I still fail in the goal of owning Sonic, thus it remains in the hands of the creator and the team.
Chapter IV: Curse
The three heroes: Tails, Cream and Sonic all lay unconscious after the invasion of an unexpected cloaked fox. He stood over Tails and smirked, finished with whatever torture he'd just put him through. He looked around at the others and sighed, "How pathetic.. these are the heroes of the planet, yet they were taken down so easily just by the element of surprise." He shook his head in disgust, with an interesting thought in mind. He walked over to the rabbit lying mere feet away from his proclaimed little brother and leaned down to face her with a look of uncertainty. I noticed Miles' willingness to shield this girl from me as well as her determination to stay close to him during our encounter. Maybe things would progress faster if I were to take this girl captive.. He seemed to be seriously contemplating this until a reckless pink hedgehog seemingly out of no where appeared, ready to strike down the dark figure near her best friend.
"You leave her alone you creep!" Amy yelled with her hammer aimed squarely at the cloaked fox. Unfortunately, this ruined her own element of surprise and he quickly jumped up over the rabbit and away from his attacker. As followed, a certain red echidna jumped up from behind Amy and over the unconscious rabbit to throw a powerful punch at the foe. The cloaked fox caught onto this second attempt at an ambush and swiftly turned to his side to evade the oncoming punch and caught onto his arm in mid-punch and kicked him away onto the ground a small distance away.
"Nice try, Knuckles the Echidna. I must say, you two put up a much better attempt at striking at me than these pathetic excuses for heroes over there." He gloated. Unbeknownst to him, a third assailant was rapidly descending the skies just above the unsuspecting fox. With his guard up and his senses at the maximum, he leered back just as the third assailant struck the earth with incredible velocity. The cloaked fox was swept away from the impact, unable to completely avoid the attack and tumbled backwards a little bit before catching himself on his hands and knees. He stood back facing down at the ground, his hood being knocked off and his head now fully exposed.
"Humph! that's what you get for the way you've treated this lovely young lady." Rouge said with a smug face and her arms folded.
Knuckles was back on his feet, ready once again to take on this mysterious foe, until a few strange features caught his eye, as he noticed that he looked suspiciously like Tails. Not only with the two large yellow and white tipped tails behind him, but also with three larger yellow bangs of fur sticking out of the of his forehead; unlike Tails' bangs, his seemed to just hang down limply on his forehead. Above his bangs, small tidbits of fur stuck out wildly on top of his head, similar with the fur branching out from the sides of his muzzle, but sharper and a little longer than Tails'. What's with this guy.. where did he come from? Suddenly he froze in his stance, as a pair of keen, blood red eyes flashed as the unhooded fox rose his head to face the three newcomers.
A hint of laughter crackled from his voice and he looked out to the three of them, his eyes filled with utter hatred and a little bit of amusement from their previous efforts to strike. "Impressive, you managed to catch me off guard for a brief moment there. Looks like I'll have to pay you back in full." Amy felt her arms shaken, clutching tightly to her hammer for comfort. She could see the hatred and malicious intent in his piercing red pupils. She couldn't believe he was able to take out her three friends so easily. She needed to be on her best guard and be prepared to fight.. even if she didn't feel all that ready all of a sudden. What chance would they have if Sonic and the others were so easily taken out? She gasped, as she saw the demon revealed in his hand: a Chaos Emerald. He held the emerald out to the three and quickly casting a glance towards the unconscious fox. "Actually, I think I will leave that duty to my little brother that you all know too well.. for now I will take my leave. Consider yourselves lucky.. for now." After a few mutters, there was a bright flash and suddenly he was gone. Amy felt a little more at ease now, as the other two were stood there in annoyance at his sudden leave.
Amy ran over to Sonic, worry clearly on her features and kneeling next to her love. She tried to lightly shake him awake, "Ah!" she yelped, suddenly feeling a small shock and instantly letting him go. She finally noticed the strange device wrapped around his legs, a few bits of electricity dancing around the device and dying down. The blue hedgehog's eyes shot open at the tiny shock, laying on his stomach with his breathing feeling a little more rapid than usual.
"Tails? Tails are you all right?" Sonic questioned as he was blinking faster, his vision feeling a little blurry. He remembered to keep still to not feel anymore shocks from this strange device that demon attached to his legs.
"Sonic!" Amy yelled, sitting down on the side in his sights with grave concern on her features.
"Ames! When did you get here?" Sonic exclaimed, feeling a little more relieved. Out in the distance he noticed a few other visitors as well, his vision beginning to clear up. "Knuckles! ..Rouge?"
"I was coming to see you just now.. then Knuckles was coming to check on Rouge.. then we found her tied up above the cliff over there and noticed a strange light shining from here." The pink hedgehog explained, "We managed to chase off that creep that was.. Cream!" She was so concerned about Sonic she forget all about checking her and Tails.
"She's fine, just out cold at the moment." Rouge stated bluntly, she walked over next to Knuckles to see the fox boy, but noticed Knuckles was quite focused on him. Rouge looked down and noticed the fox boy was clutching his forehead with both hands. His fur seemed a bit dampened in different areas, most likely from sweat.
"Tails, you all right?" Knuckles asked, a little worried for the little guy who looked to be in pain. He kneeled down near the fox, about to shake him a little-
"G-get away from me!" Tails yelled. He was still shaking in pain and clutching his forehead. He had no idea what was going on or where he even was; his eyes being closed the entire time along with not hearing too well through the pain. He assumed his attacker was still going about with his torture, as the pain in his head wouldn't go away. Knuckles was feeling a little aggravated at his sudden burst and shook him a little roughly, trying to get him to open his eyes once again.
"Tails! It's us-"
"I said.. GO AWAY!" He shouted in blind rage, his arms swinging at each of his sides as he sat up. A powerful, mysterious force pushed the two of them back a little, each trying to keep his and her balance. His eyes were finally open, his pupils were a little dilated for the brief moment they were open. He immediately sealed his eyes shut again, resting one hand back on his forehead as he still felt lingering pain. He slowly and carefully reopened his eyes, and looked out as he saw a few surprised faces looking back at him. He stared at them with a blank expression on his face, clueless as to why he was being watching. "Wha.. what's going on?" The fox asked, a small blush creeping up on his face at the sudden attention.
Sonic was the first to speak up, more relieved than surprised at these turn of events, "Whew.. buddy you're okay. You scared us for a moment there.." He was referring more to his pain, rather than the sudden, uneasy outburst.
Knuckles had to ask though, still feeling a little irritable, "What was THAT about?"
The teenage fox shifted his blank stare at Knuckles, "What.. was what?"
The echidna rose his brow in confusion and shook his head, shaking it off as if it never happened. "Nothing.. good to see you're all right." Knuckles patted the clueless fox's head and turned away facing Rouge, "Now that things are settled here, let's get back to the island." She nodded in agreement, walking alongside the echidna as they made their exit. Just as they were walking past Sonic, he stopped for a brief moment and spoke, "Fill me in later, I have to get back to the Master Emerald." Sonic gave a thumbs up and they continued off.
"Wow, you guys were really able to scare him off huh? Good job." Sonic said, facing the female hedgehog with his trademark smile.
Amy blushed a little and lied, "Y-yeah, he wasn't so tough.." She pushed her earlier nervousness from seeing the mysterious fox aside, trying to impress her love.
In this time, Tails was able to recollect his thoughts. He recalled being attacked by that villainous fox, first going after Sonic and then making his way for him and.. Cream! He instantly whirled his head back and forth around the area, until finally resting his eyes on the unconscious rabbit. He quickly jumped up, ignoring the pain still residing in his head and went over to check on his friend. He kneeled down with his hands on the ground, looking over the unconscious rabbit with concern. Her thin fur wasn't as messy or dirty as his turned out from the explosion and there seemed to be no injuries or even minor blemishes. He noticed a little bit of dirt and a small rip on the stomach of her scarlet, now wrinkled blouse, with only a small mark or two of dirt on her now wrinkled shorts of the same color. He looked over her frame head to toe once more to make sure there really was no significant injuries. He smiled, now positive she was perfectly fine, continuing to gaze over her form in what seemed like nothing but peaceful slumber. Despite being knocked out by an attack, she looked as if she'd just fallen asleep, as if she was laying on the ground and watching the clouds pass by as they've done together in the past.
He really wanted to wake up his sleeping friend, but didn't want to disturb the flow of tranquillity surrounding her. She looks so at peace right now.. after all the scares she's had today, she deserves to rest for a little bit.. Tails felt his smile grow a little, just happy that she was safe. Not fully understanding his actions, he nervously brought down one of his hands and slowly slipped it under her's. He sat down next to her and cupped her hand with both of his. A light blush growing on his muzzle, as well as an unusual warmth growing inside him. He never really understood why he felt like this whenever he found himself in Cream's touch, but it never fails to provide him with some sort of comfort and with something he couldn't quite put his finger on.. like he wanted something.. more. More of what exactly that was, he wasn't exactly sure of, to be honest. More of.. Cream maybe? For reasons unknown, he felt his muzzle flare at the thought. I.. want to be with Cream more? We visit each other everyday though.. we talk and have fun spending time together.. what more could there be..?
His gaze turned back to Cream, still trying to make sense of these stray thoughts. He looked into the face of his sleeping friend, thinking of all time they've spent together up to now. Their time together has grown significantly from when they first met. In those times of adventure and fighting to protect the world, it felt like they would only meet together whenever they were summoned by Sonic for assistance. Back then, he only felt that he could really talk to Sonic as well as to a certain extent, Knuckles and Amy. He remembers not being all that open to her when they first met, after her mother was rescued from Dr. Eggman after being kidnapped quite awhile ago. He knew at first sights that she was a sweet, innocent, and polite to him and all of his friends, but they never really communicated on a personal level.. not at least, until awhile later.
"It's sure has been nice and quiet as of recent.. I wonder if Eggman has finally given up his conquest of domination?" The ten-year-old fox asked himself. As expected, he was working within the confines of his workshop, tinkering with the Tornado to keep it in tip top condition, ready to take on anything. He wheeled out from under the machine and sat up against it, beginning to feel a little exhausted. This is been his sanctum, his workshop of building and inventing.. one of them anyway, but one of his favorite locations. He loved working in the quiet and peaceful nature of the Mystic Ruins, working the majority of the time in solitude, minus a few visitors to explore the caves or visiting the chao gardens near the waterfall. Sometimes he'd be so into what he would work on, he'd work late into the night or even into the early mornings. Sometimes he'd have to fly into town to get something to eat, completely forgetting about his nutritional needs.
His friends were quite used to not seeing him for long periods of time, always guessing he's working on some new invention or trying to modify older ones to make them even better. Sometimes he'd feel lonely, especially working into the late nights, but sometimes he wasn't always able to get in contact with the others. There have been moments though, where they'd come out of the blue and would ask if he could help them with building or fixing something. Knuckles once asked if he could build him a type of security system for the Master Emerald, so he'd be able to step off of the island every once in awhile for his own reasons. Sonic came by a few times to see if he he'd be able to make some kind of 'cloaking device' so if Amy was anywhere near, he'd be able to make his escape without her knowing about it. He's also asked to use the training room he had in another workshop in Emerald City, so he gave Sonic one of his spare keys to access it anytime.
Tails looked down at his watch, it was only about 4:30pm, still an early evening. He felt a strong growl from the pit of his stomach, begging for the nourishment it required. "Now's probably a good time to eat, as opposed to waiting until the next time the idea comes up, hours from now I'm sure." Tails decided, getting up and walking away from the Tornado. He began ascending his stairs from the extraordinarily spacious lab that far exceeded the perimeter of his workshop above. This was just one of his many projects he accomplished that he would work on for days straight, over the period of a few months with a little help from some of his friends too. This allowed him to place some furniture in the living room area above, which doubled as his room since he was the only resident. He also had a decent size kitchen in the next room, and a bathroom in a smaller room next to the basement door. Walking into the kitchen, he opened up his fridge to see what today's selections were.. only to discover there wasn't much of a variety. All he saw was baking soda, a juice container with less than a cup's worth of contents inside, an empty container of milk, a grape vine in a clear bag with two or three measly grapes, two sticks of butter, and a few selections of various bottled condiments. Tails frowned, his ears drooping a little, "Oh.. yeah.. I was supposed to go shopping today." His stomach growled louder in response to his sudden dilemma, frowning a bit more in response. "Well.. I could probably go shopping right now, but then it'll be awhile before getting back.. and I'm really close in completing my work on the Tornado. I don't want to have to wait until tomorrow or late tonight to finish it, I'm pretty-" Tails let out a mighty yawn that pretty much summed up his feelings, better than words.
Diiiing dong
Tails blinked and walked to the back of his kitchen to answer the door, A visitor? Well this is a surprise. He just guessed that it was potentially a tourist in curiosity or maybe one of his friend in need of some kind of obscure device, like Sonic's 'cloaking device' specifically with Amy in mind. He shook his head at the ridiculous requests in the past and walked over to the door to reveal his guest.
"Hello Mr. Tails!" The cheerful young rabbit happily chimed. Cream has been around here quite a few times in the Mystic Ruins to visit the Chao garden occasionally. Today though, she remembered Tails had spent most of his days here in the little isolated workshop, over a large cliff within walking distance atop of the ocean below. She felt a little saddened at the fact that her friend began to hide himself away so far from civilization; far enough away to need to take a train just to get here. She decided today that she would visit her twin-tailed friend and maybe catch up with him a little. Sure, they weren't as close as Sonic and him, or her mother and herself, but she always valued all of her friends' relationships. She knew how nice and polite Tails was with everyone and how much he tries to help his friends with his new inventions, and also does his best to help all of them along with her to make sure the world is clean and safe of all evils. With this in mind, she really did want to get to know the young and cheerful mechanic a little better, knowing that they could become really good friends if they got to know each other more.
"Oh.. H-hello." He said, a little taken back from the formality but responded, "Just Tails is all right, Cream. I haven't seen you for awhile, how have you been?" He felt a little smile forming on his muzzle, knowing one of his friends decided to pay him a little visit all the way out here. He always knew Cream, despite her age, was always nice and formal with everybody. He's also known of her willingness to never harm anything or anyone, unless persuaded to do so in order to protect her loved ones. Tails really had to admire the young rabbit for her devotion to her loved ones and her bravery in defending others against the evils. He felt a little heat creeping upon his white muzzle, a little confused at where this little bit of admiration for the young rabbit came from.
A blank look was evident on her face, but quickly a little smile formed and responded to her friend, "I'm okay, I wanted to visit the chao garden here, I remembered that you've been spending a lot of time here lately, and I really wanted to see how you've been doing too." She spoke sweetly and sincerely, as she looked into the eyes of her friend. She noticed Tails had little bags under his eyes. He looks.. exhausted. Maybe I should of called ahead before- oh, right.. he doesn't have a phone. She blinked at her thoughts, having thought of something that piqued her curiosity. How is he able to stay in contact with everyone if he doesn't- um.. well.. that explains a lot, actually. She inspected her friend a little closer, noticing that his fur was quite ruffled in various places, like he hasn't groomed himself in days. The three long bangs of fur that stuck out of his head looked a little drooped down more than she was normally used to seeing. She frowned a little at his appearance, looking as though he was completely exhausted. He really does spend a lot of his time in his lab.. if not his entire time, he looks really tired..
Tails raised his brow, the small blush still on his features, "R-really? Well.. that was nice of you." He felt a little bad, having her come all the way out here just to see him. He noticed that his fur seemed all over the place, and automatically began patting down several different patches of fur sticking out in the hopes of looking more presentable. Well.. technically to go to the chao garden, this is just more of a side trip. Yeah, that makes sense.
She giggled slightly at his actions and nodded at her sleepy friend. "Were you thinking that everyone forgot about you or something? You're the one that hides from us, you know." Despite her joking tone, she did feel a little worried about that evident fact in his appearance. Always hiding himself away from the rest of his friends, possibly working day and night on his contraptions.. he hasn't really visited anyone in almost a year! She's also heard from the others, he has a tendency to put those things off quite a bit. Whether it's working into the wee hours of the morning, or only eating whenever his stomach pleads for it's required nourishment. She was concerned about his increasingly strange daily habits and his lacking interests in.. well, anything else that wasn't about mechanics or constructing any sort of device he thought up. Once or twice long ago, he'd visited her in the past just to play together and despite his maturity and knowledge at such an age, he was a really fun person to play with and just to be around. They'd teach each other some of their favorite games or share some stories from fighting with or even working with Eggman over the past years; they would enjoyed and have fun in the little times they've shared together. She remembered that one time, she once taught him how to play hopscotch, showing him how to play and going first to show him how by going first. The first time he tried to play, he stumbled and fell after trying to retrieve the pebble while having to stay on one foot to try and get it. Her smile grew at the little memory they'd have shared together.. Of course, this was all before he decided to invent, build, create, modify, and tinker his little heart out on such a daily basis. This started after he'd mention something about building a lab under his workshop in the Mystic Ruins so he could house nearly all of his creations, including the infamous Tornado. Ever since, he's become more and more distant with everyone, growing apart until the point where he would lock himself away from everyone, everyday to do work on his increasingly obsessive hobbies. Cream was really beginning to miss those little times together where they could just play and have fun together outside of all the battles and fighting for this planet, sometimes get together with their other friends to have fun with them as well. She was really hoping that maybe she could talk to him a little today and maybe convince him to come out every so often to just maybe have some more get togethers again.
Tails was about to reply, but noticed that she looked a little distracted, in what appeared to be deep in thought. He felt himself smile a little more as he saw that whatever she was thinking about, made her smile grow and her eyes light up a little bit. He smiled back and scratched the back of his head, feeling a little embarrassed about what she'd just pointed out a moment ago. "Yeah.. I get a little uh, occupied in the lab." He stepped to the side a little and directed his arms towards the kitchen, giving her a warm and friendly smile. "Would you.. like to come in, Cream?"
She blinked from her thoughts in hearing the sudden question and felt her eyes widen a little. She'd never been into Tails' workshop here before and was always curious about what it looked like on the inside. On instinct, he bowed in appreciation and nodding to his friend with a smile, "I'd love to, thank you. I have never been inside of here before, and I've always wanted to see what the inside of your workshop here looked like." She slowly stepped inside, glancing around and about in the kitchen and into the next room with interest. He laughed at her sudden curiosity with his inner workshop and sat down at the table. His eyes lowered, noticing she was holding onto something in his hands, wondering what it could possibly be..
"Hey Cream, what's in the basket?" He asked curiously. She forgot all about it and placed it on the table, sitting on the opposite side of the table to him and a smile growing across her features.
She blinked, completely forgetting about the item she'd been holding onto this entire time. A tinge or red appeared across her face, smiling at her twin-tailed friend and answered, "Well.. I've heard that when you work hard on something, you have a tendency to forget a few certain.. daily necessities, and thought I should bring you a little gift." She lifted the delicate cloth that covering the contents within, to reveal what was under the fabric. "I hope you like them.. they're chocolate chip, mint flavored cookies. I've heard from Sonic that you're quite fond of mint.. and I wanted to do my best to try and make them for you.. I never made cookies from scratch before, so I.. I hope you like them." This was her first time in trying to make any sort of baked goods or sweets, really. Thanks to the help of her mother and a recipe she'd have for chocolate chip cookies in a book about desserts. She went to begin on her little endeavor right away, but suddenly had the thought of wanting to add something.. something different to make them a little more.. special. She was making them for someone she hadn't seen in a long time and for such a nice friend.. he deserved a little more to his treat. She knew he would be happy with just having them as they were, but still wanted to try and add a little something different. That's where the idea of asking Sonic for any ideas came up, luckily being able to call him on a cell phone that Amy had purchased for him recently at the time. It was then she was given the idea to add his favorite flavor of candy to the ingredients, hoping she'd be able to get them to turn out all right.
Tails' eyes widened a little and looked into the chocolate eyes of his rabbit friend, really surprised that not only she'd gone to the trouble of getting him any kind of gift, but had actually made them herself, from scratch! His muzzle was getting more and more red by each second, not believing someone would go to the trouble of doing something so.. so sweet, and for him nonetheless. "You.. made me cookies? F-from scratch?" Tails finally asked, a little nervously, shifting his gaze down to the table and added, "Wow.. t-that's really.. sweet of you, Cream.. thank you." His stomach rejoiced with yet again a loud grumble, but in utter delight and joy of the presence of something edible in sight. His blush darkened, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, "G-good timing really, I was feeling pretty hungry right now, heh.. heh.."
Cream suppressed the urge of a frown really wanting to form. She managed to let out a weak giggle and retrieved for him two of the cookies on a napkin from the basket. "..I had a little bit of help from mother, but I put together most of the ingredients and baked them. She helped me with the measurements and made sure I did everything correctly and safely." She explained. She felt a little worried now over quite the loud grumble from his stomach, like he hadn't eaten today or anything.. She could feel her concern for him growing a little more now, worrying that there might be more to him not eating than he might be letting on. She had to ask him, "..D-did you eat anything today, Tails?"
Tails blinked a little at the sudden question, feeling a little uncomfortable as he assumed she was probably staring directly at him, waiting for his answer. He slowly looked up to look her in the eyes.. only to notice her eyes were filled with worry and a little.. sadness? He gulped a little and eventually answered, "Uh.. well, I planned to eat just a.. a few minutes ago.. but um.." His hunger was starting to get to him due to the intoxicating aroma of the two cookies placed before him. He quickly picked up one of the delectable smelling little morsels and took a rather large bite on contact, completely taking in the flavor of the soft and chocolaty goodness with a hint of mint that lingered with it. He had to interrupt his current explanation to compliment his rabbit friend's little gift to him with a bright smile, now facing her completely. "Mmm.. these are.. really good, Cream. T-thank you again for making them and bringing them all the way out here. I think I can safely say.. that this is the best cookies I've ever tasted."
A blush spread across Cream's face at his sudden compliment of her cookies and looked to the side shyly, a small smile appearing on her face and suddenly finding the table top of interest. She spoke softly, "Y-you're very w-welcome Mist.. T-Tails." She was quite flattered that he was enjoying the cookies.. but still couldn't help but feel a little worried at the little conflict at hand. She looked back at the joyous fox in fully consuming his first cookie and cleared her throat, "Um.. y-you were saying before of um.. finding something to eat..?"
Tails looked back at the worried rabbit, holding up the second cookie up to his mouth in an attempt to consume it in it's entirety in a single bite. He blinked and a small chuckle escaped him at his over eagerness and nodded. "Right, right, sorry Cream, like I was saying before.. I was looking for something to eat just a few minutes before you came by actually.. but um, I sort of forgot that I didn't have anything here to eat right now, heh heh.." He rubbed his head in the embarrassment of his forgetfulness of planning to going shopping today, only losing track to work more on the Tornado in the hopes of finishing it by tonight. This didn't really help in comforting her worries.. beginning to think that there might be another reason that he didn't have food. What if he couldn't get food? What if he spent whatever earnings he had on different mechanical parts or tools or various lab equipment? She looked down at the table, fiddling with her fingers a little bit not wanting to believe he'd be that reckless with his projects.. but the thought kept coming back after trying to forget it. Eventually she was able to find her voice, trembling a little bit in what she wanted to ask.
"You're.. you're not in any sort of.. m-money troubles are you, T-Tails?"
Tails blinked once again by the second question relating to his eating habits. He slowly processed the question and a small frown appearing on his muzzle. Is she.. really worried about me and my eating habits? They.. they're not THAT bad.. they're just.. irregular. I remember to eat everyone once in a whi.. well, once a day anyway.. I-It's enough though. Tails recalled the previous day though, eating basically whatever he could come across in great haste to satisfy his stomach and be able to get back to the Tornado in a matter of minutes. He shook his head from his thoughts, turning back to Cream and rubbing the back of his head, "No-no, of course not." A weak chuckle escaped him, holding about half of the remains of his second cookie in hand and went on, "I've just been working on the Tornado most of the day today. I decided yesterday eating the last remains of my food that I would go and get that done today.. but the idea must of slipped when I went right to the basement after waking up today." He explained, turning his head to the side a little, starting to feel a little uneasy for reasons beyond himself, "I was.. thinking on going maybe later t-today, or p-possibly waiting until tomorrow, to go at a better time. I'm almost wrapped up the new modifications and repairs on the Tornado, and I was hoping that I could finish that up by tonight." He was hoping that this would put her at ease.. hoping she'd return to her cheerful and optimistic self as she usually was. What should of been a relieving smile and look of understanding, turned into a look of displeasure and a frown from his rabbit friend. His brow rose slightly, not understanding what had caused her to look so distraught with him. Did I.. say something wrong?
She couldn't take this.. the way her friend was overworking himself with all of his time in his lab and how much he worked on his projects. He looked as though he's only been sleeping a few hours a day instead of a good number of them consistently. His fur and bangs were ungroomed and looked shaggy and a little dirty. On top of all of that, he was practically starving himself from probably the majority of the recommended meals, daily. The young rabbit rose from her chair, speaking in somewhat soft but more firm and direct voice, "Tails.. you need to be taking better care of yourself!" She stepped away from her chair and began walking towards him. Tails was taken back from this sudden outburst from her mild-mannered friend. Noticing she was walking closer to him, he started to get a little nervous all of a sudden and tried to speak up, but wasn't able to find his voice. She continued, "I know how much you like to work on your projects, and how very knowledgeable in mechanics and machines you are, and how eager you are to work on them in order to complete them in the fastest time possible, but that doesn't mean to work yourself to the limit and beyond every single day! You need to consider your health as well, I mean just.. just look at you Tails, you're completely exhausted, starving, and messy! It's a good thing to be dedicated and willing to work hard in order to accomplish them all, but it's not worth it if that means putting your health at risk! You need to be able to take care of yourself.. not only that-" She began to speak more softly now, more in her usual tone, standing in front of her friend and continued on, "..not only that, but you need to be able to also have fun too.. you're 10 years old, Tails. You shouldn't just be locking yourself inside all the time to work on those projects constantly.. you should also just.. enjoy being a kid. You should also be having fun with your friends, enjoying the scenery of the beauty these Mystic Ruins hold.. even just, looking at the clouds in the sky can be pretty relaxing, you know.." Cream was now looking into the tired, but intent widened eyes of her friend. She rested one of her hands rested on top of his over the table in comfort and support. She needed a moment or two to breathe from everything she was letting out there for him, guess this was quite a bit to take in right away, and continued to speak. "..It worries me.. it worries ALL of us when you do this to yourself. You may not realize that what you are doing is bad.. but the more times you put things off like this.. the more you begin to forget about doing at all. Like with how you've lately been hiding yourself more and more for the past year, to the point where anyone's hardly been able to get in contact with you. It doesn't really help when you don't have a phone.. and sometimes it can be a little harder for us to get in touch with you. Well, maybe not Sonic, since he could be here in a heartbeat anytime, but someone like, well.. me. Mother has been home schooling me for awhile now, and sometimes I'm not always able to go explore or have fun outdoors and sometimes it makes it impossible to talk to anyone, especially you."
For the most part.. Tails mouth was agape the entire time, trying to take in all of the information that his friend just revealed to him. He had no idea how to even begin to think up a way of replying to her. A part of him was saddened and a little hurt to learn of some of this, feeling quite a bit guilty that he'd been less in touch with most of his friends over the past.. Did.. she say a YEAR? A bigger part of him was still just trying to get over the shock that well.. he was practically getting disciplined and lectured by Cream! One of the most soft-spoken, mild-mannered people he knows! Not to mention she was about two years younger than him, but she reminded him of her mother Vanilla whenever she'd need to lay down the rules or be a little strict to her daughter from time to time. A little part of him felt a little patronized at that fact, but he knew that this was something that was really worrying her from some of the more concerning looks she'd given earlier. She was speaking purely out of concern for a friend, and had the courage to try and let him know what some of her fears were. I know that sometimes I have.. a habit of working for very long periods of time every so often but.. they can't be THAT bad.. I mean, sometimes.. I have a hard time in wanting to call it quits when really getting into putting something together, but it can't be all that surprising to anyone. I love working on trying to create new devices and machines to help out everyone in times of crisis, and I love trying to modify or recreate the newest models of the Tornado.. I've been doing that ever since I met Sonic. I will admit sometimes I get a little carried away and forget about the time or forget a few daily routines like: Cleaning my fur, reading the paper, watching a little television, going into town every so often for whatever reason whether it was: seeing the sights or retrieving groceries, sleeping? ..e-eating? His eyes widened in shock a little, starting to realize that a lot of things he used to do he either rarely attends to, or just plain forgets to do them at all. Most of them were things he just did in his free time, but some of them were quite a little more important and required constant attention.. two in particular.. EATING and SLEEPING. I-I have been eating considerably less recently.. I never really think about it, not when I'm.. working on something.. Suddenly his stomach growled in response to the sudden thought, like his stomach was making his recent thoughts all the more apparent. He found himself rubbing his eyes a little bit with his free hand and blinked. The lack of food probably doesn't help the declining sleep I've been losing to all these hours and days and months and apparently a year of constantly thinking up and building more and newer machines in the lab.. maybe I have been going at it a little too much lately? I never realized how much accumulated time I've spent down there before.. it's actually sort of.. unsettling. Even now, all I can really think about is going back down and finishing the work on the Tornado and moving onto the next idea I had.. well, and the cookies Cream brought over now, those are really good. Despite his increasingly crestfallen disposition, a small hint of laughter escaped from his voice, now realizing how much his daily routines have really just merged into one big daily activity of working in the lab below the workshop. "I'm.. pretty obsessed, huh?" He whispered, basically summing up Cream's concerning pleas. He felt quite upset himself, for letting his love of mechanics and engineering overtake his personal and social needs like this.
Cream took both of his hands in her's, causing him to look up into her gentle brown eyes in confusion and in slight hesitance. She smiled brightly towards him like he liked seeing on her, causing a small blush to creep it's way upon his muzzle. "You're.. very dedicated to you work, but.. that doesn't mean you have to work yourself to death in doing so." She winked, leaning in closer to give her friend a gentle embrace. Tails sat there in a small daze, his blush grew much more, nearly covering any white fur his muzzle had to offer at the sudden affection. "You're only young once, you need to enjoy yourself while you can, especially in these times of peace. If anything happened to you because of your uh.. 'dedication', I think I'd have to come here and take care of you myself. I may be younger than you, but my mother has taught me quite well the importance of staying healthy and taking care of myself with the basics.. so you better start getting it together too.. because well.. you know, I just.. want you to be healthy and everything.. hehe.."
After finally breaking free from his blank, nervous gaze, Tails embraced Cream back, feeling a little better knowing she was here with him and trying to help him out. "Thank you, Cream.. I-I'll try to work more on my um.. 'dedication', I'm sorry for worrying you and the others."
Cream smiled and simply said, "I know." She was beaming with happiness that she was able to this that out to him and convince to try and relax a little more.. well a LOT more. She'd try her best to help him out along the way, maybe they'd be closer friends and be able to spend more time together from now on. Suddenly, she held both of her hands in one of his and began to lift him out of his chair and drag him out of the workshop with him trying to make sure he didn't trip along the way, "Now come on, we're going shopping right now, so you get a nutritious meal instead of cookies tonight! The train's going to be leaving in a few minutes, and we'll be able to catch it if we go now!" He was still a little dazed and trying to keep his balance to avoid any accidents, but he just went along with her plan without arguments.. he was quite hungry after all, maybe he'd have a guest to join him tonight too..
Tails smiled with half-lidded eyes at his young friend, still daydreaming of the warm memory. From that day on, their bond only grew stronger until they were the best of friends they were today. Cream's unconscious body began to shift a little bit, slowly blinking and finally opening her eyes after adjusting to the sunlight. She sat up a little bit, succumbing to a small yawn and looked around slightly, not quite recalling how she ended up sleeping there. Suddenly the memories of being caught in an explosion with Tails surfaced, and she would of panicked.. if something wasn't gently holding onto her hand. She looked up, noticing it was Tails.. looking back at her in a sort of delighted trance, his eyes half lit and a warm smile gracing his features. Her face started to feel quite flushed, starting to fall into a small dreamy trance herself.. although she jumped at Tails sudden expression change, his eyes wide and a large grin and a hint of red on his cheeks. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something until-
"Cream! You're awake!" He quickly wrapped his arms around her in a friendly hug, happy that his friend was now conscious. Her blush just grew darker at the sudden hug, guessing that he must of been quite worried about her.
Was he.. w-waiting here this whole time? She closed her eyes, feeling small tears trying to form under her eyes, wrapping her arms around his friend, glad that the both of them were safe. Tails..
"Aw, how cute." Amy remarked softly after witnessing this little scene. Unfortunately, Sonic wasn't really able to enjoy this little situation due to the fact that he still couldn't move! Sonic was feeling rather uncomfortable at being so confined of his freedom that it was starting to get to him a little bit..
"Not to ruin your moment or anything you two, but if it's not too much trouble.. PLEASE get me out of this electric snake's grasp! I can't take it anymore, I need to get running a few dozen laps around the city to make up for this little moment of prison.. this is worse than that cell I was put into from the military a few years ago, at least then I could walk.." Sonic whined, mumbled, pleaded and begged. He really hated to be confined of his movement like this, it was more much worse than the fact that demon fox was able to take him down so easily. All he wanted to do was go and think for a little bit, while making laps around Station Square for the rest of the day.
The three of them laughed at his little outburst, the two girls and the hedgehog getting together while Tails went back to his workshop to the get the necessary tools for removing the 'electric snake' from his brother. Unbeknownst to any of them, a small red glow in the shape of an emerald could be seen briefly fading in and out just below the fox's bangs. A small dark colored smoke emitting from the center of the strange mark, Tails covered his head, once again feeling the recurring pain from earlier but a little more contained this time. My heads been in pain ever since the encounter with that strange fox.. I'm sure it's just a headache.. but it just.. feels so painful, not as bad as before, but it's making it hard to think.. but I think the worst of it is over now..
Eh, not really the best ending ever, but I think this chapter is looking pretty uh, well.. big. XD This was a fun one to write though, I've never written a chapter this long before, and they seem to keep getting longer with each update. Strange.
Like I said, this chapter was mainly about giving a little more in terms of the depth in Tails' and Cream's relationship. It kind of explains how they started to hang out more, and became the best friends they are in the story. Some bits of mush too, but I sometimes have a hard time being really descriptive and articulate when it comes to writing, but I hope it still turned out okay. The next update I still have to think about.. so I can't really give a little preview. It'll probably start to focus more on the main story with Tails and the Mysterious Fox. He has a name, it just has yet to come up.
Until then, enjoy. =3