Chapter 2

Deadly Encounter

The day of the incident…

8:32 AM.

"Boys! Breakfast is ready."

The sound of Maddie's voice could be heard up in the attic. Sonic had already been awake for several minutes, stretching out. Whereas Tails had just woken up, rubbing his eyes tiredly. And Knuckles wasn't seen anywhere. Tails, once seeing his friend doing stretches, shook himself awake more and started doing the same thing right beside Sonic. After a few more, the two finally went downstairs, only to be greeted by Knuckles already sitting at the table. Tom had just sat at the table, accompanied by Maddie. A plate full of waffles was already on the table, with a plate of bacon and eggs.

"Alright! Waffles, with bacon and eggs for breakfast? My favorite!" Sonic exclaimed.

"And does that come with orange juice?" Tails asked.

"Yep bud, it does." Maddie replied as she placed a glass full of said juice at each person's respective spots on the table. After saying grace, Maddie served each of the boys, plus Tom and herself an equal amount of waffles, bacon, and eggs. As they ate, Maddie asked each of the boys what they wanted for dinner. Her and Tom had talked about it earlier before they had come out and fixed breakfast. Sonic had said that he wanted sesame chicken, and Tails told her that he wanted the same thing as Sonic. However, Tom and Knuckles said they wanted cashew chicken.

"Well, I'll see what I can do about that," Maddie said. "I'll remember, sesame for the two youngest. And cashew for Big Red, and you."

"Uh hmm," Tom replied.

"Speaking of which," Tails began. "Did you know that cashew chicken wasn't made in Asia?"

"What?" Maddie asked the fox. "Where did you hear that?"

"I didn't. I read it from one of the books I got checked out from the library," Tails answered.

"If not from Asia, then where from?" Tom asked.

"Right here in the States." Tails said.

"What is a state?" Knuckles asked. Sonic slapped a hand to his forehead.

'I thought we've been through this a million times. Plus, Tails already explained this to you.'

"Which state?" Maddie asked.

"Missouri. Springfield, Missouri, to be exact." Tails replied.

"Never knew that," Tom said. "And I always thought it came from Asia."

"Hey, what do you know? The fox is our living encyclopedia." Knuckles said. Tails just stared at the echidna for a few seconds. Then, a moment later, the fox giggled, almost choking on his breakfast.

"Hey," Maddie began, a playful look on her face. "Don't make the kid choke to death."

After taking a sip of his orange juice, Tails cracked a small smile. "What? I choke to death on my breakfast?"

Maddie then looked down at her watch to see what time it was.

"Alright boys, I have to get to work. I love you all. Be good for Tom, listen to him, and stay out of trouble."

Going over to where her husband was seated, she leaned down and gave him a kiss. Sonic and Tails immediately looked away, with the hedgehog covering the fox's eyes. Knuckles glanced over at the two younger Mobians and covered his mouth with a hand to keep himself from laughing out loud. As Tom and Maddie broke their embrace, the three boys started cleaning up only after finishing the food on their plates, of course. Tails, who was sometimes too polite for his own good, began washing off the table. By that point, Knuckles had already said his goodbyes to Maddie, or "Pretzel Woman" as he liked to call her. And Sonic had already told her goodbye. Tails, however, made a b-line towards her, Maddie giving him a hug and a kiss on the forehead once she embraced him. Whereas Knuckles was still adapting to the whole hugging thing, Sonic had been well used to it. And by this point, Tails had gotten used to it as well. Unlike Sonic– who had sworn that he was not in the age range for kisses, Tails had gotten used to Maddie giving him kisses on his forehead like she did just a moment ago. The little fox laughed a few seconds later as Maddie ruffled through his locks. Before long, every single member of the family did a power bump before Maddie headed out the door.

"Boys? Are you all ready to leave?" Tom asked as Maddie pulled out the drive.

Suddenly, a blue blur zipped right over by Tom's side, holding what looked like folded up metallic canes in his arms. A moment later, the hedgehog was joined by a certain young fox, dragging behind him an ice chest full of bottled water. Seeing the little double-tailed tod struggling with the cooler, Tom took one end of the cooler.

"My goodness, Half-Pint. Did you pack this full?"

Panting, Tails shook his head. "No. Knucks did."

"Take the trekking poles from Sonic, and he and I will get this."

Letting go of his end of the ice chest, Tails quickly grabbed the poles from his friend and carried them out to Tom's truck. Passing Sonic and Tom on his way back in, the fox went up to the attic, and once he entered in, was shocked by the sight of his older echidna friend doing hunches, the little fox grabbed a pillow and threw it at him.

"C'mon Knuckles. We're gonna be late." Tails said as he threw another pillow at the echidna.

"How dare you attack me, fox!" Knuckles exclaimed. Tails immediately gulped as an angry look overcame the face of the person of whom he had thrown the pillows. The fox slowly backed up towards the exit for the attic, all the while tying a blue colored bandana around his neck.

"Come here, fox!" Knuckles called out in mock anger as he got down from the rafts of the attic.

The fox giggled as he heard the tone of voice, which the echidna used to get his attention. All fears of Knuckles being angry with him were alleviated. Tails quickly tried to make an exit for the entryway before he felt himself being lifted off the floor by a pair of strong, red arms.

"Knucks! Let me go! Let me go!" Tails yelled excitedly, trying his hardest not to laugh.

"No! Never." Knuckles replied.

Luckily for the kit, Sonic and Tom had just returned inside to get the last few things when Knuckles and Tails came back down from the attic. The scene that the two of them had walked into was of the young fox playfully whacking Knuckles on the back with his hands, as the echidna had the two-tailed fox hung over his left shoulder

"Aw, won't you look at that? Big brother versus little brother." Sonic said.

"Alright big guy, let the kiddo down." Tom said.

Knuckles gently put the little fox down, and as he did, Sonic tickled the kid on the shoulder, making Tails squeal in laughter. A few seconds later, Tails dropped to the floor, panting for breath as Sonic stopped tickling the kit. Walking back into the room, and upon seeing his youngest on the floor doing his best to catch his breath, Tom only chuckled.

"Boys, what happened?"

Sonic extended a hand out towards Tails, of which the kit quickly took a hold of. Then, as fast as he lent his hand out, the hedgehog tickled him on the shoulder again.

"Sonic… stop!" Tails yelped in joyful glee.

"Alright Sonic, you heard him." Tom began. "Gotta admit, that was quite adorable."

"Okay, time to do a checklist," Tom said, pen and paper in hand.

"Water?"

"Check." Tails replied.

"Trekking poles?"

"Check." Sonic said.

"Bug repellant?"

"Check."

"Protein bars?"

"Check."

"Beef jerky?"

"Check."

"And just in case, med kit?"

"Check."

Then, a smile came across Tom's face. "Chess board?"

Sonic smirked. "Check-"

"Mate!" Tails chimed in.

At that, all four of them burst out in laughter.

"Oh shoot, Tails… that was great." Tom told the fox. Grabbing a hold of the kit's hand, the man then rubbed the boy's bangs with his hands, earning an adorable fit of giggles from Tails. After a moment, Tom lifted the kit up and placed him up on his shoulders.

"Okay, boys, if that's everything, we better head out before the temps get higher."

11:45 AM.

After a drive through town and picking Ozzy up from Maddie's workplace, Tom and the boys finally made it to the trail park. Having gone through the dos and don'ts of hiking, the four of them had begun their journey up the trails that went throughout the park. Currently, on a southbound trail that went back to where they all started, the four of them were at last beginning to feel the heat of the day. Knuckles had insisted on carrying the heavier items upon his back while Sonic and Tom were stopping every few minutes and pouring water down their heads. Tails, on the other hand, was mesmerized by the sights of Mother Nature. And even then, the little fox was sweating and panting. It probably didn't help that Sonic had challenged Tails and Knuckles to one of their occasional races, and with Tom being referee, it had become a free-for-all. And with Knuckles almost twisting his ankle at one point, and at another point, Tails slipping and about splitting his head open had it not been for Sonic catching him. In the present moment, Tom had decided to take a break for a few, allowing the boys to catch their breaths. It was at that moment that Ozzy needed to relieve himself. So with Tom on the phone with Maddie— due to her calling him, and Sonic and Knuckles arguing over whose turn it was to keep an eye on the dog, Tails decided to take it upon himself to take Ozzy over.

Walking wherever the retriever went, the fox followed him until the dog finally went. Afterward, Ozzy came back over to Tails' side, the kit giving him a few gentle pats on the head.

"C'mon Ozzy, let's go back."

The dog grew ecstatic as Tails started petting him, tail wagging, Ozzy quickly shoved his head underneath Tails' hand before zooming off in the other direction. Tails hastily caught up with the canine. Seeing Ozzy lift his head up and start sniffing the air made the little fox a little bit inquisitive.

"What is it, Ozzy? You caught wind of a squirrel?"

The canine then placed his snout to the ground and started following the scent of whatever he picked up back near where Tom, Sonic, and Knuckles were. Adjusting the ball cap he was currently wearing, Tails found himself catching up with the canine. That was when the young fox froze in his steps. In front of him was Ozzy, but what was in front of them both made him gasp in shock. Sitting in front of them in the shade of a bush was a fairly large sized rattlesnake with brown colored skin and black blotches running along its body. It was the biggest one that Tails had ever seen in his life ever since he and Knuckles started dwelling with Sonic and the Wachowskis. He had seen two others since, and both were baby rattlers. But this one; this one was different. The fox knew for a fact that this one was an adult rattler, Tails knew better than to irritate or aggravate it. Ozzy on the other hand, kept inching closer to it. Tails quickly noticed that whenever Ozzy inched closer to the snake, it would coil itself and bob its head up and down, shaking its tail each time Ozzy came close.

"Ozzy, no! Get back!" Tails commanded, his voice barely a whisper.

The dog however didn't budge, but rather, got closer to the viper. Tails remembered something that Tom had told him regarding rattlesnakes.

'Beautiful, but deadly.'

"Ozzy! Get back! Ozzy!"

The snake hadn't moved, but once Ozzy got nearer, it raised its head up and exposed its fangs and forked tongue, hissing loud enough for the dog and Tails to hear it crystal clear.

"Ozzy! Get away! Now!" Tails shouted, a growl in his voice.

Ozzy instead started barking at the rattler. Tails realized that the pit viper was getting angrier by the second as Ozzy kept backing up, then moving closer to it. At this point, the rattler stopped all movement but flexed itself as if ready to strike at any second. Tails' eyes grew bigger as he took in the thought that the rattler was posed to strike the canine. Tails scanned the ground for any sticks that were just round enough for the snake's fangs to sink into the moment it struck. Ozzy all the while just kept barking at the snake, making it more likely to move in on its target. Catching wind of this, the fox slowly stretched his arm out to grab Ozzy's collar.

What choice did he have? This was the family dog after all. He couldn't let the snake just bite Ozzy. After all, Tails planned on grabbing the dog by the collar and yanking him away. Tails took a deep breath before he reached down and took a hold of Ozzy's collar, pulling him away from the bush. He had always been fast with grabbing and pulling, and especially whenever he, Sonic, and Knuckles played tug-of-war.

But not this time. This time, the rattler was faster. Seeing the rattlesnake launching itself forward to strike, Tails shoved Ozzy out of the way. And in the next second, felt a sting on the top of his arm as he felt fangs dig deep into his flesh…

Tails yelped loudly as he squeezed his eyes shut. His head spinned as he felt himself meeting the ground. He didn't know which felt worse; the bite or hitting the ground. Somewhere in the distance, he heard Ozzy start whining. Tails then kicked at the snake that was still clung to his arm, its fangs released, sending its body twirling back towards the bush and over the edge of a hill. Tails then started whimpering as he opened his eyes and looked at his left arm, blood seeping out of the wound. The fox slowly got up and off the ground and started to stand on his feet when he felt an overwhelming sense of nausea overcome him. Coughing, Tails took a couple steps forwards dropping his ball cap at the same time his knees buckled.

Getting up, he started swaying from side to side, soon collapsing to the ground. Having fallen on his side, Tails moaned as he felt the searing pain in his arm intensify. Ozzy had then come by his side and began nuzzling him, whining and pawing at him. Looking at his arm, he saw how swollen it had become since being bit. From what he had learned from Tom and Maddie about rattlesnakes, Tails knew it wouldn't be long before he felt the effects of its venom. As if already, his breathing had become shallow. Tails moaned louder as the pain grew more unbearable. Rolling over onto his back, he stared at the blue sky above him, his coughing becoming more violent by the minute. Feeling weak, Tails cried out as he tried getting up again, but to no avail as another wave of nausea hit. Finally being able to barely stand up, Tails lifted a foot up, and that's all it took before he collapsed to the ground again. Tails then cried louder than before, his chest inflating and deflating rapidly. Barely opening his eyes, he saw the sky, but with the pain throbbing in his arm, he squeezed them shut once more as he cried out.

Once he reopened them—barely, he saw a trio of familiar faces in front of him. Coughing and trying to keep his eyes open, he felt a pair of hands lift his head up. The voices— he knew them from anywhere, but to him in the condition he was in, they sounded far away. Feeling that someone had rested a hand on the side of his face, Tails whimpered for a moment before the world around him grew darker. And before he knew it, the voices and faces faded as he closed his eyes…