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The tension in the room was almost tangible as Sonic stepped inside. Eggman had Amy at gunpoint. With their plan, however, involving Sonic’s fake Emerald, soon Amy would be out of Eggman’s grasp, and Earth… wouldn’t explode.
At least, Tails hoped so.
They had to save everyone.
And with Sonic, his big brother, they were going to save Earth.
There was no one Tails had more faith than him. So everything would be alright in the end…
Well, maybe not Amy’s dreams, or rather nightmares, for a while, that is. Tails had his fair share of nightmares… especially regarding… his past… W̶h̶e̸r̶e̴ ̵S̸o̵n̵i̸c̶ ̸d̴i̶d̴n̵’̶t̵ ̶w̶a̵n̵t̷ ̴h̵i̵m̴ ̸a̸n̶y̵m̶o̷r̷e̸.̶ ̴W̴h̵e̷r̴e̷ ̶S̸o̸n̸i̵c̶ ̵l̸e̶f̵t̷ ̸h̶i̶m̶
No. He’s not going there anymore. It’s not worth it to think about stuff that’s never going to happen…
In addition to those . . . kinds of dreams, he sometimes had nightmares about their adventures. It did come with the territory of being a sidekick—no, a hero. It was a small price to pay for saving the world. At least, that’s what he thought. All of them had it, after all. Even if his big brother didn't quite want to admit it.
It was, unfortunately, natural. All of them would undoubtedly have at least a couple of new nightmares after this adventure.
"Let's take care of business first, shall we, Sonic?” Eggman asked rhetorically. His voice took Tails out of his thoughts and turned him back to reality. “Hand over the Chaos Emerald slowly, and then we will talk about your girlfriend! That is, if you really care for her..."
“He's not my boy-”
“That doesn't matter, pink rat! Hand over the Chaos Emerald, now!” Eggman exclaimed, annoyed with Amy.
Why did Eggman keep forcing this ‘girlfriend’ narrative? Sure, Amy had, at first, been quite... persistent with becoming Sonic’s girlfriend... But, lately, she has just dropped that entirely, preferring to be just friends with him. Obviously, Amy still wanted to date Sonic. But his big brother just wasn’t ready to commit to her (or anyone, really), and Tails doubted Sonic even saw Amy that way… At least, for now,
“Put the Emerald down right there and back OFF!” Tails looks over at Sonic and discreetly gives him a nod. The plan was going just as they wanted it.
“You've turned into a big-time villain, doctor!” Sonic smirked, walking towards Eggman with his usual flare of cockiness (otherwise Eggman would catch on to what they were doing).
With this secretly fake Emerald, everything would work out…
Until it didn’t…
"You thought you could trick me with that fake Emerald, didn't you?" Eggman chuckled and suddenly trapped Sonic in a glass pod.
But… how? How could’ve Eggman known? Tails didn’t do anything that gave it away, did he?
"So... how did you know it wasn't the real one?" Tails asked, only for Sonic to cry out his name in warning too late.
“Because you just told me, fox boy!” Eggman's laughter filled the room as Tails’ eyes widened in shock at his slip-up.
"Now, for a little space ride! The capsule clears the colony, BAM!" Eggman's voice was filled with malicious glee as he . . . prepared to eject Sonic into the void of space.
Tails’ heart sank as he realized...
Sonic was going to die.
There was no way he could get out of the capsule.
His brother, the person who helped him become who he is, his first friend, his best friend, his real family, his picket fence would be gone. Dead.
All because of him.
Sonic's eyes met Tails’ eyes, as the tears from the immense guilt and sadness Tails felt were begging for release.
It was all his fault. If he hadn't revealed the Emerald as a fake, this wouldn't have happened. Sonic wouldn't be on the verge of dying. Sonic would've convinced Eggman in one way or another that the Emerald was real. Tails knew his big brother would.
What kind of a hero was he?
He was just an excuse of a hero, not even a worthy sidekick.
Ṃ̴̄a̴͇͋y̷͔̎b̴̯͂e̶̦̓ ̵̟͊h̵̠͐i̶̤͠s̴̜͒ ̷̱͝v̷̭͘i̸̺̍l̴͖̽l̶̨̊ą̶̾g̶̰̀e̵̬̍ ̵̲́ẉ̵̕a̸̹͋ś̷̳ ̷̟̃r̶̞͠i̶̯̅g̸̝͑h̴̭̋ṭ̶̚…̵̋ͅ ̶̙̀H̷̹̉ë̵̳́ ̶̻͠ẇ̴͜a̵̛͚s̶̝͋ ̵̮̈́ẁ̵̠o̴̳̎r̷͍̓t̶̓͜h̶̝̅ ̷͕́n̵͜͝ǒ̷͓t̶͎̆h̸̢͊i̷͖̚n̷̬̽g̵̠̎,̴̱̄ ̶̟͊j̴̩̽u̵͔͑ŝ̸̼t̵̝̐ ̸̰̔a̸̖͂ ̷͍̃f̷̹̒r̷͎̾ȩ̵͛ā̷͉k̴̢̈́ ̶̦͘t̵̎ͅh̴̭͋a̴͕̕t̸̟̄ ̵̻̋s̶̈́͜h̵̢͂ọ̶͒ų̵̀l̸͉̎d̸̳́n̶̖̒'̸̖͠t̶̻̉ ̶̭̒h̶̡́a̸̦͛v̴̡̅ĕ̸̤ ̸͓̈́e̵̩͋v̴̡̐ē̷͓ŕ̷̠ ̷͊͜b̵̼̽e̵̩͌e̵̮͗n̵͎͌ ̷̩̀b̴̘͗ö̵̳́r̸̤͊ņ̵̐.̴̬͝
"Tails, Amy," Sonic began, his eyes softening with vulnerability. His voice was steady despite the chaos. "I can't thank you enough for everything. We’ve been through so many adventures, but... I guess you were right, Tails.”
Right about what? H̴̘̆ơ̸͕w̶͑͜ ̷̝̔h̴̫͘e̵͉͐ ̴̗̈́m̷̠͠e̴̫͂s̷̹͑s̷͔͑e̶̼̓s̷̲͋ ̵̦̊ȕ̴̞p̵̰͋ ̶̟̓e̵̩͝v̸̜̇e̷̹͝r̸̡̐y̶̪͊t̵̨̍h̴̩̄i̸̡̐n̶͈͋g̵̗̅?̸̳́ ̴̨̈́H̶̜͝ộ̶w̸̹͛ ̵͓̓h̴̰́ê̵̜ ̸̠͋d̶̯̾ō̷̢e̵̜̚š̶͍ṅ̴͖’̶͚̂ṯ̵̓ ̷͚̽d̵̟͒ḛ̸̚s̶̗̕e̵͖͊r̸̛̙v̴͎̐e̶̹͌ ̶̢̈ḥ̴̛i̵̛̘s̸͎͛ ̶̯̿l̶̫͌i̵̫̇f̸̧̿ḙ̵͠?̵̮̈́ ̶̦͊Ḫ̶̎i̸͍̓s̸͈͝ ̴̧͂ḟ̷͓r̸͇̆ì̸̧ẽ̴̩ṅ̸̫d̶̠̅s̵̡̎?̸̥̌ ̴͈͠H̷͖͊i̷̲̇s̸̪̓ ̷̡͗b̴̢̿r̸̫̃o̸̰̒t̶̜̑h̴͙̔é̴̳ṙ̵͜?̴̮̄ ̵͉̎H̵̜̎o̷̳̎w̶̢̕-̵͍̕
“I’m not invincible after all…” Oh… that...
Sonic gave a brief, bittersweet laugh as the capsule gave another beep, signaling how . . . close Sonic was to its demise. “I love you guys."
Tails wanted to throw up.
Even when Sonic was about to die, he had such… a spark and energy. Even after knowing him for half his life, Tails really didn’t understand how he did it.
How could Sonic even thank him? It was all his fault.
“And, lil’ bro, none of this is your fault.” Sonic said, as if he were reading Tails' mind. Sonic looked directly into Tails' eyes, just as Tails’ tears began to fall. Tails knew immediately that Sonic was telling the truth. “I know it feels like it, but Eggman would've done the same even if you hadn't said anything.” Sonic forced a smile. Tails knew his big brother wanted to cry—he could see it in his eyes. He knew Sonic well enough to understand that. But Sonic wasn’t going to give Eggman that satisfaction.
He didn't agree with Sonic. At all. But it made him feel a bit . . . lighter.
Amy's eyes brimmed with tears. She didn't speak a word yet, and neither could he. He and Amy were still too shocked to say anything. Eggman stayed silent for a strange, twisted version of respect, while the capsule was almost ready . . . to release Sonic.
Tails felt a lump in his throat as his vision blurred once again, with new tears threatening to fall.
Sonic's gaze locked with Tails’ once again. However, this time around, Sonic gave a sincere smile—his last smile.
It had come to Tails’ mind that someday this would happen, that Sonic would . . . Die . . . That he would be gone from their lives . . . forever.
He even talked about it once with Sonic. His big brother, with his usual cocky flare, had denied it. He fully believed he would always make it through it all.
Tails, nevertheless, deep down, knew that Sonic couldn't always win...
He just never thought it would’ve been so soon...
And . . . because of him…
"I'm so proud of you, Tails. And I'm proud of you, too, Ames. I'm counting on you guys. I-” Before Sonic or any of them could say anything (or rather be able to), the capsule's countdown ran down.
Amy screamed and ran to the nearest window. From his position, he could see Sonic's capsule. The pair watched in horror as the capsule containing Sonic grew smaller and smaller until it vanished in an explosion.
“SONIC!” Amy wailed. She dropped to her knees, her piko-piko hammer clattering uselessly to the floor beside her. Tails stood still, staring blankly at the spot where he had last seen the capsule, as his heart ached with an unbearable amount of sadness and guilt. He could barely even think. He just stood there as he pathetically cried silently.
Sonic was dead. His brother was dead.
The one who had always been there for him when no one else was . . . was gone.
And it was all his fault.
“Now we have some unfinished business to take care of!” Eggman began, snapping Tails back to reality with his words.
Suddenly, like a gust of wind, however, the echo of Sonic’s wish sparked a fire within Tails. The kit brushed off his tears, suppressing them for the moment. He needed to do what Sonic had told him. He needed to be… the hero the world needed!
“If you give me the real Emerald, I will release you both. You have my promise!”
“N-Never!” Amy exclaimed as she wiped her tears. “You… you killed Sonic!” Her sadness quickly turned into fury. “Do you think we'll do what you want?!” Amy continued, but Tails only half listened.
Sonic had asked him for the first time to do something for him.
He wasn't going to let him down.
He wasn't going to give up.
If Tails was truly the hero he believed he was, he needed to do this…
Tails and Amy, bottling up their emotions, turned to face Eggman, ready to fight and honor Sonic’s last wish.
Eggman didn't deserve any of their vulnerability, pain, or suffering…
They were going to honor Sonic’s last wish, and nothing could stop them…