A/n: Huge thanks to my fellow writer buddy FlameShadoFireDragon for beta reading this.
Battlefield
The sky was thick and hazy after previous week's ordeal, a subtle presence of smoke in the air from the laser burnt trees and concrete. Huge chunks of earth were missing from several places in the forest near Green Hills while the main street at town's square was entirely messed up, massive pieces of concrete and asphalt laying all over the place.
Though the gigantic, Death Egg Robot had been disassembled and removed by those shady G.U.N people and renovation efforts were underway, this particular part of the town was currently closed off and devoid of public due to its current condition, the street not safe for venture as it was littered with boulders and pebbles and dirt and grime and broken pieces of the road, a strange thickness in the air that smelt like iron, tar and cement, the area feeling like ruins of a once lively town.
Two alien boys rushed over, tired and covered in dust and grime, gravel crunching under their hurried steps, panting in exhaustion as they quickly took cover behind a broken piece of asphalt.
The older one, a blue hedgehog, leaned back against the broken piece of concrete, breathing hard and eyes closed as he slid down, letting out a sigh. His companion, a twin tailed fox kit, let out a pained whine, sitting next to him on his knees and holding his arm close.
"You 'kay?" the hedgehog breathed out, his query, though heavy due to exhaustion, was laced with concern as emerald eyes slid open and glanced towards the child.
The fox opened his mouth, seemingly to brush off the question, only to hiss and bite his lip, his eyes squeezing shut as he shook his head.
"Lemme see." Sonic placed the weapon which he had been carrying aside, similar to the one his companion had also strapped on his back half an hour ago. Reaching forth, he gently grabbed the arm Tails had been clutching, holding back his own hiss at seeing the splash of red on the yellow fur, not noticing the determined glare that marred his own features. One of his fists clenched in anger. Tails was hit.
"I'll be fine," Tails mumbled, trying to draw the hedgehog's attention away from his arm, knowing they couldn't afford to be distracted at the moment. They had barely located a proper cover from their opponents and even that was due to the dusty haze of the weather. "Really, Sonic, it's not critical."
The older mobian didn't respond, simply pulling the fox closer to him with one arm as he reached behind him to zip open the tiny yellow backpack Tails had been carrying, rummaging through it till his fingers grabbed at a small box. Pulling it out, Sonic opened the tiny med-kit, grabbing a sanitizing wipe from it.
Holding the arm still, he carefully cleaned away the red fluid where the bullet had hit and placed a thick pad of cotton over it before wrapping the spot with gauze, being quick and thorough, a skill he had learned from Maddie so he would know how to do first aid if need ever arose.
As his arm was being treated, Tails let out a sigh, relieved that he had the sense of mind to quickly grab the backpack just before they had to rush out. The hedgehog put away the med-kit, zipping up the backpack and Tails was considering taking a breather, leaning back against the concrete like his best friend had done, when his ears twitched, his whole body freezing up at hearing the sound of a click.
Sonic noticed his sudden stiffness and frowned in worry. "Tails?"
"They are close," Tails whispered in panicked urgency, his bandaged arm all but forgotten as he clutched onto Sonic with fear, "And they're reloading."
"Oh no..." Sonic whispered, his eyes wide and his heartbeat rising with dread as adrenaline started pumping through his veins.
Then he also heard it, another two clicks and slow deliberate footsteps moving close-by. He could clearly imagine them, their guns aimed forth and moving around the ruined street, boots lightly scuffing the ground to be stealthy. It would've worked against humans but mobians had higher senses. He was not sure whether their opponents knew this or not but he hoped that they didn't.
"What do we do?" his brother whispered, reaching to unstrap his own weapon.
Sonic swallowed, pinching his eyes close and trying to think of a plan as quickly as possible, gesturing at his brother to lay low. Tails obeyed, curling his tails close so they wouldn't be spotted, flinching as his fur minutely brushed over loose pebbles.
"Over there!" They both heard a man bark out, "I think I heard something."
The boys shared a panicked glance. They were running out of time, they had to move, do something! Fast.
"Sonic," Tails whined as the footsteps came closer, too tired and scared to come up with any plan of his own at the moment.
"I... I..." The hedgehog held back his own scared whine, glancing around all over the place as fast as he could to look for a new hiding spot, an idea, anything! If they were caught or hit, it would be Game Over. And Tails. With the kid already shot once-
Sonic harshly shook his head. No, he couldn't let any more harm come to Tails. He'd already failed him before, he would not let that happen again.
Maybe...
Biting his lip at the new idea that came to him, feeling unsure yet determined, he turned towards his brother, the younger having a worried look in his eyes as he stared up at the hedgehog.
"Tails, listen." He grabbed the fox's arms, demanding his attention, "I'll go distract them and-"
"No!"
"Tails, please, just listen."
"No." Tails shook his head, frowning with stubbornness, "You can't-"
"I have to. With Knuckles down, there's just the two of us left and you've already been hit once. One more and you'd be down for the count too." Tails fell silent, his gaze falling to the ground. Logically, he knew the other had a point.
Seeing that his brother was listening, Sonic continued, "If I draw their attention, you'll be able to sneak away and strike from behind."
"But, Sonic..." his voice cracked, "they'll kill you..."
Sonic gave him a melancholy smile, his eyes full of protection, care and love. Tails remembered that same look from back at the tavern in Siberia, when Sonic had called him "Buddy". He shivered in distress, already knowing what was going on in his big brother's mind, already knowing that Sonic wouldn't let anything happen to him. His ears turned, picking more sounds, now much louder; they had gotten closer, nearly just around the bend. His breath quickened as slight anxiety began to set in.
"Hey," there was a comforting hand placed on his shoulder, pulling him away from anymore panic and he once again stared towards Sonic, the hedgehog giving him a lopsided smirk. "I'll be okay, Little Brother," he held out a fist, "Power Bump on it."
Feeling a wave of warmth washing over him, Tails took a shaky breath and returned the smile, bumping his fist against the hedgehog's.
"Please be careful."
"You too, Buddy." Sonic swallowed and readied his weapon, "Okay. You go high, I go low."
The other gave an affirmative nod.
"Let's do this."
Saying so, Sonic zipped out of their hiding spot, making sure to raise as much dust as he could to lower the visibility, providing Tails the cover he required for stealthily sneaking away.
The buzz of spinning tails was nearly silent under the noises of a super fast hedgehog running around and taunting his opponents as the fox flew off to land on a nearby rooftop, gaining a high vantage point as he carefully aimed his weapon at the more dangerous of the opponents.
For the next long minute, there were loud sounds of running, fast swishes and slower footsteps, sounds of taunting and yelling, of bullets flying, of three shots from somewhere up high going off.
And then, the running stopped, as did the shouting. There were sounds of pained grunts, someone falling to his knees and heavy thuds.
And then, there was silence.
Thick, heavy, suffocating silence fell over the street. No more shouts and orders from humans, no more taunting and jokes from a jolly and hyperactive hedgehog. Tails couldn't see him through the risen dust, only spotting silhouetted forms of the humans he'd taken aim at. He couldn't tell what had happened, neither could he bring himself to head down and check, having been instructed by Sonic to stay hidden.
He bit his lip, unsure of what occurred and squinted through the haze. But he didn't need to stay in suspense for long as a signaling whistle blew and Maddie's cheerful voice echoed through the street, followed by Ozzie's excited barks.
"Critical hits to Team Cops, and that's a straight win for Team Heroes!"
As soon as she finished her announcement, Tails released a breathy laughter, "We won..."
Then he smiled, dropping his nerf gun and excitedly flying up with a cheer. "We Won!"
"Way to go, Little Bro!" Sonic cheered from below, now rushing forward along with Knuckles, both older boys having a smear of red on their head and chest respectively, critical hits as well.
Tom, Wade and Randall pushed themselves up with disappointed groans, though the former couldn't hold back a smile breaking through as he saw his sons celebrate with cheers and high fives, Knuckles lifting Tails up as the fox threw up his arms victoriously.
"This calls for the reward of ice cream for our champion! The green, herb flavoured one for the fox."
"Yay!"
"You know, you two could've gone with less dramatics," Maddie quipped as she reached the boys, pinching Sonic's cheek.
"You saw that?"
"I was the referee, remember? I was keeping an eye on everyone." She waved around a tablet, which had been connected to Tails' cameras scattered around Green Hills for their little game. Though 'little' was an understatement, considering they had decided to turn the still not renovated part of town into the play ground, that being Sonic's idea of course.
Sonic let out a sheepish chuckle, attempting to brush it off, "Well, it made the game more fun, didn't it?"
"More dramatic, you mean."
"Mooooom," he whined as she pinched his cheek once more, Maddie chuckling at the indignant pout that followed.
"You guys owe us double ice cream," the hedgehog firmly stated with crossed arms.
"What?" Tom inquired indignantly, pretending to be shocked as he approached his family.
"Mmhmm," Tails gave a firm nod from behind, still perched upon his eldest brother's shoulders, "One for our victory. And one for our incredible improv theatrical skills."
"Oh, c'mon! Nobody told us dramatics were part of this game."
"We did!" All three brothers chorused loudly, sharing mischievous grins when the adults looked away.
"Alright then," Tom addressed after waving off Wade and Randell, "As the winners of today's round, you three have earned your double ice cream."
"Oh Yeah!"
"Yes!"
"Yay!"
"But then it's bath time for you boys once we get home," Maddie chimed in.
A chorus of whines and grumbles accompanied by promises of revenge in future games rang throughout the younger group, causing their parents to let out fond chuckles.
A/n: The Wachowski bros are absolute theatre kids. 'Nuff said.