34 - Missing - 34

August 8th - Empire City

DAY 29: Friday

Evening, 6:00 PM

Everything felt so anticlimactic. Even though everything was okay for now, there was no legitimate resolution. He really hated that he couldn't arrest Infinite. He could never get a good opening on him to get him down, and even when he did, Sonic ended up doing the heavy lifting. He could have used his limiter rings but frankly, what difference would that have made? He would have had a crap load of power, that would only be wasted. Infinite either would have made his powers disappear or lethally drained him of his energy again. The only reason why Sonic got some real good hits in, was because he only used physical force that increased from their last battle. They could have tag teamed him, but that was Sonic's fight, he wanted to get Infinite more than he did at that point. Even though Sonic getting mortally wounded was an awful end to that fight, it was an unavoidable result. It was just going to happen that way one way or another. Right when he could have taken off his rings and gave Infinite a torturous beating of a lifetime, Sonic transformed and well...Shadow got benched. Needless to say, Shadow really didn't like being shafted, even if it was for someone he loved, because he felt pathetically useless. That was a feeling he hated even more. It wasn't self hatred or anything, no, he was learning not to do that. It was hatred of being stagnant while everything else moved around him. When he did these reports and meetings about the incident, it would always make him cringe. Thank God this would be the last day to talk about this mission, Shadow hated even more to talk about his failings. He knew they needed to know what went wrong for the future, but Chaos was it draining and humiliating.

And freakin' boring.

As the ultimate life form stepped out of his office, he made a big sigh. Thank goodness he could leave for the day. Weekend, here he comes. He closed the door to his office and leaned back against it as he pulled out his phone, making sure nobody tried to contact him. And he was glad he checked, because he had some texts from Sonic and Rouge.

He checked Rouge's first since he assumed it was something simple, sent fifteen minutes ago: hey. something's wrong. fox boy's gone missing. i'm looking into it now but call sonic.

Furrowing his brows, he checked Sonic's text which was sent twenty minutes ago: tails is missing. call me asap

Oh great...Shadow immediately went into his contacts and called the blue blur. He looked back and forth in the hall, noticing a few agents walking back and forth with their belongings to go home. When it picked up, Shadow immediately asked what was going on. "Faker, what's going on?"

"Shadow," Sonic's voice sounded both winded and worried. "Tails is gone. I don't know where he is, I can't find him, he could be in serious danger, no one's seen him and he doesn't have his phone-"

"Sonic."

"Huh?"

"Slow down," The biohog eased. "Now, what do you mean he's gone?"

A sigh was his initial response. "When I woke up from my two-day nap, I've been texting and calling Tails but he never answered. I figured he needed some space, so I left it alone but...Shit man, I got worried. He saw a lot of bad stuff and I wanted to know if he was okay." There was some chattering in the background, he must have been around some people. He even heard a few citizens call out his name in awe. "No autographs, please." He said in a hurried tone. "Sorry about that. I swung by my house to see if he was there, but nobody was home. For some reason the closet in his room was left wide open and one of his hoodies was gone. It was a hand-me-down from me, a navy blue pull over." Okay good, he was giving him some details. "I checked Tails' house, but he wasn't there either. All of his gadgets were left out in the open on his workbench, like he was in a hurry. He never does that, he always puts his stuff away when he's done with them 'cause he's a bit of a neat freak. Not only that, but he left his phone and it's off. It didn't die, it's been off for days."

Now that was definitely a red flag. What teenager left their phone at home? Regardless of being introverted or not, old or young, having a phone on your person was practically the normal way of life at this stage of society. It was too important to leave the house without it, as it was crucial for emergencies and quick communication. "He left his phone?"

"Yeah, I've got it, actually. It's not damaged at all. I have no idea why he left it, he never leaves it. He made it himself. Even if you tried, you couldn't track it 'cause he put some kind of encryption on it."

"Was there any sign of forced entry?"

"Nah, the door was locked. Plus, he's got hidden cameras and I already checked those. After that, I checked-Yes?" He heard the hero pause, someone was speaking with him on the other end in the background. "Yeah, Professor Pickle. He hasn't seen him?" Professor who? That was the dumbest name-Who names their child that? And why did they keep such an awful surname? "He didn't come here, either? Damn it, I was sure he'd be here..." He sucked his teeth. "No, it's okay. Thank you anyway Professor Victoria, you be safe." With a big stressful sigh, Sonic spoke to Shadow again. "My bad. I checked Angel Island and apparently Knux had no idea he went AWOL. Amy didn't either, they just thought he went home and stayed to himself like usual. Now they're looking for him, too. I checked with the president, and the old mayor who gave him a medal years ago—nobody's seen him. I thought the president would know something since he authorized Tails to take over the Chemical Plant ruins, but no, nothin'. Hadn't talked to him in months. I even swung by the ruins, but the damage we did to it was so bad that we basically damned it to hell. GUN closed it off, so he couldn't be there."

So what Zonic said was true, the fox really did have some big plans for the plant behind the scenes. "And you asked Rouge not too long ago to look into this?"

"Yeah. She thought he might be somewhere else on West Side Island since he was born there, but she just texted me and told me she didn't find anything. Makes sense though, he hates that place..." He heard him sigh again. "Look, I know you guys are busy, but-"

"Don't even finish that sentence, I'll make sure he's found before the night is over." He gave Sonic a very reassuring tone. "We'll find him, okay? It's probably just a misunderstanding."

"But Shads," Sonic sounded really on edge. "It could be anything. What if Infinite popped back up and took him? What if that Zonic guy took him because he couldn't take us?"

Well Shadow knew for sure that the latter wasn't true, but he had a good feeling the prior wasn't either. "Infinite Blinked himself away to another space beyond our world. He retreated for a reason, he's too busy licking his wounds to return anytime soon. As for Zonic, I'll explain later, but he's not responsible. I know that for sure. He only wants you and I, no one else. Therefore," He stood off the door to his office and began walking down the corridor. As he held the phone to his muzzle, he quickly waved "hello" to fellow colleagues who passed by him. Mostly those who were at the party and liked greeting Shadow whenever he was in the building. "Nothing like that happened to him, I guarantee it. If something did happen to him, it won't be that severe. That's why I'm going to find him. Where are you right now?"

"I ran to Spagonia real quick, Tails likes to visit the place once in a while. A couple times a year at most. Nobody's seen him, though. I'm getting ready to look somewhere else."

Damn, he was in a another country right now? Well, he supposed that was understandable. He must have been really worried about the kid. "Alright, that's good. Since there's a bunch of capable eyes looking out, we're bound to find him sooner rather than later. I'll get to work myself, then." He then softened his voice. "Sonic?"

"Yes?"

"Don't panic. He'll be okay."

"I'm not panicking, I'm just...Y'know?" He sounded a little defeated. "I dunno if he just up and ran away or what, but I need to know he's okay. With everything that's going on, I'm half expecting a freakin' tenrec teleporting in front of me with some great-value chaos emeralds, sayin' she took Tails because he's some harbinger of doom or something." Shadow wanted to snicker at that, but he knew Sonic was only attempting to make a joke to try and calm his own nerves, and it wasn't working. "...I really need to see my lil' man."

He hated hearing him sound so dejected. He had to fix that. "Just give me some time. Two hours, tops. I'll call you the second I find him."

"Okay...I really appreciate it, Shadow. Talk to you soon."

He hung up first, the blue blur was in a hurry.

Let's think for a moment...Tails seemingly left his workshop in a hurry and left his phone. He must have left it purposefully, because it was turned off before it could die on its own. People only did that with their devices when they didn't want to be contacted or bothered. Of course someone could have made him leave it there, but Tails was no weakling. If there was an intruder, he would have left some sign for Sonic to see that something was wrong, even if the kidnapping wasn't violent. Assuming this wasn't a kidnapping, Tails just didn't want to be called and left his phone himself. He left all his machines on his work bench out in the open, when he normally cleaned up after himself since he was a neat freak. He also left the closet in Sonic's home wide open with only one article of clothing missing. A piece of clothing that was either meant to warm you up, or hide yourself from society. Since it was August, the only reason anybody would be wearing a hoodie is because they didn't want to be seen. This would of course indicate that he left hastily for some unknown reason, but that whatever he was hurrying to was planned. He didn't want to be called or texted, and he wanted to hide himself on his way to whatever location he was going to. Not only that, but this piece of clothing was special: It used to belong to Sonic. No kidnapper would tell Tails to wear that on purpose unless they knew the dynamic between the two. The only person who'd know that is Eggman, who's rotting in prison right now. Tails intentionally wanted to wear this particular hoodie. The only question now was: Where would Tails go? Sonic already checked all of the obvious places that Tails would be, but nothing turned up. What other places would be important to the fox?

Hmm...

...

...That's when Shadow had an idea.

Sonic said he was born on Christmas Island, then went to Green Hill Zone. He met Tails on West Side Island, but the vulpine hated it there. He lived with Sonic as a small child in Green Hill, growing up in his house and thus, the rest of the zone. Before there was a house though, they lived in the wilderness and only had each other. This meant that the two spent most of their childhood there, and made a lot of memories together all in that one biome. Tails took a very sentimental hoodie from his closet, one that was a hand-me-down from his big brother. If he disappeared on purpose with something of Sonic's, he'd have to go to a place that held nostalgic and personal value. Sonic looked in a place that was way too obvious, yet didn't think about another place not too far off that was right under his nose. When they had that date on the beach, Sonic said something about the old pergola there...

"Heh, I'm glad Tails and I built this thing, keeps the sun away."

Shadow knew exactly where the boy genius was.

No Chaotix Detective Agency needed.

South Island - Green Hills, Green Hill Zone

6:15 PM

An orange-yellow fox sat underneath an old pergola, leaning against the back leg and looking up at the bleeding sky. A bookbag was laying beside his leg. It was melding from yellows, to oranges, pinks and purples. It was amazing how the sun did that to the sky, quite an interesting phenomenon of science called "light scattering". He pulled over his backpack, unzipped it and pulled out a bag of mint candies, popping a few in his mouth as he watched a few overzealous stars begin to sparkle from the depths of the dying sun's rays. They looked beautiful, and he could barely even see them. He should have brought his telescope. He remembered how he and his big brother would sit together on the sand and watch shooting stars and passing meteor showers. Those were the days, the good ol' days when it was just him and Sonic. He loved their friends, but sometimes he wished he could go back to simpler times. Eggman's schemes weren't as insane or diabolical, and his brother was right by his side every step of the way. He remembered how he stopped those bullies from pulling at his namesakes, and he didn't even realize it until they fell in the water from how strong the winds of his speed were.

Sonic was such an interesting creature, he hadn't realized just how special his big bro was until now. At first it was cool, with him being able to use the chaos emeralds. The first time he saw Super Sonic, his mind was dazzled. He thought he'd never see something that cool again. Then he turned into Hyper Sonic when they met Knuckles...But remembering that adventure in particular was always so fuzzy. He could remember everything else clearly, just not Hyper Sonic or the...What were they called? Super Emeralds? He wasn't sure. But that was the second time in his life where his eyes were blown away by how awesome such a power was, and how his bro was even more awesome to be able to use it. Then...just three years ago, he turned into that thing. He turned into a horrid, dark force that gave him nightmares for weeks. He grew distant and colder against the hero, because he didn't think he could harbor such an evil power inside of him. He thought they were getting closer like how they used to be, but then he turned into it again and this time, he could have killed him. Eggman and that lookalike known as Zonic both believed Sonic was a being of hidden darkness that was faking his heroism. The vulpine always denied it despite feeling great doubt. Their friends defended Sonic all the way until the end of the ordeal, and even Omega agreed that the blue blur was not the villain he was painted to be. But he still couldn't get the image of that...Monstrosity out of his mind. What was that thing? Was it going to kill him? Did Sonic become that demon on purpose? And if he did, why?

He pulled the strings of his hoodie and sighed somberly as he looked down at the ground. Why was any of this happening? Was the person who raised him really his big brother? Was Sonic lying to all of his friends this entire time? Did he trick him?

And most of all, why wouldn't he just talk to him about it for Chaos' sake?

"There you are."

Flinching, Tails pulled down his hoodie even more.

"Don't bother doing that, Tails. I know it's you." He recognized that deep voice anywhere. Why did he of all people come find him?

"...Shadow?" He asked hesitantly as he slowly pulled the hood back down. The striped hedgehog walked over and sat down on the other side of the pergola. "How'd you know I was here?"

Shadow spoke casually, as he didn't want to alarm the fox or make him think he was in trouble. "...Sonic took me on a date here weeks ago. He said you two built this pergola, but it's several years old, meaning you built it when you were young. You left your phone, but it was obviously on purpose because you didn't want anyone to bother you. When you disappeared, you only took a hoodie that once belonged to him, meaning that you intended to seek out comfort alone. You two grew up together, so I know this beach in particular was probably very important to the both of you. His home and the rest of Green Hill was too obvious. I put two and two together, and now I'm here."

Tails scratched behind his head as he broke it down. "Yeah, you are pretty smart. Sonic and I haven't been here together in ages—Over ten years, as a matter of fact. I'm surprised he made this spot a date, but he probably doesn't remember that we used to play around here. Because of that, I didn't think he'd look here."

"His house is only a few miles from here. You hid in plain sight, not a bad plan." He gave the fox some praise for his methods of hiding, despite the fact that it blew a gasket in Sonic's head. "He thought something bad happened to you. He said you left all of your tools and devices on your workbench in your workshop, and you leaving your phone and cutting it off made him think the worst."

Tails just shook his head. "No, I just didn't answer or respond to any of Sonic's texts or calls. He said that if I didn't answer, he would come to my house and visit in person to check on me, and that was only this morning. I panicked, 'cause I...didn't wanna see him." He pulled over his bookbag to show Shadow that he was indeed prepared for the sudden trek, just as he predicted. "I didn't just take the hoodie, I took my bag. I usually keep this hidden in my room, so I'm not surprised Sonic didn't notice it was gone. I cut my phone off, packed, took my bag and left. I took some food with me, I've been completely fine. I'll be frank—I don't know when I would have returned home, but I know it wouldn't have been over three days."

Just like Shadow thought, it was a simple misunderstanding.

However, considering everything that's been happening, he understood why the hero went into panic mode. "I see, so you weren't missing for days, you just stopped answering and only left earlier today." Shadow summarized easily. He saw the fox nod slowly, confirming his summation. "I understand the situation now. However," He glanced over at the vulpine with a firm voice. "I'll have to inform him that you're here. He's really worried about you."

With a bitter scoff, Tails crossed his arms. "Riiiight, so he got his boyfriend to come get me. How nice." He scowled at the ground and lowered his head. "All he likes to do is throw parties, date random people, nap, model, give to charity, eat and occasionally act like a hero. A hero who," He clenched his teeth angrily, memories of their younger lives burning in his eyes. Was it all a lie? "Was hiding some messed up demons in his body this whole time. Then he just cuts everyone off and pretends that everything's just peachy. 'No biggie, it's not like I turned into the embodiment of hell and traumatized literally everyone who saw it, including Eggman. It's not like I care to tell my friends anything. It's not like I care to tell my closest buddy, my little brother, that I'm hiding a horrible secret and I'm going to keep it from everyone, including him.'" A few loose tears pricked the back of his baby blue eyes. "'It's not like I wanna talk about it or maybe at least explain myself, so you won't keep wondering if I'm actually a bad guy or not. Nooo, I'll wait until I transform into it again, nearly kill you and scare the crap out of you. And still. Say. Nothing!'" He yelled and threw his hands up in the air, his voice echoing across the beach. Sniffing, he brought his knees up to his chest and placed his head in between them. "Why does he have to hide everything about himself? He's done that ever since we were little and I'm sick of it. Why can't he just be honest with everyone? With me? If I'm scared, why not talk to me? Doesn't he care?"

Shadow made a pitying frown. He sounded deeply hurt by the hero's secrecy. He supposed that was another reason why he was attracted to him: He was just as secretive as Shadow was when it came to more serious traits about his past or personality. Sonic was an open book, to a point. After a certain extent, he closed everyone off, even his closest friends. He more than understood why Sonic acted the way he did in terms of keeping information away from people, as sometimes it was best for others not to know certain things, especially the people you care about. It didn't mean it was the right thing to do though, as it was a double edged sword. You risked hurting someone's feelings, making them think they weren't worthy of being trusted with hearing you at your worst. With a small sigh, Shadow also looked to the stars. Sometimes Shadow was forced to keep things from Maria, such as unplanned surgeries and operations to attempt to stave off her illness. She was terrified of needles and hated being cut into, so he'd have to pretend he'd know nothing about it. One day, he hurt her severely by doing this. She cried, begging to know why Shadow would keep this information from her. He told her it was because of the fact that if he did tell her, she'd make things extremely difficult for everyone else by hiding somewhere on the Ark and worrying Gerald half to death. They may have been painful and scary, but those operations helped keep Maria alive. She was betrayed by him for a while, but she eventually understood that he only did it for her own good.

She forgave him.

While this particular situation was far more extreme than what Shadow was thinking of at the moment, it was still similar on a much smaller scale. "...Sonic is...flawed." He said softly, and he could hear Tails scoff at that between sobs. "He's annoying and can be very insufferable. He can also be...extremely hard to understand. He seems like a simpleton on the surface, but he's far more calculating than he lets on and sometimes, he acts more like an enigma than an actual person. He hides when he's physically or emotionally hurt, rather expertly, and I see that he's been doing this since he was a boy. People like that, are very good at hiding secrets." He folded his hands in his lap. "That being said, he truly does not find joy in hurting people, not even enemies. Well, at least not the ones who don't piss him off that much. Speaking from experience as someone who hides a lot from his own companions, you need to understand that he does not like hiding things from you or anyone else. I learned very recently that Sonic doesn't hold himself in as high a regard as everyone thinks. Sometimes, he does not care for himself at all to the point of self-hatred."

This caused the fox to pause and slowly lift his head up, because Shadow was contradicting something Tails had believed for a very long time. "...What?"

"I've silently observed that there's only two things in this world that Sonic the Hedgehog fears: Oceans and hurting his friends." He slowly glanced at Tails with a temperate expression. "It's not so much that he's scared of an enemy hurting you, he's scared of you being hurt because of his own actions. If there's even a single, tiny abysmal thing that could cause you harm because of what he might do, he either won't do it, or he won't tell you about it."

"But talking to me isn't going to hurt me!" Tails protested persistently. "That doesn't excuse him from cutting everyone off, only coming around for birthday parties and occasional get-togethers. I visit a lot, but he still doesn't talk to me. He just cooks food, takes nap or leaves for hours or days at a time. He just goes on like everything's normal with him, and it's not!" The fox cried morosely with hints of betrayal. "He acts like he didn't do anything, like we didn't see what he did! We're his friends, I'm his little brother. He should know that he could tell me anything!"

The biohog continued to stare at him, but he made a more pronounced frown. "...No, he doesn't know that."

"...?"

"When I interviewed you all about what you saw that day, you all told me different aspects of the same story. Point is, you all were terrified of him." He could see Tails scowl with resistance to his words. "Rose-Err-Amy, said she had nightmares for weeks, and even Knuckles testified that he was very uncomfortable around him for a while. And now you're saying you were scared yourself."

Feeling uncomfortable with talking about what he told the GUN agent, the teen finally replied with, "So? I mean, I'd get it if he heard us say that-"

"He didn't have to." Shadow countered quickly. "Tails, chaos energy is a very fascinating power that can do many things. Faker's gotten better at using it, and I think you can see what I'm getting at." He then stood up and walked over to the fox. He knelt down and reached behind his own quills to pull out a blue spine that was sparkling with blue electricity. "I woke up this morning with this on my person. He hid one on me without me knowing it because he wants to make sure that I'm okay at all times. With this, he can sense that you all don't trust him. I don't know for sure, but I assume he's placed one on all of you sometime during these past few weeks out of concern for your safety. Honestly, your friends probably still don't know there's one on them even now." He poked at the spine, and it reacted by making a slightly stronger spark, shining a light blue highlight into the reflection of Tails' eyes. He stood up, walked over and sat down closer beside the fox. "He uses these to sense whether or not you're in danger, but he can also feel your emotions, too. For instance, he could sense that I was rather dejected one night, despite us being several miles apart." When he used Sonic's trick on Infinite, he could feel his emotions of agony before the ruby was implanted. This spine ability, or Chaos Pierce as he liked to call it, was a very handy skill. "He could feel your fear this entire time. Every time you talk, he senses your dread and he knows when you're lying to him." He continued to watch the fox's expressions, noticing he was beginning to look put off by this information. "If he knows you're scared of him, why would he tell you anything? He'd just be afraid of scaring you even more. Besides," He added while sticking the spine back on his person. "It's not easy telling people about your skeletons, especially not your friends. Sonic still doesn't understand any of this himself, and he's still trying to figure it out. Not only is he afraid of telling you, but he can't even give you a real answer." He gave Tails a look with a hopeless shrug. "What is he supposed to do?"

Quietly, the vulpine's eyes lowered to the ground once more with a conflicted gaze. "...Where is he?"

That was an easy answer. "Oh, I was on the phone with him fifteen minutes ago." He replied indifferently. "He's leaving Spagonia at the moment, probably running to another country to ask about your whereabouts. He apparently asked for some guy named Professor...Cucumber?" He scratched his head with a confused frown, that name was still super dumb. "I don't know, it was a stupid name, but he asked him where you were."

Tails' eyes widened slowly. With an airy voice, he asked, "He...went all the way there to ask about me? That's like, three countries away from here." He hadn't spoken with the professor in almost an entire year.

"I told you, he's looking frantically for you. Everyone is." Shadow nonchalantly added. He knew he was adding more to the fox's guilt, but he wanted him to thoroughly understand that the hero was not as careless or heartless as he seemed. Hopefully that guilt would help him see reason quicker. "And if it's any consolation, he called me last."

"..."

"I don't know how it feels to 'grow up', I was made to be an older teenage Mobian at the time of my creation, with small spurts in growth every few years like all of you. After a certain point, I'm going to stop aging, so I won't know how it feels to be elderly either. I'm physically in my twenties, I believe I'm mentally a little older than thirty and yet I still don't understand petulance or brotherhood. But I do know this," He looked Tails in the eye when he spoke these words. "That idiot loves you. He raised you all alone when he was only a child himself for years, and he always put you first. Sonic never panics, but he surely did on that phone call earlier." With a grunt, Shadow stood up and stretched his arms and cracked his neck. He'd need another one of those massages again. "Cut faker some slack. He fought an army of terrorists three separate times, got nearly murdered after having his throat sliced out of his neck, transformed into a form that he doesn't understand which turned him into a demon, almost destroyed his body from the immense power of said form, and now his child goes off and disappears." He looked down at Tails coolly. "That's a lot to go through in just a few weeks."

A particular word Shadow used made the fox slowly stand up. "Child...? You think, Sonic sees me as his child?"

The biohog wasn't too good at understanding interpersonal relationships other than the ones he was currently experiencing, so he could be wrong. However, his voice remained confident in what he was saying. "I don't mean to be literal, but it seems like it to me. He clothed you, fed you, gave you shelter and raised you as if you were his own. Is that not a parent, if not a legal guardian? Regardless of blood relation, you're pretty much his kid at this point and I don't think anybody can argue that."

"Uhh..." A small blush appeared on the fox's muzzle as he sheepishly looked to the side. "When you put it like that, that would explain why he's been so...fatherly to me these past few years. He gave me 'the talk' and even suggested I should go to a gifted school with other kids my age. He even offered to pay for my tuition out of pocket, and wanted me to make friends and have the life he and the others never had. He always...tried to make me enjoy being a kid. It wasn't just 'cause he was worried about me, and I guess as he got older," He felt silly for not realizing this sooner. "He started to see me as..." He couldn't finish his sentence. "..."

"I told you all that before he transformed, he died." Shadow emphasized that last word heavily. "He only used that transformation to revive himself. If he didn't, you could have lost Sonic that day for good and we'd all be attending the funeral of the century. Hell, maybe the millennia."

Tails' shoulders began to shake, his body shuddering as he thought about the idea of Sonic perishing permanently. But then, he also thought about the moment when that demonic super form knocked him down from the Cyclone.

"Tails...You should...really...go home. Stay...away. Don't want...to hurt you. Can't...find you again. Might...Hurt you...Be good. So proud of you. Love you...Always. Goodbye."

He even took the spine he hid on Tails' body before and got rid of it so there wouldn't be a chance he found him again and hurt him if he lost control. In the end, Sonic tried to protect him to the very last second. It didn't matter if a literal spirit of an unknown hell took over his body, Sonic still fought to protect him. He knew that, now. "I...I know." Large tears dropped from his face. "I-I know..."

Hearing the fox cry was a good sign, as he finally understood and he was releasing some emotions he had pent up. Shadow gave him some dignity by looking away. "It also made him sick apparently, so he's running around like a moron probably sneezing his ass off. Look," He said with a more sympathetic tone. "He wasn't given instructions on how to raise a child or himself. He doesn't know what's going on and all he wants is for all of us, more so you, to be safe. He's not ignoring you, he's attempting to care for you from afar without crossing the line and being a burden to you. He's trying." He placed a hand on Tails' shoulder to make him look at him. "That means so much more than you realize." He let go and took a few steps away as he glanced back up at the sky. "And when he finally gets an answer he's comfortable with, he'll eventually come to you and tell you himself. I know that, and I think you already knew that deep down too. You just needed confirmation, but never got it. Right?"

Tails nodded as he tugged at the sleeve of the hoodie, realizing how old it was and how he still didn't plan on throwing it out. He used the sleeves to wipe his eyes and sniff one last time. "...Yeah."

"Give him time, that's all I ask for on his behalf." Shadow then turned around and gestured for him to come over. "Get up, I'll take you home and give him a call-" He suddenly felt his entire body get shifted a little, and he looked down to see the fox...hugging him. "...Oh."

"...Thank you." Tails murmured. "I'm...sorry for being mean to you."

Okay, this was a little weird for Shadow. He really didn't like being touched by anyone other than Maria, Rouge or Sonic, but he knew Tails didn't mean any harm. "Err, that's fine," His voice became a little awkward. "I can think of a handful of moments where I wasn't very kind to you, either."

"Heheh," Tails broke the embrace and laughed a little. "You did kick and throw me a lot back in the day."

Alright, now he felt guilty. Shadow immediately avoided eye contact. "Yeah. Um...sorry." Well he at least had a good reason for it. "To me, you were always the most valuable member of the group. You were the brains, arguably the most dangerous target that, with enough time, would figure out how to defeat me. Whenever Sonic and I were at odds, I knew I had to take out his biggest supporter: You. You were his medic, his strategist and his informant. Not knocking you out first would have been a grave mistake on my end. After all, you've defeated me before once during the Emerl incident. I made sure that didn't happen again." He didn't mean for that to sound so barbaric, but he hoped the fox could at least see where he was coming from at the time. "In a battle, it's best to take out the biggest threat first."

With a flattered crack of a smile, Tails rubbed the back of his neck. "W-Wow. Thanks! I never saw it that way."

"Physical strength means nothing without intellect. You have an overabundance of it, use it well."

"Heh," Tails placed his hands in the hoodie's pockets. "You're way nicer than you were eight years ago, but maybe you were always this nice and we just never saw it. I see why Sonic likes you so much."

Secretly blushing, the biohog continued to advert his gaze. "..." God, was it really that obvious they had a thing for each other? "...Let's just get you home and-" A breeze of wind hit them, causing them both to turn to the side and see a blue hedgehog walking towards them while panting heavily. "Ah, so you finally figured out where he was. Took you long enough, faker." Shadow greeted.

Lime green eyes met baby blue, and a wash of powerful relief fell over the hero's face. "Tails...Thank God, you're okay."

6:45 PM

With an annoyed expression, the blue hedgehog berated himself for not realizing where the fox was sooner. "I can't believe I didn't think to look here first. I feel like an ass..." He said while catching his breath.

"You...remember this place?" The teen asked innocently. He truly thought the blue blur forgot all about this little beach.

Sonic made a small laugh. "Pfft, yeah! We used to bust badniks over here for funsies all the time, we cleared the whole map. I taught you how to pilot the Tornado 1 here for the first time, I was so proud of you. Well I still am, obviously." He gave him a kind smile. "How could I not remember something as epic as that?" Feeling his heart strings tug harshly, Tails suddenly ran towards him, his namesakes propelling him to go faster until he tackled him with a big hug. Nearly knocking the hedgehog over, he chuckled at the vulpine's enthusiasm in seeing him. "Haha. I missed you too, buddy."

"I'm really, really sorry for running away like that." Tails suddenly cried. "I just got really frustrated and...I-I'm sorry. I've been really mean to you for years and it wasn't fair to you. I didn't know what you were going through, I was just mad you wouldn't talk to me." His voice cracked a little as his eyes moistened once again. "But you died and...now you're sick and I just made everything worse...I'm really sorry, Sonic." He looked up from planting his face in his peach chest. "I won't do something like this ever again, and this time I'll trust you. I'll have more faith in you, no matter what happens, I promise!" He tightened his hug and hid his face in his torso again. "...I love you, big bro."

Silently, Shadow watched the scene unfold from underneath the pergola, leaning against it's support beams stuck in the sand with his arms crossed over his chest.

With a gentle sigh, Sonic knelt down onto one knee and patted Tails' head. "Ohhh boy..." He shook his head with a small chuckle. "What am I gonna do with you, huh? Come on," He wiped the teen's tears, having not seen him cry in a long time. It was always a weak spot for the hedgehog. "No more of that, okay? It's alright. All that matters, is that you're okay." He stood back up and pulled him back into a warming embrace, continuing to ruffle his head affectionately. "I love you too, lil' man. I always will, don't forget that."

Sniffling, Tails wiped his eyes with his hoodie sleeve again before smiling at his big brother.

Sonic continued to smile back lovingly...

...Until a very furious vein throbbed on his head.

34 - END - 34