Blaze collapsed to the floor, unconscious. Silver was already slumped on the other side of the room, only the faint rise and fall of his chest showing he was even alive. Nega-Sonic turned from his prey and locked eyes with Tails.
Tails's ears flattened. The plan was falling apart. Blaze and Silver were down; the Wisps were weakened from powering the portal and by Nega-Sonic's armor; the Chaos Emeralds were unresponsive. It was just Tails and Sonic now.
Tails closed his eyes. He couldn't defeat Sonic in a fight; never had, never would. So what could he do?
"Hiding as usual, Tails?" Nega-Sonic taunted, stalking towards him. It was disorienting how much he sounded like Sonic. The real Sonic. "You always were a weak-willed coward." He said it with a mocking smile, but there was genuine rage in his cold purple eyes. He wouldn't hesitate to rip Tails to pieces for what he'd done to Eggman, and they both knew it. The only reason Tails was even still alive was because of the forcefield between them—that, and Sonic's fondness for showmanship.
"Hiding as usual, Tails?" Nega-Sonic taunted, stalking towards him. It was disorienting how much he sounded like Sonic. The real Sonic. "You always were a weak-willed coward."
He said it with a mocking smile, but there was genuine rage in his cold purple eyes. He wouldn't hesitate to rip Tails to pieces for what he'd done to Eggman, and they both knew it. The only reason Tails was even still alive was because of the forcefield between them—that, and Sonic's fondness for showmanship.
"I'm not hiding," Tails said softly, getting to his feet. "And I'm not running." Not this time.
Nega-Sonic laughed. "Finally grew a spine, huh? Or maybe you just realized you can't escape. Your little plan failed."
He leaned forward, his nose nearly touching the forcefield. "You always want things to go according to plan, don't you? So I'll tell you what's going to happen. I'm going to kill you and your little friends, and then I'm going to bring Eggman back. And then we're going to fix the universe."
He grinned, fanged and manic. "I'd have thought you'd appreciate it. Perfect mechanical planets, always running according to schedule, never changing. You'd like that, wouldn't you? You always hated new things."
Nega-Sonic glanced disdainfully at Blaze and Silver, collapsed on the floor, and the weakened Wisps, watching helplessly from the edges of the room. "Desperate times, huh? I've gotta ask you something." He looked at Tails again, cocking his head just the way Sonic used to. "Why didn't you just run?"
Why hadn't he? Why hadn't he gone back to Earth, asked Amy and Knuckles to help? It would have taken time, valuable time, but who cared if the Wisp worlds got roboticized? They were already dead; the Wisps themselves had said so. It would have made more sense to cut his losses and run home. So why hadn't he?
Tails met Nega-Sonic's gaze steadily. "Because you wouldn't have."
Nega-Sonic rolled his eyes. "Ugh. Enough of this." He tapped something on his armor, and Tails's heart dropped as the forcefield deactivated. Nega-Sonic bared his black fangs in a grin. "What, you thought that would protect you? Please." And without further warning, he attacked.
Tails darted to the side, barely avoiding Nega-Sonic's lunge. He scrambled away, tripping over the pieces of the machine that had created his foe, and hastily grabbed a piece of metal in a last-ditch attempt to defend himself. Nega-Sonic shot after him, easily avoiding Tails's clumsy swing, and rammed his armored shoulder into Tails's chest, pinning him to the wall. Tails cried out as the metal dug through his fur and into his skin.
"You can't beat me," Nega-Sonic hissed.
Tails held his gaze. For once his heart wasn't pounding. "I don't have to. I know Sonic won't let you win. I know Black won't let you win. I know White won't let you win. And you don't have a chance against all four of us."
Nega-Sonic opened his mouth to retort, but he was interrupted by a flash of… something. Something that seemed to be coming from the pieces of the machine.
Tails's ears flattened in pain as a high-pitched buzzing noise rattled the room, and even Nega-Sonic flinched back, wide-eyed. The lights overhead flashed, and for just a moment the color seemed to bleed from the world, casting the room in black and white. Without color, Nega-Sonic almost looked… normal.
"What did you do!?" Nega-Sonic demanded, quills bristling in alarm as he whirled to stare at the buzzing pieces of machinery.
The brief distraction was all they needed. The Wisps suddenly surged forward, swarming Nega-Sonic. He lashed out at them, gauntlets glowing with stolen energy, but the Wisps refused to back down even as more and more of them faded to gray. Nega-Sonic's armor, already worn down by the beatings Blaze and Silver had given it, began to whine and spark as it overheated from the sudden influx of energy. Nega-Sonic cried out in pain.
And while he scrabbled to pull off his gauntlets, Tails crept up behind and slammed the piece of metal into Nega-Sonic's head with all his might. Eggman, wanting to taunt Tails with the twisted image of his brother's face, had given his greatest creation no protective helmet. One last act of hubris, come back to bite him. Nega-Sonic fell to the ground.
Tails collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily. He stared at Nega-Sonic's unconscious form. He'd wake eventually; wake soon, if he took after the real Sonic. Tails had to find a way to… to what? He couldn't kill his brother. But he didn't know how to bring the real Sonic back, either. Had it been just a few days ago he'd resented the changes the Gaia energy had brought about? What he wouldn't give to see that strange new form now, just so long as it was Sonic wearing it.
"Please," Tails begged hoarsely, cupping his hands around the dull and unresponsive Chaos Emeralds. "Please, just bring him back. I don't care if he's got wings or—or a monkey tail or six eyes or whatever. Please, just bring back Sonic."
A laser-like twang sounded above him. Tails looked up in surprise to see Ember's eyes narrowed in determination despite her faded colors and weak movements. She flew to the Emeralds, humming fiercely, and the other Wisps with energy left to fly followed her lead. Tails's eyes widened as glowing color began to flow from the Wisps into the Emeralds. His heart in his throat, Tails watched, begging it to work. Begging the Emeralds to wake up.
And then they did.
The Emeralds rose into the air, glowing in a brilliant rainbow of color, and began to spin, whirling around Tails and Nega-Sonic. Something else joined the dance—a flash of energy from the broken machine, a glow of white and pulse of black. Tails's fur raised at the charged energy in the air. He had to squeeze his eyes shut against the growing light, and even then rainbow brilliance painted itself across his eyelids.
Then the light and energy disappeared as quickly as they'd come. Tails slowly, fearfully, opened his eyes.
Nega-Sonic was gone. In his place lay a dark blue figure with long fur that would be uncomfortable in the heat, a tufted tail that tripped him up more times than not, ears too big for his head that made it hard to do anything at night without waking him up, and tattered green wings that got in the way of spindashing.
In his place lay Sonic.