A/N: Special thanks to Noonui for proofreading this final chapter! Let's close the books on this short story, shall we?
Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Sonic the Hedgehog.
Chapter 4: What Really Happened?
Once I reached home, the first thing I checked was the garage. The Tornado was situated inside, giving me a little breathing room to verify he wasn't out flying. But was he really here, or did he venture out on foot?
Heading inside the house, the only noises I heard were my own footsteps creaking on the wooden floorboards. There was no sight of him in the living room or the kitchen. My gut then told me to search downstairs in his basement workshop, so that's where my feet led me. When I didn't see any light from the entrance, I flipped the switch and made it halfway down the stairs. He was nowhere to be found.
"Weird. I would've bet this would be where he was hiding."
Making my way back up, I decided to head toward our separate bedrooms. Surprisingly, I noticed from the top step that his door was ajar. Curious, I snuck a glance and peered at what stood before me.
Tails, with his back facing me, was sitting on the edge of his bed while looking at the window directly in front of him. His namesakes were scrunched up, protectively curling around his body. I don't know if he heard me walk up here, but both of us were frozen in our current stances.
And to my shock, I wasn't the one who broke the silence.
"You can come in, Sonic," Tails whispered with a deep sigh.
Heeding his words, I gulped. This was the first time in a while since he directly spoke to me, even if I didn't see him eye-to-eye – literally speaking. Either way, I slowly trudged into his room, making my way around the foot of the bed. With an open space to his left, I sat back on the firm mattress, nearly sitting on the tip of his tail. It retracted from the sudden contact.
"Sorry," I apologized.
"Don't be," he quickly followed. "In fact, you shouldn't be sorry. I... I did it again."
"Did what again?"
Many potential answers were roaming in my head on what he could say. Whether it was the constant ignoring, the defensive attitude, the fibbing... Whatever it was, I knew he felt guilty. Believe me, I knew how badly Tails struggled with his emotions, especially if it involved hurting his friends – myself included.
When he didn't respond to my question, I observed his face. He had his hands close to each other, occasionally scratching either his fingers or the dorsal side of his gloves. Tails also stared down at his shoes, his right foot no longer in a boot as it also healed up during our disconnection. Both of his eyes expressed a distinct shade of blue. Well, I mean, they are blue, but what I was referring to was how dull they appeared. There weren't any signs of positivity, encouragement, or life in his eyes. He just looked... miserable.
"Tails..." I vigilantly uttered. "What's wrong, buddy?"
The next ten seconds felt like a blur to me. I never expected him to tilt his head toward mine, showing those gloomy, azure eyes at me. The next thing I knew, I was about to open my mouth to continue until I felt a giant force tightening my body. My heart felt constricted as it beat faster than before. Two arms wrapped around me with his head nestled into my shoulder. Then, my body shook to the core. Not just from Tails who was already quivering, but I also felt goosebumps – several chills running down my spine.
Oh, boy. I needed this more than you know.
I lifted my own arms and held my little buddy, bringing him closer than ever. Honestly, I didn't want to let him go. Being with Tails was something I couldn't take for granted. In fact, I secretly cherished it every day. I valued his presence and well-being more than my own, ensuring he was being prospered under my care. As thoughtful as it sounded, it was sort of a bit selfish to a degree. Basically, I trust the guy more than anyone. He had been my rock – a strong and dependent one – for generations, and I couldn't have asked for a better person to be around since I started tearing up robots in Green Hill.
To share an embrace with my buddy, I could never turn down a meaningful gesture. Again, having something like this made things a whole lot better. The tension on my shoulders had slowly lifted away thanks to him, removing the unwanted weight that was constantly holding me down. But not all of it was gone.
"I... I messed up," his voice muffled from my shoulder.
"For what?" I queried, slowly breaking up the hug. "By ignoring me? By keeping yourself away from me? I know this is like déjà vu to us, but I don't think-"
"No... It's..." Pausing, he let out an exasperated sigh. "It's not that... Although, I should apologize for doing that to you again when I shouldn't have."
"Well, to finish my thought, I can't care less about it. I know you've gone through some rough patches here and there, and I totally get it if you need time to yourself. Still, that doesn't change the fact I'm worried about you."
A lifeless laugh escaped from Tails' mouth as he shook his head. "Funny. This definitely feels like everything during and after the war. Old habits die hard, I suppose. Nothing seems to change with the way I screw things up."
"Whoa, hey now," I quickly stopped him. "In what way have you 'screwed up'? For all I know, you were the one who took me to the hospital when I was conked out."
What I perceived next was a little twitch. The tip of his nose scrunched up while the eyelids lowered a quarter of the way down into a confused, and somewhat disturbed, manner. I was starting to think, not to mention beginning to confirm my suspicions. There was clearly more to the story that I'm not aware of.
"How much do you know?"
I blinked once. "Hmm?"
He softly reiterated, "How much do you know?"
Do you know how bad it was to hear him talk when I could detect the pain in his question? I was neither thrilled nor prepared for what he was about to say. First things first, I proceeded with caution.
"Well, for starters, I knew I woke up from a coma, and that originated during our last encounter with Eggman. Apparently, I went Dark." I stopped for a moment and realized Tails' eyes were slightly enlarged. Okay, I was getting somewhere. "Although I didn't remember at first, I eventually found out."
Tails audibly gulped. "From who?"
Shaking my head and letting out an annoyed groan, I replied, "None other than the robot whisperer himself."
I couldn't tell if my little bro was shocked, unsurprised, or something in the middle. Clearly, he was not giving any visual hints that gave his cover away. But I still needed to dig for more information.
"And get this, Eggman was going all over the place, saying my Dark energy caused me to go completely wack. According to him, I basically threatened him after you got blown up in an explosion while trying to save me. Except you weren't the one who fell unconscious for an extended period. I was the one who got the worst end of the stick. Like you said, you took me to the hospital and saved my life. For all I know, everything he mentioned is nothing but a bunch of bologna, and I should also-"
"Sonic," Tails interrupted my rant. I was on such a roll describing all the bullcrap Eggman threw out the window until I heard my name. Just when I was about to question him, his expression caught my attention.
His eyes were squeezed shut, his fists were shaking while clenched, and his namesakes were on edge, swaying back and forth in agitation.
"Stop it. Just... stop," he directed with his ears folded back. "You were right."
Not sure what he meant by that. "Right about what? You mean all the things Eggman told me? That it was fake?"
Squeezing the bridge of his nose, he huffed, "No, I was hiding and avoiding you this entire time, all for a stupid reason. Sonic, did you at least believe Eggman when he explained about your Dark persona?"
Narrowing my eyes, I had to think long and carefully about it since he was being very serious. Once I was firm on my answer, I adamantly stayed put.
"No. I knew for a fact he caused this to happen, and everything he depicted made absolutely no sense! Out of all the times I could've taken his word, this was one of the easiest ones to turn down and deny his claims. There was no way he did that stuff to you, and there's no way I went ballistic in front of him! ...Right?" I ended with a touch of uncertainty.
Tails did not reply immediately. The only thing that changed in his expression was his eyes being half-lidded. Not only did he appear exhausted, but he also seemed frustrated with the whole conversation. Begging for some straight answers, I was forced to pull out the truth card.
"Buddy... Can you please tell me everything? What exactly happened?"
Sitting on this bed while waiting for him to talk was honestly driving me crazy. I wasn't going to settle down until I found out what caused me to land in the hospital. Tails scratched the back of his neck nervously, held in a cough, and opened his eyes with a scary expression.
"All I saw was darkness, Sonic. It wasn't just from your episode that you had with Eggman. But yes, it's true that you went Dark."
"When I got surrounded by Eggman's baddies, you did what you always do: putting others in front of you. By the time you got close, his secret army was released to attack you. From there, you kept getting hurt as I watched the whole thing fall apart. The worst part about it in my eyes though... was thinking I was the one who caused your collapse again."
...
"Sonic, no!"
"Ugh, kinda petty to go right after me when all I'm doing is helping my friend, Eggman!"
"Your definition of 'petty' seems to be another dictionary, because the term I would like to use is 'astute'! HOHOHOHOHOHO!"
...
"Despite the smirk on your face and the confidence you possessed, it didn't last for long as those Badniks beat you up fiercely. As I was struggling with my own problem, you had it worse. Eggman was doing everything in his power to recreate the Red Gate City invasion to the point where he wanted to see you nearly dead on your stomach...
"You attempted to convince me to save myself, seeking shelter and running away from the problem. I couldn't just do that to you, not when my best friend was in dire trouble. So, I fought even harder, wiping out the enemies near me and making a push toward your circle. While many Moto Bugs tried to whitewash me, I walloped them with my tails. Then, another Badnik was rolling from my right-hand side when I got closer to you. Out of instinct, I jumped in the air and did a spin-dash. I would eventually regret my decision."
...
"Tails! Tails, answer me! Tails, please!"
...
"I did blow up from the rigged Moto Bug, and yes, I also became insentient after the explosion. Thankfully, I didn't lose consciousness for long. I knew you would react in such a way. Despite some difficulties, I did wake up. Thereafter, everything flashed in front of me from several feet away. Your hands were squeezing Eggman's collar tightly, pulling him up to your face as your entire body became a freaky shade of navy blue – a clear distinction from your normal, cobalt fur. The eyes within your sclera began to shrink before abruptly vanishing in mere seconds. Your tone sounded deeper than Shadow's, much deeper in fact. It was honestly frightening to hear you from my vantage point...
"You may have had your angry moments with the doctor, but it felt like this was the final straw. After hearing the ire in your voice, you looked hellbent on killing Eggman for good this time. I never thought you would go so low, yet at the same time, your Dark Chaos energy seemed to negatively influence your mind. However, I think my near death was also the culprit to blame. Before you were about to throw a handful of fist punches, I did something horrendous to intervene."
"Horrendous?" I echoed. If he managed to wake up and saw me in my Dark form, then that explained why he had been avoiding me, let alone avoiding the topic of what occurred before my admission. Whatever it was, I'm sure he didn't do anything that bad. He may be a reliable partner of mine, but he wouldn't-
"I blew you up."
My head jerked to the right in a Sonic second. "What?"
Clearly, he didn't mean what he said, right? I mean, he probably meant to say something like, 'I blew my opportunity.' Yeah, he would never-
"I blew you up... with a Moto Bug bomb."
Mmm... Maybe that's smart talk for, um... He tried to save me from another explosion, and I somehow got stuck in the blast radius? Therefore, I lost my consciousness, broke a few bones, and then-
"Sonic, I can tell you're trying to twist my words in your head. How straightforward do I need to be for you to understand the kind of iniquity I deployed?"
Anna-quit-sy? What did he say? Anna... Ina... In a... Kwik-E? Mart? No, wait... Was it something similar to like, 'back in a jiffy'? No, that wouldn't make sense based on the context. This was why I didn't take English tests. They only slowed me and my brain down when I got the need for spe-
"INIQUITY, SONIC! IT MEANS I COMMITTED AN IMMORAL ACT, DAMN IT!"
Yeesh, got the message now!
After he explained it to me, or rather yelled at me, I got out of my trivial trance and returned to the real world. Tails quickly dissolved his anger into disappointment, lowering his head as he couldn't gaze into my eyes yet again. His fur was disheveled, including the bangs on his forehead. He curled his arms near his ears like he was curling up for a spin-dash. I just couldn't believe it. I'm not gonna lie, I was still having trouble processing the whole thing. But if what Tails said was true, then... I couldn't go back to the pit of denial, can I?
"Sonic, I..." My head faced him whereas his remained put. "I shouldn't have done that to you, except it felt like I had no choice but to prevent you from going haywire. You had never treated Eggman like that, not even at your worst state when you were held prisoner for half a year. Sure, you had your bouts of teasing him and trying to hold back from any weaknesses. But when you displayed pure anger, it never amounted to what I just witnessed last month. Whether or not your captivity had triggered a feeling in your head, it was... horrifying... So horrifying to the point where my body froze on the ground as you threatened to finish him off there...
"Although, I didn't stay frozen. I had to stop the madness before it was too late."
"Right before you were about to sucker punch the living crap out of him, I got off the ground as fast as I could, kicked a nearby Moto Bug, and located the hidden button that would cause the detonation – all while I was severely aching from ear to toe. I could've just screamed at you to stop, but you were more focused on the jaundiced solution."
...
"You're one to talk, Doctor."
"Sonic, wait! Please!"
"ARRRRRRGH!"
...
"I tossed the Moto Bug and hoped it would land button-down for the explosion to pause your menacing conundrum. As it bounced off the metal floor toward you, the button was finally triggered. The blast was strong enough to knock you out senseless. Eggman was also affected, not as badly as you though. When I saw you lying on the ground, I began to regret my decision. Still, the bomb sort of brought you back to your normal state as your fur slowly returned to the blue I knew from the beginning. Of course, your eyes were closed as you lost all sense of feeling. Not even your fingers, arms, or legs twitched, failing to show any signs of living. The only thing that kept me sane was your pulse...
"And damn it... I was too heartbroken to come up with words as I held you."
"Eventually, I locked eyes with Robotnik. Neither of us had said anything since, but the look on his face showed he was dumbstruck, irritated, relieved, or a combination of all three. I gave him a serious stare afterward."
...
"He's alive... But I'm not letting you hurt him even more... unless you really want to see the light flash before your eyes."
"Absolutely not. I'll begrudgingly accept defeat. You win this battle, even if it costs you a soul."
"I mean it, Eggman. After he wakes up, the second you two cross paths with each other, do not, I repeat, do NOT tell him what happened. The last thing I want is to see him break down again only to come back to you guys where one is a crazy psychopath and the other has a heart that stops beating. You should know who is what in this situation."
...
"Eggman looked like he wanted to add something sly in response to my demand. However, he held back, abiding by my wish with a firm nod. From there, I let him go, allowing him to clean up the mess as he shut down his Badnik army with his remote control...
"Meanwhile, I did my best to carry you back to the Tornado. It really wasn't easy, especially when my tails were sore and my foot was in severe pain. I had no choice but to drag you to the plane all the way outside his base. Despite my poor effort, I got you seated and secured in the passenger seat. Once I fired up the Tornado, I took a glance from behind, gazed at your sleeping form for a few seconds, and composed myself to fly back home. All I could do was ask for a favor, praying to Chaos that you would be okay and recover sooner than later...
"Late that night, I admitted you to the hospital. The doctors and nurses did everything they could – setting up wires, machines, and everything else that was mandatory to monitor your vitals and keep you alive. During that hassle, Dr. Beaker checked up on me. I told him I was much more worried about you than my injured foot or head trauma. While he did take care of me, I wasn't the one lying in bed, unconscious. Every passing second would fly by until the minutes and hours accumulated. When it became a few days, I clung onto hope as that heart monitor kept beeping at a slow and steady rhythm. Then, a week rolled by, followed by another. You didn't move once, not even a pinky toe. The doctors kept consoling me, stayed by my side, and did everything to keep my spirits high while you were convalescing...
"The thing is, I never lost faith in you. I knew you would come back. On the other hand, I knew I lost almost everything that day because of me. The worst part about it was how I was going to explain the whole thing to you in detail. Me and my cowardice was to blame, although it was mainly myself for not owning up to my mistakes...
"I hated it. I completely hated it. More importantly, I hated myself for nearly killing you. And that wasn't the first time it happened..."
"Looking back, I shouldn't have let history repeat itself. I should've opened up to you much sooner. But I didn't, because every time I tried to face you, all I could see was the demon from within. No matter what I say or what I do, your Dark form was always clouding my mind. It made me hallucinogenic, baffled, intimidated, even all three. The point is, I couldn't keep my eyes on you for two seconds without seeing your shadow come to life. It was almost as if... I got stuck in a trance of... Virtual Reality..."
Tails gulped halfway through his last statement, and I never thought his fears would culminate like this. The idea of him facing illusions of myself was horrid to imagine. Then again, after talking about our issues during the war, that was when I found out about all the times I or my evil clone tried to get into Tails' head. Berating him, fighting him, abusing him... Ooh, even I shuddered at the thought.
Leaning my head forward, barely peering at this crestfallen expression, I hesitantly continued the conversation. "So, all those times you avoided me when we got home from the hospital, you only did it because... you were nervous around me?"
He blinked twice in silence before shifting his right hand over his opposite wrist. "I guess that's one way to put it. In the back of my mind, I was screaming at myself to get it over with. Of course, look where that got me. I guess I preferred to not be reminded of what caused your anger to boil up. Unfortunately, I failed that objective on numerous occasions. All I did was avoid triggering your Dark energy at the expense of straining our friendship."
"Like the time you went down to your workshop to clean, right?"
His fingers wrapped around his left thumb, squeezing it tightly as he did everything he could to maintain a straight face. "Honestly, yeah. I tried to do anything to keep my mind off of those memories. But every now and then, your Dark self kept replaying in my mind. Next thing I knew, I either so much time standing around in one spot or not doing anything."
"After you were done, you went up to your room to sleep it off. You didn't really seem keen to change your mind."
"I hardly got any rest that night, too. Nightmares and such," he moped.
"You never bothered to come to me for company. Then again, if you did approach me, you would... back away from me?"
Tails closed his eyes and nodded in shame, confirming the answer.
"When I yelled at you the next morning, did you get any visions of my Dark self?"
"Uh... How do I put this? Your unadulterated rage brought back memories of when you were inches away from Eggman's face. In your defense, you wouldn't have released that anger if I hadn't pushed your buttons or acted neutral about the whole thing. I'm sorry about that again."
I bit my bottom lip in disgust. Tails never meant to act that way toward me, and my impulsiveness just burst like a poorly constructed dam. Either way, it was too late to reverse our actions.
"Tails... I know you lied about eating your breakfast that same day. I caught a peek of your plate remaining intact before you dumped everything in the trash."
My bro wasn't in denial this time. He accepted the cold reality that he was caught red-handed, swallowing a guilty gulp. "Yeah, it's true."
"Did you at least eat anything afterward? Especially over the last few weeks as you kept your distance from me?"
"If I was hungry, I only ate a small snack or caved into my mint stash in my bedroom drawer. Otherwise, I can't recall having a proper meal in so long. Now that you mention it, I regret not eating any of those chili dogs you made."
"Maybe I should go make some to lighten the mood."
"Nah, it's fine." Tails sounded sad from that statement, but I did notice a tiny smile on his face, which was a cool sign for me. "Anyway, I regret not telling you the truth until now. Plus, I'm embarrassed to mention this, but... I managed to talk to Amy and Knuckles about it first."
"Oh yeah? What did they say?"
Frankly, I wasn't too upset that he asked for outside help. The fact that he even engaged in conversations with some of our pals was encouraging – both for him and me.
"They told me to be honest with you. After they were out of the loop about everything going on, both of them understood where I was coming from. Simultaneously though, Amy wasn't too pleased with the fact that I was temporarily cutting ties with you. As much as I wanted to confess, I kept chickening out. Knuckles also agreed that bottling up my thoughts was too unhealthy for my mind if I didn't explain the problem that's been eating me up inside. If I had learned anything from my friends, it was mainly because of the aftermath of the Phantom Ruby War. I need to be more open to you whenever I'm in distress. Albeit, I failed to achieve that notion after our last battle... because..."
Tails stuttered, failing to complete his sentence as he began to choke on his words. He repeatedly let out breath after breath, doing his best not to bawl. It was pretty simple for me how to follow up. I reached over with my right arm, pulled him close to me, and allowed him to shed any tears that were begging to cascade down his eyes. I whispered sweet nothings to him, assuring my little buddy that he shouldn't accept full blame for this matter.
"I'm sorry, Tails. I never meant to scare you like that. It's only because I don't want anything bad to happen to you."
A slight sniffle later, Tails wrapped his arms around me once more. He then mumbled, "Ditto to you. I don't like seeing things go wrong for you, too. I'm just glad you're safe and alive."
"Same here, pal. Same here."
The moonlight passed through the window, shining down on us as the night rolled by into the late hours. Although I was pretty exhausted today, I simply rejected the idea of leaving Tails' side when he needed it. To be fair, I wanted this as well, even though we just had a similar embrace about ten minutes ago.
Who cares about it? Apparently, me. Now leave me and my pal alone for a moment.
...
...
...
"Thanks, Sonic," Tails whispered.
The moment technically hadn't ended yet, but the silence was broken. I glanced down at the amber fox and smiled at him. "You're welcome, buddy. Thanks for finally taking the time to tell me everything."
"Of course, you deserved to know."
"Speaking of which, how good was I whooping Egghead's butt as per usual?"
The second I exuberated my cockiness, Tails separated from our hug and he did not hesitate to scoff at me. "Way to ruin the sentimental feeling right now, big bro."
"Heh, what can I say? I can't help myself!" I shrugged my shoulders.
"Yeah, well, just promise that when you go wild on Baldy, don't let your temper get the best of you."
"I'll try not to, buddy."
Tails timidly nodded. "I appreciate you not blowing up in front of me. Sorry about everything again."
Shaking my head, I replied, "No need to apologize anymore. We'll get it over with, even if it takes days or weeks."
A genuine grin shined on his face. It was such a reassuring thing to see from him. "Thanks, bro. I'll try to get past it at some point."
"And you can take as much time as you need. No matter what, I want to be there for you."
Wrapping my arm around his body, I allowed him to lean on my shoulder for support. We sat still in complete silence as the moon camouflaged behind the clouds, dimming Tails' room. It didn't take long for us to get very tired, and I was so exhausted that I didn't feel like getting up and retiring to my own room. We both agreed to take it easy the rest of the night, lying our heads against the pillows by the headboard. At the very least, this was the first time we hung out together since I got struck with temporary amnesia. But I would do anything, even if I had to give up the world or even my speed, to make sure nothing would separate us – not even a fight or a nightmare.
For now, the only darkness we both fell to was the deep sleep. As our bodies shut down, we kept each other's company throughout the night. By next morning, I was sure things would slowly return to normal.
But if my little buddy refused to eat breakfast the next morning, well, heh... Let's just say I'm not letting it happen again. If push comes to shove, I planned to sneak a few mints on his breakfast plate.
END OF STORY