A/N: Hey everyone! It's TGN here with a new story! This is actually a follow-up to my Sonic Forces rewrite titled Revengeful Resistance. Because of this, I would highly recommend reading that story first to understand the events leading up to this. If you've already read it, kudos to you, and thanks for checking it out! Otherwise, things might sound confusing for newcomers. Most of all, it spoils a major difference in my rewrite versus what was portrayed in the game. That's pretty much all I wanted to say before we begin. Other than that, I hope you enjoy my short side-story: My Own Worst Enemy.
Disclaimer: Any copyrights of Sonic the Hedgehog and all the other characters are owned by SEGA. Image cover is made by LightningChaos2010 on DeviantArt.*
Chapter 1: Silence
~Resistance HQ
The morning sun peeked over the horizon, gleaming over the destroyed skyline of Red Gate City. Its rays passed through the windows of the Revengeful Resistance's headquarters, reflecting near the eyes of a sleeping individual. Soon, his eyelids slowly blinked, squinting at the yellow shine. He sat up from his bed.
"Mmm... Ah!" he stretched his arms out before smiling. "Another day, another chili dog to chow down on."
It wasn't exactly a common phrase for anyone to say. But for Sonic the Hedgehog, it had been a routine for him every time he woke up to a brand-new day.
Instead of being in his shared home at the Mystic Ruins, he was resting in the Resistance HQ, located in the outskirts of Red Gate City, for the past month. That was because he and his friends were still rebuilding Mobius since the end of the Phantom Ruby War. While many soldiers have mourned the losses of their friends and family, they knew they had to move on and begin anew. Sonic was one of the main people to forget most of what happened. Still, the memories lingered every now and then, especially since he was one of the main targets of Eggman's sinister plan for world domination. Then again, the doctor always tried to beat him. It was just the torture he suffered gave him goosebumps.
All hope seemed to be lost over half a year ago. But thankfully, Sonic and his pals were able to take back their home planet, with some special thanks to a pair of wolves named Savage and Raff whom they befriended. Sonic did his best to push the negatives aside and avoid any conversations that were related to the past. For a while, there were only two things he had in mind: restore the rest of Mobius and make sure his friends were doing fine. Most notably, Tails.
Speaking of which, Sonic glanced over at the adjoining bed in his apartment room. The back of the kitsune's head was all he could see as it was resting against the pillow. His body slowly shifted up and down beneath the comforter. Lightly snoring, his little brother was still asleep.
"Tails..." his lips slightly stretched into a frown.
Frankly, the only issue that the hedgehog couldn't move past from the war was him. The previous events were too gruesome that, from the very beginning, Sonic had no idea what Eggman was trying to pull off. It eventually led to the shocking revelation that the sadistic man tortured the twin-tailed prodigy long before him. The problem was that he didn't know what the evil man truly accomplished until six months later when Shadow was the one to spill the beans.
His heart twinged once more as the notion repeated in his head. Tails had been transformed into the jackal that defeated him in this very city. He originally thought that he was gone from this world. He couldn't bear to lose him. However, there was another thing that always scared him deep within his heart.
Hurting him.
Whether it was physical, emotional, or mental, he couldn't deny the fact that he did indeed hurt his little buddy. Multiple times, in fact.
They both barely made it out alive after their own fight, and they also survived the blast of Eggman's Ultimate Death Egg Robot in Null Space. Afterward, they had a private conversation with each other, expressing their fears and thoughts about the future. Since then, they were experiencing the same daily routine: wake up and help to revamp Mobius.
So far, there were a few positives. Eggman's defeat forced him to be quiet, so there was nothing new in terms of danger. A few zones have been fully recovered, but there was more ground to renovate – especially Red Gate City. Everyone had been working together without any complications... unless Amy was bossing around and threatening people with her hammer. Sonic recalled that Shadow nearly got whacked in the face when he subtly mocked her for acting dictatorial.
A soft chuckle escaped his lips. "Never change, Shads."
Tails faintly moaned in his bed, moving ever so slightly beneath the covers. Looking at the alarm clock, it was already three minutes past seven o'clock. As much Sonic didn't mind to lie in his bed a little longer, it was already time to freshen up and continue from where they left off last night. Removing the sheets off his legs, Sonic got up from his mattress and laid a hand on Tails' shoulder.
"Hey, Tails. Rise and shine, little bro," he shook the fox gently.
Another groan came from him. His eyelids struggled to open as the sun shined through the windowpane. His blue eyes barely made out Sonic's figure standing next to him.
"What time is it?" he spoke, muffled from the pillow.
"Only 7:03."
"Ugh..." he brought the covers over his head to shield his eyes from the sun.
"C'mon, Tails, it's a new day. We got a lot ahead for us, so we better not waste more time."
"Okay, Sonic," he sighed. As he sat up, the bangs on his forehead were disheveled, protruding in different directions.
"Still tired, bro?"
"What do you think?" he asked sarcastically.
"Well, maybe some breakfast will fuel you up. I recall some leftover mint chocolate chip cookies lying in the kitchen pantry. If you don't shower quickly, who knows if they'll be gone before you can munch on some?"
"Unless Charmy hates mint, they're probably already gone."
"Well, what if I was hungry for some cookies?"
Tails shrugged – or rather, he made an attempt to do so since his shoulders were stiff. "Then you beat me to them. They're not my cookies."
"I was sure that would entice him," Sonic thought to himself. "Tell you what. I'll fix up some plates for both of us. You can go take a shower, and we'll go out for a peaceful stroll before meeting up with Knuckles and the others. Does that sound good to you?"
"Maybe," Tails replied groggily, rubbing his white muzzle with his gloved hand.
"That's it? Just a 'maybe'? Come on, bro. I'm kinda looking for a direct answer from you," he tried to make a joke, albeit he knew he wasn't acting that humorous.
With another sigh, Tails squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Alright then. I'll meet you down in the kitchen."
The fox lazily removed the sheets off his body and ambled out of the room. When he was out of sight, Sonic frowned, shaking his head with eyes closed. All he wanted to do was lift his spirits up and make him feel happy. Yet every morning, he was always silent and unenthusiastic. Even when they were busy working, Tails rarely engaged in conversations with anyone. He always remained isolated from the group and continued to complete his assigned tasks.
But that wasn't the only thing Sonic had noticed.
Whenever a Resistance member or one of his friends acclaimed him that he was doing a good job, he only thanked them with a nod – without saying a single word. Yet his facial expressions felt like he didn't deserve any praise. Plus, whenever Sonic asked to converse with him, Tails politely refused and went off to do his other tasks. He was pushing himself to be sedulous without taking a break, regardless if he, Knuckles, or anyone else tells him otherwise. Whenever he was forced to rest, he either went off alone or rested in the dormitories in solitude. Tails didn't bother to speak to anyone.
Not to Knuckles. Not to Amy. Not to Blaze. Not to anyone on Team Dark or the Chaotix. Not to the rookies who have helped the Resistance. Not even to his big brother.
It felt somewhat uncharacteristic of him to act this way that it was starting to bother Sonic. But most of all, he was upset.
"I really want to help him out. But how can I do that if he's pushing me to the side?" he despondently thought, crossing his arms over his chest while staring at the floor.
Looking back at the conversation he had with him on the roof, he remembered how Tails admitted that he couldn't forgive himself for the damage he had instigated to all of the fallen soldiers and citizens who lost their lives during the war. Not only that, but he was very guilty for treating Sonic horribly the entire time. The hedgehog knew better though. It was the Phantom Ruby that made him act like a ruthless monster. The Tails he knew and prospered was nowhere close to what he saw when the fox became Infinite.
The Blue Blur was just as guilty, but for his own reasons. It felt as if Tails completely lost all of his confidence and credibility to be an asset to the team. He was depressed that he hasn't helped out Sonic very much, but that was mostly because the hedgehog left him behind on occasion to keep him safe. It was on again, off again that his little buddy tagged along to stop Eggman's schemes or any kind of threat that befell upon them. The more he realized all of those times that he was alone, the more frustrated he became with himself.
"All he wants to do is to prove his worth, yet I'm acting so overprotective that I'm hardly giving him any chances. But whenever I do let him join my side, there's always a moment where he seems useless. I don't want him to feel that way. Yet at the same time, I don't want him to be caught up in the middle of something hazardous. Losing him is the last thing I want, and that's what nearly happened because of me. But what about his well-being? I can't let him wallow in silence and misery forever. Damn my indecisiveness."
Things could've been entirely different if Eggman didn't kidnap Tails and make him become a villain. Sonic had this thought lingering in the back of his mind that he could've resolved this situation long before the war. It was too late to turn back the clock though. He made a goal to not only restore his home, but to also restore his best friend's self-esteem.
The question is, how was he going to do that?
Sonic stared back at the clock, realizing that he had been subconsciously standing there for nearly ten minutes. Shaking his head, he went over to the bathroom to freshen himself up before heading down to fix some breakfast for him and Tails, as he promised.
Almost a half-hour rolled by as Sonic was finishing up on the food. He ran into a few members of the Resistance in the HQ, including the Resistance leader himself.
"Had a good night's sleep?" Knuckles asked as he poured himself a glass of grape juice.
"Yeah, it was pretty good," Sonic slightly grinned while flipping a pancake in the air. "So, where's our next assignment gonna take place?"
"Well, we still have some spots around Red Gate to rebuild. I've got Savage, Raff, and a few others who are gonna work on the iron bridge. All of those girders and railings have been rusted and worn out that they kept falling apart. At least the whole bridge has been mostly stable so that it hasn't collapsed into the river."
"True that. Back when Shadow, Omega, and I raced there to beat that Metal Sonic clone, there were so many gaps and obstacles to avoid. I was actually worried that I was gonna fall through a hole and drown!"
"I do recall that. It was right after I led everyone into Operation Big Wave before it all went downhill. While I slept in, you guys handled those Death Egg Sentinels."
"Sure did! With the power of our double boost, those big bots weren't even intimidating! Oh yeah, want some pancakes?"
"No thanks. I already ate my breakfast."
"Ok. Tails and I are gonna fill up our appetites, go for a morning walk, and come back here for our jobs."
"Sounds like a plan," the Commander nodded his head. "Say, by the way, how is he doing?"
Sonic paused from cooking as he stared at the sizzling pan. His face grimaced, stretching his lips to the side. Eventually, he faced his red-furred friend.
"Well, can I ask you this first? Have you been noticing how quiet he's been?"
"Um... maybe," Knuckles shrugged. "I might be inattentive at times, but I've been studying his body language sparingly. He's been either soft-spoken or silent throughout our workdays and rarely participates in our team discussions."
"That's what I was thinking. I know he started off as an introvert for obvious reasons. But since we've grown, he was open to spark up an idea or engage with our friends like we normally do. It's just that... since we finally ousted Eggman and his empire, he's becoming a bit more distant from all of us, especially me."
"I mean, it's evident why you're upset about it."
"You think?" Sonic lowered an eyebrow.
"Hey, I'm on your side here!" defended Knuckles. "Trust me, I've been seeing how he hasn't been his normal self after his enslavement. Of course it was going to affect him in a traumatic way. He's nine years old after all."
Sonic blinked before scratching his head. "Nine? Oh, shoot... I literally forgot about his birthday. Wait... That means... I also turned a year older! I'm sixteen for Chaos' sake!"
"We all technically turned a year older if you put it that way."
"Geez... The war was just way too impactful that I wasn't even thinking about our personal lives. I can't believe I spent my sixteenth birthday in prison, and I forgot about it!"
"Didn't we say we were going to let all of this stuff slide and move on?" reminded Knuckles.
Sonic realized his point, shaking his head. Simultaneously, he panicked when he heard the smoke alarms go off. He left the stove on while the pancakes were burning. Knuckles rolled his eyes and hurriedly got the fire extinguisher. He doused the flames as the pancakes were completely burnt.
"Aw, man! Now I have to start all over again!"
"I'll clean this up," Knuckles offered. "But as I was saying, as much as it's hard to get past this, I know Tails will rebound at some point. If I'll be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if it could take a whole year or even longer for him to forgive and forget. He's still a kid, and it's not fair that he has to live with a burden on his shoulders."
Sonic slouched his shoulders. "I'm just having a hard time figuring out what to do. I don't want him to return to the kid I met back when he was being picked on. He deserves way better because of his potential."
"You may be a dolt, but you're smart to come up with a decision for these kinds of situations."
"Is that supposed to be an insult?" his green eyes narrowed.
"Take it however you want. I'm just saying that if there's anyone who could cheer him up, it's you."
The blue hedgehog's face became neutral as his mindset focused on the fox again. He knew that he had to fix this situation as soon as possible.
"I know you can do something about it. Regardless of how long it takes, getting him back to his true self is what matters in the end. Besides, seeing Tails be quiet for so damn long is freaking me out."
"And that's exactly how I feel," Sonic frowned, glancing back at the blackened flapjacks.
END OF CHAPTER
Since I got more experienced with writing, I normally have chapters that have a minimum of 3000 words, not including Author's Notes. But on rare occasions, I'll have a short chapter here and there to use as a preface or something like that. Frankly, I don't know how long this story will be, but it's not going to be as huge as Revengeful Resistance. This is more of a spinoff while focusing on my favorite two Sonic characters since I always wanted to write a fanfiction primarily starring them.
In case if anyone is wondering, Savage and Raff are a pair of Avatar wolves I implemented in my Forces rewrite. They were basically a mirrored version of Sonic and Tails with a few personality differences. Although I mentioned them here, they won't be as major as the Inseparable Duo.
Another thing to note is that uploads are more than likely going to be sporadic since I've been busy with other projects and schoolwork.
To conclude, I hope you enjoyed this intro, and I'll see you whenever I upload Ch. 2 of My Own Worst Enemy. If you're interested, you're more than welcome to drop a favorite and/or follow on this story. You can also review to let me know how this one went. Other than that, I hope you all take care and stay safe out there! This is TGN, signing off.