destination. Tails had been trying to keep track of where he was, but had lost track. Shadow opened the trunk and hauled him over his shoulders and took him to Amy's house. He set Tails down at the front door and lockpicked his way in, much to Tails' shock.
"Where did you learn that?" Tails asked.
Shadow didn't answer, but forced the door open. Tails ran in, expecting some kind of surprise. The first thing his eyes landed on was a table with seven duffel bags on it. One blue, pink, red, purple, yellow, and brown. All of them were labeled with each team member's name. He felt the blue bag, labeled Sonic, and knew that Sonic was in there. He could feel that Sonic wasn't moving. He did the same with the red one. Then he saw the orange open bag on top. And even worse, his own name was written on the side.
"You'll be seeing them real soon, I'd expect." Shadow laughed. Tails spun around to find Shadow taking his massive revolver out. Tails closed his eyes as Shadow fired a shot. It was very quiet, and he didn't feel a thing. He opened his eyes to find Shadow shooting at the ceiling. He was confused to find Shadow was shooting banners and streamers across the ceiling beams.
"Here's to the first birthday party you didn't bust." Shadow sneered. He aimed a sixth shot at Tails and blasted confetti all over him. He stepped back, confused.
Just then, all six team members broke through the duffel bags. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" They all shouted at once, jumping off the table. Tails stared in shock as they all smiled and were dressed in the most elegant outfits he had ever seen.
"Hahaha… we must have got you good with that one. Took us enough time to set up." Sonic laughed. "If it's for a surprise party you don't find out about, it's worth it."
Tails was dumbfounded. He didn't know what to say. Just seconds before, he thought Shadow was about to murder him. He looked overwhelmed.
"Seeing us real soon, handsome?" Zooey cooed, running to Tails with her arms open. Tails smiled brightly and hugged her back, relieved that all, specifically Zooey, were alright. Much to her surprise, and that of everyone in the room, he kissed her harder than he ever had. She was more than happy to kiss back. All five team members applauded at this happy sight. Even Shadow had to break a smile.
Tails quickly took notice of Zooey's sparkling ruby red dress. It looked like her old one, but shined more and had shoulder straps. She also sported some red platform heels. He smiled even wider at that. "Zooey… you're beautiful." He gasped, drinking in the sight before him.
Zooey giggled. "Thanks. I rather liked getting dressed up. We all want to look our best." She responded, motioning Tails to look at everyone else. Sonic sported his favorite navy blue suit with red tie. Amy had a sapphire blue fishtail dress on. Knuckles had a solid black tuxedo that matched Shadow's. Julie-Su had a dark green blouson dress. Sticks wore a teal skater dress.
"It seems this is a formal event." Tails observed.
"We all wanted to dress up for such a big day." Julie told him.
"It's just my birthday." He said. "Not such a big deal. Gotta say though, I'm liking this."
"You might find yourself liking the tux even more later today." Knuckles hinted. Tails noticed Knuckles caught himself before he revealed too much.
"Anyway," Amy diverted the conversation to break his focus. "A few people have sent in some gifts for you. Wanna open them now?"
"Sure!" Tails said excitedly. Sticks passed him the first one. "Seems about the size of a shoebox." He figured, guessing its weight and size. He unwrapped it, and sure enough, he got a shoebox. He opened that to find a nearly identical copy of Sonic's sneakers inside. The red and white stripe pattern, the pointed fronts, and even the side clips were identical. The only difference was the bottoms were purple, not grey.
Sonic smiled at seeing those shoes. Tails removed his polished dress shoes and everyone watched as he tried on the sneakers, which fit perfectly. He started walking around in them. Tails walked over to Knuckles in confusion as they were now the same height. Sonic looked to the floor below Tails' shoes. Clearly, he was levitating.
It's gotta be something in the purple soles. Sonic figured. "Dude, your shoes are off the ground." He slid his hand under Tails' shoes to demonstrate his point.
"Who's the gift from?" Knuckles wondered.
"It just says Uncle Merlin." Sticks answered.
"The magician?" Shadow asked.
"Really? I haven't seen him in ages! He must have not forgotten about me." Tails explained. "And these shoes are cool. Makes me taller than you, Sonic." He teased.
"Enjoy it while it lasts, buddy." Sonic laughed.
"I certainly will. I'll keep this card so I can mail him something." Tails added, setting the sneakers aside as he put his dress shoes back on.
Zooey handed him another gift. The rectangular box outline couldn't be hidden in a thousand layers of wrapping paper, although only one layer was used. Tails quickly shredded the wrapping paper to unveil the wooden box. On the top was written a warning: For Tails' Eyes Only. Tails took a few steps back so no one else would see.
"Come on. You're really gonna hide that from us?" Julie nagged.
"Yep. Won't be a minute." Tails responded, opening the box so no one else could see inside. There was a card taped to the top. It read Dear Tails: Happy birthday! I wish I could show up today but royal duties do not permit. My family recently sold off much jewelry, but I held these back. I thought you and Zooey would appreciate these rings. Give them to each other only when you are ready. Tails opened a small jewelry box inside to find two completely opposite rings. The label "Zooey" was set below a solid gold ring with a beautiful blood red diamond set in it. The other, labeled "Tails," was a copper gold ring with a radiant white diamond set in it.
All in the room were looking at him and saw the happy smile across his face. Clearly it was something amazing. Still, Tails refused to say what it was.
"I'm gonna have to write her a major thank you note." Tails said, closing the box.
Sticks got Tails the third and final gift, this one from Silver. Despite its relatively small size, it weighed a lot. After a few guesses were made, Tails unwrapped it. It was just a brick with the words "Prower Inc" written on it. A note taped to the back said Sorry, I stole it. - Silver. A ten pound bill was under the note, so Tails wasn't too mad about it.
"Sounds like you've got a good future!" Zooey remarked, squeezing Tails' hand.
"Gonna run your own business someday, genius?" Sonic teased.
"Maybe…" Tails thought. His thoughts were interrupted when Amy returned carrying the most delicious cake Tails had ever seen. "You really got that just for me?" He asked, shocked.
"Actually Shadow did." She responded.
Tails looked over at Shadow, who uncharacteristically smiled back.
"Look, I know I haven't been the best friend that I can be, but I hope this is a good start. Sonic finally talked some sense into me." He said.
"You used your fists to do the talking." Sonic shot back.
"Boys, there's no need to argue." Julie scolded. "Tails is gonna blow out the candles now." Amy finished lighting the candles, and of course everyone sang Happy Birthday. Tails then blew out the candles, Julie cut the cake, then it was served.
"Knuckles told me if I wanted to get as strong as he is, I'd have to cut out sugar. This will probably be the last cake I have in a while." Tails said.
"Good." Knuckles replied. "But enjoy it, though. Don't let this moment pass you by."
All eight of them sat in Amy's living room, listening to her rant about not making a mess on her furniture. Once all of them had finished their cake, Tails hugged Amy again, lifting her off the ground to her surprise.
"Thanks, Amy! You're so nice. You're the best." Tails told her.
"I try my best, honey," She replied modestly.
Just then, someone unknown knocked on the door.
"Aww. But we were just about to have so much fun!" Tails whined. He opened the door to find two more guys in tuxedos, both foxes. One was red and the other was black. Everyone stared at those two, never having seen them before.
"Miles Prower ですか？" The red fox asked.
"はいそれは私です. なんでしょう？" Tails asked in response.
"The General はあなたに会いたい." The black fox responded.
{End chapter 6. Shadow's gift: Too much to summarize here. Some inspiration for this chapter taken from "Happy Birthday, Mr. Monk."