The team found their way back to the field, Amy holding a pie. "Tails! We're back. Sticks won, and we got some pie for you." They had felt bad about making the kit miss the pie festival, the kid loved sweets, but he needed to replant the berry trees. Sonic knew he'd meant well when he made that berry-picking machine, but he'd still destroyed the whole orchard.
But when they came back, the kit was nowhere to be found. "He's gone."
The seeds suddenly grow into giant piranha plants, roaring at them. Tails what have you done?
They figured the fox had just gone home until Sticks found an envelope inviting him to the Lightning Bolt Society.
Sonic recognized that name. "Wait, aren't those the crooks who are always stealing from the village fruit stand?"
Knuckles scratched his head. "They've clearly mistaken Tails for a lemon. What fools." The echidna made that mistake one too many times.
The blue hedgehog looked at the piranha plants who were roaring at them again. "You Sticks, Knuckles, you two stay here. Amy and I are going after Tails."
And then they left. Tails had gotten sorta kidnapped again, but he wasn't too worried. What trouble could fruit thieves get up to with his brother anyway?"
—————
"Sonic, would you still love me if I was evil?" Young Tails had asked him. Great they were playing the 'what if' game again. He thought. 'What if I Robotnik kidnapped you?' 'What if the zombie apocalypse happened?' 'What if fish had legs.'
The hedgehog put an arm around the kit. "Well sure bud, but that won't ever happen."
"How do you know?" The fox questioned.
"Because I know you, Tails. Been with you since the beginning." It had been about a year since he found the kid stranded on the beach, and they'd grown super close in that short time. Sonic considered him a brother.
"Now drink your tea nap time." It was peppermint tea; the hedgehog had picked it out especially for him to help him sleep. This way the kit won't be cranky when they get ready for their next adventure.
—————
After arguing with Amy for a few minutes about the best way to make an entrance, the two decided to both come in their way. Sonic by crashing through the window and Amy as a pizza delivery guy. They looked at where Tails had just been onstage, but the kit was nowhere to be found. Just the old, hooded villains enjoying the potluck.
"Tails?"Sonic looked around confused. "You here bud- "But his voice muffled as he felt a cloth cover his mouth from behind him. He struggled against it as a pleasant smell filled his nostrils, and the world around him faded to black.
—————
"It's tickle torture time!" Sonic loomed over the giggling kit tickling him making sure to get under the arms where the fox was especially ticklish. They continued for a few minutes before the hedgehog let him go, hands on his hips. "And that's what you get for eating my last chili dog you little- "
"Sonic?" Tails brushed himself off and looked up at him.
"Yeah, buddy?"
"What does torture mean?" Oh god, he knew he should have rephrased that sentence now he's never going to hear the end of it from that fox.
"Oh, um…it's something bad people do." He prided himself in being able to explain stuff like this to the ked.
The kit looked horrified. "Does that mean you're bad, Sonic?"
Sonic laughed; he walked right into that one. "I guess it does."
—————
He almost hadn't realized he had opened his eyes when he woke up. Cold metal was pressing against his quills. When he tried turning, he found himself bound by the wrist and ankles.
"What?" He asked groggily as he looked around, eyes adjusting slowly to the light. Amy was beside him in a similar position, strapped to a metal table by metal bindings on her arms and legs. She was groaning and looking around for something, probably her hammer.
"Where…where are we?" Sonic tried pulling out of his cuffs again to no avail.
A dark figure appeared in front of them. "Like it? We call it our torture room." Wait, he recognized him, that's the guy he always busted running off with a cart of melons. Wally Walrus.
"So…you're going to torture us?" Amy questioned, not impressed.
"We're so scared," Sonic responded sarcastically, equally unimpressed. How much damage could these cheats do anyway?
Wally Walrus smiled devilishly at them. No…we're not going to torture you." He pressed a button. A light came on, they could now see through a window in front of them into another small room.
And there, squinting under the harsh light, strapped to a metal table just like them, was their yellow-orange friend.
"But we can't say the same of your buddy!"
—————
"I'm sorry about the plane, Sonic." The kit was about six at the time told him, staring at his hands. The two of them were eating dinner together after their last adventure. Tails had crashed Tornado One into a mountain and barely managed to bail in time. Sonic was just glad he was okay.
"What? Don't worry about it, pal." The hedgehog ruffed the kit's head.
Tails sniffed, "But it meant so much to you."
Sonic shook his head. "I know at least one thing I care more about than that plane."
"What?" The kit asked looking up and him questionably.
"You ked!" The hedgehog stated before tickling the fox. Tails giggled hugging Sonic tight.
—————
"Are you serious?" Came Amy's voice from the right of him. Sonic just laid against the table, speechless. Was this really happening?
Laughter came from the other side of the darkroom as a weasel bandit walked over next to Willy Walrus. "We're done fruit snatching. We're going to show you how evil we can be!"
"By hurting a kid?!" Amy screamed, struggling against her restraints again.
The hedgehog clenched his jaw as Willy leaned down close to his face. "You wouldn't dare touch- "
The walrus chuckled, "Oh, but I would, and you're going to watch every bit of it."
The weasel crossed his arms as the two moved towards the door to go into the other room where Tail was. "And you can't do nothing about it."
Sonic fought against his restraints again as they left. "Don't touch him! I'll kill you! I'll kill you both!"
The pink hedgehog turned to look at him. "Sonic, Sonic, please calm down so we can think this through to get out of this- "
Sonic let out a distressed scream.
—————
He wiped the rain from his quills as he walked over to Tails' house to check on him. Usually, the kit came and got him when there was a thunderstorm. But this time, he didn't. He wondered why.
The hedgehog opened the front door. "Tails?" No one was home. Where could he be?
His ears turned towards small wails coming from the jungle. He followed it. A small yellow-orange clump of fur was leaning against a tree, whimpering.
Sonic put his hand on it. "Buddy?"
The clump of fur unraveled and wiped his eyes. "Sorry, I just- "He stopped as he felt his brother lift him into his arms. Sonic felt the kit bury his muzzle in his shoulder.
When they got home and out of the rain Sonic dried Tails off with a towel and then pulled him into his lap to brush his fur. "You want to talk about what happened?"
Tails let out a sob and leaned back into Sonic's chest. "It was like I was back there…before you…"
"Bad memories?" He questioned. He didn't know yet what kind of life the kid had before him, but he knew it was bad. So bad Tails refused to talk about it but still had nightmares sometimes.
The fox nodded, "Bad memories."
Sonic pulled him even more impossibly closer. "It's okay you're here now Tails."
"Thanks, Sonic."
—————
No matter how hard they tried neither hedgehog could come up with a way to escape. Both their communicators had been taken from them. The only thing they could think to do was sit and wait for help to arrive. Sit and wait while their eight-year-old friend/brother is tortured.
The light shifted in the room in front of them as Willy walked into the room that held Tails. The kit was struggling against the restraints. The walrus pulled out a small dagger and ran it against the kit's cheek. "Our little lemon." He smiled.
Sonic lunged forward as much as he could, "No!"
Tails let out small whimpers as Willy pressed the dagger down harder, drawing a small amount of blood as he carved it into his muzzle. He dug the knife down again before taking it out and pulling the wound open on both sides with his paws.
The weasel smiled taking a knife from Willy and using it to cut a lemon in half. He put it over Tails' and squeezed the juices right into the wound. The two hedgehogs watching winced.
The kit thrashed around, letting out louder whimpers. "Stop! Stop! It stings!"
Willy looked down at him. "Yeah, I bet it does."
Sonic felt tears streaming down his face. "L-let him go!" But the three didn't seem to hear him.
But instead of letting him go, Willy took out a damp cloth from a bucket of water as the weasel moved the lever attached to Tails' table, shifting him so that he was leaning face down.
"It's time to go for a swim, fox." Willy placed the cloth over his muzzle as the weasel picked up the bucket of water and started pouring it over his head.
"Don't drown!" The weasel laughed; Tails tried to move against his restraints again helplessly. They stopped for a second letting the kit barely catch his breath before pouring the rest of the bucket on him. Sonic heard the kit coughing as they took the rag back off.
"I didn't do anything to you! Why are you doing this?!" The fox cried to them.
The weasel laughed, "Fun." And that was all the answer Tails was going to get before he took out a plumber's torch and used it to heat up a metal rod. Wait, were they? No!
"Stop! Let him go!" He screamed. What was taking the rest of the team so long?
The bandit lifted the rod over Tails and pressed it directly into the kit's chest, letting it sit there for a second before lifting it back up.
Sonic winced at the heartbreaking wail the kit let out. But the weasel didn't stop at one mark. He pressed the rod into the fox's chest five more times before getting bored.
Willy smiled at his three captors, "It's time for our lunch break. Be back soon." Sonic exhaled at the thought of them leaving his brother alone for a few minutes. But as they let the walrus flipped a switch to a black square box on the floor. Suddenly the room was filled with sounds of thunder clapping. The kid was always scared of the loud sounds ever since he was a baby living in the jungle alone. These guys really did their research. "We aren't called the Lightning Bolts for nothing." The weasel chuckled then they both left the room.
Tails started crying as the pain from the burn and the loud sounds overwhelmed him. "Sonic! Someone! Help! Please help!" As if it was possible for Sonic's heart to break anymore.
"Tails!" He bellowed at the top of his lungs hoping the kid would hear him. "It's going to be okay, I'm here! I'm here!"
Their break seemed to only last a few minutes because the two crooks soon came back in. And this time the walrus was holding a guillotine-type sterile nail trimmer in one hand; Sonic recognized it as one they'd use to declaw cats.
Now not a lot of people know this, but Sonic used to take care of a cat when he was very little. And one thing he knew is that, to any creature, declawing feels as painful as cutting off someone's fingers. So, you could imagine the horror the hedgehog felt as the walrus took off Tails' gloves and pushed the nail trimmer to the base of his claw.
"Please…" The kit begged, closing his eyes.
But the walrus just laughed and brought the two sides of the trimmer together, severing the claw. Tails screamed again, kicking idly as his restraints. Blood was pouring out of the kit's paw by now, but the two crooks just laughed and continued to the next claw. The weasel forced the fox's paw open as the walrus worked.
It seemed like forever until they got both paws done. Tails' tortuous howling continued the entire time. But before the kit could calm down the weasel took out some pliers.
"Keep his jaw open." He instructed the walrus who nodded and grabbed the kit's muzzle.
The weasel put the plier around Tails' front fang and pulled until the white ivory came out, muffled crying coming from the kit. The same fate was held for three more teeth until the tormentors got tired of it.
The walrus threw the teeth at the window Sonic and Amy were watching out of. Mocking the two hedgehogs.
Despite all the things they'd already done, the crooks weren't done yet. Willy pulled out a Skinner knife and ran it over the kit's chest, smiling.
"Tails!" Amy yelled at the window helplessly, "It's going to be okay! We're going to get you out of this!" But he didn't even seem to notice her.
Willy dug the skinner knife under the top of Tails' skin, the kit winced and tried not to notice the pain. The walrus moved the knife as the kit let out involuntary whimpers, flaying off a section of the kit's torso hide. All the while the weasel stabbed and prodded the kit's body with a dull blade.
As Amy closed her eyes to picture herself somewhere else, far from looking at the insides of her young friend, all she could hear were Tails' desperate cries. Sonic however couldn't look away; it was as if he was frozen in place. Stuck in an internal hell.
"Yes, very good our little lemon." The weasel taunted, then bent down to the fresh wound he had just inflicted on the kid sprinkled salt on it.
"Stop!" Tails crooked out; throat raspy from screaming.
Willy chucked and put his knife away, patting the kit's head. "I can't believe he's still kicking, tough little guy. Well, not for long." Then the weasel lifted a lever, and the table Tails was laying on lowered. The walrus climbed on top of the kit and wrapped his hands around his neck, squeezing.
Sonic started screaming helplessly. All he could think about was that this was the last time he was going to see the little guy alive. This was the end for him.
Thud.
The blast came from the other room. Footsteps came down the hall, getting closer and closer to them. But Sonic couldn't bring himself to pay attention to anything other than the blood spilling out of his brother. So much blood.
The light shifted in front of them as Eggman ran into the room Tails was trapped in, his laser gun pointed at the two kidnappers. "Get away from him you two dolts!" The weasel and walrus held up their hands as they backed into the wall. "I'm the only one that gets to mess with these rodents!"
Sticks kicked the door to the left of Sonic and Amy open and ran through, pressing a button to release them. They both fell to the floor. "You guys, okay?"
Amy wiped her eyes shakily, "Not…not in the slightest."
After spending hours strapped to that table, standing up felt like being a baby deer learning to walk for the first time. But they got used to the feeling as the two of them followed Sticks through the hall into the room holding Tails.
And so, he got a better look at the men who tortured his brother. Knuckles already had the weasel pinned down to the floor. But Willy the Walrus was still against the wall up for grabs. Sonic jumped him.
The hedgehog paid no mind to the tusk puncturing him as he jumped on the criminal, scratching, kicking, and biting at him. He wanted to inflict the same pain the crook had done to Tails. He wanted to cut him to pieces. Stab him. Anything he could do to hurt this monster.
Crimson liquid seeped through the abrasion on his side as he continued pulverizing the walrus. More footsteps. Hands pulled at him, screamed at him to get off, but he couldn't. Not after what the man had done to his little brother.
Searing pain went through his body as he guessed a cop had had enough and tased him. His body met the floor. Sonic felt his muscles flex as darkness clouded over his vision.
And when the dark cloud finally lifted, he was lying in a hospital bed. Looking around he saw to his left his little buddy, lying on the other side of the room in his hospital bed, bandaged everywhere and unconscious.
—————
Sonic was cooking a hot dog over an open fire. Tails was somewhere in the woods playing, trusting the kit to stay close to camp. Speaking of the kit, he was worried about him. He was spending more and more time by himself lately. Which wasn't like him, he'd always been overly clingy to his older brother.
He heard footsteps as Tails came over carrying something. "Look Sonic!"
"What is it ked?"
The kit held up a small yellow robot. "It's solar powered." He rummaged through the junkyard for scraps to make it with. Pretty impressive for a five-year-old if he says so himself.
"Well, look at you, smarty pants." He ruffled the kit's head. "Give Egghead a run for his money, why don't ya." Pretty soon the fox will be creating robots ten times stronger than the fat man.
Tails giggled. "I like inventing."
"Good buddy, it's good to have something you like." Sonic smiled. Maybe Tails would be all alright.
—————
The doctors said it was a miracle Tails was still holding on, if only by a thread. Sonic held his hand as he watched the heart monitor going up and down. How could he have let this happen?
The small room was decorated with flowers and stuffed animals from various friends the pair had made over the years. Sonic wondered how if the fox would like it when he woke up. If he woke up.
He heard footsteps and the door swung open as the familiar pink hedgehog walked over. "Hey Sonic, feeling any better?"
"Be a lot better once he wakes up so we can both go home."
"…about that…can I talk to you?"
"Sure Ames."
"I think…I think the doctor is right. You need to pull the plug."
"Amy!"
Amy was the only one who came out of that battle not needing to go to the hospital, not unscathed mind you but her injuries were small enough to handle at home. She'd been the one to explain to the police the whole story of what the two crooks had done to the three of them. Had filled out the paperwork when they'd arrived at the emergency room. Backed him up when they thought about pressing charges against him. She'd been on his side since day one, and now she was going against him.
Sonic held down a sob. "You want me to kill Tails." Yes, as Tails' guardian, he'd been the one the doctors had talked to about going off of life support. The hedgehog had been adamant that the kit could still wake up, he had to. So, the subject was let go.
"Sonic. He's brain-dead. He's gone. Keeping him alive is just prolonging his pain."
"He can still pull through! He always does! We always do!"
She put a hand on his shoulder, and he moved away. "Just…just think about it, please. For Tails." And then she left. Leaving him alone with Tails and the machines keeping him alive.
—————
He was staring into the grass wondering how his life had come to this. It had been six years today since Longclaw died saving him. He had no family now. He was alone. And it was his own fault.
"Sonic?" He'd almost forgotten about the young kit he'd taken in. Sonic had put him down for a nap a little while ago so he could reminisce. But the little guy didn't like to sleep.
"Why are you sad?" Sonic wiped his eyes; he hadn't even noticed he'd begun crying.
"It's just a bad day for me, ked."
Sonic felt the fur press up against him as Tails laid against him.
The hedgehog put an arm around the small creature. Maybe he had a family after all.
—————
After a few agonizing weeks, he'd realized Amy was right. Tails was already gone. And he just couldn't bear to see his brother be kept alive by tubes and machines anymore.
The four of them all went together to the hospital. They sat and reminisced about their departing friend for what felt like hours. Until the doctor came in and asked if they were ready.
The others nodded and took his signal to the room, but Sonic stayed behind. "Just give me a moment." He said under his breath.
He had to keep it one more shot. Sonic slapped the Tail's face, hard. "Wake up! Wake up God dame it! Wake the hell up!" He fell on top of the kit, pressing their foreheads together. "P-please." He sobbed. But Tails didn't so much as wince.
Sonic paced the hall with his arms crossed, Amy put a hand on his shoulder. "You did the right thing," Sonic said nothing but to him, it felt like the opposite. He was murdering someone close to him after all.
Before they went back in the doctors warned that in situations like this, it was natural for the patient's body to go through convulsions. But that didn't make his friends feel any better when they watched the kit's body jerk around in its final hours. Sonic held his brother's hand as he moved his arm towards him.
Was he doing the right thing? Is this what Tails would have wanted? They never talked about it. What they would want had one of them gone brain dead. They hadn't thought they needed to. If only he could talk to Tails one last time.
The hedgehog squeezed the kit's hand for the last time as they watched the heart monitor slowly cease until there was no life left in his body.
They buried Tails three days later.
—————
Sonic woke up and rolled out of his hammock. He went to his pantry and pulled out a bag of mints. He had to go for a run.
When he got to the cemetery he glanced around for Miles "Tails" Prower's headstone, but it was nowhere to be found. Footsteps creeped out from behind him.
The hedgehog turned around. "What are you doing here?" Knuckles was behind him.
Sonic sniffed wiping his eyes, "To see the grave."
"Who's grave? "
"Tails!"Frustration was creeping over him. He was visiting his poor tortured kid brother. Who the fuck else?
The echidna paused. "Sonic…Tails isn't dead. He's at Amy's recovering from yesterday. And you…you haven't been acting like yourself."
Sonic's eyes widened. "He's alive?! I have to go see him I- "He started moving away but Knuckles stopped him.
"I don't think that would be best." He seemed almost concerned about him for some reason. Why? Sonic was fine. Now that he knew his best friend/little brother was alive everything would be fine.
"But I have to- "
Knuckles put a hand on Sonic's shoulder, something dangerous in his eyes. "Sonic, I'm only going to tell you this once. You are not going anywhere around that kid while I'm around. For now, at least. We'll wait a few for this to blow over then discuss it with Tails." He patted the hedgehog's shoulder reassuringly a few times then left.
Leaving Sonic all alone.