UPDATE!
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Knuckles stopped walking and crossed his arms as he glanced around the room he was in. Seeing that the room was full of toys, he figured he was in a toy shop, although, he noticed that the only toys were puppets. Noticing all the puppets around the shop staring at him with lifeless eyes, Knuckles shuddered and remarked, "This place is kinda creepy…I gotta get rid of these puppets."
Packing up all the puppets into boxes, Knuckles threw the boxes into the dumpster and looked around the now puppet-less room. After a few minutes of staring at the room, Knuckles could not help but feel a bit lonely. "Man, I'd sure like to have someone else around here. Someone I could call Little Buddy." Knuckles remarked to no one in particular. He smiled as a brilliant idea hit him. "I know! I'll make a puppet!"
Getting some wood and tools, he began to make his idea a reality.
A few hours later, Knuckles wiped some sawdust off his finished puppet and commented, "Well, I must say that this puppet looks great. Hey, and I just noticed it looks like Tails." He looked outside to see the stars were shining brightly and the moon was full. "Well, guess that means it's time for me to turn in for the night."
Setting his Tails puppet on a chair near his bed in the back of the shop, Knuckles was just about to crawl into bed when Amy appeared out of thing air and she was holding a wand with a glittering bright pink star at the end. Knuckles opened his mouth to say something as he sat up and Amy started, "Okay, I've got a whole speech to say, but I'm just going to skip to the point. You want someone around, so I'll do something to help you." She waved her wand and glimmering pink sparkles fell on the Tails puppet before she tapped it on the nose. "And there you go."
"What did you…" Knuckles trailed off as he saw the Tails puppet move slightly.
Tails sat up, looked over himself, looked at Amy and Knuckles, and exclaimed, "What is this? I'm a puppet!" He jumped off the chair and landed flat on his face before he sat up. "Why can't I walk?"
"Uh, yeah, about that. There are a couple of things off with the spell. You're going to have to learn how to walk and you have to earn being real and not be stuck as a puppet." Explained Amy as Knuckles propped Tails back onto the chair.
"How do I earn it?" Tails questioned.
"By making the right decisions." Responded Amy.
"That's stupid. How is he supposed to know what the right one is?" Knuckles pointed out and Amy was silent.
"What? I don't get an opinion?" the trio heard a familiar voice remark and Amy, Knuckles, and Tails looked up the ceiling to see Sonic sitting on a rafter as he waved at them. "Hi. Long time no see."
"What are you doing up there?" interrogated Knuckles and Sonic stopped waving as he jumped down.
"I've been up there the whole time." Sonic answered.
"How are you going to help him?" asked Knuckles.
"Simple. What Tails needs is someone to tell him which one it is. You know, like a conscious if you will." Sonic countered in a matter-of-fact way.
"Are you saying that you'll do that?" responded Tails.
Sonic replied, "Well, I'm not saying that exactly, but sure thing. I can steer this guy in the right direction. After all, I AM Sonic the Hedgehog."
"Perfect." Amy stated and tapped Sonic on the nose with her wand, causing sparkles to land on his face.
Sneezing, he brushed the sparkles off and Sonic snapped, "Sonic says what was that for?" He quickly repeated what he just said silently to himself before looking at Amy. "Sonic says why the heck am I saying "Sonic says"?"
"It'll be easier for Tails to understand."
"Sonic says fair enough."
"And no one else but Knuckles, Tails, and I can see you."
"Sonic says fair enough." Sonic agreed and Amy looked between the three boys.
"Well, my work here is done. Bye." Amy told them with a small wave and disappeared into thin air.
Looking at Tails, Knuckles informed, "Get some sleep and I'll teach you how to walk in the morning."
Watching Knuckles as the crimson echidna crawled into bed and began to snore as he slept, Sonic jumped back into the rafters and commented before he went to sleep, "Sonic says this will DEFINITELY be interesting."
The next morning, Knuckles carried Tails outside the shop and helped him stand up. Holding Tails by his hands as the puppet stumbled around trying to walk, Knuckles told him, "When you get the hang of walking, you better not take off on me, got it Little Buddy?"
"Don't worry. I won't." replied Tails as he continued to attempt to walk.
Soon, Tails was able to walk on his own and the instant Knuckles let go, took off down the street. Mumbling something, Knuckles raced down the street after Tails, who was laughing from his running. Catching up to Tails, Knuckles grabbed Tails by his arm to stop him and angrily scolded, "You have to listen to me when I tell you something!"
"Hey! Stop being such a big mean bully to a little kid like that!" they heard someone shout and there was a wave of agreement.
Knuckles released Tails as two G.U.N soldiers came up to them and slapped a pair of handcuffs on Knuckles. As they guided Knuckles away, Tails rushed into the toy shop and saw Sonic standing by the window, shaking his head in disapproval at Tails. "Sonic says way to go. Now Knuckles is in jail and there's no one to help you." Sonic remarked as he crossed his arms.
"I'll survive." Tails retorted and Sonic shook his head again.
"Sonic says this'll be entertaining." Sonic stated and Tails glared at the cobalt hedgehog.
A few hours later, Tails began to hungry and wished Knuckles were around to make him something to eat. He searched through the entire toy shop for some scrap of food while Sonic watched from his place in the rafters, wearing a smirk as the puppet struggled as a result of his actions. Just about to give up, he finally managed to find an egg and Tails eagerly took out a pan. Trying to crack the egg in the pan, Tails's eyes widened as a colorful blue Flicky popped out, ran off the table, and flew out the window. Hearing laughing, Tails looked up in the rafters and clenched his teeth as he saw Sonic standing up and holding his stomach while trying to keep his balance as he howled with laughter at the sight. Getting even hungrier, Tails went outside and knocked on the door of the building next to them three times and called, "Hello? Do you have some food you can spare?"
Hearing a window above him open, he saw a Dark Chao appear with a wooden bucket and Tails yelled as he got drenched with freezing ice cold water. Tramping back into the toy shop as the Dark Chao yelled something, he looked to see Sonic was laughing even louder and heavier as he saw Tails now soaking wet. Deciding to ignore the cobalt hedgehog, Tails was too tired, hungry, and wet to care and went to the fireplace. Pulling a chair up to the fireplace and, to warm himself up, put his feet on a pan filled with burning coals. Yawning, he almost instantly fell asleep and while Tails slept, his feet caught fire and smoldered to ashes.
Morning came and Tails was awakened by a loud banging noise at the door. "It's me, Knuckles! Open up!" he heard Knuckles shout and Tails smiled at the sound of the red echidna's voice.
Jumping up to unlock the door, Tails yelled in surprise as he fell flat on his face and saw his missing feet. Sitting up in the rafters, Sonic shook his head at Tails and jumped down. Opening the door, Sonic saw Knuckles slightly angry and Sonic questioned, "Sonic says how was your time in the slammer?"
"I'm a changed echidna," Knuckles responded as he stomped into the room, "where's Tails?"
"Sonic says he's right there." Answered Sonic as he pointed at the place where Tails now managed to sit up and Knuckles looked where Sonic was pointing and saw Tails.
Feeling some pity for the young fox that had no feet, Knuckles told him, "Aww, don't worry Little Buddy. I'll fix you up." He quickly carved a pair of wooden feet for Tails and attached them to Tails's stubs for legs. "Now, you better not run off on me with these new feet Little Buddy."
"Oh, I won't Knuckles. I'm gonna try to do the right things now," replied Tails as he stood up, "I'll even go to school!"
"Atta boy Tails." Knuckles complimented with a smile and he rubbed the top of Tails's head.
Tucking a book under his arm, Tails waved good-bye to Knuckles before marching out the door and Sonic jogged after him.
Sonic and Tails walked down the slightly busy and crowded street, Tails rather eager to go to school to learn how to properly read and write after hearing Sonic's pep talk about how he would benefit from a proper education. On the final stretch to the school, Tails stopped as he saw a large stage with a red velvet curtain. Noticing Tails was distracted, Sonic instructed, "Sonic says go to school."
"I'm just going to take a quick peek and then I'll go straight to school." Explained Tails, not taking his eyes off the stage.
Sonic mumbled, "Sonic says yeah, right."
"What?" questioned Tails.
"Sonic says nothing. Nothing at all." Sonic replied with a forced smile.
Rushing over to the stage, Tails examined the stage with wide eyes full of excitement and asked Sonic as the azure hedgehog shuffled up to him with crossed arms, "Oh wow! What's this stage for?"
"Sonic says it's for a puppet show." Answered Sonic.
"Oh cool! Whose puppet show?" Tails continued, still fascinated by the stage.
"That would be mine." They heard a voice from behind them respond. Sonic and Tails turned around to see Mephiles standing there. He looked over Tails. "You would make the perfect addition to my puppet show."
"Really? Me?" Tails eagerly replied, a huge smile on his face from the idea. Mephiles nodded. "Okay I'll-"
"Sonic says hold on a minute." Sonic cut off and Tails turned to face the azure hedgehog.
"What?" Tails retorted, slightly annoyed with Sonic interrupting him.
"Sonic says it's not a good idea to go anywhere with a Shadow the Hedgehog Recolor." Explained Sonic and Tails thought for a moment.
"You don't know what you're talking about." Tails stated.
Not seeing or hearing anyone that could possible know what they were talking about, Mephiles questioned, "Who are you speaking to?"
"No one." Tails answered as he faced Mephiles again.
"Sonic says hey! Who are you calling "No one"?" Sonic snapped before mumbling something incoherent under his breath.
"So, are you going to take my offer? Would you like to be a part of my puppet show?" repeated Mephiles.
"Yeah!" Tails agreed, his voice full of excitement.
Watching as Tails walked away with Mephiles, Sonic shook his head as he grumbled, "Sonic says this isn't what I signed up for."
Standing on the stage behind the red velvet curtain, Tails watched as several shadow creatures appeared around him and Mephiles laughed as the curtain rose, "Now, dance my puppets! Dance!"
Seeing the shadow creatures follow the order as music started, Tails grew a worried look and cried, "What? What kind of puppet show is this?"
"Wuhahahaha! MY puppet show!" responded Mephiles. "Now dance!"
Not wanting to disobey the order, Tails began to dance like the others on stage and saw people clapping from entertainment of the performance while Sonic stood at the back, a look of shock, yet amusement at the scene. After a fair amount of time, the shadow creatures and Tails stopped dancing as the music stopped and bowed to the cheering and clapping audience as Mephiles stepped onto the stage. Mephiles bowed at the applause and the shadow creatures faded away as the crowd dispersed before he turned to Tails and started, "Your role in my show made my performance even more popular. I thank you." Five glimmering rings appeared out of thin air in his hand and he dropped them into Tails's hand. "For your services…I will give you five rings."
Nodding as a thank you since no words could escape his mouth, Tails watched Mephiles as he melted into the ground and saw Sonic as he came up to him. Starting to walk away from the stage of Mephiles's puppet show, Sonic told Tails, "Sonic says that was very disturbing. You should've listened when I said it wasn't a good idea to go anywhere with a Shadow the Hedgehog Recolor."
"But I still got some rings." Tails pointed out and showed the five rings in his hand to Sonic.
"Sonic says that isn't the point. Now we're both emotionally scarred from that." Responded Sonic with an annoyed look.
"I guess you have a point."
"Sonic says of course I have a point Dummy."
"Hey! That's not nice! And I thought you were supposed to help me."
"Sonic says I am. I'm being blunt." Answered Sonic.
At that moment, Rouge flew up to them and Tails greeted with a smile, "Rouge!"
"Hi Darling. Where are you going in such a hurry?" Rouge replied as she put a hand on her hip and Sonic gave a slightly suspicious look at what the treasure hunter's motive was.
"I'm going home to give my rings to Knuckles."
"Oh, there's no need to rush home so fast. He's waited for you this long. What's a little longer?"
"I guess."
"Besides, if you come with me…I'll let you in on a little secret that'll make both of you rich beyond your wildest dreams."
"Really?"
"That's right Darling, but I guess you're not interested if you want to get back so soon."
"No, no! I'll go with you!" Tails agreed, clearly interested in what Rouge had to say that would make him rich.
"Perfect." Smiled Rouge and the pair walked down the street with Sonic mumbling something as he followed them.
Walking into the slightly crowded pub, Rouge took Tails gently by the hand and guided him to the bar. Stopping, Tails struggled to peek over the bar as Rouge waved to catch the bartender's attention and he came over to the duo, wiping a dirty glass with a clean white cloth. Looking over Rouge, he set the glass and cloth down on the bar and asked, "What can I get you Beautiful?"
"Give my FRIEND here some apple juice and me a martini." Rouge sweetly requested with a smile as she pulled out a tube of light rose lipstick and spread it on her lips.
"Aren't you a minor?"
"What'll it take to change that?"
"A kiss." The bartender answered. Leaning over to him, Rouge kissed him on the cheek and gave a flirty smile. "Apple juice and a martini coming up."
"Thanks Handsome." Rouge responded as he walked away from them.
Soon, the bartender returned with the drinks and Rouge picked up a white napkin, kissed it, made sure there was a definite print on it, and slipped it into the chest pocket of the bartender's shirt with a wink before taking the drinks and guiding Tails to a table not too far away from the bar. Sitting down at the table, Rouge took a sip from her drink before Tails did the same. Ignoring his apple juice as Rouge sipped her martini, Tails questioned, "What are we doing here?"
"We're here to talk." Rouge answered.
"Talk about what?" asked Tails with slight curiosity.
"What you should do with your rings," Rouge responded as she took another sip of her martini, "you should take your rings to the Zone of Miracles."
"The Zone of Miracles?"
"Mmmhmm. If you plant a ring in the Zone of Miracles, you get 100 hundred rings…maybe more."
"You mean if I plant my five rings in the Zone of Miracles…I can get 500 rings?"
"That's right Darling. The possibilities are endless when you have that many rings."
"Do you know where it is?"
"Of course."
"Where is it?"
"Oh, sorry Sweetie. I can't tell you that."
"Why not?" Tails inquired and Rouge took another drink of her martini.
"Because somebody might hear us and go there," explained Rouge with another drink, "it'll be our little secret."
Seeing Sonic lying on his side on a shelf above the bar, the blue hedgehog pointed for Tails to leave the room before hopping down and jogging out of the room. Politely excusing himself, Tails followed him and asked as he and Sonic faced each other, "What is it?"
Crossing his arms, Sonic responded, "Sonic says she's trying to trick you."
"Why?"
"Sonic says she wants your rings."
"How do you know?"
"Sonic says HELLO! This Zone of Miracles place she won't tell you where it is…isn't that suspicious to you?"
"No."
"Sonic says how isn't it suspicious?"
"Because Rouge hasn't been anything but nice to me. She says I'm her friend." Tails bluntly told Sonic before walking back to Rouge.
Shaking his head before following Tails, Sonic mumbled, "Sonic says why I did I agree to do this?"
Sitting back down at the table as Rouge took another drink, Rouge asked Tails, "Who were you talking to Sweetie?"
"No one." Answered Tails.
"Well, anyway it's been a fun night, but I think I might take a short nap." Rouge stated with a yawn.
"Okay." Replied Tails.
"Think about what I said Darling. About the rings and the Zone of Miracles." Rouge added.
Getting out of his chair, Tails responded, "I will!"
Watching Tails as he practically skipped out of the pub, Rouge smirked as she finished her drink and left the pub.
Lying on the lumpy bed of a cheap inn as he stared at the ceiling, Tails sighed. He went back to the pub to find Rouge, but when he asked around the pub, everyone said she took off. Suddenly, he had a brilliant idea and jumped off the bed. Seeing Sonic sleeping in a chair, Tails began to sneak to the door and froze in place when he heard someone interrogate, "Sonic says where are you going?"
Turning around, Tails saw Sonic was awake and obviously annoyed that he had to wake up and Tails answered, "I'm gonna go find the Zone of Miracles myself."
"Sonic says it's not a good idea."
"Why not?"
"Sonic says it's dangerous."
"No it's not." Tails retorted. Sonic shook his head as he swore. "Why are you swearing?"
"Sonic says Sonic swears because Sonic cares." Sonic responded and Tails shrugged off what Sonic was saying as he marched out of the room. "Sonic says he did not sign up for this."
Wandering through the dark field, Tails stopped as something dropped in front of him and saw it was a woman completely covered in black except for her turquoise eyes and wearing a bright pink heart-shaped breastplate. Giving a small yelp of fright, Tails raced away and looked over his shoulder to see her gliding after him. Looking ahead, he saw a small cottage and rushed to it. Banging on the door as hard and loud as possible, Tails pleased, "Please! Let me in! I need help!"
Feeling someone snatch his arm tightly and was whipped around to face the woman whose grip got tighter. "Where are you rings? Give them to me!" the woman demanded, her grip getting even tighter with each word. Tails said nothing. "Fine. You wanna be like that…"
Tails yelled in pain as the woman delivered a powerful kick to his head and everything faded to black.
Finally becoming conscious again, Tails groaned as he looked around and everything was upside down. He felt something around his ankles and looked up at his feet to see he was tied to a branch of a tree by his ankles. Reaching to untie himself, he stretched as far as he could, but could not make it and fell back to hanging upside down. Feeling slightly dizzy from hanging upside down and spinning around with the wind, Tails saw Sonic lying on his back on the ground, wearing a huge smirk. "What are you smirking about?" snapped Tails.
"Sonic says you should've listened to me." Sonic answered.
"Well, can you just get me down?"
"Sonic says I'm not sure."
"How come?"
"Sonic says you're not coming down until you've learned your lesson."
"What lesson?"
"Sonic says until you listen to what I say to do…you're not coming down."
"What?"
"Sonic says it's the rules."
"Okay, okay. I get it. I messed up. I should've listened to you. Can you please let me down?" Tails begged. "I'm getting REALLY dizzy! Please!"
Standing up, Sonic crossed his arms before he decided, "Sonic says sure. I'll help you down." He untied the rope around Tails's ankles and the young fox tumbled onto the ground and Sonic helped him stand up before supporting him as they walked away from the tree. "Sonic says I'll get you to someone who can help you. That was a pretty hard blow you took."
Coming up to the house Tails banged on the door of earlier, Sonic grunted as he started to drag Tails who passed out along the way. Pushing open the door with his foot, he saw Amy and whistled to catch her attention. Amy looked at Sonic and Sonic started as he shifted Tails, "Sonic says hey. I could use a little help here."
Going over to Sonic, Amy helped Sonic support Tails until they reached a bed and pushed Tails onto the bed. Looking over the puppet, Amy looked at Sonic and questioned, "Is he alive?"
"Sonic says yeah. He just passed out on the way here." Sonic answered and reached for a stick of wood beside the fireplace.
"What are you doing?"
"Sonic says I'm going to poke him with a stick."
"Why?"
"Sonic says because I feel like it."
"Why?"
"Sonic says he doesn't listen to me. So, he deserves it." Shrugged Sonic and Amy snatched the stick away from him.
"That's not a good reason." Amy scolded and she threw the stick away from him and Sonic mumbled something as closed his eyes and crossed his arms.
Slowly, Tails came to and drowsily looked around the room and asked Amy, "Amy? What am I doing here?"
"Sonic brought you here so I could help you get better. Why aren't you at home with Knuckles?" Amy replied.
"It's not my fault! Sonic said I had to go with Rouge or he'd beat me up!" Tails protested and Sonic opened his eyes and his face became full of shock as he heard the accusation at him.
Watching as the wooden fox's nose grew an extraordinary length, Sonic smirked, "Sonic says you shouldn't lie."
"Okay, okay! I should've listened to Sonic! Please fix my nose! I promise not to lie again!" cried Tails and his nose shrunk back to its regular size.
Soon, Tails was fully recovered from his ordeal and waved at Amy as a thank you for her help and left to go straight home to Knuckles with Sonic following behind him again.
Walking down the street with Sonic, Tails saw Rouge rushing towards him, she hugged him as she exclaimed, "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!"
Rouge let go of him and Tails replied, "Really?"
"That's right Sweetie. So, are you ready to go to the Zone of Miracles Darling?" responded Rouge.
"Where were you last night? I went to find the Zone of Miracles and someone strung me up by my feet." Interrogated Tails.
"Something came up Sweetie, but that doesn't matter now because we're back together. So, let's go plant those rings." Rouge told him as she took his hand and they began to go out of town.
Dropping his five rings in the hole he dug in the Zone of Miracles, Tails covered it with dirt and patted it down before he looked up at Rouge as she brushed some dirt off the tips of her boots. "How soon can I come and get all the rings?" Tails asked eagerly.
"Just wait here overnight. You'll be rich after tonight." Answered Rouge. She looked at Tails. "Oh, I just realized I have to go somewhere, so bye and good luck Darling."
Watching Rouge jump into the air and fly away, Tails waved and called, "Good bye! And thanks Rouge!"
Not wanting to stray too far away from his buried rings, Tails looked up at the sky to see the sun was starting to set and yawned before he curled up on the ground and fell asleep.
Waking up the next morning, Tails yawned as he sat up and stretched his arms. Remembering what he did last night, he instantly was full of energy and excitement as he looked at where he planted his rings. Just as fast as it came, the excitement disappeared when he saw it was dug up and he wondered, "Where did they go?"
"Sonic says they're gone Dummy." He heard Sonic answer and saw the azure hedgehog propped up on his side on the branch of a huge oak tree a couple of feet away. "Sonic says Rouge dug up the rings while you were sleeping and she took off. Once again, you shoulda listened to me."
Tails stood up and began to cry as he stamped his feet on the ground in frustration, resulting in Sonic to scoff and shake his head in disapproval. Once he was certain that Tails's temper tantrum was finished, Sonic jumped out of the tree. "I feel so stupid! Tails sobbed. "I should've have listened to Rouge!"
Watching Tails as the puppet took off, Sonic shouted, "Sonic says where are you going?"
"To someone who was really kind to me!" Tails shouted back and Sonic raised an eyebrow before he jogged after Tails.
Coming to a stop, Tails looked frantically for the cottage where Amy lived, but found nothing except for a tombstone. Going up to the tombstone, Tails fell to his knees and began to sob. "No! This can't be happening!" he howled and cried harder.
Going up to Tails as the puppet finally finished sobbing, Sonic informed, "Sonic says Knuckles is starting to get upset and depressed from you not being around."
"Why? He's always alone guarding the Master Emerald on Angel Island." Tails responded as he stood up, faced Sonic, and rubbed the dried tears off his eyes.
"Sonic says because being in the big house made him a changed echidna Dummy." Sonic replied. He pointed over the cliff at the sea. "Sonic says he's going out to sea to look for you."
Determined to find Knuckles, Tails stood up and rushed towards the edge of the cliff to get a good glimpse at the sea.
Standing on the edge of the cliff, Tails searched the horizon and smiled when he saw a familiar echidna in a tiny boat on the sea. "Knuckles!" Tails exclaimed. Suddenly, a huge wave appeared and swept over the boat. "Knuckles! I'll save you!"
Without thinking, Tails dove into the icy water and began to paddle towards where he saw the boat, calling out for Knuckles. His shouts were drowned out as another massive wave appeared and swept him away. Coming onto the beach of an island, Tails spat out a mouthful of dirt before he jumped to his feet and frantically searched for some sign of Knuckles, only to come up with nothing. Seeing something blue speeding towards him, Tails saw Sonic skid to a stop on the island and Tails exclaimed, "Sonic!"
"Sonic says that you better appreciate that I was able to get here. Next time you jump into water like that…you're on your own." Sonic responded as he took off his beloved shoes and emptied the water out before putting them back on.
"What happened to Knuckles?"
"Sonic says he got eaten…by Iblis!"
"Shouldn't he be on fire then?"
"Sonic says well, uh, no. Iblis can't really do that. It's just hot in there."
"How?"
"Sonic says well, it's really complicated." Replied Sonic.
"Oh, what's the point of it all? I don't know what I should do now. First Amy's gone and now Knuckles is gone too! I'm all alone!" Tails sobbed as he began to cry again.
Before he began to cry too hard, he heard his stomach start to grumble from lack of food. Finding a path, Tails walked down it until he came across an elderly pink hedgehog who was struggling to carry a full water jug. Going up to the hedgehog, Tails offered, "I'll help you by carrying that water jug if you'll give me something to eat and drink."
The elderly hedgehog nodded and Tails took the water jug from her and they chatted with each other as they strolled down the path to her small house on a hill. Setting the jug down where she told him to, Tails sat at the table as the elderly hedgehog placed food and drinks in front of him. Eating and drinking as much as he could, Tails thanked her as he looked at her and smiled when he saw her change into Amy. Sonic jumped onto the mantle of the fireplace looking like he could care less while Tails joyfully hugged Amy. Letting go of Amy, Tails promised, "I promise I'll try REALLY hard to be good and go to school!"
"Okay and in return…I'll let you stay here." Amy agreed with a smile.
The next few days, Tails followed through on his promise. He went to school, studied hard, listened to Amy and Sonic, and helped with the chores, even getting to the point where Sonic did not need to follow him anymore. One day on his way to school, some Wisps made some gestures that he managed to translate as they were going to the beach to see a giant sea creature and Tails instantly thought of Knuckles and, as a result, decided to play hooky and join the Wisps. Reaching the sea with the Wisps, there was no sea creature to be seen and Tails heard the Wisps snickering behind him, resulting in him to realize they tricked him. Looking at the Wisps, they began to tease and mock Tails and a short time later, a small fight broke out. One of the Wisps got hit in the head with a book and fell to the ground, ending the fight and the rest of the Wisps flew away while Tails stayed to help the injured Wisp. A G.U.N soldier came up to Tails and the Wisp, saw the Wisp, looked at Tails, and accused, "It's a very bad thing you did! You are in some serious trouble!"
Extremely terrified, Tails ran away and by the time he made it through the village back to Amy's house, it was dark. Knocking on the door, the window upstairs opened and Tails saw Sonic poke his head out, the cobalt hedgehog looking particularly annoyed. "Sonic says do you have any idea what time it is? I'm trying to sleep!" yelled Sonic.
"Please! Let me in!" Tails yelled back and Sonic mumbled something before he closed the window. Making a note that it was taking an unusually long time to get to the door, it left Tails with plenty of time to think about his naughty behavior and how it only caused him trouble and it was morning until Sonic finally came to unlock the door.
After the incident, Tails decided to change and in the next few weeks, he behaved well and went to school every single day, once again getting to the point where Sonic did not have to follow him everywhere. One day, Amy announced, "Tails. You are finally ready to become real and not be stuck as a puppet anymore."
"Really? You mean it?" Tails exclaimed with excitement and Amy nodded. "Can we have a party? And can I invite all my friends?"
"Of course. Just come back before it gets dark." Permitted Amy and Tails dashed away with a smile as Sonic followed him.
Tails searched for his friends, the first being a mischievous neutral Chao. After Tails explained the situation to the Chao, the Chao responded, "Chao! Chao chao chao chao chao, chao chao chao chao chao chao chao chao chao chao chao chao chao chao! Chao chao chao chao chao chao chao chao chao chao chao chao chao chao chao. Chao chao chao!"
"Congratulations. You would love to come, but you are going to a place where it is a holiday every day. There is something coming to take you and the others there tonight. And I should come?" Tails guessed and the Chao eagerly nodded. "I don't know…"
At that moment, an enormous pod full of Chao, Wisps, and many others floated by and stopped by the two boys and a rather round man jumped down. "Now, who's ready to go to a place full of fun and games?" the man proclaimed and jumped back on the pod with the Chao and after a few minutes, Tails joined them and the pod took off.
On the whole trip to wherever they were going, Tails felt guilty about leaving Amy, but the guilt disappeared when he saw all the games, rides, and sweets. Wanting to try everything, Tails rushed around, although he did make a note that the place seemed kinda "Eggmanish" and saw Blaze and Silver standing in a booth. Going over to them, Tails greeted with a smile, "Hi Blaze! Hi Silver! Isn't this place great?"
"You have to get out of here!" Silver responded.
Blaze continued, "You're in terrible danger!"
"From what?" asked Tails. Blaze and Silver looked at each other before they got out from behind the booth and Tails's eyes widened from shock as he saw the lower half of their bodies were robotic. "What?"
"You don't know the name of this place? This place is EggmanLand!" Silver explained.
"He's using this place to trick people into coming here, so he can make them into robots." Added Blaze.
"How do I get out of here?" Tails frantically asked.
"We don't know! We've been looking for it!" Silver answered. His eyes widened. "And it's starting to happen to you too!"
Looking over his body, Tails gave a panicked look as he saw the lower half of his body was robotic. "Sonic says you're screwed." He heard Sonic comment and saw the cobalt hedgehog standing behind him. He gestured at Blaze and Silver. "Sonic says just like them."
Glancing back at Blaze and Silver, he saw that the lavender cat and ivory hedgehog were now completely robotic. A few hours later, Tails met the same fate as Blaze and Silver and Eggman came up to him. Pushing Tails towards the edge of a cliff, Eggman looked over Tails and scowled. "Bah! This robot is useless!" Eggman stated and shoved Tails off the edge of a cliff into the thrashing waves of the sea before casually walking away. Plunging into the waves, Tails soon breached the surface. Seeing he was back to normal as the water washed over him, Tails frantically searched around to see Sonic standing on the cliff and yelled, "Sonic! I need help!"
"Sonic says you're on your own for this! I'm not going into the water!" Sonic shouted back and Tails yelled as a large wave carried him farther away from the shore until Sonic was out of sight.
Still lost in the ocean, Tails tried to fight the waves back to the shore, but soon stopped. Suddenly, something poked its head out of the water and roared, causing Tails to yelp in fear as he realized he was facing Iblis. Before he could do anything else, Iblis opened his mouth and Tails was sucked up into a whirlpool of water that went straight to Iblis's stomach. Stuck in the stomach, Tails frantically looked around and cried, "Help! Someone help!"
"Who's there?" he heard a familiar voice respond and Tails smiled as he saw Knuckles floating in his little boat.
"It's me! Tails!" shouted Tails.
Paddling to the boat, the Guardian of the Master Emerald helped pull Tails onto his boat. Knuckles greeted, "Little Buddy!"
"Knuckles! You're okay!"
"Course I am. Could really go for a Popsicle or something cold right about now, but now that we're both stuck in here…how are we gonna get out of here?"
"He'll cough us out."
"How?"
"You need to throw something at his uvula and he'll gag and we'll get out." Explained Tails.
"Sounds disgusting, but I guess we don't really have a choice." Replied Knuckles as he grabbed an oar and began to row to the designated spot.
Stopping as he saw his target, Knuckles took careful aim and threw the oar at the uvula. Like Tails predicted, Iblis gagged as the object hit his uvula and the pair yelled in surprise as a huge tidal wave pushed them out Iblis's mouth and sent them bouncing to shore. Getting out of the boat, Tails supported Knuckles as they journeyed back to the toy shop, Knuckles not doing so good after being stuck in a stomach for a few weeks. Reaching the toy shop after a few hours, Tails pushed Knuckles into bed and promised, "I'll take care of you until you're better. I'll go to school and I'll even work to make some money!"
"Holy macaroni Tails! You've completely changed!" exclaimed Knuckles.
Over the next few weeks, Tails followed through on what he said, taking care of Knuckles as he slowly recovered, going to school, and making small toys and other objects to sell. Luckily, Sonic did come and help him out a bit, but just enough to make sure that Tails did not stray away again. Once Knuckles was better, Knuckles and Tails began to have several bonding moments that even allowed Sonic to be in on. One day, Amy appeared out of thin air and looked between Knuckles, Sonic, and Tails before proclaiming with a smile, "Tails. With your tender care and hard work, you've proved that you've got a good heart. You can finally be real again!"
Tapping Tails on the nose with her wand, there was a blinding pink light and when the light faded away, Tails looked in the mirror and gave a dance of joy as he saw he was no longer a puppet, but back to his old self. The quartet heard a dinging noise and Amy, Knuckles, Sonic, and Tails dashed through the elevator doors before they slid shut.
Stopping on the other side as the elevator doors closed and the elevator began to move, Amy, Knuckles, Sonic, and Tails saw Blaze, Rouge, and Silver waiting for them. Looking at Tails, Sonic remarked, "Finally! I'm sick of saying "Sonic says this" and "Sonic says that"! And Tails." He looked at his best friend as Tails looked at him. "You should really listen to someone when they say it's a bad idea."
"You don't listen when someone says that." Tails pointed out and Sonic was silent for a moment.
"Touché." Replied Sonic.
"Well, it definitely wasn't pleasant being a robot." Commented Blaze as the group looked at each other.
"I'll say," Silver agreed, "that is something I can DEFINITELY live without."
"Well, at least you weren't stuck in a stomach for a few weeks. THAT is unpleasant." Knuckles responded.
"Oh, please. Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark." Rouge teased and Knuckles clenched his teeth as he muttered something.
"I wonder what's going to happen to us next." Remarked Amy and everyone looked around as they heard a creaking noise and the elevator had stopped.
Suddenly, there was a slight, yet sharp jerk and everyone yelled and they grabbed onto something as the elevator began to plunge towards the ground at high speed.
Some comments from me:
Tails is Pinocchio because Tails can't lie to save his tails and he had a doll, so he might as well be a puppet.
Sonic is the cricket because of his Sonic says segment.
Mephiles is the puppeteer because that's just how it goes.
Iblis is the shark because again, that's just how it goes in this story. Again, how does he survive in the water…that's just how it goes.
Rouge charming her way to get a drink: I figure Rouge would charm her way to get a drink.
Elevator plunging to the ground: It's the Tower of Terror all over again! Oh, and it's a great ride as well.
Okay, that's enough from me.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review!