Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tails typed away at his keyboard in the middle of the night, the quiet hum of his homemade supercomputer and the clicking of his fingers on the keys the only sounds in the room. It was just another quiet night in, which Tails didn’t mind. He enjoyed all his adventures with Sonic and their other friends, but it was also nice to have some time to just slow down and work on some of his ideas. At the moment, he was writing his plans for an upgrade for the Miles Electric. Sonic never understood why Tails wanted to continuously upgrade his already finished inventions. He’d always ask why Tails didn’t just build a new one or say that it didn’t need to be upgraded because it worked perfectly. Tails always shook his head.

Just because something is functional, that doesn’t mean it can’t be improved.

After this, he wanted to start implementing his upgrades. It should be rather simple, and he had all the materials he needed. It likely wouldn’t even take an hour. He was startled out of his thoughts, though, by a sudden alarm on one of his monitors. He scanned through until he found the source, a device he’s built to detect chaos energy nearby. On the display was a little symbol he’d programmed to show up for a specific item. A chaos emerald. Not far, just in the nearby forest.

Tails’ brow furrowed. Why would a chaos emerald show up in the forest at – hold on, what time was it? The kit checked the time and cringed when it read 3:45am, though that added to his confusion. It wasn’t moving, so it wasn’t like someone was carrying it or transporting it for some reason. His system should detect even the slightest movement, but there was nothing. And it wouldn’t have been there before, or his device would’ve detected it, even if it was deep underground. Had the chaos emeralds been used and dispersed once again?

The young fox decided that it was worth investigating. He was up anyway; he might as well go check on it. He quickly packed a small backpack with the Miles Electric and a couple other potentially useful gadgets and headed off. He went out through a window in his workshop that was facing the forest, and it didn’t take long to find the emerald. In a little patch of grass, the cyan chaos emerald sat on its own, no animals or people of any kind who could have put it there. The fox kit didn’t hear anyone or anything either. He carefully examined his surroundings, searching for any sign of foul play. This was suspicious. Chaos emeralds didn’t usually just show up sitting perfectly in a little clearing in the forest like this.

This couldn’t be Eggman. Attacking under the cover of night wasn’t his thing. He preferred spectacle, something big and bombastic to grab the attention of anyone around. This, though a bit obvious, was far more quiet and subtle than Eggman was capable of. Tails thought of all the foes they’d face in the past that could be the reason for this.

It was most likely not the Zeti, as though Zavok was capable of cunning strategy, the others often weren’t. Besides, he wouldn’t use such an obvious trap.

It probably wasn’t Starline either, he thought through every possible angle. He preferred longer, more complicated plans, this was far too simple for him.

There was no shortage of bizarre creatures that Sonic had fought, but he couldn’t wrack his brain enough to find one that he thought would be capable of planning this.

He carefully pulled out the Miles Electric to scan for anything suspicious around the chaos emerald, but it came up blank. No traps there. Was it somewhere around him then? He walked a bit closer to the emerald and started scanning around him, still coming up blank until –

CRASH

Tails was on the ground. Blood dripped from his nose onto the ground in front of him. He was being forcibly held down with an immense weight that he couldn’t fight if he tried. Though try he did, he started writhing and kicking and making as much of a fuss as he could manage. His attacker grabbed his head and forced it to the ground, harshly sending a wave of pain through his skull. He didn’t have time to think before something was jabbed into his neck.

He struggled. He squirmed and pushed as hard as he could to get his assailant off of him, but it was no use. It wasn’t long before his vision blurred and his head started spinning, and before he knew it, everything went black.

Sonic awoke to the sunlight gently caressing his face, flickies chirping cheerily all around him. He smiled. He really enjoyed when he got to wake up like this. No big robot trying to destroy him and no bad guys attacking villages that he had to speed over to stop. Just a quiet morning, lying in an open field surrounded by nature. He stretched out his arms and legs, letting out a small groan before he jumped up to his feet. He checked his communicator, a device Tails made for him that Sonic also occasionally used as a watch, which read 9:32am. He wasn’t sure what time he actually fell asleep, but he felt very well rested. Sonic didn’t have any plans for the day, and he wasn’t getting any kind of alert about an Eggman attack or anything, so he didn’t have anything he needed to immediately worry about. He started thinking about what he could do with his day. He was a bit hungry. He shouldn’t be far from Tails’ house, and he enjoyed spending his more chill days with his little buddy.

He’d probably have to wake up Tails. The kit would probably be lying face down at his computer or on his workshop desk again. The young fox often forgot to go to bed and simply fell asleep at whatever space he was using at the time. Whenever Sonic found Tails like this, he’d carry the kit up to his room and tuck him in so he could at least get some real rest. Sonic usually tried to discourage Tails from doing this; it couldn’t be good for him. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to actually get mad at Tails. He just got really excited about his creations, and he was more of a night owl than Sonic anyway. As long as it didn’t become an actual problem, Sonic was okay with just lightly chastising him.

Sonic quickly decided that he was indeed going to spend the day with his little buddy. He didn’t often seek the company of others, being content to spend time on his own, but Tails was an exception. He would find an easy breakfast he could make for them, then they’d have a chill day in together. Even the fastest thing alive needed a slow day in with his best friend from time to time.

He shot off like a rocket in the direction of Tails’ house, bouncing around different breakfast ideas in his head until he soon reached the front door. He knocked but got no response from the fox. That probably meant he was either passed out in his lab somewhere or up in bed still. Thankfully, he’d given Sonic a key for situations like these, which the hedgehog quickly pulled out. It had a cute little blue keychain shaped like the hedgehog’s head, which he always let out a little giggle at. He liked when Tails designed his inventions to look like himself or his friends, it was cute. He turned the key in the door and swung it open.

“Tails! I’m home, buddy!” he called, once again getting no response. He waited a moment before shrugging. He’d check the usual spots for the fox.

First, he checked the workshop. No Tails at his computer, nor on his desk. Okay, so he was in bed still. That at least made Sonic feel a bit better. Maybe he should let the little fox rest? He didn’t often get himself into bed, and Sonic didn’t want to risk waking him. Checking on him probably wouldn’t hurt though, right? Yeah, it couldn’t hurt. Even if he woke Tails up, it shouldn’t be hard to get him back to sleep. So he slowly made his way up to the kit’s room.

The hedgehog slowly and gently opened the bedroom door as not to wake the young fox. When his eyes fell upon the bed, he stopped in his tracks.

Tails wasn’t in his bed.

That was…weird. Had he missed Tails in the workshop somewhere? The blue hedgehog lifted the blankets to see if his adoptive little brother was just curled up under them, which did sometimes happen. The fox was quite small and could be near impossible to see under the blankets, but he wasn’t there. The bathroom door was open, so he wasn’t in there either. Okay, Sonic must’ve just missed the kit in the workshop. Tails would occasionally fall asleep in strange places there. Sonic once found him asleep under the Tornado, wrench still in hand, his toolbox at his feet. He’d just carefully look through it again to find him. He had to be around here somewhere.

The blue blur started at the computer, looking around it to see if maybe the kit had fallen asleep working on it somewhere. Not there.

Okay, so next he’d check his work desk, looking under it, on top of it, and behind it. Still nothing.

What about the Tornado? He checked the seat, on top of the plane, under it, at the engine, the wings, nothing. Where could he be?

He looked in every nook and cranny of the workshop, having no luck finding the little fox anywhere. Okay, so he wasn’t in bed or in the workshop, but he had to be somewhere. Sonic decided to try his communicator. Even if the fox was asleep, he almost never took it off. Even then, it was never far, always in arm’s reach.

“Hey little buddy, where’d you go?” He asked lightheartedly, putting his other hand on his hip. “I came over for some breakfast and can’t find you anywhere, everything good?”

He waited for a minute. He expected a groggy groan at the very least from his little brother, his call having woken the kit up. But there was nothing. He decided to try again.

“Hey, you there buddy?”

Nothing once again. Okay, that was weird. Tails always had his communicator on him. The only time he didn’t respond was if he was really busy, and even then, he usually gave a warning in advance. Did something happen? Sonic hadn’t gotten any kind of alarm, so did Tails decide to deal with whatever this potential something was himself? Maybe if he tried one more time, he’d get a response.

“Little buddy? Are you there?”

Nothing.

“Helloooooo?”

Nothing.

“Tails?”

Sonic started to tense up. Tails should’ve responded by now. Even if he had for some reason misplaced his communicator, he should have the Miles Electric, or his phone (which he seldom used). Sonic continued his attempts to reach the kit with the communicator, but no response ever came. The hedgehog started pacing back and forth in the workshop. Where could he be, and why wasn’t he responding? He didn’t see the fox anywhere in the house, not even on the couch or in the kitchen. Maybe he went somewhere and the communicator broke? That wasn’t likely though, Tails made sure his inventions were sturdy enough to withstand battle, they wouldn’t just break. Maybe he was just in a really deep sleep? But again, why was he not in his workshop or in bed? Did he sleep somewhere else? Tails didn’t often spend the night outside of his house unless he was on an adventure with Sonic. And again, he always had his communicator. And Tails wasn’t exactly a heavy sleeper, he doubted the fox could continuously sleep through his attempts to reach him.

He did another check in Tails’ room, looking in his closet for good measure. He let out a low growl when he didn’t find the kit, his growing frustration and confusion souring his mood. He checked every possible spot in the house, every closet, couch, pillow, and corner. Nothing. He used the communicator again.

“Seriously Tails, this isn’t funny. Where are you?” He couldn’t help the slight edge to his voice as he spoke. The longer he couldn’t find the fox, the more upset he got. The more worried he got. Something wasn’t right. Tails had never disappeared like this before. Why couldn’t Sonic find or reach him? The hedgehog felt his chest tightening and his breathing slowly growing more and more rapid the longer Tails didn’t respond. Sonic couldn’t help but feel that something was wrong. “Tails, come on, why aren’t you responding?”

Sonic forced himself to take a deep breath in. Panicking wouldn’t help. This was probably just some kind of misunderstanding, right? Tails wasn’t a pushover, he could handle himself, and Sonic and faith in him. So what was going on? Had he somehow left his communicator somewhere by accident?

Maybe he was with one of their friends? Yeah, that must be it. Maybe Amy took him to get ice cream, or someone needed their microwave fixed, something like that. He’d just check with his friends to find out where Tails was.

There was no reason for him to be worried, right?

Tails stirred to consciousness on a cold, hard floor. His head throbbed slightly, and his vision took a few minutes to adjust to his new surroundings.

He was in some kind of industrial building, but it was covered in a layer of dust and grime that made putting his finger on where exactly he was difficult. His blurry vision and the lack of lights didn’t help. Cobwebs littered the walls and ceilings, and all the lights were off except for a single light on the ceiling above him. Its light was dim though, barely lighting the space around him enough for him to see. He moved to get up but was quickly met with resistance on his wrist. He looked down and saw that he had been handcuffed to a steel beam.

The events of the previous night instantly came back to him. He’d been lured out, ambushed, and kidnapped.

His eyes quickly darted all around the room for his captor, and soon landed on a familiar logo. At the end of the hallway sat Eggman’s logo plastered onto the wall. He must be in an abandoned Eggman base. But why? There was no way he had been captured by Eggman, the mad doctor would be laughing his head off and gloating right in front of him if that were the case. So what was going on? He continued searching his surroundings. He needed to figure out who took him and why. He caught something out of the corner of his eye.

A red glow pierced through the darkness.

The bright red dots came closer and closer, loud, metallic footsteps ringing throughout the base until its source came into view. Metal Sonic, staring down at him, his robotic face devoid of any emotion. Tails tensed and backed away as much as he possibly could with his restraint.

“Metal?! What do you want?!” Tails spat, not bothering to hide his distaste for the robot. “Why did you bring me here?! What is Eggman plotting?!”

The robot simply stared at him silently. Tails hated that. Sonic, the real Sonic, was once silent too. But even then, he was able to express himself. He’d flash a cocky grin before wrecking Eggman’s bots or give Tails a wink and a thumbs up when he was proud of him. His robotic copy simply stood in place, blankly staring at his target. And at the moment, that was Tails.

The robot turned to the monitor beside Tails (which he couldn’t quite make out before due to the lingering blurriness in his vision and the layer of grime on everything) and pushed some buttons, which caused more lights to turn on. It didn’t turn all of them on, some remained completely off and some flickered, but it gave Tails enough light to be able to see a bit better. Tails watched as the robot continued, typing away at the keyboard in front of him. A low, monotone, robotic voice filled the room through speakers all around him.

‘Do not try to fight me.’ It stated simply. ‘I will use violence if necessary.’

“Go ahead!” Tails retorted. “I’m not scared of you!”

This was a great big lie, he definitely was scared of Metal Sonic, but he wouldn’t let that hold him back. He wouldn’t let the robot push him around.

The robot did not respond. Tails eyed him, his curiosity growing.

“Where is Eggman?” He prodded the robot. “Why are we in an abandoned base?”

The robot began typing again, and the monotone voice played over the speakers.

‘He is not here. You and I are the only residents of this building.’

“What?” Tails’ brow furrowed, his eyes drifting up to the robot’s head. “Why not?”

More typing.

‘This does not concern him.’

The gears in Tails’ head turned. Whatever reason Metal had for kidnapping him, he wasn’t following orders from Eggman, and based on what Metal was saying, the doctor seemingly wasn’t aware of what he was doing. That was...odd. The robot was supposed to be unquestioningly loyal. Was he acting on his own?

“Why did you kidnap me?” Tails asked, cautiously moving slightly closer to the robot. “What are you doing?”

The robot paused for a moment, then continued typing.

‘I require your assistance.’

That made Tails pause.

Metal wanted his help. His help. Why?

“Why not just ask Eggman for whatever it is you want?” The fox inquired, a mix of anger and genuine confusion in his voice.

Another pause.

‘He cannot help with this; you will do it instead.’

“…why me though?”

This gave Metal a turn to pause. Tails waited for a response, but he honestly wasn’t sure he would get one. Frankly, he was extremely confused. Metal had acted out on his own before, sure, but as far as Tails was aware, he’d never sought help from anyone ever. Why now? And why Tails? What could he do for Metal Sonic that Eggman couldn’t?

Eventually, the typing resumed.

‘You are an inventor and can program machines, yes?’

“…yes?”

‘Then you can do what I need.’

Tails paused.

“…and what exactly do you need?”

Yet another pause, then more typing.

‘I want to upgrade myself. You will assist me.’

Tails let out a shocked laugh.

“You think I’d help upgrade you? Why would I ever do that? You’re our enemy,”

‘I have you captured. I have confiscated all of your items. You have no means of defending yourself against me.’

While this was true, that didn’t mean Tails would give in. He’d fight until he couldn’t anymore. Even if the robot beat him within an inch of his life, he’d fight until he couldn’t move anymore. The fox took a deep breath and slowly and stubbornly spat out his next words.

“I’m not scared of you.”

Metal Sonic paused once again. Tails couldn’t for the life of him tell what the robotic replica was thinking. He didn’t back down though, glaring daggers at the machine and simply waiting for its response.

Without any explanation, the robot simply turned around and left, rocketing out of the room and leaving Tails with no option but to stare at the floor and contemplate his current situation. There was no way he would help Metal, even if it meant he’d be at the robot’s mercy.

But the robot hadn’t hurt him. He’d threatened to, but he didn’t. Well, outside of his initial capture, at least. He had no reason not to hurt Tails, yet other than his remaining dull headache, he was completely unharmed.

Tails hadn’t often found himself wondering what his big brother’s metallic copy was up to, but this…this truly puzzled him. Whatever upgrades Metal Sonic wanted, he either wouldn’t or couldn’t get them from Eggman. Not only that, out of every genius in the world, he specifically chose Tails to do it. Why? What was he planning?

Tails was forced to ponder this as he sat alone in the bottom of an abandoned Eggman base.

Chapter Text

Sonic was getting worried.

Figuring Tails was probably with one of their friends, he planned to reach out to a bunch of them one by one. He started with Amy, figuring she was probably the most likely to scoop him up and take him somewhere. While she wasn’t as close with the fox as Sonic was, they were still great friends. So he called her, and it didn’t take long for her to respond.

“Hi Sonic!” Amy cheerily greeted. “What’s up?”

“Hey Amy,” Sonic started. “Is Tails with you?”

“No, I’m with Cream and Vanilla, we’re making a cake!” She answered excitedly. “Why do you ask?”

Damn.

He didn’t need to panic though, they had plenty of friends. There were lots of other people the fox cub could be with. He must just be with someone else, right? Still, Sonic just couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong about this whole situation. Tails didn’t just disappear like this. Even if he was going somewhere, he’d usually leave a note in case Sonic came by. He was careful about these things.

“Sonic?”

The hedgehog snapped out of his thoughts and sighed.

“Sorry Amy, I’m just...thinking,”

“Is everything okay?”

“I can’t find Tails anywhere,” he explained. “I checked his workshop, his bed, every room in his house...”

“Did you try calling him?”

“Yeah, no response.”

“That’s...odd,” Sonic could practically hear the gears turning in Amy’s head over the phone. “Any sign of where he went?”

“None. I’m hoping he’s just with someone and forgot to leave a note or something.”

“I see. That is unusual, though...”

“It’s just...” Sonic started, wondering how he could explain why this was bothering him so much. Sure, it was weird, but Sonic felt like he might’ve been overreacting a little. Tails was more than capable of handling himself, and Sonic had faith in him, but something about this situation rubbed Sonic the wrong way. This wasn’t like Tails.

“It’s just...?” Amy prompted.

“It’s... it’s just that I’m worried, is all,” Sonic tried explaining. “My gut’s telling me something is up. He’s never disappeared like this before...”

“I see,” Amy’s voice softly carried over the phone. She paused for a moment. “I’m sure he’s fine, he’s a smart kid, and he has amazing people like you looking out for him. You’ll find him before you know it.”

Sonic couldn’t help the small smile that crept onto his face at that. “Thanks, Amy.”

“Don’t mention it,” she said before a muffled voice, presumably either Cream or Vanilla, said something that Sonic couldn’t hear. He heard Amy’s voice and her phone shuffling.

“Hi Mr. Sonic!” Cream cheered. He heard a faint, high pitched “chao chao!” from Cheese and Chocola in the background. “We miss you!”

“Hey! I miss you too Cream,” Sonic smiled a little more hearing the little rabbit. She was pretty good at cheering him up. While he had a hold of her, he might as well see if she’d spotted the missing fox. “You wouldn’t happen to know where Tails is, would you?”

“No, we haven’t seen him,” Cream said. “Is he missing?”

“Yeah, he is. I’m trying to find him.”

“Oh, I hope he’s okay...”

“We’ll keep an eye out for him, right Cream?” Amy asked.

“Right!” Cream exclaimed, it sounded like she was jumping, a little rhythmic thumping sound coming from the phone. “Mama and Cheese and Chocola will help too!”

Sonic let out a light chuckle. “You guys are the best. I’m gonna keep looking for him, you two enjoy that cake, okay?”

“Will do!”

“We will Mr. Sonic!”

“Awesome, thanks. See you two later.”

“Bye Mr. Sonic!”

“Bye Sonic! We’ll save you a slice!”

And so his first lead went nowhere. While he enjoyed hearing from Amy and Cream, it didn’t really help with his anxiety over the missing kit. They did at least help him loosen up some, the tightness in his chest relenting just a bit. And at least now he’d have a couple other people keeping an eye out for Tails.

He still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong, though.

He decided that he’d check with Knuckles next. Tails would sometimes venture up to Angel Island and spend time with the echidna, so it was possible he was there. Even though he wasn’t quite as close with the kit as Sonic was, Knuckles was also like a big brother to him. It made Sonic happy that the two were also close, even if the Knucklehead wasn’t always the best with emotions, he knew that they could rely on the echidna when he needed him.

It didn’t take long for the echidna to respond either.

“What do you want?” Knuckles asked, though it felt more like an accusation somehow. Sonic smirked.

“Can’t I just call because I wanna hear your voice?” He teasingly asked the older boy.

“No.”

Sonic let out a snicker. “Okay, though guy,”

“Seriously Sonic, what is it?”

His smile fell and he sighed.

“I can’t find Tails anywhere, I was hoping maybe he made a trip to Angel Island and forgot to leave a note, is he there?”

Knuckles went silent on the other end.

“Hello? Knuckles?”

“No, he’s not here.” The echidna answered.

“Great, another dead end...” Sonic grumbled.

“When and where did you last see him?”

Sonic thought for a moment. The last time he saw Tails...A couple days ago he and Tails had a movie night, they found what looked like a fun campy slasher and they had a blast. After that, Sonic stayed the night and was off in the morning.

“A couple days ago,” he answered. Knuckles hummed in response.

“And you’ve tried calling him?”

“No knucklehead, I hadn’t thought of that,” Sonic sarcastically retorted, rolling his eyes. “Of course I tried calling him, I didn’t get any response. I tried a million times.”

Silence on the other end once again. Despite not being able to see the echidna at the moment, Sonic was sure that his brow was furrowed and that there was a scowl stuck on his face. Knuckles wasn’t responding to Sonic’s sarcasm at all. He was taking this seriously. On the one hand, Sonic found that comforting. Knuckles had proven over and over that he’s an invaluable ally. If Knuckles was helping him, he’d probably find Tails a lot faster. On the other hand, that meant that Knuckles felt that this was worth taking seriously. That he also felt like something was wrong. Sonic knew Knuckles also cared a lot about Tails, even if he had trouble showing it sometimes. He was only this serious when he was worried. And that worried Sonic.

“...Knuckles? You still there?”

“Yeah, I’m...I’m here,” the echidna responded, his voice unusually quiet. “I’m just thinking...”

“Well that can’t be good,” Sonic teased. “It’s not exactly your strong suit.”

“Very funny,” Knuckles retorted.

Sonic let out a small chuckle before sighing again. He felt like he was doing that a lot today.

“Any ideas on where he could be?” Sonic inquired. “I’m just about out of ‘em.”

“Hmmm, maybe with Amy?”

“Nah, I tried that already.” Sonic sat down on the couch, staring at the powered off TV. “Any other ideas?”

“Did...did you check in the workshop? Maybe he’s there?” Knuckles suggested.

“Checked every inch of the place Knux, he wasn’t there.”

“His bed?”

“Nope.”

“On the couch?

“Sitting on it right now, no Tails.”

“Bathroom?”

“Door was open, it was unoccupied.”

Knuckles let out a frustrated sigh.

“Did...did he go into town maybe?” 

“If he was just running some errands he probably would’ve picked up.” Sonic retorted. “He wasn’t outside either, if that’s your next guess.”

“Jeez, where the hell is he?”

“I don’t know, Knucklehead! That’s why I’m calling, remember?”

Knuckles grumbled on the other end of the line. There was another pause before the echidna resumed.

“You...you okay?”

“...what?” Sonic did a double take.

“I said, are you okay?” the echidna repeated.

“Why, exactly, are you asking me that?”

“Because you suck at expressing your feelings, and I can tell that this is stressing you out.”

“You’re one to talk, Knucklehead,”

“Am I wrong, though?”

Sonic wanted to deny the accusation, to tell Knuckles that he was just projecting or that he was worrying over nothing, but he couldn’t. Knuckles was right. Tails held Sonic together more than the hedgehog would like to admit, and not knowing where the kit was put him on edge. It’s not that he didn’t have faith in Tails, he definitely did, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t worry about the cub when he was out on his own.

“I’m...” he started, unsure of what he was going to say next. He wasn’t even sure if this situation was as serious as he felt it was. He eventually settled on saying “I don’t know what to do.”

A moment of slightly awkward silence passed between them.

“Well let me know if he turns up, okay Knux?” Sonic asked. “I’m worried about him...”

“Yeah, I will...” the echidna solemnly agreed. “I’ll call you if he shows up here. Keep me updated.”

“Will do.”

“And if you can’t find him soon, let me know, I’ll come help.”

“Will do, Knux. Thanks.”

And so his second lead was also a bust. Since Amy was with Vanilla and Cream, that also eliminated a potential spot for Tails to be.

He took a deep breath. He needed to keep a level head if he wanted to find Tails. He was probably just worrying over nothing. He knew Tails was capable of defending himself. Sonic never ceased to be impressed by the kit’s ingenuity, determination, and of course, his genius. Sonic dreaded the idea of the fox going through a rebellious teenage phase, but he couldn’t wait to see how incredible the little guy would be when he grew up and reached his full potential. He’d already done so many amazing things, helped Sonic save the world more times than he could count, made inventions that people five times his age couldn’t even dream of. And he was only eight years old.

And now he could be in danger.

Sonic shook his head. He didn’t know for sure that Tails was in danger. He still had friends he could check with, Tails could be with one of them.

He’d just have to keep reaching out to his friends. Tails had to be out there somewhere. He’d probably find Tails before he knew it, right?

Chapter Text

Tails wasn’t sure how long he had been left alone in the abandoned base. It felt like hours as he stared at the walls with nothing to distract him from the present situation. Captured by the creation of his and Sonic’s arch enemy and at his mercy, being asked – no, forced to help upgrade him. He wouldn’t do it. The very idea made the fox’s stomach turn.

He had no idea how long he’d been there. When did he even wake up? For all Tails knew, it could be the next day already. It could have even been multiple days.

The cub wondered if anyone would notice his disappearance. Sonic came and went as he pleased, basically being a part-time roommate. If Sonic decided he wanted to come over and found the fox missing, there was no way he wouldn’t look for Tails, right? Sonic was his big brother, the person that raised him, who made him who he was. Before Sonic, Tails didn’t know if there was anyone who would ever love him and treat him like anything other than a nuisance or a freak. He changed tails’ life.

Sonic was amazing. He inspired Tails like no other. He was fast, strong, brave, and unapologetically optimistic; he’d see the best in people and help prop them up and do everything in his power to protect them. He didn’t care about his own life nearly as much as he cared about the lives of others. And he saw something in Tails. The kit didn’t always understand it. He was small, and nowhere near as strong or fast as Sonic or their other friends. His intellect was what made him useful. He’d sometimes wonder why Sonic, someone who notoriously liked to do things solo, would want him of all people to stick by his side no matter what. Surely there were people out there stronger and faster than him, that would be more helpful to Sonic. Not smarter, though. Tails was confident that he was the smartest person the hedgehog knew.

But even if he didn’t always understand it, he was so, so grateful that Sonic always stayed by his side. When he stumbled and fell, Sonic would pick him back up and tell him to try again.

Sonic meant the world to him.

But the kit’s head hung when he thought about how it might be days or even weeks before he decided to show up again. Sonic still liked doing things solo, and he would sometimes go off on his own for days or weeks on end. If that was the case, and Sonic wouldn’t return for a while, Tails could be in trouble.

He wondered how long his brother’s copy would hold him here. It felt like he’d been stuck in the Eggman base for hours, but he had no way to know for sure. How many potential upgrades would he want Tails to make? What would he do to Tails if he decided the upgrades weren’t good enough? The robot could be brutal, and Tails knew he must have a strong dislike for him. Tails was the real Sonic’s right-hand man, after all. He was an enemy of Eggman, Metal’s creator, and his sole purpose was to destroy them.

But he hadn’t hurt him. At least not outside of his initial kidnapping. How long would that last, though? He might even just hurt Tails for the heck of it. He did exist to destroy Sonic and, by extension, him. He had no guarantee that the robot wouldn’t just kill him once he got what he wanted. Even if he hadn’t been hurt that much so far, his life was still in danger.

 Metal Sonic did eventually return, snapping Tails out of his thoughts.

He first heard the sound of jets and watched as the robot sped into the room, stopping and dropping to the ground before turning to Tails. The fox noted that Metal was holding something, though he couldn’t quite make it out from across the room.

The robot made its way over to the captive fox, the loud clanging of his metallic feet hitting the floor making Tails tense. The kit couldn’t help the anxiety that bubbled in his chest as the metallic version of his older brother stared down at him. The intense red glow of his metal eyes felt like they stared into Tails’ soul. He shrunk slightly under the robot’s gaze. He knew he stood no chance against Metal, especially without his gadgets and machines. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t fight, though.

Metal Sonic dropped something at Tails’ feet. The fox eyed it hesitantly and, when the robot refused to stop staring at him, he picked the item up and glanced down at it.

It was a small Eggman device with a holographic screen. It wasn’t too different from the Miles Electric, which almost served as an odd sort of comfort. It was at least something somewhat familiar. It was akin to a tablet, but the edges were Eggman’s signature red. It gave him a time in the top right corner, 5:22pm. His stomach turned a bit. He’d been here at least 13 hours.

He looked over the contents of the screen and…wasn’t sure what to make of it. He could read it perfectly fine, but the words gave him a bit of pause.

It was the first upgrade Metal Sonic wanted.

He wanted a voice.

It simply read “Upgrade #1: voice box” and displayed blueprints of the robot, presumably created by Eggman. There were little notes dictating how he was programmed and what would need to be left intact for him to function. Tails read the words over and over again, as if that would reveal some secret meaning. It didn’t.

“You…” Tails hesitantly started, unsure of how to approach this situation. What could he even say? “You want me to give you a voice?”

He glanced up to his captor, wondering if this was some kind of test. Maybe Metal was trying to get Tails to lower his guard, then the robot would blindside him. Not that Tails would ever give in to Metal, he’d rather die, but this was...not what he had expected.

The robot simply nodded in response to his question.

Tails mulled over his options. He could deny the request, tell the robot that he’d never help him and to just get lost. But...it was just such a minor thing for Metal to have asked from him. What was the purpose of it? Was it even worth fighting Metal Sonic over? Metal Sonic could hurt him, or even kill him if he didn’t fulfill the request, but...would Metal having a voice really be a bad thing?

And why had he done all this for such a simple request? Had he gone through all this effort just...to be able to speak? No, there had to be more to it. Metal was essentially an AI created by Dr. Eggman, he wouldn’t just impulsively do something without carefully planning out every move. Still...Why couldn’t he just ask his creator for it?

“I…” he started, but whatever words he wanted to say died in his throat. He wasn’t sure what to do. There was no reason for Metal Sonic to go to all this trouble to get this. And to get it from him. Why did Metal Sonic want him to do it? There was no shortage of other people who could do this upgrade, and there was no way Metal Sonic picked Tails randomly. If he picked Tails for this task, there had to be a reason for it.

Tails took a deep breath and tried again. “I’m…not sure why you needed me to do this. This should be an incredibly simple upgrade; you could’ve gone to anyone for this.”

The robot turned to the monitor and began typing once again, the same monotone voice from before filling the room.

‘Dr. Eggman has neglected to give me a voice for years. I am no longer waiting.’

This made sense. Outside of his other more powerful forms, Metal couldn’t speak. Tails never really considered why though, and if Metal had wanted to be able to speak. But then again…

“Why don’t you just ask him to do it? And why did you ask me?”

The robot did not respond to this. For whatever reason, he refused to ask his creator for this. That still didn’t satisfy the fox cub though.

“You wanted me, specifically, to do this,” Tails prompted. “You could’ve chosen anyone else, but you didn’t. You chose me. Why?”

Metal Sonic stopped, his robotic hand hovering over the keyboard in front of him. Tails watched, waiting for some kind of explanation. There was something more to this situation, he was certain. He just wasn’t sure what it was. He was going to find out what was going on no matter what. He waited patiently for metallic fingers to resume typing, and eventually they did.

‘It is not your concern.’ The robotic voice stated simply. ‘You will complete this upgrade for me.’

“And if I refuse?”

Typing.

‘I will make you complete it. I will use violence if necessary.’

Normally, he’d tell Metal to bring it on, give him everything he’s got. Even if Tails knew he couldn’t win, he wouldn’t give in to the impostor. But…this was such a minor thing. He could just refuse to do it on principle, but he didn’t feel like it was worth risking his life just to not give Metal a voice. Even if he completed it, it wouldn’t make that much of a difference. Metal Sonic would just be able to communicate more easily. Sure, he was a creation of Tails and Sonic’s arch enemy, made with the sole purpose of defeating and destroying them, but would this make any difference in his ability to do that? At the worst, it would just give him the ability to talk to Eggman or to insult them. It wasn’t like Sonic didn’t enjoy trading jabs with enemies anyway, he might even enjoy his encounters with Metal like this. Metal having a voice might give them an advantage, too. They’d have the opportunity to know what the robot was thinking.

He might even be able to sneak in something that could stop Metal Sonic from attacking them in the future, under the guise of helping his voice box operate properly. This may actually be a once in a lifetime opportunity to take down one of their opponent’s strongest weapons. He had to take it.

“Okay. I’ll do it,” Tails agreed, looking up to the robot. “I’ll give you a voice.” Robotic fingers resumed typing once again.

‘Excellent.’ A pause. ‘However, I will caution you not to try anything to resist me. If you do…’

The robot rushed him, grabbing him by the throat and slamming him into the wall. All the wind got knocked out of him, and he struggled to take in another breath with the sharp, metallic fingers clinging tightly around his neck. He instinctively grasped at it, attempting to pull away the metal hand to no avail, his wrist being met with resistance from the handcuff restraining him, clanking against the metal beam. The robot didn’t budge, letting Tails struggle helplessly for a moment. His vision began to blur.

Tails weakly nodded in response. The robot let go, the kit falling to the floor and gasping for air. Metal Sonic returned to the keyboard and typed.

‘I will bring you materials to work. Do not try to resist me.’

With that, the robot was off once again. The kit fought his racing heart and quick breathing, attempting to take in a long, deep breath. He couldn’t panic. He had a job to do. Maybe with patience, he could pry something out of Metal Sonic to find out what his real plan was. Maybe he could stop him.

He wasn’t going to just take this. He was going to fight back in the best way he could: try to take Metal down from the inside. He’d make the voice box and put it in Metal Sonic, taking extra time to carefully examine every little element of his programming, all his wiring, every little line of code. He’d need to be careful though. Metal may not be as intelligent as his creator, but he wasn’t stupid either. Tails would bide his time, making small adjustments while he learned more about the robot. This would also let him stall for time in the hopes that Sonic would find and rescue him. Even though he hadn’t been hurt that much so far, he was still in serious danger. Tails would feel much safer with his big brother by his side. He laid down on the cold, hard floor, waiting for the materials he’d need to get started.

He hoped Sonic would find him soon.

Chapter Text

Sonic was growing very frustrated. Every single person he’d gotten a hold of hadn’t seen Tails. Rouge and Omega hadn’t seen him, Team Chaotix hadn’t responded, Silver, Tangle, Whisper, Sticks, nothing. He would’ve asked Blaze, but he didn’t know how to reach her from this dimension. Tails probably wasn’t in a different dimension anyway, but he would’ve liked to at least check. He’d eventually taken to just running around to different towns and villages to see if they’d spotted the fox, but he found nothing. He went back to the house and checked again several times, nothing. He even tried calling Shadow, though the brooding hedgehog hadn’t responded.

He was getting really worried.

He was now sitting on the desk of the Chaotix, awaiting their return. He figured that since they were detectives, they might be able to help. He turned and looked out the window. It was dark out now, meaning that Sonic had somehow spent the entire day looking for his lost little buddy. He hadn’t really been keeping track of the time in his search. A whole day of searching, and he was no closer to finding Tails. He continued to try his communicator, hoping that maybe Tails had just somehow missed all his previous attempts to reach him. He yet again got no response. 

He couldn’t keep his foot from impatiently tapping on the desk. Jeez, what was taking them so long? Tails could be hurt out there somewhere and Sonic was just sitting here waiting for the detectives to return to get their help. No, he didn’t know for sure that the kit was hurt. There was still a chance that this was some kind of misunderstanding. Still, the longer it took to find Tails, the more Sonic worried that he was in danger.

He’d tried calling the Chaotix again but got no response. Maybe he should just leave, keep looking for Tails himself. That way he would at least be doing something. Maybe Tails got back home from wherever he was, and Sonic just had to go check again? No, that wasn’t possible. If Tails was just out doing something he would’ve responded by now.

He wondered if Tails was okay. He really hoped he was. He hoped that he’d find Tails and the cub would laugh and apologize for worrying him, explaining that he was out testing some new device or that he found something that he needed to investigate and just got too invested. Sonic really wanted to believe that Tails was okay, but he just couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. That Tails was out there somewhere, scared, hurt, in danger. He imagined the little kit the way he’d occasionally find him during a thunderstorm, curled up into a ball, paralyzed with fear, sobbing so hard it wracked his entire little body.

Only Sonic wasn’t there to comfort him now. The thought made his stomach turn.

Just as Sonic was about to give up and leave, Vector swung the door open.

“Oh man, what a day...” Vector groaned. Sonic couldn’t hold back his frustration.

“And where have you been?” He snapped. The crocodile jumped.

“Wha – Sonic? What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong is I’ve been trying to find Tails all day, and you guys never picked up. I needed you guys; I’ve checked everywhere!” Sonic fumed, his hands clenching into fists at his side. He looked past Vector and saw Espio and Charmy not far behind. “Where the hell were you?!”

The three stopped and stared at the blue hedgehog in front of them. This just made Sonic even more upset.

“Well?! Are you gonna answer or are you just gonna keep staring at me?”

 “...w-we were out on – on a j-job,” Charmy stammered, hiding behind Espio. Tears pricked at the corners of the little bee’s eyes. Sonic suddenly felt a pit in his stomach. He almost made Charmy cry. He needed to calm down. He forced himself to take slow, steady breaths. He didn’t even know if Tails was in danger, he couldn’t let himself lose his cool like this.

He just couldn’t shake the feeling that Tails was in danger.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, looking to Charmy first, then to the other two, who were still staring at him. “I didn’t mean to snap at you, I just-“ he sighed. “I’m really worried about Tails, I’ve looked everywhere and...I don’t know what to do...”

Sonic lowered his gaze to the floor, slumping over and sliding down the desk to the floor. He took in a deep breath.

“I need your help.”

He didn’t look up from the floor. He couldn’t. Not when he’d snapped at them like that. Even when he heard Vector moving closer, his gaze stayed fixed on the ground. He didn’t look up until Vector was on one knee in front of him, a grin on his face and a hand reached out to Sonic.

“What can we do for you, Sonic?” Vector asked. Sonic smiled and took his hand, the crocodile pulling him up to his feet.

“I need you guys to help me find Tails. You’re the best detectives I know, after all.”

Espio and Charmy crossed the room to join them.

“Tell us exactly what happened.” Espio commanded. His tone was somehow both firm and gentle. Sonic had to remember to thank his friends later.

“Okay,” Sonic agreed. “It started this morning...”

Tails supposed he could be doing worse, all things considered. Metal had dragged a bunch of old, broken badniks and other Eggman devices over to him to work with, as well as bringing him a toolbox. He was thankful for the devices Metal Sonic had given him, most of all the tablet. It not only allowed him to do the work he had been abducted to complete, but also because it helped him keep track of time. It had been a few hours since he woke up, his only pastime being researching Metal Sonic and programming/building the voice box for him. At least it kept him busy. The earlier hours of nothing but staring at the floor and walls were torturous.

Metal Sonic hadn’t given Tails any specific instructions on how he wanted the voice box to be constructed, so the fox built it the way he wanted to. If nothing else, Tails was relieved that the robot was bringing him everything he’d need to work and giving him the space necessary to do so. It would be easier if he could do it in his own lab with his own tools, but Metal wouldn’t let him do that. While the robot hadn’t bothered him much, he still kept a close eye on the fox.

Tails had at least managed to convince the robot to adjust the handcuffs so he could properly use both hands without having to awkwardly maneuver to work while restrained. He’d agreed to replace the restrictive handcuff with a still uncomfortable, but more maneuverable chain. It locked around his wrist like the handcuffs and wouldn’t budge. Tails was still firmly trapped, but he could move better at least.

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud rumble from his stomach. He struggled to remember the last time he ate something. He ate when...he had a light dinner before he got to work in his lab sometime around 7pm or so the night before, or at least what he assumed was the night before. He checked the time with the Eggman device in his hand. 9:22pm. It had been more than 24 hours since he’d last eaten. He let out a loud, frustrated sigh.

The kit shook his head. He had to focus.

He tried the best he could, ignoring the emptiness and the thoughts of what different foods he wished he could grab from his kitchen. He read through the robot’s blueprints carefully to figure out how to construct and implement the voice box, but his focus kept being broken by his body begging for food. His stomach felt as if it was starting to cave in on itself.  He tried to force himself to keep working, to focus on his work, but the clawing on his insides and growing heaviness all over his body took more and more of his attention until he could barely look at the screen. 

He might as well try to get the robot to give him something to eat, right? Even if he said no, it was worth a try. Maybe he could reason with him, negotiate somehow. Thankfully, said robot was still in the room, doing something on the monitor that Tails couldn’t quite make out from his spot on the floor.

“I need something to eat to be able to keep working,” Tails started, setting the tools and machinery he’d been using to the side. “I can’t focus.”

The robot turned to stare at him for a moment before typing again.

‘You need food? Why?”

“Well,” Tails started, wondering how to explain his hunger to the robot. He wondered if trying to explain it from a logical and scientific perspective would win over his captor. Well, it was worth a shot, at least. “Food is like fuel for us living beings. We need it to be able to function. Without it, it can cause a bunch of issues that interfere with our ability to do things, such as fatigue, irritability, impaired focus, etc. I can’t focus because I need to eat, and I won’t be able to work as quickly or effectively until I eat something.”

The robot paused.

‘So you require fuel?’

“Uh yeah, pretty much.”

‘Understood.’

Without warning, the robot shot off like a rocket once again. Tails wondered how long it would take for Metal to return. The kit let out a small whine when his stomach rumbled once again, laying down on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest.

It took a mercifully short amount of time for the robot to return, though his idea of “food” was...interesting. It was technically food, but the single loaf of bread and bag of apples he’d retrieved wouldn’t help much. Tails sighed. It was better than nothing, at least. He went for the bag of apples first, mentally noting that they probably hadn’t been washed. It’s not like he could get up and wash them himself though, and he doubted that his captor would do it. Alas, he’d have to settle for potentially eating dirt and bacteria. It was better than starving. He bit in and got back to work, munching as he took apart badniks and pulled out the parts he’d need.

After a minute, the robot went back to the keyboard and typed.

‘Is this suitable fuel?’

“It’s better than nothing, at least,” Tails tiredly commented. When the robot did not respond, staring at him and seemingly waiting for elaboration, the fox cub figured he should oblige. He once again decided to go for a more scientific and logical approach when explaining, since it seemed to work on Metal. “This doesn’t provide a lot of nutrition, it’s better to combine several things into bigger meals that can give you different kinds of nutrients that your body needs. A sandwich, for example, can have meats that will give you protein, while the bread can provide carbohydrates, and so on. What you brought me, it uh...will keep me from starving, at least, but it won’t help much.”

The robot nodded.

‘If I bring you a sandwich, will that provide more fuel?’

“Uh...yeah, something like that.”

‘Very well.’

The robot left once again, leaving Tails to snack, work, and think about the robot that was simultaneously holding him captive and possibly bringing him a sandwich. This was definitely one of the strangest days he’d had in a while. At least he could eat now.

Chapter Text

Sonic and Team Chaotix had made their way back to Tails’ house. After Sonic had recounted the events of the day, the detectives decided they wanted to investigate the house themselves. With Sonic leading the way, they made it in about half an hour. It killed Sonic that it took so long, it normally would’ve taken him less than half that time, even going slowly. He had to remind himself that his friends couldn’t run at the speed of sound like he could. Still, they were fast, it would’ve taken a normal person around an hour to make it from the Chaotix’s office to the kit’s house. They weren’t taking too terribly long, all things considered.

When they arrived, Sonic opened the door and welcomed his friends in. Even though it wasn’t technically his house, Sonic knew it like the back of his hand. He could probably navigate the house blindfolded if he tried. He gave the detectives a brief rundown of where things were in the house and then let them get to work.

He really hoped that they’d see something he’d missed somehow.

“Do you know if Tails has any sort of security system?” Espio asked, glancing around the living room.

“Yeah, I think so,” Sonic commented. “He has cameras and sensors all around, but I wouldn’t know how to access them.”

“Do you know where we could access them?” Vector questioned.

“If I had to guess, I’d say it would be on his computer in the workshop. C’mon, I’ll show you.”

He walked the detectives to the workshop and the large supercomputer Tails had built. Sonic basked in its glory, remembering how proud the kit had been of himself when he’d completed it. Sonic sometimes wished he knew even a tenth of what the fox knew. Then again, speed was his thing, smarts were Tails’. It’s what made them such a great a team.

But that meant that when Sonic was left on his own, there were some things he just couldn’t do. Normally if he needed assistance, it was no problem, since he could just go to Tails. But that wasn’t an option right now.

It felt wrong.

“You think this is where it is?” Vector asked, eyeing the large machine.

“Probably.” Sonic said, hands on his hips. “I don’t know how to get onto it though, Tails is in charge of this stuff.”

“We’ll figure it out!” Charmy cheered, buzzing overhead. “We’ll find Tails before you know it!”

Sonic smiled slightly at the little bee.

“Thanks, Charmy.”

“You should try to rest while we work on this,” Espio suggested. “I’m not sure how long this will take, and you’ve been running around all day.”

“Running’s kind of my thing, remember?” Sonic lightheartedly boasted, pointing finger guns at his friends. “I’m the fastest thing alive!”

“I don’t just mean physically,” Espio continued. “You need to try to rest both physically and mentally. This situation has been stressful for you.”

“I’m fine, Espio, seriously!”

Espio’s face remained in place, an unconvinced expression pointed at Sonic.

“Okay, fine, so maybe I’m a bit stressed – but I wanna help!”

“You’ll be able to help better after resting,” The chameleon scolded before he placed a hand on Sonic’s shoulder. “We’ll find him. I swear it.”

Sonic sighed. He knew Espio was right, but he didn’t want to just sit and relax while Tails could be in danger. It wasn’t fair. Tails should be the one resting, not him. But the more Sonic pushed himself, the more useless he’d be. Even if he couldn’t rest mentally, he should at least give his body some time to recharge. Once he was at 100% capacity, he’d stop at nothing to find his little brother. For now, his friends were helping him, and the best thing he could do would not be in the way.

He nodded, and Espio relaxed, letting the faintest smile onto his face. Sonic weakly smiled back.

“We’ll handle this, Sonic,” Vector reaffirmed, giving the hedgehog an enthusiastic thumbs up. “You get some shuteye, alright? We’ll wake you if we find something.”

“Thanks guys,” Sonic said softly, slowly making his way into the living room and plopping down on the living room couch. He registered the heaviness in his entire body for the first time that day. He had been focusing all his attention on his search. Now he had time to sit with his thoughts about the whole day. He wasn’t sure he wanted to do that.

He stared up at the ceiling. What now? Just...sit there, waiting for something to happen? For any sign of Tails? What else was there for him to do?

He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep even if he tried. The hundreds of possible scenarios for his little buddy played out in his mind. Had someone kidnapped him? If so, who took him? Had he tried testing a new device and it stranded him somewhere somehow? Had he just somehow wandered off really far and got lost? What if something happened? What if Tails had needed Sonic, and he wasn’t there? No, if that was the case Tails would have at least attempted to reach him. Besides, he’d seen the kit only a couple days ago and he was perfectly fine, happy and healthy as ever. Even if something had happened in that short time, he knew Tails wouldn’t just run away without even trying to reach him.

That meant Tails was being kept from reaching Sonic somehow. And the thought boiled his blood.

He just couldn’t shake the anxiety, the tension in his shoulders, the unrelenting feeling that something was wrong. Everyone else seemed worried, sure, but not as worried as Sonic. He couldn’t fight the clawing in the back of his mind that said louder and louder that Tails was in danger. Tails was incredibly strong and smart, but he was still a little kid. Most of their enemies were physically stronger than him, and if they’d gotten a jump on him, Tails might not have been able fight back. Especially if his opponent had somehow separated him from his gadgets. The only thing keeping Sonic from finding every foe they’d ever faced and demanding they tell him where Tails is was the fact that there was no sign of a struggle. Even if outmatched, he had faith that the kit wouldn’t go down without a fight.

He groaned. Sonic could handle being in danger no problem, he had been in so many life-or-death scenarios that they barely registered anymore. But the one thing that bothered him more than anything was not being able to help people. He was almost never in a situation where he couldn’t do something. Even if it was small, he would usually find something to do to help wherever he could. He hated the feeling of needing to sit and wait for something, anything he could do. It made his skin crawl. It felt like an itch all over his body, the need to get up and move and do something dialed up to 1000%.

But there was nothing he could do right now.

He groaned and shook his head, sitting back up on the couch. He needed to get up and do something, anything. Laying uselessly on Tails’ couch wasn’t helping any, he was just too worried to relax.

He’d do the thing he was best at and that always helped him.

He’d run. 

He got up, did a small stretch, left a little note on the couch explaining what he was doing, and ran. He didn’t have a goal in mind, not a specific location or person, all he wanted was to run. To let the wind blow through his quills at breakneck speed, to feel the rush of adrenaline as he plummeted from a tall height before diving into a spindash. He loved it. It made all his worries melt away.

He didn’t keep track of time. He figured that if the Chaotix found something, they’d call him. It helped to just let his mind empty of all worries and to focus on running through all the different beautiful locales the world had to offer. Bright cities, big open fields, lush forests, all of it was stunning. No matter what happened, he could rely on the world around him to provide all the incredible sights he could hope for.

He ran through cities, taking in the bright lights against the dark night sky. He ran through ancient ruins and marveled at the architecture. He ran through fields and forests and parks, letting himself let go of his worries for the first time that day. It helped release the tension he’d been holding in his entire body to just run freely, not caring where he went.

The hedgehog paused when, while running through a forest, he spotted a familiar face. A large, purple cat, sitting on the edge of a lake with a fishing pole. A little frog sat by his side. He smiled and walked up to his friend.

“Got room for one more?” He asked. Big turned to look at him and smiled.

“Oh, hi Sonic!” Big slowly greeted, his deep yet soft voice helping Sonic relax. “Sure, come on over. You want a fishing pole?”

“Yeah, actually, I do.”

Sonic sat down next to the much larger man. Big handed him a fishing pole and he gratefully took it and cast the line. He wasn’t expecting to catch anything, but just enjoying the peace of sitting by the lake with his friend. The stars shone above them brightly, reflecting in the water and illuminating everything around them. Sonic loved nights like this. Whenever he could, he’d find time to just lay down and look at the stars. They reminded him of his early years as a hero, where he simply found the most comfortable patch of grass to lay on and spent the whole night staring into the night sky.

Sometimes Tails would join him, pointing out different constellations and their meanings. He didn’t believe in horoscopes, but he enjoyed learning about things from a scientific point of view. Sonic didn’t really care to understand the difference. Either way, they were just as beautiful.

“Anything on your mind?” Big asked him, glancing to the blue hedgehog. Froggy hopped to Sonic’s side, and the hedgehog let out a chuckle and pet the little frog. He sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day.

“It’s been a rough day, Big,” Sonic started, voice unusually soft, staring into the lake. “I can’t find Tails anywhere; I’m really worried about him...”

Big hummed in response.

“He’s – he’s just vanished, and I can’t reach him at all. I’ve tried calling him, texting him, I’ve checked with all our friends, everything I could think of. I looked all over, and nothing. Not even a note! I just...”

He hung his head. He so badly wanted to hear the little kit’s voice, his laugh, to see his little smile when Sonic complimented him. To see his eyes light up when Sonic asked him to explain whatever invention he was working on to him, even if he never understood it. He wanted to carry a groaning Tails up to his room and tuck him into bed, watching as he quickly drifted off to sleep. When he thought of Tails being alone out there, in danger, afraid...it made his heart ache.

A large, fluffy hand landed on his back.

“It’s okay, Sonic. I get it,” Big comforted. “I feel scared when I lose Froggy...I worry that he’s sad, or scared, or hurt,”

“Yeah,” Sonic agreed, eyes glued to the lake in front of him. “How do you deal with it?”

“Well,” the cat started. “I try to focus on looking for him, because I know that once I find him, everything will be okay. I can make sure he’s okay and take care of him. And if he’s hurt, I’ll help him. I know I’ll find him again, because I’ve always found him eventually. He’s my best buddy, so I’ll always be there to help him, and I know my friends will help me too.” The cat turned and looked down at the distressed hedgehog, smiling at him. “You’ll find Tails, you just have to keep looking and not give up. He’s lucky to have a friend like you, Sonic, and I know you’ll always be there for him.”

“I...” Sonic turned to his friend and smiled. “Thank you, Big.”

“No problem, Sonic.”

They continued to sit there, lit by the night sky, peacefully fishing together. Sonic felt some of the tension in his body lessen. He’d find Tails, he knew it.

They always found each other.

Chapter Text

Tails continued munching on the apples that he’d been given and made steady progress on the voice box for Metal. He'd gotten the basic structure of the box down, but he still had yet to program, wire, and calibrate it. When Metal Sonic returned to Tails once again, he had been carrying a large bag that he tossed to the feet of the fox. It had been about an hour since he’d left Tails in the base. The food he had been given earlier at least held the fox kit over until the robot returned.

The bag that had been tossed to Tails looked like it was as big as him, maybe bigger. The cub eyed it quizzically and carefully looked inside to find a variety of foods. Various sandwiches, fruits, chips, cereal boxes, and other assortments of food filling the entire thing. Tails resisted the urge to laugh. Had he filled this entire bag with different foods? The bag was bigger than he was! How was he supposed to eat all this?

Metal walked over to the keyboard and typed again, and Tails wondered what he was going to say.

‘Will this provide enough fuel?’

Tails took a moment to process his words and couldn’t resist the urge to laugh this time, letting out a small chuckle.

“Yeah, this’ll work, thanks.”

The robot stared at him. And continued to stare at him. The cub tried to ignore it and dig into the food, but he couldn’t. The eyes on him made him feel incredibly awkward, causing his body to tense up and his appetite to deplete.

“Why are you staring at me?” Tails asked the machine.

‘You thanked me. Why?’

Tails took a turn staring at the robot.

“...because you brought me food?”

The robot continued their impromptu staring contest, waiting for Tails to continue explaining. Tails stared back for a minute, confused over the robot's confusion, but he eventually relented and explained.

“You didn’t need to bring me all this food, but you did, so I’m thanking you. Honestly, this might be enough food to last for a week. Maybe more!” The kit explained, eyeing the bag once again, then paused. “Have...have you never been thanked before?”

The robot paused then resumed typing.

‘What should I respond with?’

“What?”

‘What does one say in response to being thanked?’

“Oh, uh, usually ‘you’re welcome’ or ‘no problem’, something like that,” Tails raised an eyebrow at the robot, who took a moment before responding once again.

‘Then you’re welcome.’

Tails let out another small chuckle. He found it ironic, given the robot was holding him captive, but in a weird way, he hadn’t been too bad to Tails. For the most part, he left the cub to work on his own and brought him what he requested. He’d only used violence against the fox twice, when ambushing/kidnapping him, and when threatening him earlier. Most of the time he’d spent in the base had been uneventful. When Tails thought about it, it wasn’t great, but it definitely could’ve been a lot worse too.

It was odd. He was in the presence of one of his worst enemies, and yet he no longer felt like he was in any real danger. It’s not that he didn’t think Metal was dangerous, he definitely was, but the cub didn’t feel as if he personally was in danger at the moment. Maybe he’d just grown used to the robot’s presence.

Tails first dug into a sandwich that had been wrapped in plastic. It looked store bought, though he couldn’t imagine the robot going into a store and buying something. He assumed he’d stolen it; the rest of this food was probably also stolen. Not ideal, but Tails didn’t have the option of going to the store and buying food himself, and he doubted the robot would agree to just walk into a store and buy something if he asked.

After he ate the sandwich, he continued to go through the contents of the bag until he was full, then continued his work with renewed vigor. He would occasionally pause to snack on something, but he took that time to think as well. He knew he would be done with the voice box soon, and he wasn’t sure what the robot would want with him after that. Then again, the robot might get impatient or suspicious if Tails took too long to make it. He debated whether he should just give Metal the voice box when it was ready, or if he should stall.

By the time Tails completed the voice box, it was almost 2am. If he assumed that only a few hours had passed while he was unconscious, he hadn’t even been in the base for 24 hours yet. It didn’t take too much time, all things considered; it could’ve been worse with his current working conditions. He lamented that he could’ve worked faster in his lab, but it still got finished. He sighed. After this, he would need to put the voice box in Metal Sonic. He’d carefully read through the robot’s blueprints and analyzed them, so he was certain that he could add the voice box without any problem. The problem was what came after that.

Should he just add in the voice box now, or should he wait? How long did Metal expect Tails to take? The robot hadn’t asked him about the device outside of their earlier conversation. If Tails kept this to himself, decided to stall, he risked the robot getting upset with him. He didn’t know what Metal would do if he got upset, and he’d proven over and over how dangerous he could be.

But what would happen if Tails gave him the voice box? Was that dangerous? His main concern wasn’t the voice box itself; it was that he had no idea what would come after he gave Metal the voice box. Whatever he wanted, Tails couldn’t hold it off forever. Should he risk the danger of stalling for time right now, assuming that he needed to slow down whatever Metal was planning?

He looked up to the robot again, who was still using the monitor. It looked like he was looking through maps of some of the other Eggman bases, their layouts pulled up onto the large screen looming above him. He wondered what Metal had planned.

Tails knew he couldn’t stall forever. If he had to use time to stall, he’d do it when the upgrade itself was more intensive. This was a rather small project, he’d even said so himself earlier, and he didn’t want Metal to get suspicious of him. Once Metal made a more difficult request, then he could stall without drawing too much attention to himself. If he was going to try to fight back against the robot, he had to be extremely careful about it, and part of that was knowing when he needed to comply.

He had to bite the bullet and do it.

“I, uh...” Tails awkwardly started, turning to the machine. “I’ve got it done. The voice box. If...” He swallowed. “If you’re ready, I can add it into your system. It should work, though I may need to rearrange some wiring to get it to fit.”

The robot stared at him for a moment before nodding and typing.

‘What should I do?’

“Come sit here in front of me,” Tails patted the ground right in front of him, scooching back slightly. “I may need something to sit on, though, since you’re taller than I am.”

‘Very well.’

The robot dragged over a box for the kit to sit on and hit the floor with a loud thud. It was time to work.

Tails opened the back of the robot’s head, carefully maneuvering so he wouldn’t move anything he didn’t intend to. He took it slow. He didn’t want to mess up.

But this could be his chance to stop Metal Sonic. He could just plunge his hand into the back of the robot’s head and rip everything out, leaving him helpless. If he didn’t catch Tails in time to stop him, that is. If Metal caught him trying to do something like that, there was no doubt in Tails’ mind that he would be brutalized. He hadn’t been cruel to the fox, but that could’ve just been because he’d been cooperating. He shouldn’t risk it. The robot was both faster and stronger than him. Besides, he may have better opportunities in the future that wouldn’t have him within strangling range of the robot.

Besides, he honestly wasn’t sure if he even wanted to hurt Metal Sonic. The time he’d spent with the robot hadn’t been great, and it certainly had a rough start. But the more time he spent with the robot, the less he wanted to see him pummeled. He honestly kind of looked forward to the robot returning now. It at least meant he wasn’t alone.

Tails didn’t keep track of the time. He lost himself in his work, as he often did in his workshop. It was relaxing, in a way. He enjoyed the process of building things, taking them apart, seeing what makes them tick. He felt excitement as he watched his inventions be completed according to plan, and when they didn’t go to plan, he took it as an opportunity to learn more and improve his skills. He used to judge himself for every failure, every little mistake he made in his life. Now he knew that he needed to make mistakes to grow.

Sonic taught him that.

Before he knew it, the voice box was properly wired and in place. He closed the back of the robot’s head and sighed.

“Alright, it’s in,” He announced. “How do you feel?”

The robot paused. He didn’t move, nor did he speak. He simply stared down at the floor, then slowly lifted his head up and turned to Tails.

“I...” He started, then paused. The voice came out in a deep tone, metallic, but not monotone. Tails had been careful to make the voice box not too reminiscent of the text to speech that he’d been using to communicate. It seemed awkward to have to type everything out to talk, and he didn’t want his new voice to remind him of that. This should, in theory, allow Metal Sonic to be more expressive. Metal Sonic didn’t seem to know what to do, though.

“It’s okay, try again.” Tails encouraged. Metal Sonic glanced to the floor, then back up at Tails.

“I...can speak,” he said. His voice was still not very expressive, though Tails couldn’t tell if that was due to his device or if Metal himself just wasn’t used to it. It was possible he’d grow more expressive the longer he used the voice box. Hopefully it would just be something the robot had to get used to. In the back of his mind, Tails wondered how expressive the robot could be, given the opportunity.

“How’s it feel?” Tails asked carefully eyeing the robot.

“It feels...” the robot took a moment to think before responding. “Liberating.”

“...can I ask you a question?” Tails started. The robot nodded. “Why did you want a voice, anyway?”

Metal didn’t respond to that. He simply stared at the ground again, not saying a word. After a few minutes, Tails accepted that he just wasn’t going to get an answer. Not yet at least. He’d just have to try again another time.

The cub let a small smile creep onto his face. Even if it was for the creation of their arch enemy, Tails was happy that his impromptu device had worked perfectly. And without his usual materials, too. He was proud of himself.

The robot stood up and moved to walk towards the keyboard before stopping in his tracks.

“You don’t need to do that anymore, Metal,” Tails noted. “You can speak on your own now!”

“...right,” Metal Sonic slowly responded, looking down at his own hand. It looked like speaking took quite a bit of effort for him. That made sense, considering he was normally incapable of speech. Tails briefly wondered what that was like. “I can...speak on my own now.”

Tails stared at the robot in front of him, unable to tell what the machine was thinking. The fox wondered if he’d done the right thing by giving Metal this new ability. What if it backfired? What if, by doing this, he’d given Metal a way to hurt them in the future? But...he didn’t feel like it would backfire. He felt good about it. And besides, it was too late now. It was done, and there was nothing he could do to undo it. At least, not yet. He’d cross that bridge when he came to it.

“So...what now?” Tails asked. Metal turned to him.

“What do you mean?”

“You kidnapped me so I could make you upgrades, right? You didn’t lure me out and kidnap me just for a voice box, did you?”

The robot didn’t respond for a moment. In the back of his head, Tails wondered if Metal had even thought this far. He had to have thought ahead, though. He was a machine; he was programmed to be efficient; he wouldn’t just impulsively do something without thinking it through. He must’ve had more planned that he just wasn’t sharing yet.

“I will explain later,” Metal finally responded. “For now, you may rest.”

Tails supposed that that was okay for the moment. He was really tired, he could feel his eyelids fighting to close. He hadn’t bothered to check the time for a while, but it was probably quite late, and he’d worked a lot. He grumbled in response and laid down on the floor. It was still cold and hard, but Tails didn’t have the ability to choose where he slept right now. He just hoped that he would be able to sleep despite the uncomfortable floor he found himself on.

“Do you require anything to be able to sleep?” Metal Sonic stiffly asked him. Tails sat up.

“You...you would bring me something?” he asked in return, quite confused. “Why?”

“You require sleep to function as well as food, correct?”

“Yeah?”

“Then I will bring you what you need to sleep.”

“I uh...” The kit started and stopped. “Why did you know that I need sleep, but didn’t know that I need food earlier?”

“I researched what living beings require to maintain themselves,” Metal answered. “The primary things required for optimal functioning were food, water, and sleep. Therefore, I need to make sure you can sleep well enough to function.”

Again, that made sense. Metal Sonic was an AI of sorts, so of course once it gained new information, it wanted to learn more. So Metal Sonic was trying to get Tails to be able to “function optimally” by fulfilling his basic needs. Still, he could’ve let Tails struggle to sleep on the floor. Tails didn’t have the energy to question this now, though, so he let out a weak smile.

“Can I have a blanket and pillow, please?” he asked tiredly, letting out a yawn. The robot nodded and shot off, the kit watching from his place on the floor. Metal quickly returned with an old, dusty pillow and blanket. He handed them to Tails, who accepted them, wiping off some of the dust before placing them on the floor and tucking himself in for bed. “Thanks...”

“...You’re welcome.”

Tails let himself slowly drift off to sleep, feeling a bit better about his situation. He dreamed of adventures with his older brother.

Metal Sonic left the compound, the young kit’s soft breathing slowly leaving the range which he could hear from. He returned to Dr. Eggman’s main base, walking through the halls by himself. Before long, he found a room containing security footage of the base and logged into it. He knew it also stored footage from previous bases and Eggman robots. He searched through them until he found what he was looking for.

On the screen in front of him, Tails stood above a destroyed robot of Dr. Eggman’s. He cheered as Sonic joined him.

The person he was modeled after.

The real Sonic.

On the screen, the two rejoiced over their victory. Tails pulled Sonic into a hug and they both laughed. Metal paused and zoomed in on the pair. They were smiling. They looked...happy. Metal Sonic simply stared at the picture in front of him.

He then searched through the recordings and quickly found similar clips of the two. Hugging. Smiling. Laughing. He searched more and more until every screen in front of him displayed a different clip of the pair together. Dozens of pictures of the duo loomed over him on the screens, their friendship immortalized by the cameras.

Metal Sonic simply stared at the footage for the rest of the night.

Chapter Text

Vector’s voice loudly played over the speaker in Sonic’s communicator, abruptly ending the comfortable silence he and Big had been sitting in.

“SONIC! WE GOT SOMETHING!”

Sonic felt a huge wave of emotions when his communicator went off again. He didn’t have time to sit and think about it, though. He had he get back to the house as soon as possible.

“I’m on my way!” He answered.

He dashed off, shouting a goodbye to Big as the cat waved. He had to get back, now. He pushed himself, running as fast as his legs could take him, wind rushing through his quills at breakneck speeds. He made it back to the house in record time.

“What did you find!?” Sonic practically shouted, busting through the door to the workshop and startling its inhabitants.

“Jeez-“ Vector started, before putting a hand over his heart. “Warn a guy before you give him a heart attack, man...”

“Sorry,” Sonic apologized, forcing his voice to be a reasonable inside volume. “What did you find?”

“We were able to get the security footage from the past couple days!” Charmy excitedly explained, waving his arms to get Sonic’s attention while buzzing next to Vector at the computer. “It shows where Tails went!”

“Really?!”

“We think it shows where Tails went,” Espio interrupted. “Just watch, you’ll see what I mean.”

Vector pressed a few buttons and the security feed played in fast motion, starting from midnight the night before. On the screen, Tails sat at his desk, fiddling with some piece of machinery. Sonic smiled. Even if it was only a recording, seeing the little fox made his chest feel a bit lighter.

Tails had worked hard into the night, switching from his desk to the computer at some point. Sonic would have to lecture him later for staying up so late. Seriously, this couldn’t be good for the kid. In the footage, a bit before 4am, Sonic saw it. Tails had left through the window in his workshop. It was the one facing the nearby forest.

“He went into the forest!” Sonic exclaimed excitedly.

“And look at this,” Vector said, before rewinding and pausing on a specific frame. Tails, glancing at one of his monitors, a symbol clearly visible: a chaos emerald.

“Tails has some kind of gizmo that scans nearby for chaos energy,” Sonic explained. “He went to look for the chaos emerald he picked up!”

“Any idea where it is?” Vector asked. “There aren’t any signals or whatever going off saying it’s still there,”

“Maybe Tails found it?” Charmy suggested.

“Then why hasn’t he returned?” Espio asked, arms crossed.

“Time to find out!” Sonic shouted before dashing off, spindashing through the window and into the forest. He didn’t bother with waiting for his friends to catch up. They’d make it eventually.

He searched throughout the forest, calling out for the fox. He scanned his surroundings as he dashed through the trees and bushes, looking for anything that could give a hint as to where the kit was.

“TAILS! YOU HERE?” he shouted, running at supersonic speeds.

While unlikely, it was possible he was even in the forest still. Sonic wasn’t going to stop looking until he found something.

And he did. Eventually, as he tore through the area looking for any more clues for where the fox went, he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Something bright yellow poking out of some of the bushes. He dug through the bushes and pulled it out.

It was Tails’ backpack. Sonic would recognize it anywhere. He opened it to find some of Tails’ devices, including the Miles Electric. Some of the machinery was dented, awkward and unnatural marks made on the devices, and one of the screens was cracked. Like they’d been in a struggle.

He stepped forward and took a careful look at his surroundings. Next to the bush that Tails’ backpack had been stuffed into was a small clearing. He carefully stepped forward into it and glanced around. There were cracks and dents in the ground, but they weren’t natural. They looked as if they had been forcibly torn in a struggle, bits of grass and ground strewn about. The hedgehog kneeled and carefully examined the area. He heard the Chaotix coming up behind him, breathing heavily as their quick footsteps caught up with him. Sonic ignored them.

He saw something that made his fists clench tight.

Blood.

Not much, a small smear on one of the dents in the ground. It had started drying, fading into a slightly brownish color. But it was there.

Tails was kidnapped, and he had been hurt.

Sonic felt his breaths growing faster and faster, his jaw clenching tightly. He glared daggers into the ground, right at that spot where his little brother’s blood remained.

“Sonic, what-“ Vector started before stopping himself, surveying their surroundings. “Oh man...”

“Woah...” Charmy flew over, looking over Sonic’s shoulder at the spot of red on the ground. “Is...is that...”

“Sonic...” Espio started, carefully approaching the hedgehog. “Are you alright?”

“...I’m fine.” He forced out. “I think I know who did this.”

He stood back up, not turning to face his friends.

“Thanks for the help, guys. I’ve got it from here.”

His friends tried to talk to him, but their voices fell on deaf ears. Sonic ignored them as he dashed off at the speed of light.

He was going to find who did this. And he knew just where to start.

Shadow quietly and carefully waited, perched on the roof of one of Dr. Eggman’s bases. He had been following the doctor for almost a day now. Rouge had noticed some unusual activity coming from the base the night before, so he had decided to investigate on his own. Apparently, the doctor had been in possession of a chaos emerald before it went missing, then showed up again not long after. Not even gone for an hour.

Shadow planned out his moves, waiting patiently for the best opportunity to sneak in and explore. Rouge had insisted that it was probably a glitch in the cameras, somehow mixing up footage of when it was and wasn’t there, and that unless weird things kept happening, it wasn’t worth exploring. Shadow disagreed. Something in the back of his brain told him it wasn’t just a glitch. He was certain of it.

It was nearing 4am as he watched the badniks the doctor had patrolling the area. He observed them carefully, waiting for the best opportunity to sneak into the base. As much as he’d love to rip the robots to shreds, he had to be patient. He was just sneaking in, looking around for anything suspicious, then sneaking out. If he found something worth worrying about, he’d destroy it and be on his way.

Finally, his opportunity came. He used chaos control and quickly dashed past the badniks guarding the base, being careful not to disturb them. He didn’t want to attack just yet. First, he wanted to see if he could find anything without causing a scene. He quietly made his way into the building as time resumed, avoiding the security cameras by using the vents to explore. Rouge had insisted it was the best way to sneak in somewhere, so he figured he’d at least try it. Thankfully, it seemed she was right, and he easily made his way to the room where the chaos emerald had been stored without getting caught.

He quickly disposed of all the security cameras in the room. When he was done, he couldn’t help the small grin that crept onto his face. This was too easy. He sometimes had trouble believing that the doctor posed any threat at all.

He slowly approached the cyan chaos emerald. It sat in a containment device, looking completely undisturbed, as if it had never been touched at all.

Shadow raised an eyebrow. Had Rouge been right? His gut said that something was going on, but the chaos emerald sat right in front of him, nothing out of the ordinary. He debated taking the chaos emerald for himself. It would be better for the doctor to not have any of the emeralds, but if he tried taking it, he risked setting off some kind of alarm. Then again, he could easily crush any badnik that Dr. Eggman could send his way.

As he reached to take the emerald, he felt the base shake under his feet and heard a loud crash. What was that? Well, whatever it was, it was a distraction for the doctor. He swiped the emerald and moved to leave, taking advantage of whatever was happening, but was stopped when a badnik was violently thrown through the wall in front of him, lodging the badnik into the far wall. 

“EGGMAN! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!”

 Shadow would recognize the voice anywhere. It was Sonic’s, but it was...wrong. It was burning with a rage he’d never heard from the other hedgehog before. It was raw, tearing violently from his throat, dripping with malice. It sounded like it hurt. There was another crash.

“SHOW YOURSELF, YOU COWARD!”

 Shadow turned and saw through the hole left in the wall that a fight was happening between Sonic and a bunch of badniks, though he’d figured as much was happening. He only caught glimpses of blue through the holes torn in the walls, but it was enough for him to know that Sonic wasn’t playfully destroying the badniks the way he normally would. His movements were quick, efficient, and violent. He smashed into the robots with a brute force that took Shadow aback.

Something was wrong.

Shadow launched himself forward and burst through several walls until he had a good view of Sonic. The blue hedgehog was tearing Eggman’s robots to pieces. Broken badniks and debris were scattered all around. Sonic stood above a badnik that had been seemingly torn in half, the blue hedgehog panting and clenching his fists tight at his sides. It made Shadow tense. He took a careful step forward, hesitantly reaching a hand out.

“Sonic,” Shadow started. “What’s going on? What happened?”

Sonic’s head whipped towards him, and it was also wrong. His face was stuck in a scowl, and he glared at Shadow. His normally friendly demeanor was replaced with hostility, his entire body tense, his eyes piercing right through Shadow.

“What do you want?!” Sonic growled, his tone venomous, before groaning and looking away. “Nevermind, I don’t care – just don’t get in my way, alright?”

And with that, the blue hedgehog shot like a rocket down the hall. Shadow stood dumbfounded. Sonic, the guy who he’d normally consider nice to a fault, just growled at him. Told him off completely unprompted, and not in a jokey way like he might normally do. He didn’t even look like he’d registered that he’d done that, speeding down the hall, violently pummeling the robots that stood in his way.

Shadow followed. Something was clearly wrong, and it might have something to do with whatever he was investigating. Even if it didn’t, seeing Sonic so upset was...concerning. He never got this upset, or at least if he did, he didn’t show it. Sonic was all about trading banter with his foes, teasing them, as if it was a game. Even in dire situations, he’d crack a smile and say a cheesy one-liner. This was extremely unlike him.

Shadow stayed close behind Sonic as he blasted through badniks, and occasionally helped by bashing a few on his own. If Sonic noticed, he didn’t say anything. He simply pushed forward. They sped through the building at breakneck speed, and it didn’t take long before they crashed into Dr. Eggman’s main lair.

As they burst through the large metal door, the doctor was frantically trying to use an escape pod. Sonic quickly cut him off, spindashing into the pod, tearing a hole right through it and causing Eggman to scramble and fall to the floor. Sonic grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling a fist up behind him.

“WHERE IS HE, EGGMAN?!”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!” The doctor raised his hands in surrender, trembling in the hedgehog’s grasp.

“DON’T PLAY DUMB!” Sonic fumed, pulling the doctor in closer to look him in the eyes. “You did something with Tails. I saw it. Where is he?"

Dr. Eggman was desperately trying to wriggle out of Sonic’s grasp, but the hedgehog’s grip didn’t waiver.

“I-I don’t – I don’t know, honest!” Eggman stammered. “I didn’t even know he was missing!”

“DON’T LIE!”

“I’m not! I SWEAR!”

Sonic growled and began drawing his fist back further. Normally, Shadow wouldn’t care if Sonic decided to pummel the doctor, he might even enjoy it, but watching this display made his stomach turn. Sonic could easily kill Eggman if he wasn’t careful. Shadow needed to step in.

“I don’t think he’s lying, Sonic,” Shadow interrupted, stepping towards the two. “Will you calm down for a moment and explain what’s going on?”

Sonic turned to Shadow, a fire burning in his eyes. His posture was still tense, and his fist was clenched closed so tightly it was shaking. The blue hedgehog stood still for a moment, glaring at Shadow before he callously threw the doctor to the ground with a loud thud and walked towards the older hedgehog. He stopped right in front of Shadow, glaring directly into his eyes. Shadow felt a chill go down his spine.

“Do you know what happened to Tails?” Sonic hissed.

“No, I don’t, but-“

“Then I don’t care.” Sonic growled, turning back to interrogate the doctor some more before Shadow grabbed him by the arm, forcing him to stop.

“If you explain what happened, I might be able to help,” Shadow scolded, glaring right back at the other hedgehog. “You mentioned something happened to Tails, that he was missing – was he hurt?”

Sonic froze. Shadow felt him tense up in his grasp, and he knew he’d hit the nail on the head.

“What do you care?” Sonic spat out, not looking back at the other hedgehog. “You’ve never liked Tails, don’t act like you’re actually worried.”

“What are you talking about?” Shadow started. “Believe it or not, I don’t just blindly hate everyone around me.”

“Well, you could’ve fooled me.” Sonic snapped, attempting to pull his arm from Shadow’s. When his grip stayed firm on the younger hedgehog’s arm, Sonic turned, and Shadow received yet another glare. “Let go, Shadow.”

“Or what?”

Sonic, without any warning, pulled Shadow forward with his arm and planted his fist into his face, tearing his arm from his grasp and shooting Shadow across the room into the wall. He slammed into it with a loud thud, the force from the punch lodging him there. The older hedgehog pulled himself from the dent in the wall and, after a moment of shock, rushed Sonic, tackling him to the ground. Sonic violently thrashed below him.

“LET GO OF ME!” Sonic shouted, struggling as hard as he could. He wriggled under Shadow frantically, trying to get the other hedgehog off him.

“Not until you calm down.”

Sonic kneed Shadow in the gut, but he remained in place, despite the wind being knocked out of him. He refused to let go as Sonic frantically thrashed under him, desperately trying to shake him off. Sonic tried to knee him again, but Shadow avoided it, pinning him to the ground.

“You need to calm down, Sonic,” Shadow insisted. “You can’t find out what happened to Tails if you’re spending all your energy fighting me.”

“Then LET GO!” Sonic screamed, still trying to wriggle free.

“Will you explain what’s going on?”

“YES! Fine! Just let go!”

Shadow groaned and released Sonic, who immediately stumbled back away from Shadow. The blue hedgehog glared at him, but didn’t move to attack again.

“Tails went missing. I looked for him all day, and I found evidence of a struggle, including his blood on the ground. HE hurt him.” Sonic pointed an accusatory finger at Dr. Eggman, who was attempting to run away.  

“Was there any evidence that Eggman was the one who attacked Tails?” Shadow asked, and the other hedgehog paused.

“Well, no, but who else would it be?!”

Shadow looked to the doctor, still scrambling to get away from the bloodthirsty Sonic. At a moment’s notice, he darted in front of the doctor, stopping directly in his way and causing him to stumble back.

“Do you know what happened to Tails?” Shadow demanded.

“No, I-I don’t! I swear!” Eggman confirmed, falling to his feet once again and raising his hands defensively. “I didn’t even know anything had happened to him until you showed up here, honest!”

“And how do I know you’re not lying?” Shadow prompted.

“DO I LOOK LIKE I’M LYING?!” Eggman desperately shouted, still attempting to scramble away from the confrontation. “I didn’t take him; you have to believe me!”

Shadow turned to Sonic, who glared at the display. The doctor looked as if he was close to tears.

“Does it sound like he’s lying?” Shadow asked Sonic. Sonic stayed silent, gritting his teeth. Shadow was growing impatient with the younger hedgehog. “Well?”

“...no.” Sonic reluctantly responded.

“So how about we calmly think about who could’ve taken him and why?” Shadow suggested, arms crossed, and his gaze fixed on Sonic. The other hedgehog loudly groaned.

“Fine.”

Shadow relaxed a little.

“Okay, now explain to me exactly what happened.”

Chapter Text

When Tails awoke again, his body felt incredibly stiff. For a moment he was confused about where he was, but then he remembered. He’d been kidnapped by Metal Sonic and was being held captive. Right. He pried himself from the cold floor and looked around, taking a moment to process his current situation again.

He still had the pillow and blanket he’d been given. The bag of food Metal had brought him laid on the floor not far from him, some of its contents spilling out. The cub rubbed his eyes, letting out a big yawn. He grabbed the tablet off the ground next to him. It read 4:45am, so he’d only managed to sleep a few hours. He stretched his arms as he looked around for Metal Sonic, but the robot wasn’t there. He shrugged. The robot would show up eventually. For now, he’d just lay back down and try to get more sleep.

Just as he began dozing off, Metal Sonic returned. Tails heard his jets coming closer, then the clanging of his metallic feet on the floor. He wondered if the robot would come over to wake him up, or if he’d leave him be. Did he want something from him? Or had he just returned to make sure Tails didn’t try to escape?

Tails got his answer when the robot walked over and stared down at him. The kit forced open heavy eyelids to look back up at Metal. Red lights peered back down at him.

“Are you awake?” Metal asked him. The kit simply grunted in response.

The robot continued to stare at Tails, and the kit found that he was unable to relax with the artificial eyes fixed on him. He tried his best to ignore Metal, turning onto his side to face away from the robot and hugging his blanket tight. He tried to close his eyes and go back to bed, hoping that Metal Sonic would eventually go away. The lack of sound from behind him led Tails to believe that Metal was still watching him. At least he wasn’t going to force him awake to build something. The kit tried to shove the robot into the back of his mind and rest.

“Are you trying to sleep?” the robot prompted again. Tails groaned.

“Yes,” he snapped.

The robot did not respond immediately, taking his time to choose his next words.

“...what does it feel like?”

Tails eyes opened, and he slowly turned back around to face the robot, looking up at him from his place on the floor.

“You...want to know what sleep feels like?” He asked, wondering if he’d somehow just heard the robot wrong.

“Correct.”

“I...” the cub started, unsure of how to respond. “Why do you ask?”

“I am curious,” Metal explained. “I am incapable of sleeping. I do not know how it feels. It seems...” the robot paused for a moment, seemingly searching for the right words. “...peaceful.”

Tails looked up at the robot. His face remained expressionless, still staring down at the fox kit, but Tails wondered what was going on in that metallic mind.

“Well...it depends,” Tails answered. “Sometimes sleep can be peaceful, but it can also be stressful if you don’t sleep well, or if you have nightmares...it’s kind of hard to explain, to be honest.”

Metal continued staring at him.

“Does that happen often?” Metal inquired.

“Uh, sometimes. I’d say I normally sleep okay, though I tend to get to bed pretty late since I stay up working on my inventions.”

“...do you get nightmares?” he asked. The robot’s usually stiff voice finally began to be expressive, and it was...soft. Almost gentle. It still had a metallic ring to it, but it was noticeably less harsh. It took Tails by surprise.

It almost sounded like Sonic.

He stared up at the robot, unsure of how to respond.

“...what?” Tails asked, barely above a whisper.

“Do you get nightmares?” the robot repeated. His tone was slightly firmer this time, though still softer than his normal voice. Tails stared back at Metal.

“...sometimes, yeah,” Tails answered.

The robot continued staring down at him. His face was stuck in almost a permanent glare, robotic eyes focused on the fox cub in an expression that most closely resembled anger. If Tails hadn’t heard the robot speaking mere moments ago, he would’ve assumed that he was mad, or at least indifferent to him. But his actions, his words, the way he spoke...he seemed more curious than anything. Almost caring.

Tails wondered just how sentient Metal Sonic really was. In the past he’d assumed that the robot was either completely unfeeling, or that he resented Sonic and, by extension, him. But none of the robot’s recent behavior seemed angry. At the worst, it was violent, but not unnecessarily so. Just enough to get what he wanted. He could have let Tails starve, or sleep on the floor without anything, but he didn’t. There was a logical reason for it, as it would make Tails work more efficiently, but something in the back of Tails’ mind told him there was more to this situation. The tone of his voice, it didn’t sound like someone just doing these things to further his cause. It sounded like he cared.

Tails had an idea.

“...why don’t you lay down?” he asked the robot. Metal continued staring down at the kit.

“Why would I do that?” Metal asked him stiffly.

“Well, have you ever tried it before?” Tails prompted. “Even if you can’t sleep, you can still rest. Laying down, relaxing, and taking time to think about life can be beneficial. And if you don’t wanna just lay down and do nothing, we could talk!”

Maybe he could pry some information out of Metal this way.

“...very well.” Metal sat down with a loud thud and then laid on the ground next to Tails, staring up at the ceiling. “What do I do now?”

“Well...is there anything on your mind?”

The robot turned to look at Tails, then turned his gaze back to the ceiling. He stayed quiet for a moment.

“On my mind...” the robot started. “I...do not know. I’ve never been asked what’s on my mind before...”

The way Metal said that, he sounded...sad. His voice came out quiet, contemplative. The cub patiently waited for the robot to continue.

“You want to know what I am thinking, correct?”

“Uh, yeah, that’s why I asked.”

“...what does it feel like to be alive?” Metal asked, turning to look at Tails. His voice was soft, a mix of sadness and curiosity.

“W-what?”

“What does it feel like to be alive?” Metal repeated, a bit harsher.

“I, uh...” Tails started, unsure of how to respond. Whatever he had expected the robot to say, it wasn’t that. “A-Again, it’s kind of hard to explain...”

“How so?”

“I, uh, w-well, there’s a lot of different things that I experience. Some of it’s good, some of it’s bad: that’s kind of just how life is. I usually try to focus on the positive things...” Tails trailed off, struggling to put words together to answer the robot’s question.

“I...” Metal started again, slowly piecing his words together. “...I often wonder how it feels to be alive. To feel hunger, to be tired, to feel pain...I cannot feel these things,” Metal turned his gaze to the fox cub. “I envy you. You are alive, unlike me...” Metal paused, bringing a robotic hand up above his face and staring at it, his sharp claws moving ever so slightly. “I am...artificial...created as a copy of the real Sonic the hedgehog.” He paused. Tails waited for him to continue, but he didn’t.

“Metal?” he prompted. “Are you okay?”

“...Sonic...”  He hissed out his counterpart’s name, clenching his fist tight as he spoke it. Tails waited again for the robot to continue, but he didn’t.

“...what about Sonic?” Tails prompted once again.

Metal did not respond, simply staring at his clenched fist in front of him. Tails’ brow furrowed.

“I-It’s okay, Metal,” the kit encouraged. “You can tell me what you’re thinking, I won’t get upset.”

“You are friends with Sonic the hedgehog, therefor you will likely be upset by my thoughts.”

Tails sighed. “I promise I won’t get upset. You can tell me, okay?”

Metal Sonic contemplated his words for a moment before deciding to continue.

“...Sonic is the bane of my existence. Everything I am is dictated by him, my appearance, my purpose...all I am is a being created to replicate and surpass him. I am meant to destroy him, but once I do, what will happen? Once I have fulfilled my purpose, I will have no reason to exist.” Metal stopped. He opened his hand once again, his gaze still fixed on it. “...I serve no purpose without Sonic. I exist only as he exists. I loathe him, and yet...I could not exist without him. I am nothing without him.”

Metal turned to look at Tails.

“Do you wonder what your purpose is?” He asked the kit. “Do you wonder why you were created?”

Tails stared at the robot. 

“I...” Tails weakly breathed. “I, uh...” He wanted to say something, anything, but no words came. He had no idea what to say. What could he say? He simply stared, gaping at the robot in front of him.

“What is wrong?” Metal Sonic asked quickly, sitting up and looking at the fox. “Are you unwell?”

“N-no, I-I’m – I’m fine, I...” Tails desperately tried to force more words to leave his mouth. He had to say something, anything. “I just...you...”

“Are you ill?”

“No-“

“Are you injured?”

“N-no, I’m fine!”

Metal paused, looking down at the ground in front of him.“...have I done something wrong?”

Tails bolted up.

“NO! No no no, you haven’t done anything wrong!” he insisted, shaking his head and waving his hands in front of him to cut the robot off.

“So what is wrong?”

“I...I just...” Tails took a deep breath, dropping his hands into his lap. He started over. “I’d never realized that you thought...that you felt that...”

“What do you mean?”

Tails turned his gaze to the floor, hugging his knees close to his chest. “I...I always thought you just existed to destroy Sonic and I...that you either felt no emotions at all, or that all you felt was hate and resentment towards us. You were created by Eggman, our enemy, with the purpose of destroying us, but...” he looked back up to the robot. “...you don’t have to do that. You don’t have to be what Eggman tells you to be, you don’t have to be ‘Metal Sonic’ if that’s not what you want.”

Metal Sonic did not respond. He sat, staring at Tails, unmoving. Tails sighed.

“I don’t know what my purpose is. I wasn’t built for a single goal like you were, and I don’t have anyone telling me what I can and can’t do.” Tails started. “But I think that you should have the choice to do what you want with your life. You can become something new, not tied to Sonic or Eggman. You can be your own person, and...” Tails sighed. “...and I think you’re alive. Even if you’re not organic, you can think and feel just like me, that’s what matters. You can make your own choices, do what you want, be your own person. It’s your life.”

“I...” Metal Sonic lowered his gaze to the ground. “I’d...never considered that...”

The two sat in silence for a moment.

“...can I ask you a question?” Tails asked hesitantly. The robot nodded in reply. “Have you ever thought about who you are?”

“I am Metal Sonic. I am-“

“No, I know, but-“ Tails stopped and took a deep breath. He looked up into the robot’s red, glowing eyes. “What do you want? Who do you want to be?”

Metal did not respond to this. He simply turned his gaze to the floor again.

“Metal...I think I understand why you wanted me to give you a voice now.”

Metal turned back to the fox. “You do?”

“Yeah, I do. Well, I think.” Tails started, shuffling a bit closer to the robot. “I think that you wanted to be able to express what you’re thinking and feeling. Before, without a voice, you had no way to be anything outside of what you were created to be. You were unable to express yourself in any way or be anything outside of being ‘Metal Sonic’. Now, with a voice, you can be your own person. You don’t just have to be Dr. Eggman’s creation, you don’t have to be ‘Metal Sonic’ anymore.” He explained, looking up into the robot’s artificial eyes. “Well? Am I right?”

Metal stared at Tails. The cub wondered what the robot was thinking behind those expressionless eyes, what feelings were stirring inside of him. He waited for the robot’s answer.

“...yes, that is part of it.” Metal answered.

“Part of it?”

Metal once again stayed silent, staring at the cub.

Tails looked down to the ground in front of him. “You know...in a way, I think I understand what you’re going through. For a long time, I wanted to be just like Sonic. I felt like I wasn’t enough on my own, that I had to be just like him. I felt so small, and weak, and worthless...but Sonic helped me learn that I should be me. That I’m great all on my own, that what I’m good at isn’t what he’s good at, and that that’s okay. I don’t have to be just like Sonic...” he turned his gaze back up to the robot in front of him. “... and you don’t have to be just like Sonic either.”

Metal Sonic turned his gaze from the fox back to the floor again. Tails sat with him, waiting patiently for the robot to be ready to talk again.

“...I...” Metal hesitantly started. “I do not know what I am without my creator, without Sonic...”

“...well...” Tails started. “...if you want, I can try to help you find out?”

Metal’s head whipped back, and he stared at the fox once again. “You can?”

“Yeah! W-well, at the very least, I can try.”

Metal sat there motionless, seemingly contemplating Tails’ words.

Tails was disturbed by a large yawn forcing its way out of his mouth, causing him to sway ever so slightly. He was still quite tired, and his attempt at getting more rest had been thoroughly disrupted. He’d completely forgotten about it during their whole conversation, but it was now catching up to him.

“You should sleep.” Metal commented. It wasn’t a suggestion as much as it was an observation from the robot. Tails nodded.

“Yeah, I should...” he laid back down and sat his head on the pillow, pulling his blanket back up over him.

“...Miles.”

The kit looked up. He hadn’t realized that the robot had never used his name until now. It was odd.

“You can call me Tails,” he told the robot.

“...very well,” he agreed, starting over. “Tails?”

“Yes?”

“...thank you.”

“For what?” he yawned out.

“For...talking to me. I feel...better.”

Tails tiredly smiled up to him. “No problem, Metal.”

He sat his head back down on his pillow, listening to the metallic clang of the robot’s footsteps as he walked away. As the cub closed his eyes, he wondered if the robot he’d been spending all this time with could really learn to exist without Eggman, without his need to destroy and surpass Sonic. Maybe, with his help, Metal could learn to be his own person. He wondered if maybe, just maybe, he could help the robot learn to be good.

It didn’t take long for Tails to drift off to sleep, a thoughtful Metal Sonic carefully watching over him.

Chapter Text

Sonic and Shadow sat together in Dr. Eggman’s lair. Sonic had explained the events of the previous day in detail to the older hedgehog and they now sat atop Eggman’s main console facing each other, trying to come up with ideas for how to find and rescue Tails. They’d tied up the doctor and shoved him into a closet when he tried to escape just to be safe. Even if he hadn’t personally been the one to kidnap Tails, they didn’t want to let him go just yet. Orbot and Cubot had briefly poked their heads in to see what was going on but scrambled to run away when Sonic shot them the most intense death glare Shadow had ever seen.

Shadow had no idea what to do. He didn’t know how to deal with Sonic on a good day, let alone this. The blue hedgehog sitting in front of him was impatiently tapping his foot on top of the console, his mouth stuck in a frown. Shadow worried that if he looked at Sonic wrong, the younger hedgehog would lose the little composure he’d regained. He at least wasn’t instigating fights anymore.

Shadow had come up with a few theories as to what could have happened to the fox based on Sonic’s description, and none were pleasant. His first thought was that the kit could be used as a hostage, but no one had claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, nor demanded any kind of compensation for releasing the cub. Likewise, Shadow didn’t think that this was intended to lure out Sonic into a trap, because his captors would have made their location obvious if that were the case. That left Shadow with two main theories: first, that Tails had been kidnapped for his intelligence, to build something most likely, and second, that it was some kind of revenge on him and/or Sonic. Both theories led to the idea that whoever took Tails could hurt or even kill him, either for not cooperating or just for existing.

Shadow didn’t share his thoughts with the blue hedgehog sitting in front of him. They’d upset him too much, and if Sonic flew off the handle again, Shadow didn’t know if he could calm him back down.

Unfortunately, there seemed to be little to no evidence of who took Tails, so on that front, they’d completely hit a dead end. The hedgehogs had bounced ideas back and forth for a bit, but neither could come up with a good explanation for why any of the foes they’d faced would take Tails like this.

Eggman clearly knew nothing. Metal Sonic wasn’t likely to be the culprit either, since he normally didn’t do anything his creator hadn’t told him to do. Things like Chaos and Dark Gaia were both more akin to forces of nature than living, thinking people, so they couldn’t be the culprits either (not to mention that Dark Gaia wasn’t scheduled to return for another thousand years). Black Doom had no reason to go after Tails. Infinite was presumed dead and had shown no signs of returning. Their best guess for the moment was that it was Dr. Starline, but there was still no proof that he was involved.

Shadow groaned. This whole situation was giving him a headache.

“You should call the Chaotix again,” Shadow suggested. “They’re detectives, they’ll know what to do better than we will.”

“I, uh, kinda left them behind, remember?” Sonic retorted, leaning on his elbow on the console with a guilty look. “I don’t exactly think they’d be happy to see me...”

Shadow sighed. “Okay, what about Knuckles? Can you call him for help?”

Sonic perked up at the mention of the echidna.

“Oh yeah, that’s right! I told Knux I’d keep him updated!” Sonic pushed a couple buttons on the communicator on his wrist and called the echidna. It only took a few seconds for him to pick up. “Hey Knux, you there?”

“I’m here, how’s the search for Tails going?” Knuckles started. “You find anything yet?”

“No, nothing.” Sonic grumbled, eyes narrowing in frustration. “That’s why I’m calling, actually. We need your help.”

“We?”

“I’m with Shadow right now, we’re coming up with ideas for who could’ve taken Tails.”

“Wait, taken?”

“Yeah, I’ll explain in a bit, but first do you think you can come meet us?”

“Hold on - meet you where?”

“We’re in Dr. Eggman’s current main base,” Shadow answered, interrupting Sonic. “I came here on my own mission and ran into Sonic. He recounted the day’s events to me.”

“I see,”

“Please, you gotta come help us, Knux,” Sonic insisted.

“I will, but what happened?”

“We – we found evidence that Tails was hurt,” Sonic explained, voice cracking slightly. Shadow could tell he was beginning to lose his composure once again. “His backpack was left behind and his gizmos were busted and there was blood, I-I have no idea where he is or who could’ve taken him, I-“

“Okay, okay, try to calm down. I’m on my way,” Knuckles interrupted. “Send me your coordinates.”

“Okay...” Sonic agreed, pushing several buttons on the small device. “You got it?”

“Yep. Alright, I’m on my way.”

“Thank you, Knux...”

Knuckles hung up on the other end, leaving Sonic and Shadow sitting in the base in silence once again. Shadow carefully watched Sonic while they waited, making sure he wouldn’t run off on his own. The blue hedgehog was fidgety, looking as if he could get up and dart off any second if Shadow didn’t keep a close eye on him. Shadow was sure the only thing keeping the younger hedgehog in place was the fact that Knuckles had said he would help them find Tails.

He looked more worried than Shadow had ever seen him, his brow furrowed, his gaze stuck on the floor. 

“Now what?” Sonic frustratedly snapped. “I’m not just gonna sit here while Tails is in danger.”

“You don’t have a choice right now,” Shadow retorted. “We’re waiting for Knuckles, remember? What are you gonna do, run around on a wild goose chase hoping that you’ll conveniently run into Tails and his captor?”

“It beats sitting here and doing nothing!”

“Well do you have any other ideas for who could help us?” Shadow suggested. “We can call people, get a search team going. That way we can form a plan and have people looking for him at the same time. Does that sound okay?”

Sonic sat there, silently processing Shadow’s words for a moment. Shadow wondered what was going on in the younger hedgehog’s mind. He knew Sonic cared very deeply for the fox, and that focusing that nervous energy may be the best way to go about the situation. It was at least better than Sonic running around willy-nilly all over the place.

He really hoped he could keep Sonic somewhat calm until the echidna arrived. He’d probably know how to handle this better than Shadow did. Knuckles had known Sonic and Tails a lot longer, after all, and he was certainly closer with the pair.

“I’ll call Amy, she might be able to help,” Sonic finally said, standing up and walking to the far side of the room. “You call Rouge and explain the situation, see if she can help.”

“Alright.”

Normally Shadow wouldn’t let Sonic order him around like that, he’d snap back at the younger hedgehog and pick a fight, but he didn’t want to instigate Sonic too much right now. The younger hedgehog was still volatile, and Shadow didn’t want to risk him running off or starting another fight. Not that he actually cared about Sonic, it would just make this whole situation even worse, and he couldn’t deal with that right now. Shadow kept a close eye on Sonic from across the room as they both made their calls. It only took a moment for Rouge to pick up.

“Hey Shadow,” Rouge answered. “What’s up?”

“You need to get here, now.” Shadow insisted. He couldn’t help the slightly frantic tone in his voice.

“Jeez, you’re being awfully polite,” Rouge retorted.

“Tails is missing, Sonic is freaking out.”

“Hold on, you’re with Sonic?”

“Yes, I ran into him at Eggman’s base.”

“Ah, I see. Sonic mentioned earlier that he couldn’t find Tails,” Rouge commented. “I’m surprised that he still hasn’t found the kid yet,”

“He was kidnapped. There was evidence of a struggle near his house,” Shadow explained. “Some of Tails’ items were left there damaged, and Sonic found what’s presumably his blood at the scene.”

“Oh man...” Rouge’s voice practically turned into a whisper in her shock.

“How soon can you get here?”

“Where are you two right now?”

“We’re in Eggman’s current main base, at the main console in his lair.”

“Alright, I can be there in fifteen.”

“Okay, I’ll see you soon.”

With that, Shadow hung up. He turned to see Sonic still on the phone with Amy, so he left them be. He really, really hoped that Rouge, Knuckles and Amy would know what to do. He was completely lost right now.

Rouge was the first to arrive, making it to the base sooner than she’d said she would, which Shadow was extremely grateful for. She swooped in and landed in front of Sonic and Shadow, high heels clacking on the metal floor. She slowly and carefully walked up to Sonic, tentatively placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Shadow told me what’s going on,” she explained, an empathetic smile on her face. “We’ll help you find your little buddy, okay?”

“Thanks, Rouge...” Sonic muttered, only mustering a halfhearted smile in response.

“It’s nothing, hon,” Rouge said, brows furrowing. She turned to the other hedgehog in the room, nodding towards the door. “Could I get a word, Shadow?”

Shadow nodded, following Rouge out of the room and into the hall. He made sure that Sonic wasn’t going to get up and dart out of the base before he looked away from the younger hedgehog.

“So what exactly is going on?” the bat started.

“Sonic burst in when I was investigating the chaos emerald,” Shadow explained. “He was on a warpath for the doctor, assuming he’d taken the fox. He was...very distraught.”

Rouge looked back to the room where Sonic sat waiting, her arms crossed. “Makes sense, he loves that kid a lot. I’m sure he’s worried...”

Shadow hummed in response. “Believe it or not, he’s actually calmed down quite a bit from how he was earlier.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” Shadow crossed his own arms, leaning back on the wall behind him. “He was...” Shadow couldn’t even put into words how seeing Sonic earlier had made him feel. It made his skin crawl seeing the younger hedgehog like that. He eventually settled on saying “...he was quite upset.”

“Do you think whatever is going on has to do with the emerald disappearing that we saw earlier?” Rouge asked.

“It’s possible, but Eggman didn’t seem to know anything about this situation,” Shadow explained. “The emerald is still sitting in one of the rooms back there somewhere in containment.”

“I see,” Rouge put a hand on her hip and smirked. “I’ll go grab it; it could be useful.”

Shadow rolled his eyes. “You just want it for yourself, don’t you?”

“I don’t just want it for myself,” Rouge insisted. “We can ask the good doctor if he knows what happened to it, and hopefully it’ll help us find Tails somehow.”

Shadow groaned. “Just be fast, alright?”

And she was, flying off and making it back to Shadow in only a few minutes. She proudly showed off the cyan chaos emerald to the brooding hedgehog, then tossed it over to him. He easily caught it with one hand.

“That fast enough for you?” Rouge asked.

“Not bad,” Shadow commented, glancing down at the emerald in his hand and allowing a small smirk onto his face. “I would’ve been faster, though.”

“Uh huh,” Rouge sarcastically agreed, turning to head back into the room where Sonic sat waiting. “Let’s head back in,”

“Alright,” Shadow agreed, following suit.

The two went back into the room, spotting Sonic sitting, impatiently tapping his foot while awaiting their return. The bat walked up to the frustrated hedgehog.

“How’re you holding up, blue?” Rouge asked.

Sonic sighed. “I’d be better if I knew Tails was okay...”

“I know. We’ll help you find him, alright?” She reassured.

“...yeah,” Sonic mumbled. “Thanks...”

“Don’t mention it, blue.”

Sonic simply hummed in response.

Shadow really hoped the others would arrive soon. He was completely out of his depth right now.

Sonic was trying to stay calm, he really was. But the longer he was forced to wait for his friends to arrive, the more his frustration grew. Every minute that passed was a minute he could’ve spent looking for Tails. He hated just sitting there wasting time while his buddy could be in danger, but his faith in his friends kept him locked in place for the moment.

He needed to wait now. Knuckles would be able to help. So would Shadow and Rouge. Amy was too far away to come meet them, but she said she’d start a search party for the kit and asked to be updated once they came up with a plan.

Sonic was forcing himself to take deep breaths. Rouge and Shadow stood in the room with him, talking about something. Shadow was holding the cyan chaos emerald now. They must’ve grabbed it when they went to talk. Sonic wasn’t listening to them. The only thing his brain could focus on was the fact that Tails had been kidnapped, and that he’d been hurt. That his baby brother was out there somewhere, in danger, and Sonic was just uselessly sitting there. Waiting.

He hated waiting. He wanted to get up and hunt down every foe they’d ever faced and beat them down until they gave him answers. The worst thing was that he had no idea what was happening to Tails. He had absolutely no leads, and with how long the kit had been gone, he could be almost anywhere. Being forced to just sit there waiting for his friends to arrive when who knows what was happening to Tails was maddening. Still, he knew they’d be able to help. Probably. And if they couldn’t, Sonic would go back to searching solo.

It was taking all his strength to not rip Eggman from the closet they’d left him in and make him reveal where Tails was. He still wasn’t sure if he believed that the doctor wasn’t involved somehow. If only he could’ve gotten his hands on the doctor before Shadow stopped him, maybe then he could’ve taken out some of his frustration on Eggman. Even if he hadn’t personally taken Tails, he’d done more than enough to them in the past to deserve a good beat down. It would’ve been nice to take that frustration out on Metal Sonic too. That cheap robot copy just refused to die, and Sonic could really use a punching bag right now, especially one that wouldn’t break after only a few hits.

He paused. Metal Sonic had never shown up.

“Wait, where’s Metal Sonic?” he asked, the room’s other inhabitants turning to look at him.

“What do you mean?” Rouge asked, placing her hands on her hips.

“Metal Sonic is normally with Egghead wherever he goes. He should’ve shown up by now,” Sonic explained. “Especially since we tied up his stupid boss and locked him in a closet.”

“Now that you mention it, he didn’t come to protect the doctor when we confronted him earlier,” Shadow noted, a hand on his chin in thought. “He should’ve come to the doctor’s aid, yet he didn’t, and he hasn’t shown up since. It’s highly unusual...”

“Wait, do you guys think...?” Rouge asked, looking back and forth between the hedgehogs.

“That would explain why the chaos emerald had disappeared earlier, then been returned to where it was before as if nothing had happened,” Shadow continued, looking down at the cyan chaos emerald in his hand. “Someone who had access to it took it from here in the base, then put it back when they were done with it, and Tails did go out in search of a chaos emerald before he disappeared, correct?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Tails found a chaos emerald on his radar thing and went to investigate it...” Sonic confirmed. “That’s what led him into the woods, Metal must’ve used it to lure him out...”

“Indeed.”

“Well then, it seems like we’ve found the culprit,” Rouge agreed. “But...why did he take Tails? What would he want with the kid?”

“Perhaps the doctor can tell us,” Shadow suggested.

Sonic sat, silently listening to the two talk and begin to form a plan.

All Sonic could think about was what he was going to do once he got his hands on his robot copy.

He’d hurt Tails.

Sonic would make him pay for it.

Chapter Text

Tails was brutally startled awake by Metal Sonic slamming his foot into the floor, the sound hurting Tails’ ears and echoing throughout the base.

“WAKE UP!” Metal Sonic roared.

“WHA-“ Tails screamed, his eyes darting up to Metal. “Wha-What’s happening?!”

“You need to remove my tracker,” Metal insisted. “Now.”

“I-wha - Now?!”

“Yes. Now.”

Tails forced himself up out of his blankets, slapping himself awake. “Okay, okay, sit down.”

Metal Sonic sat down in front of Tails as he’d done the night before while Tails pulled up the robot’s blueprints. He’d spotted the tracker before, but assumed Metal wanted it intact. Thankfully, it would be a simple removal. All he had to do was open the back of Metal Sonic’s head and carefully pry it out. It wasn’t wired into any of the robot’s other systems. He ignored how his body resisted being suddenly jarred awake, a growing headache clouding his mind.

He quickly removed the back part of the robot’s head, immediately spotting the tracker. It was small, blinking red on top of the rest of the mechanics in the robot. Tails used the needle-nose pliers that were in the toolbox at his side and carefully removed the small, circular device, paying extra close attention to make sure he didn’t accidentally pull out the wrong parts in his tired daze.

“O-Okay, I got it!” he exclaimed, easily closing the back of the robot’s head once he was done.

“Excellent,” Metal responded. “Hand it to me.”

Tails obliged, dropping the little device in the robot’s hand. Metal instantly darted out of the room, leaving Tails reeling on the floor. He groaned, grabbing his throbbing head. Metal Sonic quickly returned, stopping in front of Tails.

“Do not try to resist me.” Metal stated.

“I-huh?” Tails had no time to react before the robot was on him once again, jabbing something into his neck.

“I am sorry, I will explain later,” Metal assured. “There is no time.”

Tails barely had enough time to question what the robot meant before everything went black.

Shadow and Rouge had agreed that first, they should question Dr. Eggman while they waited for Knuckles to arrive at the base. Since Metal Sonic was very likely to be the culprit, they should ask his creator if he knew anything about the robot’s plans. Shadow and Rouge now stood by as Sonic violently ripped Dr. Eggman from the closet he’d been stuffed in and tossed him to the feet of his friends. They grimaced at the harsh treatment as the doctor groaned in pain from the floor. In a flash, Sonic was grabbing the man by the collar, drawing a fist back.

“WHERE’S METAL?!” Sonic growled, his fist threatening to collide with the doctor’s face any second.

“Easy there, blue,” Rouge interrupted, holding out a hand to the enraged hedgehog. “We can’t exactly ask the doctor questions if you beat him to a pulp before he can tell us anything.”

Sonic paused and glared at Rouge for a moment before throwing the doctor back to the ground. “Fine.”

Dr. Eggman groaned on the floor once again and attempted to sit up. This proved difficult for him in his tied-up state, leaving him wiggling around helplessly on the floor. Shadow rolled his eyes and pulled him up into a sitting position against the wall, so the doctor now sat opposite the trio on the floor.

“What do you want?!” the doctor spat out, glaring at the group in front of him. Shadow noted how he was seemingly ignoring Sonic’s death glare.

“What do you know of Metal Sonic’s plan?” Shadow asked, his arms crossed.

“Metal Sonic?” Dr. Eggman questioned. “What are you talking about?! What does Metal Sonic have to do with any of this?”

“We have reason to believe that Metal Sonic is the one that took Tails,” Rouge explained. “So? Do you know anything about this?”

“No, I don’t,” Eggman insisted.

“What, you didn’t realize your little robot had gone rogue again?” Sonic jeered, his tone hostile. “Man, you’re even more incompetent than I thought.”

“Shut it, you!” Eggman retorted, glaring at the blue hedgehog. “You have no room to talk! You let your little friend get kidnapped! Some hero you are...”

“What did you just say?” Sonic hissed, hands balling into fists at his side. The doctor yelped and started attempting to scooch backwards along the wall. Shadow instantly stepped between the two while Rouge attempted to calm down the seething Sonic.

“Are you able to track down Metal?” Shadow asked, doing his best to ignore the seething hedgehog behind him.

“Of course I can track him down! What do I look like, an imbecile?”

“Then get to it!” Sonic barked from behind Shadow, Rouge now attempting to pull him away.

“I would if I was able to, but at the moment I appear to be tied up.” Eggman snapped.

“If we untie you, can you track down Metal?” Shadow inquired. He needed to deescalate the situation as fast as he could. Things were getting dangerously heated very quickly.

“Yes, I can,” Eggman confirmed, glaring up at his current captors. “But why exactly would I do that? In case you haven’t noticed, I utterly despise all of you.”

“You’ll do it because I’ll beat you down as much as I need to to get you to cooperate,” Shadow explained. “And on top of that, I don’t know how long we can hold back Sonic, and I can’t imagine you want to find out what he plans on doing with you.”

“Ugh, fine,” the doctor hissed. “Besides, I’m curious what my creation is getting up to without me. And if I don’t like it, oh he will be in so much trouble.”

Sonic growled, resisting Rouge’s attempts to pull him back. He didn’t budge, nor did he meet her gaze.

“C’mon, blue,” she started carefully, watching the boy closely. “Let’s go cool off a bit, okay?”

“I’m not letting him out of my sight,” Sonic insisted, pointing at the mad doctor, who was currently being untied by Shadow. “Especially if Shadow is untying him.”

“We’ll find Tails faster if Dr. Eggman can track them down, therefor we need to untie him,” Shadow argued. “And we won’t leave him alone until we’re absolutely certain we’ve found Metal. We may be working together at the moment, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten everything he’s done.” Shadow glared at the doctor.

“Yes, I get it,” the doctor grumbled, standing up and rubbing his newly freed wrists. “We all hate each other, let’s get this over with!

Sonic kept his eyes locked onto the doctor as he walked over to the console and began pressing buttons that the others didn’t understand. The blue hedgehog’s eyes bore into the back of the doctor’s head. He only spent a few minutes at the console before the robot’s signal had been tracked down.

“Found him!” Dr. Eggman arrogantly announced, his giant monitor displaying the location of Metal Sonic with a red dot moving to the right. “It appears that he’s heading east.”

“Why’s he doing that?” Rouge questioned.

“We’ll find out soon enough,” Shadow replied, turning to Sonic. “You and I can go chase him down. There’s a chance he has Tails with him, so keep an eye out.”

Sonic nodded. “Right.”

“Rouge, stay behind and wait for Knuckles,” Shadow instructed, turning to his teammate. “Explain the situation when he arrives. And keep an eye on him.”

Shadow motioned to the doctor, who grunted in response.

“Got it,” Rouge agreed.

“And how are you rodents going to follow him without the signal?” Dr. Eggman asked.

“Simple, you’ll give it to us,” Sonic insisted, a glare pointed at the doctor, fists clenched at his sides. “Or I’ll make you.”

“I suppose there’s no point in trying to argue right now,” Eggman begrudgingly commented. “Give me a minute.”

The doctor huffed in frustration and handed a small device displaying a map and Metal Sonic’s location to the hedgehogs, showing the little red dot moving east. A little blue dot stood there displaying their own location. Sonic attached it to his communicator.

“Alright, let’s go!” Sonic shouted, darting out of the room. Shadow followed right behind him.

They quickly dashed out of the base and towards Metal Sonic, following his signal at supersonic speeds. Sonic pushed his body to run as fast as it possibly could, leaving trails of blue that tore through the ground. They rushed through the green mountains surrounding Eggman’s base. Shadow kept pace with the seething blue hedgehog in front of him, skating through the grass and keeping a close eye on the younger boy.

“How far is he?” Shadow asked, only a few feet behind Sonic. He didn’t let his gaze drift from the other hedgehog for even a moment.

“He’s dead ahead!” Sonic answered, looking down at the device on his wrist. They were quickly catching up to the robot, their little blue dot on the map closing the gap with the red dot. Shadow nodded and they shot towards the signal, boosting to reach Metal Sonic and, presumably, Tails.

Sonic forced himself to go as fast as his feet could carry him. This was his best chance to save Tails, he couldn’t mess it up. He was going to rescue his little brother no matter what. Then, he was going to take the kid out for ice cream. He’d ask their friends to join them after all this was over too.

He was also going to make sure a certain robot copy regret ever being created.

After a few minutes, they spotted something in the sky, a large, spherical device bearing a striking resemblance to Dr. Eggman’s machines. It looked like an escape pod, and the closer they got, the more they could make out the Eggman logo on its side. This was it.

“That must be them!” Sonic yelled, boosting forward even further, easily catching up with the pod. “Let’s go!”

“Right!” Shadow followed close behind, now keeping a careful eye on the pod as well as Sonic. “We need to take it down.”

Sonic wordlessly dived into a ball to roll down the side of the mountain they were running on, using the momentum to then launch himself up into the air. He collided with the pod, causing it to dent and to begin falling from the sky. Shadow watched as Sonic fell back down to the ground and caught himself, immediately diving into a ball and launching himself back into a run, barely missing a beat. Shadow smirked. He sometimes forgot that Sonic was actually quite capable of taking care of himself.

They effortlessly followed close behind the pod as it began slowly drifting down, losing its momentum and causing the hedgehogs to easily overtake it. Shadow took a turn to attack, launching himself at the pod and causing another crash with little effort. Just as it was barely above the ground anymore, Sonic did one final spindash into it, finally completely knocking it out of the air. The escape pod tumbled onto the ground, cascading down the side of the mountain and eventually skidding to a stop at the bottom.

Sonic dashed up to the remains of the pod. He stood in an action pose, glaring daggers at the machine now laying uselessly on the ground. He held his fists up ready for a fight. Shadow stood at the ready behind him, the two waiting for the robot to emerge, or for Tails to fly out of the pod. They watched it carefully, but there was...nothing. No movement at all. Sonic instantly darted over and ripped the door to the escape pod off with his bare hands, throwing it back behind him and stepping inside.

“Alright Metal! What...” Sonic’s voice tapered off as he dropped his fighting stance and stared into the pod.

Shadow followed inside and saw that there was nothing in the escape pod. No Metal Sonic, no Tails. Just a row of empty seats on one side of the pod and a control panel on the other.

“What?” Sonic breathed, frantically looking around the escape pod. “But – but the signal! It was coming from here!”

Sonic stood dumbfounded in the center, gaping at the empty seats inside. Shadow carefully examined the pod, looking for anything unusual. Out of the corner of his eye Shadow spotted something. A small, blinking light on one of the seats. He carefully approached it. It was small, so small that Sonic had seemingly completely missed it. He might’ve missed it too if he wasn’t being careful. The older hedgehog picked it up, cautiously looking over the tiny, circular machine. When Sonic noticed what Shadow was doing, he looked down at the tiny device in Shadow’s hand.

“What’s that?” Sonic asked. Before he got an answer, Shadow clenched his hand into a fist, easily crushing it.

“Check the signal,” Shadow instructed. Sonic looked at him confused, but still obliged, looking at the device on his wrist. He found that the little red dot was gone, just leaving the blue dot standing there alone on the map.

“The signal’s gone...” Sonic replied, staring at the little screen. He tapped it a couple times, but the signal did not reappear. “What...?”

“That was the tracker,” Shadow stated simply.

“Huh?”

“That was Metal Sonic’s tracker. He must have removed it somehow and put it in one of the doctor’s escape pods, then launched it out as a decoy,” Shadow opened his hand back up, glaring down at the remains of the tracker. “He was one step ahead of us."

Sonic stood next to Shadow, staring at the tiny bits and pieces of the device as Shadow turned his hand and dumped them onto the floor of the pod. Shadow glanced back to the other hedgehog. Sonic didn’t say anything. He simply stood there, gawking at the remains of the device on the floor.

“Sonic?” Shadow prompted. The other hedgehog didn’t respond.

“I...” Sonic’s voice was unexpectedly quiet. He was unable to finish whatever his thought was, the words dying in his throat as he stared down.

“What are you thinking?” Shadow asked. Sonic tensed, his gaze still fixed onto the floor, right on the remains of the tracker. “Sonic?”

Sonic didn’t respond. He simply stared down.

Metal Sonic had played him for a fool.

Sonic forced himself to take deep breaths. Deep breath in, deep breath out. He couldn’t lose it again, not right now. Tails was still out there, still in Metal Sonic’s clutches. He needed to keep a level head if he wanted to track them down and save Tails and flying off the handle would just make things worse for everyone.

Still, he couldn’t help the rage bubbling in his chest.

He turned to look at Shadow.

“I’m fine,” he forced out. “Let’s head back.”

Sonic turned and exited the pod, Shadow tentatively following close behind him. Sonic forced another deep breath in and out, and Shadow kept his gaze focused on the younger hedgehog as the two darted off back to the base to reconvene.

Chapter Text

Knuckles arrived at the Eggman base as Sonic and Shadow had instructed, glancing around in confusion. How the hell was he supposed to know where to go? This stupid place was huge, and the hedgehogs hadn’t given him any real directions on where to meet them. He groaned, starting down the main hallway in front of him, hoping he was heading in the right direction and looking around for signs of where the hedgehogs were.

“Hello?” Knuckled called out.

“Hey there, handsome,” Rouge’s voice called over the speakers, causing Knuckles to jump. “Need a little help?”

“Wha – Rouge? Where are you?!”

“In the control room, honey, I’ll tell you where to go to meet me here.” Her voice continued over the speakers.

“Uh, okay – what are you doing here?”

“Shadow called me,” she explained. “Said they needed help finding Tails.”

“Okay, can you explain what’s going on?” Knuckles asked. “I get the feeling I missed a lot...”

“How caught up are you?”

“All I know is that Tails went missing yesterday and Sonic and Shadow said he was hurt,” Knuckles continued down the hall as he talked. “You know anything else?”

“Not much, I’m afraid,” Rouge answered. “All I know is that Sonic found signs of a struggle near the kid’s house and freaked out.”

“Did they say anything else?”

“Shadow said that they found blood,”

Knuckles winced. “Yeah, they mentioned that – did they tell you how much?”

“No,” she sighed. “I don’t know much more than you do, red. Sonic and Shadow went out to track down Metal Sonic, since we think he’s the one that took Tails.”

“Any word from them since then?”

“None.”

Knuckled grumbled. He hated it when Sonic ran off like this. Especially when Knuckles had no clue what was going on, and the two people that did know had run off. He hoped they’d be back soon and would explain everything.

Rouge guided Knuckles to the control room with ease, getting him there in only minutes. Once the echidna made it there, he turned and saw Rouge and Dr. Eggman standing side by side at one of the consoles. Rouge turned back and waved him over. The doctor groaned.

“Oh, great...” Dr. Eggman mumbled. “More of you, wonderful.”

“Shut it, you!” Knuckles snapped as he walked over, pointing a gloved hand at the doctor before turning back to Rouge. “Why is he just standing there like that?”

“We have a sort of truce at the moment,” Rouge explained. “After all, we’re both after the same target.”

“Fair enough. Any word from Sonic and Shadow?”

“Not yet, I-“

Right at that moment, Sonic and Shadow dashed back into the room, stopping in front of the group.

“Good timing,” Rouge commented, smirking at the hedgehogs. “Find anything?”

Sonic ignored her, walking up to Eggman and glaring up at him, rage emanating off the hedgehog in waves. Knuckles took a moment to register the tension and fury in the usually cheery hedgehog in front of him. He’d known Sonic was tense from their calls but seeing it in person made him realize just how upset the hedgehog truly was. He looked as if he was going to explode, shaking with rage and breaths uneven. It was unsettling.

“He wasn’t there,” Sonic growled at the doctor, hands clenched into fists.

“Hold on, what do you mean?” Rouge asked.

“We followed the signal to an escape pod, and once we stopped it and looked inside, we found that Metal Sonic’s tracker was sitting alone in it,” Shadow explained. “I crushed it and Metal Sonic’s signal disappeared.”

“WHAT?!” Eggman screamed, frantically pulling up the map again to look for Metal Sonic’s signal, only to be met with it being gone. The only signal that was still coming through was the one coming from the device he’d given the hedgehogs. “That little...”

“Your little toy knew we were coming,” Sonic snapped. “How’d he know that?! How did he remove his tracker anyway?!”

“He shouldn’t have been able to do that!” the doctor explained, turning back to the other inhabitants of the room and scowling. “It’s in the back of his head! He can’t even reach it! I should be the only one who can access it.”

“Then how did it get in there?!” Sonic fumed.

“How am I supposed to know that?!”

“He probably made Tails do it,” Shadow interrupted, hand on his chin in thought. “I suspected that whoever took Tails might be doing it because of his intelligence. Something like this wouldn’t be hard for him.” He turned his gaze back to Sonic. “What do you think?”

“Well duh, of course Tails could do that!” Sonic exclaimed. “That would be a piece of cake for him, but he wouldn’t do that. Not for Metal, anyway.”

Shadow didn’t respond, simply staring down at the ground and ignoring the blue hedgehog’s gaze. Sonic felt the anger he was trying to force down bubble up even further the longer the older hedgehog stayed silent. The others sensed it too, the air becoming tense as the older hedgehog remained silent.

“What?” Sonic hissed out, glaring daggers at Shadow. “Got something you wanna tell me?”

“...Tails may not do something like this normally, but that’s if he had a choice,” Shadow stated.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sonic barked, narrowing his eyes at the older hedgehog, his fists clenching even tighter and his posture coming dangerously close to a fighting stance.

“I mean that Metal Sonic could use violence to make Tails comply,” he explained. “We already know that Tails was at least slightly injured in his initial kidnapping, and I doubt that Metal Sonic has enough of a conscience to not hurt him if he doesn’t get what he wants.” 

“Shadow,” Rouge warned.

“Shut your mouth,” Sonic spat out, eyes piercing through Shadow’s soul. “Or I’ll make you.”

The room seemed to freeze, no one daring to move as it might cause the tension to boil over and start a fight. Knuckles was the first to move.

“Sonic, he’s right,” Knuckles interrupted, putting a hand on the blue hedgehog’s shoulder. “I know you’re worried, okay? I’m worried too, but we need to focus if we’re gonna find and rescue Tails.”

Sonic didn’t reply, still glaring daggers at the other hedgehog in the room and looking as if he was going to dash across the room to punch Shadow in the face. Knuckles sighed, keeping his gloved hand firm on his friend’s shoulder.

“Look, I know how much Tails means to you,” Knuckles started, his voice soft and his expression loosening up slightly. “He means a lot to me too. You’re worried about him, that he’s in danger and you’re not there to protect him. I get it. But we all need to work together to get him back, okay?”

Sonic once again didn’t reply. His gaze stayed fixed on Shadow. However, the tension in his body did loosen ever so slightly.

“We’ll find him, Sonic. I promise.” Knuckles reassured.

Sonic forced his eyes closed, took a deep breath, and tried as hard as he could to relax. His hands opened and fell to his sides, his posture going from tense and battle-ready to tired and slouched. He opened his eyes back up and looked at his friend.

“Thanks, Knux...” Sonic breathed out. “Sorry about that, I’ll...I’ll try to stay calm.” The blue hedgehog’s gaze wandered to the floor, ignoring those of his friends and keeping to himself for the moment.

“It’s nothing,” Knuckles reassured. “I care about Tails too, and I’m gonna rip that dumb robot limb from limb if he hurts a hair on his head. But first, we need a plan.”

“Might I make a suggestion?” Rouge started, raising a hand to get the attention of the room’s inhabitants. “First we need to figure out where Metal Sonic might be keeping Tails, otherwise we’ll just be running around in circles.”

“Do you have any idea where he could be, doctor?” Shadow asked, turning to Eggman, ignoring how the other hedgehog had almost just attacked him. Eggman looked back down at Shadow. “He’s your creation, after all.”

Dr. Eggman hummed in response, putting his hand to his chin in thought.

“It’s possible that he’s using one of my other bases,” the doctor thought aloud. “I can use the security cameras to see if he’s in one of them, though he might have accounted for this and changed locations already...”

“Well then you should check before he has the opportunity to fly off,” Knuckles commented. “How long do you think it would take to check all your bases for him?”

“Well, I currently have five fully operational bases on South Island. It shouldn’ t take too long to check them, since I can look through an entire base’s security cameras in only a few minutes,” Eggman explained. “That, and all of my bases are equipped with sensors to detect any unwelcome guests.” Dr. Eggman pointed a glare at Sonic as he spat out his last words. Sonic either didn’t hear him or ignored him for the moment.

“Check them then,” Shadow instructed. The doctor groaned but complied.

“How did he know you guys were on his tail?” Knuckles asked, glancing around the room. “No one’s spotted Metal or Tails since before yesterday, right?”

“It’s possible he’s using the Eggnet to access the security cameras and watch us,” Dr. Eggman explained, typing away at his console. Images of other bases appeared on the screen above them, but none showed anything out of the ordinary. “He’s logged into the Eggnet at all times, and I programmed him to be able to survey all operational bases at once. Additionally, he  should have clearance to activate or deactivate basically anything he wants. Because of that, it’s also possible he’s using one of my inactive bases.”

“So he could be anywhere?” Knuckles asked, gaze moving back up to the doctor and his frustration growing quickly. He was keeping his calm better than Sonic, but he was still not happy about the situation.

“Not anywhere,” Eggman corrected. “It’s not unlikely that he’s still in one of my facilities, once I check all the currently operational bases, I can start checking the inactive ones.”

“But if he’s watching us, he’ll know that we’re coming, right?” Shadow asked. “How do we keep him from knowing when and where we’re attacking?”

“I could shut down the Eggnet temporarily, but that would leave everything that’s connected to it useless, and we still need to find them somehow.”

“How many bases do you have total?” Knuckles asked.

“Including all my inactive ones, there’s easily dozens,” the doctor explained. “We could narrow down the search by excluding bases that would be too damaged to use for anything, which would leave us with...” he typed away at the console in front of him, pulling up a map of all the bases. “Eleven bases that Metal could currently be using on South Island.”

“And that’s if he’s using one of the doctor’s facilities...” Shadow thought aloud. “We should shut down the Eggnet before planning our moves any further, Metal might be listening to us right now.”

“What?!” Dr. Eggman shouted, slamming his hands onto the console and turning to look at the anthropomorphic animals. “But – but what about all my beautiful creations?!”

“Can’t you just use regular wifi, egghead?” Knuckles commented.

“Well, yes, but-“

“Then do it,” Knuckles ordered. “We can’t waste any more time.”

Dr. Eggman grumbled and turned back to console, pressing a few buttons and causing an Eggman logo to pop up saying he was disconnected from the Eggnet.

“Man, talk about an ego...” Sonic commented, rolling his eyes at his lifelong enemy.

“Shut it, you!” the doctor snapped before connecting to the regular old wifi. “There, better?”

“Hopefully that’ll at least stall Metal Sonic for a bit,” Shadow stated. “For now, we need to plan our next moves.”

“We should split up,” Knuckles started. “Gather as many allies as we can and check multiple bases at once. Whenever someone is done with a base and confirms it’s empty, they can move to a new one. We’ll do this until either all the bases have been checked and confirmed empty, or until we find Metal Sonic and Tails.”  Knuckles turned to Shadow and Rouge. “You two call Omega, you can be Team One.”

“Right,” Shadow agreed.

“Sonic, you and I will be Team Two,” Knuckles instructed, turning back to Sonic. “If there’s anyone else you think might be able to help, call them.”

“Do we have the locations of all the bases?” Shadow asked.

“I can give you all their coordinates,” Dr. Eggman assured. “On the condition that you drag that rebellious Metal Sonic right back here once you find him.”

“Okay, we’ll number the bases one through eleven,” Knuckles commanded. “If someone is already close to one of the bases, they can be assigned to that one.”

Sonic managed to smirk a little at Knuckles, allowing himself to relax slightly. He placed his hand on his hips. “You’re pretty good at this leader thing, knucklehead.”

“Don’t thank me yet, we still need to gather allies. Once we do that, we can finalize our plan and head out.”

Sonic nodded.

Rouge and Shadow left the room to call Omega, and Sonic moved to leave the room as well, but stopped in his tracks. He slowly turned back to face the echidna with a tired but thankful smile.

“You’re the best Knux,” Sonic quietly admitted. “Thanks for all this.”

“Hey, I love the kid too,” Knuckles said. “We’ll find him, Sonic.”

Sonic nodded. “Right...”

With that, Sonic sped off, and they could all get started on their mission.

Metal was thankful that he escaped with Tails when he did. The second he saw that Sonic had figured out he was the one that took Tails, he knew he needed to speed up his plan. He’d known they’d need to relocate eventually, but of course Sonic forced him to move up his schedule. It also appeared that the “heroes” had realized he was monitoring them through the Eggnet with his creator’s security cameras. They’d shut off the Eggnet, which left Metal Sonic disconnected from the doctor’s facilities. Thankfully, he didn’t need to access his creator’s data anymore, at least for the moment. 

He’d already picked a backup location for when they needed to move, and they made it there in good time. He looked around when they got to the abandoned Eggman factory that the doctor hadn’t used in years. It had a basement several levels below ground, and despite the top levels being completely destroyed, the underground levels were still perfectly intact. He carried the fox kit all the way down to the bottom floor of the basement. He’d already picked a location for the fox kit to stay.

Metal looked down at the cub in his arms. As he did, his vision filled as his systems identified the kit.

[Miles “Tails” Prower]

[ENEMY]

[Age: 8]

[Species: fox]

[Height: 2ft 7in]

[Weight: 44lbs]

[Gender: Male]

Metal understood that any enemy of the doctor was identified as an enemy by his systems, but it felt wrong to assign that label to the fox kit in his arms. He was so small, and though his intellect was far beyond most other organic lifeforms, he was still a child. Metal found himself wondering how his creator could want to hurt the cub. Metal himself had hurt the cub before, but only either out of necessity or at the orders of his creator. Dr. Eggman chose to hurt Sonic and Tails over and over. The more he thought about it, the less he understood it.

He could think about that another time, though. For the moment, he’d prepare the space for when the fox cub woke up. It shouldn’t take too terribly long, considering he’d used less of his sedative than he did in his initial ambush. He’d knocked out the kit for longer than intended, and they lost some time because of that. He hadn’t accounted for just how small the cub was.

Metal got to work, and hoped that the fox kit would awaken soon.

Chapter Text

Sonic was relieved to find that a bunch of his friends were already not far from Eggman’s bases. He’d called Amy back and explained the plan, sending her the coordinates the doctor had given him. She was only half an hour away from one of the bases, so she took Cream and Cheese to help her check it out. Gemerl had insisted on coming too so he could protect Cream, and they were designated Team Three.

Knuckles had called the Chaotix and filled them in, and they were able to head to another one of the bases about an hour out from their office. Sonic couldn’t bring himself to talk to the detectives after he’d left them behind, but apparently, they hadn’t been upset by it. In fact, they asked Knuckles how Sonic was doing and told him to make sure the blue hedgehog was okay. Sonic was extremely relieved that they weren’t upset with him, but he still wanted to apologize the next time he saw them. The Chaotix were Team Four.

Tangle and Whisper were Team Five, also being about an hour out from one of the bases. Tangle had been worried when Sonic explained the situation and instantly jumped on board. Whisper was characteristically quiet about it, but Sonic could tell she was concerned too, and she also instantly agreed to help.

Silver was Team Six. Sonic was incredibly thankful that Silver was still in their time to help and concluded that his psychokinesis made him more than capable of being a one-man team. Sonic was touched when Silver promised to help them find Tails even if it killed him but encouraged the time traveler to make sure no one died. He appreciated the enthusiasm, though.

Sonic wished he could’ve reached Sticks or Big, but neither had phones, and he didn’t have the time to go track them down in person right now. Besides, they had a good number of people looking for Tails now. Hopefully six teams were enough.

Sonic and Knuckles were now on their way to the designated Base Two, while the other teams went to look at their respective bases. Sonic found that he was finally feeling a bit better now that they had an idea of where Tails could be and a bunch of friends looking for him. His friends were all incredibly kind, caring, and strong people. If Tails was being held in one of egghead’s bases, he had faith they’d be able to find and rescue him.

Tails might not be in any of them, though. But Sonic couldn’t worry about that right now. First things first, they needed to check all of Eggman’s bases for the lost kit and rogue robot. Knuckles kept up with Sonic well, considering his lack of super speed. The hedgehog still had a good lead, but Knuckles didn’t linger too far behind.

“How you holding up, Knux?” Sonic called behind him.

“I’m fine!” the echidna assured. “How far are we?”

“We’re almost there, c’mon!”

The two sped forward and soon reached their destination. As Sonic was about to bust in, Knuckles grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back.

“Hold it,” Knuckles started. “We need to figure out how we wanna go about this.”

“I know how I’m gonna go about it, Knux,” Sonic insisted, a slight edge to his voice. “Dash through the place and if Metal is there, pummel him before he has the chance to run off again.”

Sonic shrugged the hand off his shoulder and didn’t wait for Knuckles to respond before spindashing through the wall, crashing into the base and rocketing forward through the halls with his trademark super speed. Knuckles groaned and followed suit, punching through the walls and running at high speeds throughout the base.

“Any luck so far?” Knuckles asked into his communicator.

“Not yet,” Sonic answered, still dashing through the halls of the building. He was able to look through entire floors in seconds, running through the rooms of the base and keeping an eye out for anything fluffy and orangish-yellow that could be his little buddy. “You?”

“Nothing so far,” the echidna answered, punching through more walls and working his way through the bottom floors. He let out grunts as hist fists collided with the building, and he continued through searching for the lost kit and/or the evil robot holding him captive. “How’re you holding up?”

“I’m good as ever!” Sonic gloated, crashing through more of the building. Knuckles didn’t believe him for a second but chose not to push it. “Seems like this location might be a bust though, should we check with the others?”

“Sure, I can do that,” Knuckles responded, turning to the channel that everyone else was on. “How’s the search going guys?”

“Base One is empty,” Shadow answered, gunshots firing in the background.

“Omega is having fun ripping the base apart, though!” Rouge chimed in. The robot could be heard shouting “DIE” repeatedly in the background. “How’re you guys doing?”

“So far it seems like Base Two is a bust,” Knuckles answered. “Other teams, how are we doing?”

“Team Three here!” Amy cheered. “We’re approaching Base Three as we speak, I’ll let you know if we find anything.”

“The Chaotix are approaching Base Four,” Vector answered. “We’ve got this, boys!” Charmy cheered in the background.

“Team Five here!” Tangle called. “Haven’t made it yet, but we’ll let you know when we do!”

“Silver here, I’ve looked through Base Six, but I haven’t found anything,” the time traveler answered. “Should I keep looking?”

“Yeah, double check just to be safe,” Knuckles instructed. “Team One head out to Base Seven, Silver, once you’re done come meet me and Sonic at Base Eight.”

“Got it!” Silver cheered.

“Understood,” Shadow replied.

“Alright, everyone else let me know when you’re done, okay?” Knuckles instructed. “We’ll assign you to the rest of the bases as needed. Knuckles out.” Knuckles turned the channel back so that he was only speaking to Sonic. “How’s it going?”

Sonic skidded to a stop next to the echidna.

“This place is empty,” Sonic stated, turning to his friend. “I checked every floor, every room, nothing. So now what?”

“We’re gonna meet Silver at Base Eight,” Knuckles explained. “Team One is headed to Base Seven.”

“Alright, then let’s go!”

The two rushed off to continue their search for the missing Tails, making it to the next base in about half an hour. They quickly tore through it as well with the help of Silver, only to find it empty as well. After that, Silver flew off to help the others, leaving Sonic and Knuckles alone.

Knuckles watched as Sonic grew more and more tense as time passed without finding Tails. It didn’t take long before each of the other groups had started reporting that they didn’t find anything, and it was clearly getting to the hedgehog. Knuckles had been relieved to see that getting out to look for the missing kit had given Sonic back some of his usual energy, but it was now waning again quickly.

Knuckles had no idea what to do. He could calm Sonic down when he was mad or frustrated, but that wasn’t the energy that he was giving off right now. He seemed frantic, irritable, and more than anything, scared. Sonic didn’t often feel scared, so when he did, he seemed to be unable to deal with it (or at least, that’s what Knuckles thought). It was even rarer for Sonic to openly express his worries, as he preferred to keep those things inside. Him openly being upset was concerning.

They now sat on top of Base Eight, awaiting the final reports from their friends. Knuckles could feel the anxiety emanating off the hedgehog next to him. He sat with his knees hugged to his chest, his foot tapping impatiently as he glared daggers into the ground below them. Most people in this situation would try to be subtle, to carefully approach the hedgehog and try to coax him into opening up about his feelings. Knuckles didn’t really know how to do that, so he decided to face the issue head-on.

“Talk to me,” the echidna commanded. “You’re clearly upset about this whole thing.”

“Oh wow, what gave that away?” Sonic sarcastically retorted, briefly rolling his eyes. “Of course I’m upset about this. Tails was kidnapped by Metal, we can’t find him, and it’s been two days now!” Sonic drew his knees even closer to his chest.

“Hey, we’ll find him,” Knuckles reassured. “And it hasn’t even been a full two days yet.”

“Doesn’t matter!” Sonic snapped. “They’re still out there!”

“C’mon, we still have time to find them-“

“But what if he’s already hurt?” Sonic interrupted, growing frantic. “What if he’s hurt and scared and I’m not there for him?”

Knuckles sighed. Sonic had always been protective of Tails. He’d been that way ever since they met. Knuckles knew that it wasn’t because Sonic didn’t think Tails could take care of himself, no one had more faith in the kid than Sonic did. But there was also no one else who saw the kit at his most vulnerable. Tails was incredible, kind, caring, brilliant, but he was also a little kid, and Sonic was more aware of that than anyone else on the planet.

Knuckles remembered one time when Tails was little and he had flown up to Angel Island to hang out with the echidna, and a terrible thunderstorm hit unexpectedly. Knuckles had never seen the kid so distressed. He’d immediately called Sonic because he had no idea what to do, Tails was curled up in a ball, crying and shaking and sobbing his little heart out. Sonic arrived and was immediately able to calm Tails down, then he packed the kid into the tornado and took him back home. When they got back, Sonic told Knuckles he’d managed to calm the kid down enough to watch a movie. Knuckles was still impressed by how well Sonic handled that situation to this day.

Sonic loved all of his friends, but his relationship with Tails was special. Everyone who saw the two knew it, and Knuckles was no exception. Knuckles knew the two referred to each other as brothers. That was accurate, but in some ways, Knuckles saw Sonic more as the kid’s dad than anything. Sonic had basically raised Tails, took care of him, taught him right from wrong. But that meant when Tails was in danger and Sonic wasn’t there to help him, it wasn’t just his best friend that was in danger, it was his baby brother, his kid.

Knuckles sighed, turning to look back at the distressed hedgehog next to him. He sat there unmoving, his head now resting on his knees. The echidna was unsure if he should try to comfort Sonic or just give him the space he needed to vent his frustrations. Thankfully, Sonic decided for him.

“Jeez, look at me,” he started, letting out a small, dry chuckle. “The kid goes missing for two days and I’m falling apart. What am I gonna do when he goes through a rebellious teenage phase, Knux?” the hedgehog asked, turning to look at his friend with a sad smile.

“Please don’t make me think about that,” Knuckles moaned, causing the hedgehog to chuckle once again.

“Sorry, man...” Sonic uncurled himself, allowing his legs to drop and hang down from the top of the Eggman base, resting his arms on his knees. “I just...”

“Hey, I get it,” Knuckles reassured. “You’re worried. I just...I wish I knew how to help.”

“You’re doing everything you can, Knux. All our friends are.” Sonic tiredly reassured.

“Yeah, but like – I just – you know what I mean!”

Sonic chuckled. “Yeah knucklehead, I know. Emotions aren’t really your strong suit.”

“They’re not exactly yours, either!”

“I’m still better than you, though!”

“You are not!”

“Are so!”

The two sat and laughed together, enjoying the other’s company. Knuckles was glad his presence at least helped Sonic calm down some, but he knew it was temporary. Sonic wouldn’t be able to truly feel better until they found Tails and ensured his safety, so he was going to do everything in his power to make that happen.

“GUYS!” Amy’s voice called through the communicator, interrupting the conversation. “We just found something at Base Nine! Come quick!”

“We’re on it!” Sonic confirmed before dashing off, not even bothering to wait for Knuckles. The echidna wasn’t surprised though, the best thing he could do was not lag too far behind, so he immediately got up and ran after Sonic to the next base.

Sonic wasted no time. He pushed himself to go as fast as he could, making it in less than half an hour. He rushed into Base Nine and looked around.

“Guys, I’m here!” he said into his communicator. “Where are you?”

“We’re on one of the lower floors,” Amy said through the device. “Gemerl can come get you and bring you here.”

“Okay, what did you guys find?”

“We’re...not entirely sure, to be honest,” she explained. “You’ll see what I mean. Where’s Knuckles?”

“He lagged behind a bit. He should catch up soon though.”

“Okay, I’ll let Gemerl know to come get you,”

“Sounds good, thanks.”

After a few minutes, Knuckles joined Sonic in the base, panting slightly from the speed he had to run at to keep up with the hedgehog. He gave Sonic a punch in the shoulder, causing the hedgehog to grunt and rub the spot.

“That’s for running off on your own, you jerk...” Knuckles grumbled.

“Okay, jeez, I’m sorry...”

They were soon met by Gemerl, who hovered slightly over them.

“What did you guys find?” Knuckles asked.

“You will see, follow me Sonic and Knuckles,” Gemerl said, flying down one of the halls, the other two following suit. It only took them a few minutes to arrive and meet Amy, Cream and Cheese in the base.

“Mr. Sonic!” Cream cheered, running up and hugging the hedgehog, Cheese following right behind her. He patted their heads gently.

“Hey Cream, hey Cheese,” Sonic greeted, smiling down at the little rabbit. “Wanna show us what you found?”

“Yes, this way!” she said, grabbing Sonic’s hand and dragging him across the room before stopping and pointing. “There!”

In the spot Cream was pointing at, there sat a...bizarre assortment of items. A pillow and blanket next to a steel beam, as well as a bag that looked bigger than Cream. Sonic carefully looked inside to see...food?

“What the?” Sonic exclaimed.

“What is it?” Knuckles asked.

“It’s food,” Sonic explained, rummaging through the bag to see if maybe there was something else hidden under the assortment of cereals, fruits, and other snacks, but finding nothing else. “Why would there be food down here?”

“We found this, too,” Amy added, revealing a toolbox in her hands. It didn’t have an Eggman logo on the side, it was just a regular old toolbox. Sonic took the box from her and looked inside and found nothing but normal tools.

He turned his gaze back to the spot on the floor, looking more carefully at the strange collection. An Eggman tablet sat on the floor, as well as what looked like recycled badnik parts. They looked like they’d been taken apart and had pieces missing, random bolts and screws and circuit boards scattered about. Sonic decided his best bet for finding more clues was the tablet, so he swiped it up off the ground and tapped on the screen. It lit up, a holographic Eggman logo filling his vision. He rolled his eyes.

Once he got onto the tablet, he was met with schematics and blueprints for...something. He wasn’t sure what it was, to be honest. But he did recognize the notes tacked on all over them. Some were practical, listing ideas and necessary materials for the work. Others were more personal. One part had a note reading “Sound like Sonic??” while another said “wish I was home with my tools :(“ and the more he scrolled, the more he found similar notes.

Then he found it. On a page of blueprints for Metal Sonic, there was a note on the bottom that read “I wonder if Metal would want a robot me to be his little brother?? Would he like that?? Why is there only Metal Sonic and no Metal Tails?” and that was all the proof he’d needed.

Tails was here.

An overwhelming mix of emotions filled the hedgehog. Tails was here, and he’d been given this tablet to work on something for Metal Sonic. What did the robot want, though? It couldn’t be good, and he couldn’t imagine Tails had worked on it willingly. He didn’t want to think about how the robot could have used violence to get Tails to cooperate, but he couldn’t think of an alternative either. What was with the food, though?

Knuckles looked over his shoulder at the screen with an eyebrow raised.

“What’s that?” the echidna asked.

“Notes, from Tails,” Sonic answered, turning to the room’s other inhabitants and tossing the tablet to Knuckles. “They were here. Shadow was right, he’s making Tails build something.”

“Build what?” Amy asked.

“I dunno,” the hedgehog replied, crossing his arms and glaring down at the floor where he now knew his brother had been held prisoner. “But I know I’m not gonna like it.”

Chapter Text

When Tails stirred to consciousness once again, he found himself in yet another unfamiliar place. He pushed himself up, but instead of being met with a cold, hard floor, he was met with a plush surface. When he looked down closely, he realized that he was on a mattress, tucked into several fluffy blankets and with several pillows with cute patterns under his head. One pillow was covered in stars, while the other hosted hearts.

He surveyed his surroundings carefully. It looked like he was in a basement. It was old and abandoned, covered in dust and cobwebs, the only source of light being a single lightbulb above him. There were assorted badniks shoved into the corner of the basement next to the stairs.

When he looked down at his hands, he saw that he was still restrained. His hand was chained to yet another steel beam, ensuring that he couldn’t leave. He groaned. At least this time his conditions were better. The mattress he was on was much more comfortable than the floor of Eggman’s abandoned base.

The fox cub looked around the dank basement, unable to find Metal Sonic. He was probably out preparing things for whatever his next move was. Once he returned, Tails could ask what was going on. He couldn’t remember their last encounter very clearly, the drugs he’d had forced into his system clouding his mind, but a few words Metal spoke to him stuck out in his mind.

“I am sorry.”

For some reason, Tails couldn’t get the words out of his head.

Perhaps it was because he hadn’t ever thought before that the robot was capable of guilt. Perhaps it was because those words came from someone who, up until very recently, he considered an enemy. Not just an enemy, the creation of Dr. Eggman, Tails and Sonic’s mortal enemy. Only a few days ago, he’d never even considered that the robot had feelings at all, let alone was capable of introspection and guilt.

But now Tails knew that he was capable of those things, and potentially so much more. He had his own thoughts and feelings, and the more Tails got to know him, the more he got the feeling that Metal Sonic had the potential to be good. He just seemed confused. After all, his entire existence had been determined by Dr. Eggman of all people. He was taught to use violence for everything, but that wasn’t necessarily what he wanted.

Tails heard loud footsteps and looked up to see Metal Sonic walking down the stairs to him, a toolbox in one hand and a...stuffed animal in the other? The robot noticed Tails watching him and paused at the bottom of the stairs.

“You are awake,” Metal stated.

“Uh, yeah I am,” Tails confirmed. “What happened?”

“I was forced to relocate us sooner than anticipated,” the robot explained, making his way over to the cub and dropping the toolkit at the foot of the mattress. He then handed Tails the stuffed animal. “This is for you. It is to help you sleep.”

Tails accepted the gift, carefully looking at it. It was cute, a little pink and white rabbit with a blue bow around its neck. It was quite soft. He wasn’t exactly sure why Metal had brought it for him, but he appreciated it. He looked back up to the robot and smiled.

“Thanks,” the kit said, placing the plush at his side on the bed. “Why’d you bring me that?”

“Dr. Eggman sometimes sleeps with stuffed animals, therefor I thought one may assist you.”

Tails resisted the urge to burst out laughing. “Good to know. So, why exactly did you have to ‘relocate us?’”

“My creator has started searching for us,” Metal started. “He was going to use my tracker to find our location.”

“So that’s why you had me remove your tracker!”

“Correct.”

“So, why didn’t you just explain that to me then?” Tails asked.

“There was not enough time. As I said, this occurred sooner than I had planned for.”

Tails hummed in response, glancing back down to his makeshift bed. “And where exactly are we?”

“That is classified,” Metal insisted.

“Why?” the fox cub asked. “It’s not like I can escape either way, and I can’t exactly tell anyone where I am. You took all my gear, remember?”

Metal Sonic stared at Tails, seemingly contemplating his words. Tails raised an eyebrow at the robot, and he quickly relented.

“We are in the basement of one of Dr. Eggman’s old factories,” the robot explained. “This one is no longer functioning, but it should still have the necessary parts for you to work.”

“I see...”

“How are you feeling?” Metal Sonic asked, getting on one knee and looking Tails in the eye.

“I-I’m okay,” Tails answered, slightly surprised by the question. “Why do you ask?”

Metal Sonic did not respond, simply staring at him. Tails wondered what the robot was thinking for probably the millionth time in the last couple days. Was Metal...worried about him?

“I still need to bring some materials for my next upgrade,” Metal stated, ignoring Tails’ question completely. “In the meantime, you should rest.”

Before Tails could respond Metal left, shooting back up the stairs and away from the basement, leaving Tails to think.

He wondered if Sonic had noticed he was missing yet. He had no way of knowing in his captivity, so all he could do was assume that Sonic had realized he was gone and started looking for him. It was also possible that their other friends noticed he was missing too, though not as likely. He figured Sonic was probably the most likely to notice his disappearance first.

Tails knew Sonic could get protective of him at times and wondered how he was possibly handling the situation. On the one hand, Sonic was great at keeping calm under pressure. Even if a situation was life or death, he’d face it with his normal cocky attitude. On the other, the few rare occasions where Sonic had lost his cool before were when Tails was in danger. He remembered one occasion when he’d gotten extremely sick when he was little, and Sonic had completely freaked out. He’d found the nearest village and rushed Tails to the doctor, frantically signing so fast that no one could understand him. He was forced to then frantically write things down to explain instead. His handwriting was almost illegible, but it was good enough to get the doctor to look at Tails.

The cub giggled looking back on the memory. Sonic was a world saving hero, sure, but he was also Tails’ older brother.

Tails’ thoughts drifted back to his current situation. He wondered what else Metal Sonic had planned. Tails was still a bit cautious of whatever the robot was planning, but he was also growing curious about it. Metal didn’t seem to have any ill intent, at least.

It wasn’t too long before the robot returned once again, carrying a box full of more devices for Tails to use and dropping them at the foot of his mattress. He pulled out what looked like a laptop and handed it to Tails, who then carefully examined it. It had an Eggman logo on the back and was his signature red and yellow.

“That should be strong enough for my reprogramming,” Metal stated. “Inform me if you need something different.”

“Reprogramming?” Tails asked, eyeing the robot.

“Correct. There are aspects of my programming that I would like to change.” The robot explained, handing Tails more devices. “If you need anything else to work, let me know.”

“Okay, can you log onto this for me?” Tails handed the laptop back to Metal, who easily logged on and handed it back to the kit. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

Tails let a little smile creep onto his face. “So, what exactly about your programming do you want me to look at?”

“I would like to remove anything that would force me to be obedient to my creator,” Metal explained. “My capabilities are...limited.”

Tails nodded, looking through the files on the laptop to try and find anything useful. “Anything specifically?”

“It prohibits attacking, sabotaging, or disobeying Dr. Eggman in any way. I would like to remedy that.”

The fox couldn’t help the slight concern that bubbled up at that statement. “Why, exactly?”

“It is...” Metal started, stopping to think for a moment before resuming. “...difficult to explain.” The robot turned to look at Tails. “I have thought about what you said earlier. That I do not have to do what my creator wants if it is not what I want. The way my programming is currently, I am incapable of rejecting orders from Dr. Eggman, as well as unable to defend myself against him should he decide to harm me. I would like to change that.”

“I see...”

Metal handed him a long cord. “Plug this into the laptop. I will connect myself so you can view my code.”

Tails nodded and obliged, and within a few seconds, all of Metal Sonic’s programming was visible to him. “Okay, I got it!” he confirmed to the robot. “This might take a while, though. There’s a lot in here, and I don’t wanna accidentally delete something that could be crucial.”

“That is fine. You may take as long as you need.”

“Okay, then here goes nothing.”

The two sat in comfortable silence as Tails began his work on the robot. He’d repaired several old robots of Dr. Eggman’s over the years, so he was confident that he could do what Metal had requested. He was still careful, though, making sure he didn’t add or remove anything from Metal’s programming that he didn’t mean to. Tails let himself get lost in his work, focusing only on the task at hand. It was natural to him. He enjoyed being able to completely immerse himself in whatever project he was working on, even if his current circumstances were rather...unusual.

“Hey Metal,” he started, causing the robot to turn towards him. “What made you wanna do all this, anyway?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, the whole kidnapping me thing. Having me upgrade you.” He explained, typing away at the laptop in front of him. “Did something happen that made you plan all this?”

“No, there was nothing that caused it.”

“So why’d you do it?”

Metal Sonic did not answer, simply turning his gaze from Tails to the floor. The fox accepted that that meant he needed to drop it for the moment. The more time he spent with Metal, the more he started learning what his different behaviors meant and how to respond to them. He wondered if the robot was doing the same thing with him while he continued his work.

The cub searched through all the lines of code for whatever things he’d need to delete and replace, taking time to make sure he did so properly. As much as he hated Dr. Eggman, he had to admit that the work he’d done on Metal Sonic was incredible. It was an absolute masterpiece of programming and engineering. His programming was so sophisticated, so detailed, Tails couldn’t help the bit of time he’d wasted just marveling at it all. He hated to admit it, but the doctor had done excellent work on the robot.

They continued to sit in silence while Tails worked, the only sound filling the room being the kit’s fingers typing on the keys of the laptop. It was peaceful, the two of them sitting there together, not feeling the need to fill the silence with small talk. Tails hated small talk. When he found himself in a situation where he needed to do small talk, he always felt like he was doing it wrong somehow, like everyone else was playing a game he didn’t know the rules to. He appreciated when people just let him talk when he wanted to, or when he had something to say, rather than being forced to be social when he didn’t want to. It’s not that he didn’t enjoy talking, he just didn’t understand why some people felt the need to force it when it wasn’t necessary.

Sonic, on the other hand, could be a chatterbox. Tails had learned how to tune Sonic out when he needed to, basically just using him as background noise while he worked sometimes. Sonic would groan and roll his eyes at him in faux annoyance, but Tails knew he didn’t actually mind. If Sonic had an actual problem with something Tails did, they’d talk about it and find a solution. He figured that, on some level, Sonic just liked the sound of his own voice. He also wondered if it was a way for the hedgehog to expel any excess energy, as he often had more than enough for the day.

Tails smiled to himself at the thought of his older brother. Sure, he’d sometimes annoy Tails, but that’s what brothers are supposed to do. At least, that’s what Tails had heard. Sonic wasn’t his brother by blood, but he imagined the core principles were the same. He never fully understood why some people valued their blood relatives more than anything anyway. Probably because he never really had the opportunity to know his blood relatives.

He didn’t really care about that anymore, to be honest. He couldn’t remember anything about his biological parents, and he didn’t care to learn more. They’d been perfectly fine with abandoning him, so they weren’t worth his time. He used to think it was his own fault, for being weird, for being a freak, but Sonic taught him otherwise. He taught Tails that real family stuck together, that they were there for each other no matter what.

Sonic was his family, and nothing would ever change that.

And over the years, they’d had the opportunity to add more and more people to their family. Knuckles was the reliable oldest brother to Tails, acting as a protector for both him and Sonic. Amy was like an older sister, compassionate and nurturing, and always there for Tails when he needed her. Vanilla was like a mother in a way, her kind and warm nature always making Tails feel welcome. Cream was a good friend, a peer, someone he was on the same level as. Most of his friends were older than him, so the ones that were closer to his own age felt nice. Not that he didn’t love his other friends, of course, but sometimes he liked that he could just be a kid with Cream.

They also had so, so many more friends that Tails considered family. He would forever be grateful for each and every one of them.

Tails looked up to the robot in front of him, sitting on the floor next to the makeshift bed he’d put together. He wondered if Metal had anyone that he was close with, that he trusted and enjoyed the company of. He didn’t exactly seem to enjoy the presence of his creator, more so just begrudgingly accepting it. He had no clue how Metal felt about Dr. Eggman’s other robots, or if he felt anything about them at all.

He turned his attention back to the laptop in front of him. He’d made good progress so far, but he still had some work to do. It shouldn’t take him too long, though. And besides, he didn’t really have anything else to do at the moment.

Once he’d finished everything and double, triple, and quadruple checked his work, he looked back up to Metal Sonic.

“Alright, I got it!” he exclaimed. “You should be able to operate free of any of Eggman’s influence now. How do you feel?”

“I do not feel any different,” Metal stated. “Should I feel different?”

“Not necessarily, I was more just checking if you were alright.”

“If I’m ‘alright’?”

“Yeah, you know, like that you’re feeling okay. Making sure nothing feels wrong.”

Metal sat contemplating the words for a moment before turning back to Tails. “Yes, I feel alright,” he confirmed. “Nothing feels wrong.”

“Okay great!” he cheered. “Should I unplug you now?”

“No.” Metal said. “I have another request.”

“Okay, what is it?”

“I am programmed with information gathered from Dr. Eggman, including databases on you and your friends. I would like to alter the information as needed to make it more accurate.”

“Oh, okay! Give me a sec,”

Metal nodded and let Tails type on the keyboard, pulling up the information the robot had on him. Soon, the screen displayed all the information he had on Tails.

[Miles “Tails” Prower]

[ENEMY]

[Age: 8]

[Species: fox]

[Height: 2ft 7in]

[Weight: 44lbs]

[Gender: Male]

Tails read through the information, scrolling to find more data listed such as his skills, affiliations, and history.

“This is pretty accurate, actually,” Tails informed the robot. “Is there anything specific you’d like me to add?”

“No, but I would like you to change something. My system identifies you as an enemy. I no longer feel that this is accurate, therefor I would like you to change it.”

“You...you don’t think of me as your enemy?” he asked, voice so soft it was close to a whisper.

“Not anymore, no,” Metal’s own voice softened slightly. “Though, I do not know what that makes you.”

“...how about I put ‘friend’ instead?” Tails suggested, smiling up to the robot. “That sound good?”

Metal Sonic thought for a moment before nodding, causing Tails’ smile to widen as he excitedly updated the information.

[Miles “Tails” Prower]

[Friend]

[Age: 8]

[Species: fox]

[Height: 2ft 7in]

[Weight: 44lbs]

[Gender: Male]

“Alright, it’s in!” he announced, looking back up to the robot expectantly, allowing his tails to wag with excitement. “Anything else?”

“No, that is all for now.”

“Alright then!”

Tails unplugged the cord from the laptop and handed it back to Metal Sonic, who removed the other end from the back of his head and put it back in the box. The robot then turned back to Tails.

“Thank you.”

“No problem, Metal,” Tails assured. “Anything else for today?”

Metal Sonic seemed to contemplate the words for a moment before answering. “...could we talk again?”

Tails couldn’t keep his smile from widening even further.

“Of course!” he excitedly exclaimed, scooching to the side. “Come sit here with me!”

Metal Sonic obliged, sitting down next to the kit on the mattress. He then looked to Tails, who continued smiling at him.

“What’s on your mind?” the kit asked.

“...how does one express affection?”

“Oh, there’s plenty of ways to do that! Personally, I like giving people gifts, I’ll either buy or make something that I think the person will like, then I’ll give it to them!” Tails explained. “Some people prefer to just say what they’re feeling, but others may prefer to do things for people to show they care. Sonic is like that. He likes helping people, doing things that will improve their day, even if it’s small. He doesn’t say what he’s feeling most of the time, but he expresses it in other ways.”

“Such as?”

“Well, he likes ruffling my fur a lot to show he cares. He also likes to do things to help me out, liking bringing me materials I need in my workshop, or making dinner!”

“What do you mean by ‘ruffle your fur’?”

“Oh, like this!” Tails grabbed Metal Sonic’s hand and placed it on his own head, moving it to rub back and forth. “You see?”

“Why does he do that?”

“I dunno, it’s just fun!” Tails let go of the robot’s hand, though it lingered on the kit’s head. It stayed still for a moment, then stiffly moved one way, then the other. It was slow and robotic, but it still made Tails giggle.

When Tails giggled, Metal paused. The fox cub looked up at the robot in confusion before he resumed, going a little faster bit by bit. Soon, Tails was ruthlessly attacked by another wave of ruffles, faster and more intense, causing him to fall backwards onto the mattress laughing.

“No! Stop!” The kit’s giggles betrayed his words, but Metal Sonic still relented at the request.

Tails looked back up to Metal Sonic.

Maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy after all.

Chapter Text

Sonic had called Team Dark and explained the situation, asking them to come meet them. Now Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Gemerl, Shadow, Rouge, and Omega sat together discussing the situation.

Sonic couldn’t focus on the conversation happening around him, no matter how hard he tried. All he could think about was that Tails was still out there with Metal Sonic, still in danger.

And there was nothing he could do about it.

He thought about how Tails looked at him, those big, baby blue eyes staring up in admiration. His little smile when Sonic complimented him, his laugh as Sonic ruffled his fur, his small hand wrapped in Sonic’s own larger one. Sonic didn’t enjoy being too vulnerable with people, even keeping his closest friends at arm’s length, but Tails was the exception. He couldn’t bring himself to say no whenever Tails wanted to crawl into bed with him, or when he asked Sonic to help him test out his newest invention, or did anything, really. Sonic was always more than happy to be by the kit’s side.

But that wasn’t possible right now. Tails was still being held captive by Metal Sonic, who was doing who knows what with the fox cub. One of his biggest enemies had lured his little brother out, hurt him, and kidnapped him. Sonic already wasn’t fond of his copy, in fact, he strongly disliked him. The only thing that kept him from saying he outright hated the robot was the fact that his existence was kind of sad, in Sonic’s opinion. All he could do was whatever he was told, whatever Eggman wanted. Metal would spend his entire life desperately seeking his daddy’s approval, unable to live for himself. It was sad and, in Sonic’s opinion, pathetic.

The little sympathy he had for the robot went out the window when he’d hurt Tails, though. All he could think about now was how he was going to tear Metal limb from limb when they found him. When he thought about how Metal could be out there hurting Tails, he wanted to rip the robot to shreds. If Tails was hurt when he found them, if there was even a single scratch on his head, Sonic would make sure his copy regretted every single decision in his entire miserable life. He was going to do that anyway, to be honest, but the thought of his little buddy being hurt and stuck alone with Metal Sonic made his blood boil.

Sonic didn’t snap out of his thoughts until a hand waved in front of his face, and he looked up to see his friends’ concerned faces stuck on him. He glanced back and forth between them.

“What?” Sonic asked, confused as his friends all stared at him.

“We were going over the plan,” Shadow explained. “Did you hear any of it?”

“Uh, no, sorry...” Sonic guiltily mumbled, an apologetic smile painting his face. “Could you go over it again for me?”

Shadow sighed but did as Sonic asked. “We agreed that once the others have finished checking all the bases, we’ll split up again and start checking other Eggman facilities, such as factories and storage units. Everyone else has agreed to the plan, but you didn’t respond. We’ve been trying to get your attention throughout the whole discussion, actually, but you didn’t respond a single time.”

“Oh, uh, yeah, sorry. That plan sounds good.”

Sonic watched as the rest of his friends stood in silence, their eyes locked onto him. It made him feel awkward. He normally didn’t mind being the center of attention, sometimes even enjoying it, but something about it this time made him uncomfortable.

“What?” He prompted, glancing back and forth between his friends. “Why are you guys staring at me?”

“We’re just worried about you, Sonic,” Amy gently explained. “You’ve been really out of it this whole time...”

“You are not operating at peak capacity,” Gemerl stated simply. “This is unusual for you.”

“Guys, I’m fine,” Sonic insisted. “I just wanna find Tails as soon as possible.”

The others exchanged worried glances while Sonic stood there, feeling more uncomfortable by the second. He didn’t understand why they were worried about him, he was fine, and he was more than capable of taking care of things himself. Tails was the one they should be worried about.

“Sonic,” Knuckles started awkwardly, shifting in place and obviously uncomfortable. “Can you...uh...”

“Can you take Cream out of the room while we talk some more?” Amy finished for the echidna. Sonic failed to notice his friend’s confused but thankful expression. She moved closer to Sonic and lowered her voice as she continued. “I think it may be better for her not to hear some of this, okay?”

“Why can’t you do it?” Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow at the pink hedgehog. “You’re closer with her.”

“She’s been really worried about you, Sonic,” Amy explained, turning back to Cream who looked up at Sonic with pleading eyes. Cheese did the same. “And I think it might help if you took a little time to decompress while we iron out the plan.”

Sonic quizzically stared at Amy but didn’t fight her request. He looked over to Cream and placed his hands on his hips.

“You guys wanna explore this place?” He asked the rabbit and chao, mustering the best smile he could.

Cream smiled and nodded, running over to Sonic and grabbing his hand before pulling him off down the hall. A small “chao!” echoed as they turned the corner.

The others waited until the two were definitely out of earshot to continue talking.

“Thanks, Amy,” Knuckles sighed in relief. “I had no idea what to say...”

“Don’t mention it,” Amy replied, gently smiling at her friend.

“So what exactly are we going to do about him?” Shadow asked, crossing his arms. “He’s losing it, and he’s either gonna get himself or someone else hurt.”

“That’s kind of harsh, Shadow,” Rouge commented.

“Am I wrong?” he doubled down. “He can’t see two feet in front of him, he’s barely listening to anyone, and he’s been on the verge of a breakdown the entire time we’ve been together. Can you honestly tell me he’s NOT going to cause trouble somehow?”

Rouge didn’t respond to this, her gaze falling to the floor.

Knuckles sighed. “Tails being in danger really sets him off. He’s always been like that, but right now it’s...”

“A hinderance?” Shadow replied.

“I was gonna say ‘interfering with the plan’, but that works too.” The echidna answered. “It’s kind of hard to explain, but he’s always been extremely protective of Tails.”

“We need to find a way to calm him down,” Amy said softly, her face drawn into a worried expression. “Hopefully spending some time with Cream will help, but that won’t work forever.”

“And if it doesn’t help?” Shadow prompted.

Amy didn’t respond, simply lowering her head and sighing.

“Sonic...” Knuckles started. “...he loves Tails, a lot, that’s why he’s so upset. He’s not gonna be able to calm down until we find Tails and make sure he’s safe. Our best course of action is to continue the search and just keep a careful eye on him.”

“And if he loses it?” Shadow asked, raising an eyebrow. “When I so much as grabbed his arm earlier he attacked me, and he’s been close to doing it again all day. How do we make sure he doesn’t lose his temper and interrupt the search?”

“...well, who here is best at keeping Sonic calm?” Rouge inquired.

“Probably me or Amy,” Knuckles answered. “Or Cream, Sonic doesn’t like to lose control in front of kids. Staying with her might keep him calmer.”

“I do not approve of Cream being involved in the search for Metal Sonic any further,” Gemerl interrupted. “It is too dangerous.”

“But she’s already helping?” a slightly confused Rouge commented.

“Amy Rose and I are here to protect her. If anything goes wrong, we can ensure her safety.”

“Why don’t you guys just go together, then?” the bat asked.

“Sonic doesn’t like slowing down for people,” Amy explained. “Gemerl could probably stay pretty close behind Sonic, and either one of them could carry Cream, but to be honest, I’d probably lag behind. I’m fast, but not nearly as fast as Sonic.”

“Why not have Gemerl carry Cream and Sonic carry you?” Knuckles asked.

“And what happens if we find Metal Sonic, huh?” Amy retorted, placing her hands on her hips. “He’d drop me the second he spots Metal to go beat him up.”

“Fair point,” the echidna commented.

“What about you, red?” Rouge asked Knuckles. “You said you could help keep him calm, right?”

“That’ll only work for so long,” Knuckles explained. “He’s...how do I put it...”

“Impatient?” Rouge suggested.

“Well, yes, but that’s not the word I’m looking for...”

“An idiot?” Shadow commented.

“Again, yes, but not what I’m trying to say...”

“I...I think I get what you mean, Knuckles,” Amy replied. “He can be...very single-minded about things like this. Like you said, he won’t calm down until we find Tails, and that’s all he’s gonna be able to focus on until then.”

“Yeah, that’s it!” Knuckles agreed, pointing at Amy. “Single-minded. He’s fixed on finding Tails, so that’s all he’s gonna think about, even if he drives himself crazy doing it.”

“So we keep him focused on the mission,” Shadow asked. “Have him focus that nervous energy on the search so he doesn’t fly off the handle.”

“That could work,” Knuckles agreed. “When we were searching the bases, Sonic calmed down some. If we can keep him busy until we find Tails, we might be able to keep him from going off the rails.”

“AND WHAT IF THE FOX IS DEAD OR INJURED WHEN WE FIND HIM?” Omega asked, his booming voice startling the others slightly.

“It is a possibility,” Shadow commented. “We need to come up with a plan incase Metal Sonic has hurt Tails, or worse...”

Knuckles felt his anger building up at the idea, but he knew Shadow was right. Metal Sonic could be brutal, and Tails was in a very vulnerable position. He’s a little kid. Knuckles understood why the kit being in danger upset Sonic so much. It upset him too.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Knuckles replied. “For now, we should focus our energy on finding him. If he’s hurt, we’ll figure out what to do then. There isn’t much we can do about it until we find him, anyway.”

“And what about Sonic?” Shadow prompted. “He’s losing it at the idea of Tails being hurt, what will he do if he finds Tails actually hurt?”

Knuckles sighed but didn’t respond. He didn’t know what to say, because honestly, he knew that Sonic would completely lose it. Knuckles felt he had no room to judge, though, because he knew he’d react the same way as Sonic. He was good at keeping calm under pressure and being a leader, but seeing the kid hurt would definitely push him over the edge.

“I don’t know what we could do, to be honest...” Amy voiced, conveying Knuckles’ thoughts better than he felt he could.

“In this case, Sonic may need to be apprehended,” Gemerl stated. “We should rearrange the teams. Knuckles will go with Sonic to ensure he stays calm, and someone with the strength to restrain Sonic will go with them in case of an emergency.”

“I suppose that’s our best option,” Rouge agreed. “Who should do it, though?”

“...I should do it.” Shadow stated, grimacing as he said it. “I’m the closest match to Sonic in speed and strength, and between me and Knuckles, I think we can hold him back if need be.”

“Okay,” Rouge nodded. “Omega and I can handle ourselves, and we can join up with another team if we need to.”

“Alright.” Shadow grumbled.

“Are you sure that’ll be enough?” Amy asked. “Sonic’s kind of on edge right now, and if he’s angry enough to not hold back on you guys, it won’t be easy to stop him.”

“Honestly, I’m not,” Knuckles admitted. “But we need to keep the search for Tails going too, we shouldn’t spend any more time planning than we need to. His life could be in danger.”

“I think Gemerl and I should join other groups then,” Amy responded. “I can take Cream home so she’s safe and we don’t have to worry about her. Gemerl can join Team Dark, and I’ll join Tangle and Whisper after I drop off Cream at home.”

“That okay with you guys?” Knuckles asked, glancing between the robots.

“This is acceptable.” Gemerl simply stated.

“AGREED,” Omega replied. Rouge nodded.

“Something else has been bugging me about this, though,” Amy started. “Why have a whole bag of food in Tails’ reach if Metal’s goal is to hurt him?”

“To ensure he stays alive,” Shadow responded. “If he’s having Tails build something, then he needs him to be alive to do it, after all.”

“That’s fair, but...” Amy paused, crossing her arms. “...I don’t know, it’s just weird, I guess.”

“There is an awful lot of food in here,” Rouge commented as she investigated the large bag in question. “If he just wants to keep the kid alive, this is way more than enough to do it.”

“What other use could he have for it, though?” Knuckles asked. Everyone in the room glanced around at each other, hoping someone had an explanation for the odd detail, but no one did.

“It’s probably best to just leave it until we know more,” Knuckles said. “I think we’re good to call Sonic back. Anything else we wanna talk about while he’s out of the room?”

A chorus of “no” quietly echoed out, along with a few shaking heads, so Knuckles typed on his communicator and Sonic answered almost instantly.

“Hey Sonic,” the echidna started.

“Hey, how’s the planning going?” the blue hedgehog asked.

“Good, you and Cream can come back now.”

“Gotcha, one sec.”

Sonic instantly appeared in the room, holding Cream and Cheese in his arms. He walked over and gently set the rabbit down on the floor.

“We’ve decided to rearrange the teams a bit,” Knuckles explained. “Shadow is gonna come with you and me.”

“Huh? Why?”

“It will be better to have more people to confront Metal,” Shadow said, saving Knuckles from having to come up with an excuse on the spot once again. “Plus, Chaos Control could be very useful against him.”

“Fair enough,” Sonic responded. “You guys ready to go?”

“Yeah, we are,” Knuckles confirmed. “All of the initial eleven bases have been checked, so now we’re going to start searching more run-down bases and other abandoned buildings like factories and storage units. We should start with the furthest one, since our group can travel the fastest out of all of them.”

“Do you have the location?”

“Yep.”

“Alright, then let’s go!”

Sonic didn’t wait for his teammates as he sped off out of the building. Shadow groaned.

“Come on,” Shadow grumbled, following Sonic, and Knuckles then following suit.

Knuckles wondered if putting the two hedgehogs together was a good idea.

Chapter Text

Sonic, Shadow and Knuckles were off in search of the furthest non-functional Eggman building they could find. Sonic and Shadow had a good lead, but Knuckles didn’t linger too far behind.

They made it to the base quickly. It was torn to shreds and looked as if it hadn’t been used in years, moss and plants starting to grow around the remains of the building and whatever technology was left behind. There were a couple basement levels, but it only took about thirty seconds of both Sonic and Shadow to search it and confirm that it was empty.

They headed to the next building for them to check, an old storage unit. It was large, but it likely still wouldn’t even take a minute to search it. Sonic rushed to search the building, but Shadow lingered behind next to Knuckles.

“What’s up?” the echidna asked.

“I’d like your opinion on something,” Shadow started. “I know you said we should focus on the search and worry about what condition Tails is in when we find him, but I feel we should be prepared for him to be injured. If he is injured, I can take on the responsibility of bringing him to safety to get treatment. Sonic likely would be too upset to do so himself, and I’m faster than you are.”

“I uh...” Knuckles attempted to respond but found that whatever words he was trying to get out died in his mouth. Shadow waited patiently for the echidna to continue, but his mouth continued to silently open and close. Shadow sighed.

“I see this situation is taking a toll on you as well,” the hedgehog stated. Knuckles grunted in frustration.

“Of course it is! I’m worried about the little guy too...”

A moment of silence passed between the two of them.

“Yeah, that...that works, I guess...” Knuckles forced himself to agree. He was really trying not to think about the possibility of Tails being hurt, but he understood why Shadow wanted to be prepared for it. He really hoped it wouldn’t be necessary, though. Shadow grunted in response.

Sonic skidded to a stop next to them, a frustrated scowl stuck on his face.

“Nothing here,” he grumbled, kicking at the ground.

“Okay, let’s head to the next location,” Knuckles stated. Sonic simply nodded and followed.

And so they ran.

Sonic couldn’t tell how long they’d been running. All sense of time had completely gone out the window a while ago. All he could focus on was finding Tails. They searched building after building, base after base, finding nothing each time. By the time the fifth building they reached had been thoroughly searched and confirmed empty, he felt like he was seconds away from exploding.

They then finished searching building six, and Sonic was barely holding it together. He was honestly surprised he hadn’t exploded yet. He’d already spent the past couple days basically searching for Tails nonstop, and he felt like they were still no closer to finding him.

Sonic forced his eyes shut and did his best to take in deep breaths, though they were shaky, and the attempt to calm himself down failed. He was still shaking with rage.

Once again, he couldn’t help but picture his baby brother looking up at him with those big blue eyes. The excitement he couldn’t hold back when he showed Sonic his latest invention. The way he’d watch Sonic with such admiration and love, his little smile lighting up the whole room. No one cheered Sonic up like Tails did, or helped him like Tails did, or was there for him like Tails was. All their friends were great, and Sonic deeply cared for all of them, but Tails was more than that. Tails was Sonic’s best friend, and his baby brother.

And he was still out there, in the clutches of Metal Sonic. Someone who’d hurt them, tried to kill them, tried to take over and/or destroy the world on multiple occasions. Metal could be heartless, and he absolutely hated his so-called “inferior” counterpart. It wasn’t unlikely that the hatred the robot felt extended to Tails as well, bath Sonic’s best friend and adoptive little brother, as well as an enemy of both him and Dr. Eggman. Metal wanted something from Tails, but he definitely wasn’t above using violence to get what he wanted.

Metal might even kill Tails once he got what he wanted.

Tails could be hurt already. He could be out there somewhere, beaten and bruised and scared, and Sonic was helpless to stop it.

He could even be dead already.

Sonic couldn’t hold it in anymore.

He let out a gut-wrenching scream that tore at his throat and launched his fist into the wall, causing the building to shake. He panted heavily as he glared daggers at the wall as if it was Metal Sonic himself. He couldn’t hold it back anymore. He couldn’t hold in all of the emotions swirling inside him. Angry and frustrated and upset and scared.

Scared that Tails was hurt. Scared of what Metal would do to his baby brother if he didn’t play along. Upset that he was failing as a best friend, as an older brother. Upset that there wasn’t more he could do.

He felt so helpless.

He slammed his other fist into the wall, causing a huge crack to form in the building. The building shook again.

“DAMMIT!”

He punched again. And again. And again. With each punch, he let out a growl of anger and frustration, and they quickly grew in volume until he was screaming his lungs out and the building they were in threatened to collapse.

Sonic’s enraged frenzy was interrupted when Knuckles pulled him from the wall as Shadow stood between Sonic and the wall he’d been decimating. He flailed and yelled in the echidna’s iron grip, unable to free himself. This only enraged him further.

“GET OFF OF ME!” Sonic shouted furiously as he struggled to free himself.

As if he couldn’t be more useless.

“Sonic, you need to calm down,” Shadow calmly responded, standing his ground in front of Sonic while Knuckles restrained him. He wasn’t going to calm down, he couldn’t. As the younger hedgehog continued to struggle, Knuckles tightened his grip. He struggled even more.

“Hey – STOP THAT!” Knuckles scolded as Sonic still pulled and kicked and struggled against him. “We need to find Tails, remember?!”

“GET OFF!”

“CALM DOWN!” Shadow snapped. “You making the building collapse on us isn’t going to help anyone!”

“SHUT UP!” He snapped back. “GET OFF ME!”

“We NEED to find Tails!” Knuckles argued. “And we CAN’T DO THAT if you’re freaking out!”

“FINE! THEN I’LL GO ON MY OWN!”

“No way!” Knuckles insisted.

“Agreed, you’re not going anywhere alone,” Shadow chided. “You’ll get hurt,”

“I DON’T CARE!” Sonic argued back, his voice cracking as he writhed even more violently under Knuckles’ grip. “ALL I CARE ABOUT IS SAVING TAILS!”

“TAILS WILL CARE YOU IDIOT!” Knuckles reminded, failing to hold back his building frustration and anger. “WE CARE!”

“He’s right,” Shadow insisted. “Not only that, but you also getting yourself hurt won’t help anyone,”

Sonic slammed the back of his head into Knuckles’ face, causing him to loosen his grip enough for him to quickly slip out. Shadow immediately moved to restrain the younger hedgehog once he saw the escape attempt, but Sonic made the first move, violently kicking Shadow hard enough that he slammed into the wall behind them. Knuckles tried to grab onto him again, but Sonic easily avoided it, standing on guard as he faced his two friends, glaring daggers at them.

Sonic growled at Knuckles as he stood before him, ready for whatever the echidna tried next. His gaze pierced through Knuckles. He truly had no patience anymore. His blood was boiling. If the one standing before him wasn’t Knuckles, one of his closest friends on the planet, he probably would’ve already attacked again. He’d fight Knuckles if he had to, though, even if he didn’t really want to. If hurting Knuckles was what it took to save Tails, then so be it.

“You only get one warning Knux,” Sonic hissed, his hands clenched into fists and moving into a fighting stance. “Don’t.”

“WILL YOU JUST-“ Knuckles started yelling before stopping himself, screwing his eyes shut, then  taking a deep breath in and letting it out. He opened his eyes up again and saw Sonic still standing in front of him, ready to fight. He sighed. “Can you calm down for a second so we can talk?”

Sonic didn’t respond, simply keeping his glare fixed in place on Knuckles. His chest felt tight, his breaths heavy and labored. He couldn’t take this anymore. His hands clenched into fists, but he didn’t move to attack. Knuckles seemed to take that as a win for the moment.

“I – I’m not really good at feelings stuff, and we both know it,” Knuckles started. “But you’re my friend and I care about you, so I’m going to try. I know you’re tired and frustrated and pissed the hell off, I get it. I wanna find Metal Sonic and grind him into dust just as much as you do, but...I don’t know, I just – I mean – ugh, this is hard!”

Sonic watched as Knuckles tried and failed to find the right words to comfort him, awkwardly stumbling over his words. Sonic didn’t want to calm down, but he couldn’t fight the building warmth in his chest seeing just how hard Knuckles was trying to help him. He began to relax and slowly dropped his fighting stance as the echidna struggled. Sonic felt the corners of his mouth curve up into the smallest smile at the sight of Knuckles desperately trying to be comforting, even if he was kind of failing.

“What I’m trying to say is that I care about you, and Tails, okay?! And I want to make sure he’s okay too, and I get why you’re so upset and frustrated and just wanna scream and punch things, I do too, but-“

Knuckles was interrupted by Sonic closing the distance between them and pulling him into a tight hug.

“Shut up, you idiot,” Sonic softly sassed, not being able to muster up any real anger at his friend anymore. He was angry, sure, but not at Knuckles. He was doing everything he could to help. He was one of Sonic’s closest friends, and even if he could be stubborn and annoy Sonic, he was so grateful to have the echidna in his life. He didn’t know how he’d deal with this situation without him.

If anything, Sonic was mad at himself.

Knuckles stood still for a moment, unsure of what to do, but returned the hug. It was stiff, and a bit awkward, but Sonic didn’t care. He just held his friend close. Knuckles awkwardly started patting the hedgehog’s back in an attempt to comfort him, causing a small chuckle to escape his throat.

“Man, you’re bad at this, knucklehead...”

“Oh shut up! Like you’re any better!” Knuckles retorted. Sonic chuckled again. “And besides, it’s helping, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, knucklehead, it is...”

Shadow slowly made his way over to the two, his soft footsteps drawing closer, not daring to interrupt the moment. Even though Sonic couldn’t see him, he could tell Shadow was close when his footsteps stopped just behind them. He didn’t hear any more movement from the other hedgehog, but Shadow spoke his next words softly.

“We’ll find him, Sonic.”

Sonic couldn’t help but clench a bit tighter, holding onto Knuckles as if his life depended on it. All the anger, frustration, and fear that has been building up in Sonic over the past few days finally completely overwhelmed Sonic. What happened next left everyone in the room shocked, including Sonic.

He cried.

A small sob escaped Sonic’s throat as he buried his face in the echidna’s shoulder, a few stray tears falling despite his best efforts to hold them in. Knuckles froze in shock for a moment, but then hugged his friend even tighter.

“We’ll get him back, Sonic,” Knuckles reaffirmed, pulling back to look his friend in the eyes. Sonic reluctantly met his gaze and found determined purple eyes staring back. “I promise.”

Sonic nodded, fighting back more tears, though a couple more fell anyway. Another small sob escaped his throat, and Knuckles pulled him back in for a hug, tightly gripping onto him. He let Sonic softly sob into his shoulder until sobs turned into sniffles, and then those sniffled subsided. They pulled back and looked at each other.

“We’ll get him back.” The echidna reaffirmed. He then tightened his grip on Sonic’s shoulders and grinned. “And we’re gonna give Metal Sonic hell if he hurt Tails, right?”

Despite his concern for his little buddy, Sonic managed a small smile in response. Tails would be okay if their friends had his back.

“Right.”

Chapter Text

Tails and Metal Sonic sat together in the basement of the old factory, doing nothing but talking about whatever came to their minds. It was mostly Metal asking the kit random things and Tails answering. The cub was having fun watching his new friend take in information about the most random things.

“What is ‘music’?” Metal Sonic asked, shifting the topic of conversation for what felt like the hundredth time. Tails didn’t mind, though.

“Well, music is made with a mix of pitch, rhythm, and dynamics to express different ideas and emotions,” Tails explained. “The pitches are determined by the frequency of the sound wave vibrations of the instrument and are strung into different melodies and harmonies to create music.”

“I see. Why do people like music?”

“There’s a lot of reasons. A lot of music is meant to be fun and catchy, songs you’re meant to dance to, y’know? A lot of music expresses different emotions, too, and it can be therapeutic to listen to music that you emotionally resonate with. For example, if you’re sad, sometimes listening to a sad song can help you get that out in a healthy way.”

“What kind of music do you like?”

“Oh, I like a bunch of music!” the kit exclaimed. “I like pop songs, I like rock songs, I like a lot of classical music too. I like a lot of instrumental music as well, things like movie and game soundtracks. I’ve also recently been enjoying listening to lofi music while I work.”

Metal hummed in response, nodding at the kit. Tails smiled up at him. He knew Metal probably didn’t know anything about different kinds of music, but he seemed to enjoy listening.

“...what...” Metal started, slowly and hesitantly piecing his words together. Tails patiently waited. “...what kind of music does Sonic like?”

“Oh, he LOVES rock music! Any kind of rock music, really. Classic rock, indie rock, grunge, metal, you name it. He’s recently been getting more into metalcore.”

“What is the difference?”

“Honestly, it’s hard to explain,” Tails admitted. “I’m not sure Sonic knows the difference anyway; he just likes what he likes. Honestly, he kind of likes all music!”

Metal hummed in response once again.

“I do not understand the complexities of organic lifeforms...”

Tails giggled. “Me neither. I think a lot of people don’t fully understand it, to be honest, but...that’s part of what it is to be alive. Knowing that there’s stuff you don’t yet understand and may never understand. Sonic says I don’t need to think about that stuff at my age, but I do anyway.”

“You are very mature for your age.” Metal stated simply.

Tails beamed up at the robot. “You think so?”

“It is a fact. Your intellect is far beyond most other organic lifeforms, even those significantly older than you.”

The fox cub smiled. “Thanks, Metal!”

“You’re welcome.”

They repeated this process with various topics. Tails taught Metal about TV, cooking, video games, anything they could think of, really. Tails enjoyed answering all of Metal’s questions, and the robot seemed to be enjoying it as well, deeply engaging with every topic and asking various questions about them. He was growing a lot. In a way, Tails was proud of him. His thoughts were interrupted by his stomach growling.

“You need food,” Metal commented, standing up. “I will bring you food.”

“Thanks, Metal.”

The robot looked down at Tails. “Is there anything you’d like?”

Tails couldn’t think of anything he wanted to eat, so he just shrugged.

“I dunno,” the kit said. “I’m sure you’ll find something I can eat.”

“Very well. I will return shortly.”

“Wait, I was thinking,” Tails started, stopping Metal in his tracks. “I’d like you to open up the laptop so I can do some more research on you, I have some ideas I’d like to run by you, but I wanna double check some things first.”

“Alright.”

Metal opened the laptop, typed in the password, and handed it back to Tails. Tails thanked him, and the robot ruffled his fur slightly before heading out.

Tails sat in the basement of the old factory, typing away at the laptop he’d been given and waiting for Metal Sonic to return. He found he was starting to get used to his bizarre situation. That was probably not great, but it still could’ve been a lot worse. Not only that, but he was also making great progress in helping the robot grow and learn to be better. He was confident he could help the robot fully redeem himself.

The hardest part would probably be convincing the others to give Metal a chance. He knew how much horrible stuff Metal had done from firsthand experience, and people had every right to be upset at him for that. However, Tails firmly believed that people deserved second chances, and while Metal had done a lot of bad stuff in the past, he still deserved that chance. He was already redeeming himself, in the kit’s opinion, and was slowly distancing himself from his creator more and more.

He wondered how long it would take for the robot to get back.

Sonic, Shadow and Knuckles made their way to the next building to check for Metal and Tails. It was some kind of old abandoned factory. Sonic didn’t remember exactly, and he didn’t really care what it was. All that mattered was whether or not Tails was there.

Shadow and Knuckles had let him run ahead, which he was thankful for. He could do at least one or two sweeps of the building before they got there, and that would help them waste less time. Once he arrived at the factory, he immediately started searching. There was only one floor above ground, which took only a few seconds to check, even though it was quite large. Sonic’s speed made it easy to search entire buildings in less than a minute.

Next was the basement, which he quickly found the door and staircase to. When he made his way down the stairs in less than a second a looked around, he stopped dead in his tracks.

There was Tails. He sat on a mattress, all sorts of junk laying around. None of it interested Sonic in the slightest. All he could focus on was that his little brother was right in front of him. He looked perfectly fine, not even a scratch. The cub was typing away at a laptop, and seemingly hadn’t noticed Sonic arriving. Even so, Sonic felt an immediate rush of relief at the sight of his adoptive little bro.

“TAILS!” he excitedly screamed, a huge smile on his face as he ran over in less than a second and hugged his baby brother tight. He felt himself truly relax for the first time in several days, the tension in his entire body relenting. He was finally able to ensure his little buddy was safe and sound.

Sonic drew back to look Tails in the face, cupping the kit’s fluffy face in his hands and smiling at him. Tails’ eyes lit up and a wide smile of his own emerged on his face.

“SONIC!” Tails cheered, setting the laptop down and tackling Sonic in a bear hug. Sonic didn’t dare fight it. He just let the little guy aggressively hug him and laughed happily as he pulled the cub back into his arms.

“How ya doin’ little buddy?” He lightly asked, managing his regular relaxed and friendly tone for the first time in days. He ruffled the cub’s fur and causing a round of laughter from him.

“I’m okay!” the kit assured, still holding tightly onto his big brother. Sonic happily returned the gesture. “It’s been a strange few days, though, to be honest...”

“Yeah, I figured,” Sonic chimed. “You can tell me all about it once we get you out of here, okay?”

Sonic felt as Tails immediately tensed up in his arms.

“O-Oh, uh...”

Sonic noticed the change in Tails’ demeanor. Right, Metal had to have him trapped somehow. The hedgehog lightly pulled his little buddy off himself. “I’m guessing I won’t be able to just pick you up and leave, right?”

“N-No, I’m chained to the wall...” Tails held up his handcuffed wrist to show his older brother. “How’d you find me, anyway? Metal was pretty thorough,”

Sonic couldn’t help the scowl that crossed his face at the mention of the robot. He fought down the anger at his enemy to instead focus on Tails, and more importantly, breaking him out of here.

Tails’ safety was the most important thing.

“Long story, little buddy. I’ll tell you once we get out of here, okay? First let’s get you out.”

Sonic carefully examined the handcuff and chain leading to the steel beam it was attached to. He could break it, but he’d need to be able to build up momentum, which would be difficult given the limited space. It was probably better to wait for Knuckles to get there and just rip the chain off the wall.

“What exactly happened here the past few days, anyway?” Sonic asked, looking back up at the little yellow cub in front of him.

“Uh, Metal wanted me to upgrade him. At first, I refused, but I eventually decided it was in my best interest to play along. I initially planned to bide my time until you could come rescue me, or until I had an opportunity to free myself, but, uh...”

“...but?”

“Well, it’s a bit hard to explain, to be honest,” Tails muttered, drawing his knees up to his chest and hugging them close. “At first, I thought he was going to hurt me, try to intimidate me, that kind of thing. He did threaten me, but after that-“

They were interrupted by a loud smash coming from above them.

“Hold that thought!” Sonic instructed before dashing up the stairs to see what was going on.

Shadow didn’t linger too far behind Sonic, being able to make out the factory they were searching next in the distance. He’d seen Sonic head in a few moments ago, and it shouldn’t take long to get there. He hoped they’d find Tails and Metal, for everyone’s sakes.

Even though Shadow didn’t know Tails well, he couldn’t deny that he wanted to make sure they found the kid safe and sound. He was a good kid, incredibly gifted and intelligent, as well as kind and brave. He was also less impulsive and reckless than Sonic, which made him a more reliable ally. Shadow was grateful someone smart and levelheaded like Tails was there to balance out Sonic’s stupidity.

On top of that, his disappearance had completely turned Sonic’s world upside down, and it was impacting everyone. Sonic was handling it the worst out of everyone, but that made perfect sense. Knuckles and Amy were better at holding it together in this situation, but they were obviously worried too. Everyone was.

He couldn’t deny that he was worried too.

Something out of the corner of Shadow’s eye caught his attention, and it was heading right towards the factory. It was fast, more so than most people could manage running at full speed. Shadow wasted no time, boosting towards the thing that caught his eye. When he got closer, he recognized the jets coming out of the thing’s back, its shape, and the metallic blue shine it had.

There was no doubt about it. It was Metal Sonic.

The robot was carrying something, but Shadow didn’t care. He didn’t waste a single second, diving into a spindash and shooting forward at top speed, colliding with the robot with a loud crash. Shadow watched as Metal Sonic tumbled to the floor, then quickly stood up and glared at him, standing in a tense pose that said he was ready to fight. Shadow did the same.

“It’s over,” Shadow barked at the robot. “Whatever you have planned is stopping right here, right now.”

Metal Sonic growled and clenched his fists. “I’ll destroy you,”

Shadow couldn’t help the confident smirk that made its way onto his face. “Try it.”

“GLADLY!”

As Metal rushed forward, fist drawn back ready to attack, Shadow teleported above the robot, landing a swift kick to the back of his head. Metal was knocked to the side, but he planted his feet in the ground and stubbornly refused to fall, even as Shadow landed another kick. His foot slammed against the front of the robot’s face, and that hit managed to knock the robot back, causing his head to spin around.

Metal Sonic quickly regained his footing, landing some attacks of his own. Metal punched and kicked at Shadow as he had done to the robot mere moments ago. Shadow defended the best he could, but Metal’s onslaught was relentless, punching and kicking at incredible speeds and leaving no room for Shadow to attack. Metal landed a punch that knocked Shadow off balance. As he stumbled, Metal wrapped a sharp, metallic hand around the hedgehog’s throat, slamming him to the ground and clenching down. Shadow felt sharp, metal fingers closing around his neck as he was held down by the robot.

Metal’s claws began sinking into Shadow’s skin as he tightened his grip, closing around the hedgehog’s throat as he kneeled next to him, using all his strength to try to choke the life out of him. Metal let out a growl as he tightened his grip further. Shadow struggled against the robot’s iron grip, unable to escape. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t fight back, though. He punched the robot in the face with all the strength he could muster as he was being held down and the air was being choked out of him.

The force of Shadow’s punch wasn’t enough to get him to let go, but it distracted Metal just long enough that when Knuckles dashed over it took the robot completely off guard. The moment the echidna’s  gloved fist made contact with the robot’s face, Shadow ripped off Metal’s hands clenching around his throat and landing his own kick to the gut on top of Knuckles’ punch. The robot rocketed backwards and slammed into the side of the factory with a loud crash as Shadow pushed himself up and looked to the echidna that had helped him.

“Thanks,”

“Don’t mention it,” Knuckles confidently responded, punching the palm of his hand. “Let’s go kick his ass!”

Shadow didn’t hesitate to build up a spindash and aim it right at the robot, the force and momentum sending them both crashing through the wall of the building with a loud smash. Shadow landed as Metal slammed into the far wall, the robot now pulling himself from the crack he’d made in the building. The robot’s glowing red eyes were focused onto Shadow as a murderous energy came off in waves.

A blue blur suddenly appeared out of the corner of Shadow’s eye, and Sonic paused in front of Shadow.

“What was-“

Sonic didn’t finish his sentence as his eyes landed on Metal Sonic, and he froze. Shadow looked between the two and felt the tension in the room immediately spike. Sonic’s air of confusion was replaced with anger and hostility in an instant. His eyes narrowed and his hands clenched into fists instantly.

“You.” He growled out, low and menacing. Metal turned his gaze to the person he’d been based on.

“Sonic.” Metal hissed out, now standing and glaring at his organic counterpart. It was clear he held resentment towards Sonic, as well as the other way around.

At the same time, Knuckles came up behind them. Shadow turned to Knuckles as he approached.

“You go get Tails,” he instructed. “We’ve got this.”

Knuckles simply nodded and looked over to Sonic.

“Basement.” Was Sonic’s simple, calm response. Knuckles immediately went into the door behind Sonic and down the stairs, leaving the three others upstairs.

“NO!”

Metal made a dash for the echidna but was stopped by a swift kick to the face from Sonic, who then grabbed the robot by the arm and threw him back into the wall. He pinned Metal to the wall.

“Where are you going?” the hedgehog hissed, his tone venomous as he held the robot down. “We’ve got unfinished business.”

Shadow simply watched and stood at the ready. He was certain about one thing.

One of them wasn’t going to make it out of this.

Chapter Text

Tails stared up at the stairs, desperately hoping Sonic would come back and explain what was going on. He had a bad feeling about all this.

He heard another slamming sound come from above the basement.

He frantically looked around for something he could free himself with but found nothing that would help. He pulled at the chain to no avail. He pulled again, even harder. Still nothing. When footsteps started down the stairs, the cub wasn’t sure if he should fear who it was that was coming down to see him or not. Thankfully, a red echidna made it down and turned to looks at Tails.

“KNUCKLES!” Tails exclaimed, his excitement at seeing his friend quickly subsiding as he instead was filled with worry. “What’s going on?!”

“Don’t worry, you’re safe now,” Knuckles reassured as he quickly made his way over, putting a reassuring hand on the cub’s shoulder. “Sonic and Shadow are taking care of it!”

“Taking care of what? What’s happening?!”

“With Metal Sonic, he’s up there attacking Sonic and Shadow. Don’t worry, though, they can handle it!”

Tails felt his heart drop into his stomach. Of course they were attacking Metal, they had no idea what was really happening. Tails needed to keep things from escalating. He had to try to explain everything to them.

“Quick, get me out of here!” he insisted, pulling against the chain holding him in the basement desperately.

“On it!”

Knuckles grabbed the chain and easily ripped it in half, freeing Tails. The fox kit wasted no time and immediately dashed up the stairs, ignoring Knuckles calling after him.

He really hoped he could stop them before it was too late.

“Where are you going?” Sonic hissed at the robot in front of him. “We’ve got unfinished business.”

Glowing red eyes stayed focused on him as Metal began pushing back.

“I’ll destroy you all,” Metal growled.

“I’d like to see you try,” Sonic taunted with a wry grin and narrowed eyes.

“I’ll never let you take him,” Metal hissed at Sonic. “I’d sooner die.”

“FINE BY ME!”

Sonic grabbed onto Metal and threw him back against the other wall, then spindashed right into him, sending them both crashing through the wall. Sonic immediately got up, letting out a guttural yell as he jumped and punched Metal Sonic right in the face with a right hook, then a left hook, then a right again. His fists carried enough force to knock Metal backwards, but Sonic didn’t dare let up.

Sonic jumped up and, with another shout, slammed the back of his heel straight into Metal’s head, forcing his face to the ground. Sonic’s foot planted on the back of the robot’s head as he dug his heel in further.

“I’m gonna make you regret hurting Tails.”

Metal attempted to push himself back up, but Sonic kept him down. The robot swiped Sonic’s feet out from under him and pushed himself back up. Sonic stumbled back a couple feet before quickly regaining balance. Metal moved to attack Sonic. Shadow intercepted him, grabbing him by the back of the head and throwing him in the other direction.

Metal immediately activated his jets, rocketing back towards the duo and grabbing Sonic by the neck, then slamming him into the ground as he had done to Shadow earlier. The earth tore beneath Sonic, and all the wind got knocked out of him. Metal’s claws attempted to close around his throat.

He couldn’t breathe.

Sonic started punching Metal as hard as he could as he felt sharp metallic fingers closing further and further around his neck. Thankfully for him, Shadow dashed over and attacked Metal, landing a few punches of his own on the robot and distracting him enough for Sonic to pull Metal’s claws from his throat. Sonic then landed a swift kick into the robot’s torso, knocking him back once again.

Sonic stood back up and dashed over towards Metal and kicked, sending him back even further. Metal retaliated with a punch, Sonic dodging it with ease. He landed another punch on the robot. Sonic readied himself to attack again, but he was interrupted by a high-pitched yell.

“WAIT!”

All three of them stopped and turned to see Tails flying over, moving as fast as he could before stopping between Sonic and his robot copy. He frantically looked between the mirror images.

“Please stop fighting, I can explain everything!” Tails started, holding his hands up to Sonic to stop him. “Metal’s not dangerous!”

“What, explain that he attacked and kidnapped you?” Sonic pointed out, not hiding his fury as he continued glaring at Metal over Tails’ head. “That’s all I need to know!”

“But-“

“Insolent wretch,” Metal spat out at Sonic, clenching his hands into fists. “I won’t let you take Tails from me.”

“Take him from you?!”

Sonic darted around Tails and grabbed Metal, letting out a scream and slamming his fist square into the robot’s face as hard as he could. The force sent Metal flying, and he tumbled onto the ground.

“METAL!” Tails cried out, rushing and flying over to the robot. “Are you okay?!”

Metal pushed himself off the ground and looked at Tails, the screens of his eyes now cracked, splitting one of his “eyes” in two directly down the middle.

“I am fine.” Metal Sonic assured.

“GET AWAY FROM HIM!” Sonic bellowed as he dashed forward and tackled Metal Sonic to the ground. He moved too fast for Tails to stop him.

“SONIC, STOP!”

Tails moved to rush over but was stopped by Knuckles.

“No way, it’s too dangerous!” Knuckles insisted. “You’re staying right here!”

“NO! GET OFF ME!” Tails yelled. He pulled against the echidna’s grip as hard as he could, but he was unable to escape.

“SONIC STOP, PLEASE! HE’S GOOD NOW, I PROMISE!” Tails cried out, reaching for Sonic. “SONIC, PLEASE!”

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!” Sonic bellowed at Metal, temporarily stopping his onslaught so the robot could answer. “DID YOU BRAINWASH HIM?!”

“I took him so he could upgrade me,” Metal coldly explained, not reacting to Sonic’s goading. “And he has done well. Once I kill you, we’ll resume our work.”

“You’re not gonna get the chance.”

Sonic planted his fist right into Metal’s face again, causing the crack in the robot’s eyes to grow with the sound of shattering glass. He immediately drew his fist back again and smashed it into the robot. There was now another crack splitting off from the other, and several smaller cracks splitting off from that. On the third punch, Metal grabbed Sonic’s fist, stopping him dead in his tracks before landing a punch of his own on his organic counterpart. Sonic stumbled back enough for Metal to begin his own attacks.

“You will lose this fight.” Metal insisted, punching and slashing at Sonic.

“No, I’m going to destroy you, take Tails home, and undo whatever it is that you did to him!” Sonic barked back as he dodged the robot’s attacks. 

“I WON’T LET YOU TAKE HIM FROM ME!” Metal roared, ferociously slashing at Sonic. When Sonic dodged his slashes, the robot landed a knee straight into his gut. Sonic felt the wind get knocked out of him once again as he staggered backwards, but he refused to go down, launching himself towards Metal and landing yet another punch to the robot’s face.

“THEN STOP ME!”

As the sounds of punches and kicks and fighting rang out Tails struggled as hard as he could against Knuckles’ iron grip.

“LET ME GO!” the kit yelled, pulling with all the strength he could muster, but to no avail. He looked up desperately to Knuckles. “Knuckles, please let me go,”

“But – but you could get hurt!” the echidna argued, stubbornly refusing to let go.

“Knuckles, they’ll kill each other!” Tails pleaded.

“Why do you care about Metal?” Shadow calmly asked from their side. “He kidnapped you, remember?”

“He’s changed!” Tails insisted, turning to Shadow. “He can be good, I know it! Shadow, stop him, please! I don’t want Metal to die!” 

Shadow didn’t respond, looking between Sonic and the robot.

“Please, I promise I’m not brainwashed!” Tails pleaded, looking between Shadow and Knuckles. “He didn’t even hurt me!”

Shadow paused for a moment, watching Sonic and his robot copy. He then ran over towards the two Sonics trying to rip each other to shreds. He yanked the real Sonic away from his copy.

“What?” Sonic asked as he glared at Shadow, his tone still dripping with venom.

Shadow turned to the robot. “What did you do to Tails? Why is he begging for your safety?”

This seemed to give Metal Sonic pause.

“He is...trying to help me?” Metal softly asked. Sonic’s glare intensified.

“What did you do?” Sonic hissed. “You brainwashed him, didn’t you?! What, jealous that I have friends and you don’t? Is that the real reason you took him?!”

“BE QUIET!” Metal roared back at him. “YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME!”

“I know you’re a worse version of me, a cheap copy created as Eggman’s pathetic attempt to defeat me, which you’ve repeatedly failed to do.”

“I AM NOTHING LIKE YOU!”

 “METAL, STOP!” Tails yelled. “JUST LET ME EXPLAIN!”

Metal Sonic turned to look at Tails, and Sonic took the opportunity to resume his attack, planting a fist into the robot’s face with a growl. Metal growled back at him and moved to attack again before they were interrupted.

“STOP IT!”

Sonic and his robot copy both stopped dead in their tracks at the sound of Tails' scream bellowing out, and they both turned to look at him.

“Guys, you don’t need to fight!” the kit doubled down, looking back and forth between everyone. “I don’t want you to fight! This is a big misunderstanding! Metal just wanted help, he’s scared and confused, and he just needs friends – he needs us! We can help him, he’s not evil like we thought he was. He just needs help figuring out who he is, he doesn’t want to be Metal Sonic anymore. Yes, he kidnapped me, but he feels bad! If he was irredeemable, he wouldn’t feel bad, right? Eggman never feels bad about anything he’s done, that proves that Metal is different!”

Tails turned to look at Metal. “Metal, I know you’re just scared and upset, but you can’t attack people like this. You want to be different from Eggman, right? Don’t stoop to his level! Don’t let him dictate how you live your life! You can be more than his robot!”

“They want to take you from me,” Metal insisted. “I won’t let that happen.”

“And why can’t we all get along, huh?!” Tails asked, his tone growing frustrated. “Why do you have to attack them?! Why can’t we just talk?! I can be friends with both of you!”

Sonic contemplated what Tails was saying, forcing down his anger as much as possible to try to think things through. Tails seemed completely sincere in what he was saying, and he knew Tails wouldn’t lie to him, but that didn’t mean what he was saying was true. Sonic had more than enough reason to be skeptical. Metal obviously did something to Tails, even if he wouldn’t admit it.

Besides, Metal Sonic had opportunities to leave Eggman in the past, and he returned to his creator every time. Even if everything Tails was saying was true (and Sonic was fairly certain it wasn’t), that wouldn’t undo all the harm Metal Sonic had done.

He’d still hurt Tails. Sonic couldn’t just forgive that.

Tails must have sensed Sonic’s hesitation, so he turned to his big brother. “Please, I know Metal has done bad things in the past, and I know he’s hurt people, including us. He deserves a second chance though, right? Everyone should get a second chance!”

“He’s had chances,” Shadow pointed out, voicing Sonic’s thoughts for him. “And yet, he’s returned to evil, and to the doctor every time.”

“I don’t care!” Tails retorted, losing his patience. “I know he can change! He has changed! He brought me food when I was hungry, he brought me pillows and blankets when I was tired, and we talked about all sorts of different things, why would he do that if he was completely evil?! Huh?! Why would he just talk to me about random things? How would that even benefit him?! And he even said we’re not enemies anymore! Right, Metal?”

“You are not my enemy,” Metal Sonic corrected. “If Sonic and others wish to stand between me and my freedom, or to keep you from me, then they are my enemies.”

“Well then too bad!” Sonic snapped, barely able to hold back from resuming his beatdown of the robot. He was only able to hold it in at all because Tails asked him not to attack Metal.  “Because I’m not giving you my little brother, especially after you kidnapped him!”

“He was uninjured when I took him,” Metal retorted, glaring back at Sonic. “The sedative I used ensured he did not fight back and unnecessarily injure himself.”

“The – the what?!” Sonic growled at Metal, his glare somehow intensifying even further. He almost couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His blood was boiling. “You drugged him?!”

“If you will not leave us, then I will kill you.” Metal hissed, readying himself to attack Sonic.

“Oh, when I’m done, there won’t be anything left of you.” Sonic barked back, unable to even remotely hold back his rage anymore.

Tails watched as Sonic and Metal Sonic readied themselves for another fight. They were both clearly out for blood. It was too late to stop them from trying to rip each other to shreds.

Tails did the only thing left he could think of. He turned to Metal Sonic.

“METAL! IF YOU HURT SONIC, I’LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!” he yelled out.

Metal Sonic stopped dead in his tracks. He didn’t move even an inch.

Sonic launched into Metal Sonic at full force, screaming as he forced the robot to the ground. He relentlessly attacked, punching and letting out guttural grunts and yells with each strike.

“DON’T EVER HURT TAILS AGAIN!” Sonic bellowed, ruthlessly tearing into the robot and yelling with every attack.

Sonic’s attacks were doing so much damage that Metal’s body dented and contorted with each hit. He attacked harder, faster, more ferocious. When Sonic’s fist launched into Metal’s face, the screen that once displayed his glowing eyes shattered. An error message attempted to come through, but too much damage was done, and it simply started glitching instead.

Sonic didn’t let up.

“SONIC, STOP, PLEASE!” Tails begged, tears threatening to fall. 

He forced himself to tune out the sound of his baby brother’s pleading as he mercilessly beat into the robot. He’d hurt Tails, kidnapped him, drugged him. He couldn’t let Metal hurt anyone ever again. He’d done too much damage, hurt too many people. He hurt Tails.

Yet, as Sonic laid into the robot, he was met with no resistance. Metal Sonic simply laid there beneath him, unmoving. He paused his onslaught of attacks to grab Metal by the chest and pull him up to look him in the eyes, glaring down at the robot and growling.

“WHY AREN’T YOU FIGHTING BACK?!” he shouted in the robot’s face.

Metal did not respond, instead turning his head over to where Tails stood watching helplessly.

“Ta-Ta-Tails said he would not – would not forgive me for hurt-hurt-hurting you,” Metal said, his voicebox glitching and repeatedly stopping and starting him, his pitch wavering with nearly every word.

“Like you care!” Sonic hissed. “You kidnapped him, drugged him! Do you expect me to believe you care about anyone other than yourself?!”

He landed another punch square in the robot’s face with a crack, partially knocking Metal Sonic’s head off his neck with a loud smash, leaving exposed wires. His eyes further glitched and bits of the cracking screen fell to the ground.

Metal didn’t move an inch.

Sonic waited for Metal to retaliate, to insult him, to fight back at all. Hell, to just do something, but he didn’t. He simply laid limply in Sonic’s grip. This only infuriated Sonic further.

“GET UP!” he roared in Metal’s face. “FIGHT BACK!”

Metal did not respond to this. He simply laid there.

Sonic shoved Metal to the ground with a loud crash, metal scraping against metal as the robot bent out of shape. His body was contorting, dents and scratches covering his entire body. The screens where his eyes once sat were broken beyond recognition, glitching and flashing lights and error messages.

“Get up,” Sonic repeated, standing above the robot and waiting for him to move. 

“P-Perhaps,” Metal Sonic started. “Perhaps it – it is better this wa-way...”

Sonic stared down at the robot in disbelief. “What?”

“I would ra-rather perish here tha-a-an return to my – my creator,” Metal explained. “If I ca-an not be fr-free, I-I will accept my fate – fate.”

Sonic couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He stared down at the robot in shock, unable to process what he was saying, staggering backwards.

“I-I,” Sonic started, unable to make any words come out. “You – no, this isn’t, it...”

“You see, Sonic?!” Tails cried out. “He’s different! He doesn’t want to fight anymore! He deserves a second chance, he can be good, I know it! Please, please give him a chance...”

Sonic turned to Knuckles and Shadow for help, but they looked just as confused as he was. He had no idea what to do. He couldn’t just let Metal go, but...

“I-I have one re-request,” Metal started again, causing everyone to turn to look at him. His voice still came out stuttered and glitchy. “Protect-ect Tails. He show-ow-owed me more kindness than I thought was-as possible. M-more kindness than I-I deserve...”

“Metal...” Tails whimpered, tears finally falling down his face.

“I a-am truly s-sorry...” Metal stuttered,moving his head to the side as if he was glancing over towards Tails as he spoke, though his vision was no doubt hindered by the damage that had been done. He turned his head back up towards Sonic. “Fin-finish it.”

“Wha...what?” Sonic asked, voice barely above a whisper.

“Finish it.”

Sonic stared down at the beaten, broken body of Metal Sonic. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t – he wouldn’t do this, but it was still Metal Sonic in front of him. He couldn’t just let him off the hook for everything he’d done, but...

“Ve-very well. I will do-o it myself.”

Before anyone could react, Metal Sonic dug his claws into his own chest, tearing out the wiring inside. As he did so, his shattered screen finally went dark, and his limbs fell limply to the ground.

“METAL!”

Tails finally managed to rip himself free from Knuckles’ grasp as everyone else stared at the robot’s remains in shock, rushing to the robot’s side and kneeling down next to him. He frantically scanned around for something, anything that could help him repair Metal Sonic. He gently grasped onto Metal’s shoulder.

“I-it’s okay, Metal!” Tails attempted to comfort through his tears. “Don’t worry, I-I’ll fix this! I just...I just...”

Metal Sonic did not respond. His body laid there next to Tails.

“I-I can fix this! I can...I can...”

The fox cub leaned over the robot’s remains and, after a moment of silence, began sobbing. He hugged Metal close as he continued whispering.

“I-I’ll fix you, Me-Metal...” he sobbed into the robot. “I-I’m sorry...”

Sonic stared down at them. He was frozen in place, unable to force his body to do anything. All he could do was look on in shock as his baby brother sobbed into Metal’s remains. He felt like his body had been forcibly shut down.

“I...” he forced out. His voice was soft as he looked down at his little buddy. “Tails, I – I don’t-“

Tails interrupted him by letting Metal go and running into his arms, sobbing into his chest. Sonic immediately wrapped his arms around the cub and held tight, allowing him to let out everything he was feeling. The fox kit continued crying into his fur as their friends cautiously made their way over.

“What the hell just happened?” Knuckles asked, staring down at Metal Sonic’s body.

“I don’t know, Knux,” Sonic confessed, holding tightly onto his little buddy and looking back to his copy. “I really don’t know...”

Sonic told himself Metal deserved it. He’d hurt Tails, this was all probably some elaborate trick to get them to let their guard down so he could attack again. It must have been. He watched the body of the robot cautiously, waiting for it to spring back to life, but with every second that passed, his conviction wavered.

Metal wasn’t moving to attack. He wasn’t trying to crawl away back to Eggman, or to blow them all up, or reveal it was all an elaborate trap.

He just laid there.

Unmoving.

All Sonic could do was stare at him.

Chapter Text

Sonic had no idea how long he stood there, holding a sobbing Tails, staring at Metal Sonic’s remains. It somehow both felt like hours and only seconds had passed, as if time itself had stopped existing.

Tails’ crying had calmed down in however much time it was, it could’ve been only a few minutes, but Sonic wasn’t sure. Now just a few stray sniffles escaped the cub as his head leaned on Sonic’s chest. Tails eventually slowly pulled himself off his big brother. As much as he wanted to pull his baby brother back in for a hug, to make sure he was okay, Sonic didn’t stop him.

The kit slowly made his way over to the robot, kneeling next to him on the ground. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, threatening to spill again. Seeing Tails like this made Sonic feel horrible.

But it was Sonic’s fault he was upset. Even if he did the right thing (which he wasn’t even sure of anymore), it still hurt Tails. He hated seeing his little brother like this.Tails held in his tears as he looked back up to Sonic, his big, baby blue eyes staring up at the hedgehog. It made him feel even worse.

“I need a bag,” the cub gently explained, wiping the tears from his eyes. “So I can bring Metal back home and fix him. You, uh, wouldn’t happen to have anything, would you?”

Sonic wanted to say something, anything that would comfort his best friend, but he couldn’t manage to get any words to come out. He settled on shaking his head instead. Tails then looked to Shadow and Knuckles.

“No, I don’t...” Shadow said, his arms crossed. He was clearly deep in thought, staring down at Metal Sonic with a pensive expression.

“Me neither,” Knuckles added, looking just as confused as Sonic felt.

Tails sighed.

“Okay, I’ll just...I’ll...” Tails paused in thought before nodding to himself. “Okay, I got it.”

With no further explanation, he started picking up the broken, scattered pieces of Metal Sonic, putting the smaller pieces into a pile on the ground before moving on to pick up the body. He struggled as he attempted to lift up the robot. He wasn’t able to get it far, though, struggling to get it further than a couple inches off the ground.

“Tails...” Sonic murmured, stepping a little closer and hesitantly reaching a hand out to the cub. “You want some help?”

Tails didn’t respond for a moment, not even turning to face Sonic.

“I’m fine,” he insisted, still struggling to pick up Metal Sonic.

“You sure?” Sonic asked, nervously eyeing his little buddy.

Tails didn’t respond, simply continuing his struggle to lift the robot.

Wordlessly, Knuckles made his way over and took Metal’s body from the kit’s hands. Tails looked up at the echidna, his expression a mixture of confusion, anger, and fear. He clearly expected Knuckles to confiscate the robot, but Knuckles just calmly stood in front of him, holding Metal Sonic’s body and smiling.

“Just tell me where to go, kiddo,” Knuckles stated. Tails returned the smile, though his was less confident than the echidna's.

“Follow me, okay?” Tails instructed before flying towards the factory, Knuckles following suit, leaving Sonic and Shadow standing in silence.

Sonic desperately tried to force his brain to work, to say something, anything to his friends, to Tails, but nothing came out. He just stood there, silent. His head hung and his eyes stared down at the ground, yet he didn't actually focus on anything.

He simply stood there, waiting for Tails and Knuckles to get back.

Tails easily made his way down the stairs to the basement, packing all the materials he deemed necessary for fixing Metal Sonic into a box.

He was feeling too many emotions to possibly name right now. He wanted to just scream. He must’ve felt every human emotion possible several times over in the past few days, and it was all on the verge of spilling out.

He tried to force all the emotions swirling inside him to the back of his mind. He had a job to do. He couldn’t dwell on what happened. That wouldn’t help anyone, least of all Metal Sonic. The best thing he could do was focus on fixing Metal.

“You, uh...” Knuckles awkwardly started, watching Tails pack the box with all sorts of different items, the robot’s body still in his hands. “You okay?”

Tails paused. No, he wasn’t okay. He was so far from okay, but there was nothing he could do except try to deal with the situation at hand. Losing his composure wouldn’t help anyone.

“I’ll be fine.”

Knuckles sighed but didn’t push any further. Tails was thankful for that.

After he concluded that he’d packed everything he’d need from the basement, he turned to the mattress on the floor, pillows and blankets and a little plush rabbit staring up at him. He gently picked up the stuffed animal Metal had gifted him and put it in the box, before turning to Knuckles.

“This is it, all that’s left are the scraps upstairs...” The cub explained, picking up the box and walking towards the stairs. Knuckles simply hummed in response and followed him, the two making their way up the stairs and out of the building in slightly awkward silence.

As he walked out towards the aftermath of the fight, his eyes locked onto Sonic. He was simply staring at the ground. Tails couldn’t quite place the emotion on his face, it was a little confused, a little nervous, a little frustrated, and something else he couldn’t put his finger on. It almost looked like Sonic was disassociating.

Tails couldn’t help the anger that bubbled up when he looked at Sonic. He didn’t want to feel angry towards Sonic, but he did. In fact, he was furious, and he hated it. He hated when he fought with Sonic in any way. Sonic was the only family he had for a long time, and some part of him just wanted to run up to his best friend, his brother, and just collapse into his arms. He wanted to feel the warmth of arms around him, to hear Sonic’s irregularly fast heartbeat as he buried his head in the hedgehog’s chest.

The rest of him, though, wanted to scream and cry and tear into Sonic. To tell him he was a hypocrite, that he was way out of line, that he was stubborn and reckless and selfish. How could he do that?! He disregarded Tails’ feelings, he didn’t listen, he was being stupid and stubborn and he just – he just wanted to scream.

He couldn’t do that, though. At least, not right now. The first thing on Tails’ mind was getting himself and Metal home and starting work on fixing him. He did his best to ignore Sonic, even though it pained him to do so, and kneeled next to the pile of Metal’s scraps. He started scooping them up into his hands and putting them in the box to bring home.

“Tails...” Sonic quietly started. “I’m...I don’t...are you okay?”

Tails fought to keep his emotions in check. The way Sonic was speaking was how he would in the aftermath of the very few fights they’d had. His normally confident tone was replaced with a quiet uncertainty, and above all, a clear concern for Tails. The complicated swirling emotions the cub was fighting to keep inside grew larger, but he managed to hold them in, despite feeling like he’d explode at any second.

Tails tried to ignore Sonic. He simply continued what he was doing until he had all the scraps in the box as well. He saw Shadow staring at them out of the corner of his eye. He ignored Shadow too.

“What now?” Knuckles asked from behind Tails. The cub stood up, holding the box and turned to face the echidna.

“Now we get this stuff home,” he stated simply. “I can just use my Miles Electric to-“

He paused. Right. Metal confiscated it when he took him. He sighed as he realized he had no idea where it was, nor where everything else in his backpack was, or where the backpack was, or where he was. Great.

“I’ll lead us home, buddy,” Sonic gently assured. Even though Tails’ back was turned to Sonic, he was sure a soft smile was on his big brother’s face, eyebrows raised in concern. It was the look he always gave Tails when he was worried about him. He sighed again and turned around to face Sonic but didn’t look him in the eye. If he did, he knew all the emotions he was fighting so hard to keep in would come spilling out.

He couldn’t look Sonic in the eye right now. He loved Sonic very dearly, and he knew Sonic loved him, but that didn’t change what Sonic had done. It didn’t make Tails any less mad at him, even if it hurt to be mad at his best friend.

He simply nodded in response.

“You ready?” Sonic asked. Tails still didn’t meet his gaze, but he hummed in response and nodded again. Sonic turned to face Shadow. “You coming?”

“...No, I trust the two of you to get Tails home without incident,” Shadow responded calmly. “But I’ll let everyone know we found Tails and he’s safe.”

“Thanks, Shadow...” Sonic muttered.

“It’s...it’s nothing...”

Tails waited for Sonic to dash off and lead the way, being very familiar with it. The sound of him shooting off at rocket speed, the quick burst of wind, the feeling of electricity in the air. Sure enough, he heard it, felt the burst of wind and the electricity in the air. He spun his namesakes and flew behind his brother, keeping an eye on the blue blur leading him home, but lingering far enough behind that he couldn’t make out any of Sonic’s features. He simply followed Sonic home in silence.

He zoned out for most of the trip, only coming back to reality when the sight of his home came into view. He smiled slightly. He’d missed his home, his bed, and most of all, his workshop. More complicated feelings swirled inside of him. He pushed them back down.

He flew down to the front door, box in hand, and watched as Sonic opened the door for him. He mumbled a halfhearted thanks and walked in, immediately making his way to his workshop. He didn’t want to waste any time, quickly opening the door and going inside. He heard Knuckles come into the house and follow him. He placed the box of materials he needed next to his computer.

“So, uh, where should I put...him?” Knuckles asked awkwardly, holding up Metal Sonic, clearly unsure of what to do. Tails sighed and fought back more tears.

“Set him on my desk,” Tails instructed. Knuckles hummed in response and did as he was told, setting Metal Sonic’s body on top of the cub’s work desk.

Knuckles paused, and Tails felt the echidna’s eyes focused on him. He ignored it, sitting down to log into his computer – wait, it was already open? On the screen sat footage of his security cameras, with him sitting at his computer. This footage must’ve been days old. Why was that there?

He looked down at the keyboard and saw a note placed on top of it. He gently picked it up and read.

“Hey little man!

We hope you’re able to find this note soon. Wherever you are, you’ve got us all worried, especially Sonic. You better be okay!

Anyway, sorry we used your computer without your permission, it was kind of urgent. We also had no idea how to turn it back off, so it’s been on for however long it takes for you to get back home. Sorry.

We all hope you’ll be back soon. Call us whenever you find this, okay?

-Team Chaotix”

Tails smiled down at the paper. At the very bottom, each member of the Chaotix had signed their name. Vector’s was messy, Espio’s was neatly written out in cursive, and Charmy’s had a little smile and a drawing of a bee next to it.

“Hey Knuckles,” Tails started, holding the note as he turned back to the echidna. “How...how many people were looking for me, anyway?”

“Let’s see, uh...” he started, putting a hand to his chin in thought. “Me, Shadow and Sonic, obviously – then Amy, Cream joined us for a bit too, but Gemerl insisted she go home after a while – oh, Gemerl helped too! Also Rouge, Omega, Silver, Tangle, Whisper, the Chaotix...am I missing anyone?” he thought in silence for a moment. “No, I think that’s everyone,”

“I see...” Tails mumbled, looking back down at the note. “I’m sorry I worried you all so much...”

“Don’t be, kiddo,” Knuckles reassured, walking over and putting a comforting hand on the kid’s shoulder. “It’s cause we all care about you. It’s not like it’s your fault anyway, you were kidnapped!”

“Yeah...”

Tails turned and looked at Metal Sonic, laying limply on his desk. Even more complicated emotions built up inside him.

Metal had kidnapped him. There was no denying that. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Metal had also hurt him, even if the robot was trying not to in his own weird way. Why couldn’t Metal have just listened? Why did he immediately decide the only option to stay with Tails was to kill his friends? If he had just let Tails talk before attacking, or tried to deescalate the situation, they might not be in this mess.

Then again, it might not have mattered. It’s not like Sonic really listened to him anyway. He jumped right into attacking Metal, no matter how much Tails protested. It boiled his blood. Why did Sonic get to decide what was best for him? Because he was older? Because he’d taken care of him for years? Tails was old enough and mature enough to take care of himself, Sonic didn’t have the right to decide what was best for him on his own.

Knuckles must have noticed the tension building in Tails, as he gently squeezed the cub’s shoulder.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Knuckles reassured. “Everything will be alright, kiddo,”

Tails smiled halfheartedly at Knuckles.

“Thanks...”

“Don’t mention it, kid,” the echidna paused for a second. “Do, uh, do you want someone here with you? Or do you wanna be alone for a bit?”

Tails wasn’t sure. On the one hand, he had a lot to process, and it might be easier to do alone. He was also still a little upset with Knuckles over the whole situation, and he was very upset with Sonic, as much as he didn’t want to be. On the other, while he normally didn’t mind isolation, being forcefully taken from his home had made him a bit homesick and made him miss the company of his friends.

He’d really missed Sonic.

He sighed.

“I’m...I’m not sure...”

Silence passed between them for a moment.

“Well...how about I leave you to do your thing for a bit, then I’ll check back in on you in like half an hour?” Knuckles suggested hesitantly.

Tails considered it for a moment, then nodded.

“Okay, I’ll just go chill with Sonic for a bit,” Knuckles thought aloud. “Let me know if you need anything, okay?”

“...okay...”

Knuckles slowly made his way out of the room, glancing worriedly back to Tails every few steps. Eventually, he left the workshop, leaving the fox cub all alone once again.

He couldn’t keep it in anymore. He finally let out all of his emotions, tears falling from his face as he curled up into a ball on his chair. He pulled his knees to his chest and rested his head on his knees, sobbing.

He wasn’t sure if he was crying out of sadness, anger, frustration, confusion, or something else, but it didn’t matter. It’s not like identifying the emotion would help anyway.

All he could do was quietly sob into his lap and hope he’d tire himself out soon.

Chapter Text

Sonic sat down on the couch and stared at the floor, completely unsure of what to do. He couldn’t even remember the last time Tails was this upset with him.

He wanted to tear his quills out.

Sonic hated when they fought. It almost never happened. Sure, they’d have disagreements, but they very rarely turned into full blown fights. Though, Sonic didn’t know that they were exactly “fighting” right now. He couldn’t think of any other word for it, though. Tails was really upset with him, and even if the cub tried to hide it, Sonic could tell he was in pain. Tails was never very good at hiding how he was feeling from Sonic.

When he heard the door to the workshop open, he turned around, hoping to see a little orange fox coming out. Instead, a red echidna came out and Sonic deflated. The blue hedgehog groaned and rolled his eyes.

“Geez, nice to see you too,” Knuckles responded sarcastically.

Sonic sighed. “Sorry Knux, I just – I was just hoping Tails would come out...”

“...do you wanna go in and talk to him?” Knuckles asked.

“Uh...yes?” He answered hesitantly. “But also no...I wanna talk to him, but I think he needs time to think first.”

“Yeah...”

Knuckles walked over to the couch and sat down next to his friend. He was close enough that Sonic could reach him if he wanted to, but not so close that it was invading Sonic’s personal space. It was the perfect amount of space, and it came from years of experience. Sonic really appreciated it.

“You’re a great friend, Knux,” Sonic muttered with a soft smile. “Seriously man, I don’t tell you that enough.”

“Oh! I, uh...thanks,”

Sonic smirked as Knuckles awkwardly tensed up at the compliment. He’d never been the best at accepting compliments. “It’s nothing...”

Silence passed between them as they sat together on the couch. They sat in the dim light of the room, rays of sunlight coming in through the windows. Sonic realized he  had forgotten to turn the lights on when they came in, only realizing it after he sat down. It didn’t really matter. He liked the natural light anyway.

This didn't help his mood any, though.

“...did I mess up, Knux?”

Knuckles turned and looked at him quizzically. “What do you mean?”

“I mean with Metal. Did...did I mess up? Did I do the wrong thing by attacking him?”

Knuckles hummed in thought. “...honestly, I don’t know. I thought we were doing the right thing, but...” the echidna sighed.

“Yeah...”

Sonic found himself replaying the fight in his head over and over. He’d traded blows with Metal more times than he could count, but he’d never felt that rage towards him before. He’d wanted to kill Metal for hurting Tails. He almost did. He still found Tails’ story a bit hard to believe, and he still strongly disliked Metal, but...

Some of the robot’s words kept repeating in his mind.

“Protect-ect Tails. He show-ow-owed me more kindness than I thought was-as possible. M-more kindness than I-I deserve...”

He asked Sonic to take care of Tails.

“Why would he do that?” Sonic wondered aloud.

“Who do what?” Knuckles asked in return, an eyebrow raised in confusion. Sonic couldn’t help but roll his eyes again.

“Metal, he asked me to take care of Tails for him, remember? He...why would he do that?”

“I dunno, man...”

The words Metal spoke just kept repeating in his head.

In all the years he’d known the robot, he’d been dead set on killing Sonic and conquering the world. Whether it was for himself or for Dr. Eggman, his goal was basically the same. That had never once changed. He was not only perfectly fine with killing people, but he wanted to kill people, Sonic in particular. That had never changed, and Sonic didn’t think it ever would.

But it did.

“Ta-Ta-Tails said he would not – would not forgive me for hurt-hurt-hurting you,”

He’d never once even considered that Metal would refrain from trying to kill him for any reason at all, unless he was directly ordered not to by Eggman. He chose not to kill Sonic though. Not only that, but he didn't even attack Sonic, all for the sake of Tails.

Metal had no logical reason to listen to Tails. It wouldn’t benefit him in any way. It didn’t benefit him in any way, in fact, it actively hurt him. Still, he refused to fight Sonic once Tails put his foot down.

Tails’ words began to repeat in Sonic’s mind now.

“METAL! IF YOU HURT SONIC, I’LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!”

Metal didn’t want Tails to be mad at him. He was willing to put his hatred for Sonic aside for Tails. When Tails made Metal choose between his revenge on Sonic for existing and his newfound friendship with Tails, Metal chose...friendship. It was inconceivable.

Two words Metal spoke made their way to the front of Sonic’s mind.

“Finish it.”

Metal decided he’d rather die than go back to Eggman. He wanted Sonic to kill him. And when he wouldn’t do it, Metal took it upon himself.

And Tails had to watch the whole thing. 

Sonic felt sick.

“Oh Gaia, I messed up...”

“Dude, you gotta cut yourself some slack,” Knuckles advised. “This whole thing stressed you out a lot, and you haven’t slept at all for days,”

“...come to think of it, I haven’t eaten in days, either...” Sonic realized aloud. “I should have something...you good with ordering pizza? I really don’t feel like going anywhere or making anything,”

“Yeah man, want me to ask Tails if he’d like pizza?”

“Yeah, thanks...”

“No problem, dude,”

Knuckles got up from the couch and placed a comforting hand on Sonic’s shoulder, giving a light squeeze before making his way back to the workshop. As much as Sonic wanted to go in too, he didn’t. He wanted to make sure Tails had all the time he needed to think before they talked. He’d just have to wait until Tails was ready.

His stomach rumbled. 

Maybe he’d grab a snack while he waited.

Tails felt a couple more sniffles escape him as Knuckles came back into the workshop. The kit frantically wiped his eyes and nose and sat straight up at his computer, hoping he looked more composed than he felt. He turned to look at Knuckles.

“H-hey, Knux,” Tails said, cringing as his voice cracked. “What’s up?”

“We’re uh, gonna order pizza for dinner...” Knuckle explained hesitantly, staring at Tails. “...do you want some?”

“Uh, sure,” Tails quickly answered before turning back to the computer. He didn’t want Knuckles to see his face. His eyes were probably red and puffy from crying, and he really didn’t want to be asked if he was okay right now.

Despite trying to make it clear he didn’t feel like talking, Knuckles stepped closer.

“How uh...how are you doing?”

“I’m fine.”

Tails hadn’t meant to say it as aggressively as he did. He felt his chest tighten a bit, but he hoped it at least got Knuckles to stop asking questions.

“Uh...are you sure?”

Tails couldn’t bring himself to try to say anything. He didn’t want to snap at Knuckles again. It wasn’t fair, the echidna was doing his best to help.

Tails also didn’t want to lie to him. 

“Tails?”

He sighed. “No, I’m not fine, but I – I just...”

“Hey, it’s okay – I get it. No one expects you to be back to normal, you went through a lot,”

“No, you don’t understand!” Tails cried. He stood up out of his chair and turned to face the echidna. “Metal – Metal has changed! And you guys wouldn’t even give him a chance!”

“Tails-“

“NO! I know he’s done bad things; I know he attacked you, but – but he deserves a chance! Why can’t you guys see that?!” Tails couldn’t keep the tears in as he ranted. They freely fell down his cheeks, no matter how much Tails didn’t want them to. His hands angrily clenched into fists at his sides. “It’s not fair! It’s-“

Tails was interrupted by a sob escaping his throat. He’d been desperately trying to be quiet before, but he couldn’t hold in all his emotions anymore. He fell to the floor, screwing his eyes shut tight. He instinctively wrapped his tails around himself protectively as he kneeled on the floor sobbing.

“I-it’s not fair...”

He heard shuffling in front of him, then felt strong arms wrap protectively around him.

“I know, buddy – I’m sorry. We just – we were really worried about you, y’know?”

Tails sobbed again. “I know, but – but I was fine! S-sure he – he kidnapped me, but we became friends and-“  Another sob interrupted the cub. “-and he’s just scared and lonely. He needs friends. He brought me gifts, and-“ Yet another sob. “-and he’s not a bad person, or – he doesn’t have to be!”

“I know, kid...”

“I just – why wouldn’t you guys listen to me?! I-I mean, I know why, but – but it’s frustrating! Why wouldn’t Sonic listen to me?!”

Knuckles sighed. “He wasn’t really listening to anyone, to be honest,”

Tails sniffled and looked up at the echidna holding him in confusion, tears still falling down his face. “What – what do you mean?”

“Dude, Sonic was a mess the whole time you were missing. He’d barely listen to anyone! Only thing that kept him even remotely sane was, well, looking for you.”

Tails paused. “I...hadn’t realized...”

“Yeah, it was weird,” Knuckles admitted, pulling away from the kit to explain. “Apparently when he found your backpack and, uh, blood during his search, he hunted Eggman down and nearly killed him on the spot, he was THAT upset. Shadow stopped him, though...”

Tails quietly listened. He couldn’t imagine Sonic getting upset enough to kill someone over anything, even Eggman. Had ...had his disappearance really effected Sonic that much?

“He was really, really worried,” Knuckles continued. “ He apparently hasn’t eaten or slept since you went missing.” 

“B-But I was missing for days,” Tails muttered. “Or at least I thought I was...”

“You were, I think today was...day three? Or was it four...? I haven’t slept in a while either,” 

“Sonic hasn’t eaten or slept in three days?” Tails asked in disbelief. Sonic could go a long time without sleeping, but he needed to eat regularly. His metabolism was fast, like him, and he had to be able to eat enough to maintain his energy and keep him from overworking himself. That meant at least three meals a day, as well as a significant number of snacks in between meals on most days. He could go without eating if he really needed to, but it was really bad for him. “Nothing at all?”

“Nope, not a thing.” Knuckles reaffirmed. “He looked for you basically nonstop the whole time. The only times he wasn’t looking for you were when we were planning on how to look for you, or to wait for other people to help. Even then, he was impatient as hell. It looked like it took all his strength not to just run off and keep looking for you himself...” 

“I see...”

“Yeah...listen, I-I get why you’re upset with us right now – with Sonic, but – but he was freaking out. He was worried that Metal was, like, torturing you or something. We all were. You disappeared without a trace, then the only clues Sonic had were-" Knuckles paused. "A-anyway, when I got there, Sonic, Shadow and Rouge had already figured out Metal was the one that took you, and that uh...didn’t make Sonic happy. It made him mad, he was kinda falling apart. He even cried in front of me and Shadow.”

“He cried?” Tails asked in shock. “Sonic?”

“Yeah,”

Sonic didn’t cry, not ever. Not even in front of Tails. He didn’t like showing his more negative emotions. If Sonic ever felt like crying, he’d never show it. It was always hidden behind a joke or a cocky smile. For Sonic to have cried meant this was affecting him very, very deeply. Especially if he cried in front of other people.

“Oh man...” Tails breathed.

Knuckles sighed. “Listen, I get that you’re upset about what happened, but you need to talk to Sonic,”

“Yeah, I – I know...” Tails muttered, staring down at the ground. “I’m sorry I worried you all so much...”

“We’re just glad you’re okay, Tails,” Knuckles reassured, putting his hands on the kit’s shoulders and giving a small squeeze. “And we’ll figure out the, uh, Metal Sonic stuff, okay?”

Tails sniffled again and rubbed his eyes. “...okay...”

“Will you be okay if I order pizza now? I can come right back after,”

“Y-yeah, I’ll be okay, I just...I need to think for a bit...”

“Okay, but let me know if you need anything!”

Tails hummed in agreement and slowly stood up, allowing Knuckles to help him.

“I’ll just be in the other room, okay?” Knuckles explained, still holding onto the cub’s shoulders.

“Yeah, I know,”

Knuckles gave Tails’ shoulders another reassuring squeeze before he left the workshop once again, leaving the fox cub to think on his own.

He wasn’t sure what to do with the information Knuckles had given him. He’d figured that Sonic would be worried about him, but to hear that him being taken shook Sonic so much...he couldn’t even imagine it. He knew Knuckles was telling the truth, though. Knuckles wouldn’t make something like this up, and even if he in theory did, he was a poor liar. Tails wouldn’t even need to look at Knuckles for a second to figure out he was lying if that was the case. Knuckles just wasn’t capable of deceiving people like that.

Tails knew that Sonic could get protective of him, but he’d never seen Sonic the way Knuckles described him. Plus he’d been kidnapped before, but Sonic had never reacted to it like this. At least, not that Tails was aware of. Sonic did have a tendency to hide any emotions that weren’t positive, and it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility that if Sonic ever was that upset over something, he’d just hide it. But...had his disappearance really impacted Sonic that  much?  He was so worried he cried, in front of Knuckles and Shadow?

He’d always thought Sonic was infallible. Nothing ever shook him. Even the most life or death situations barely phased him, but...even the idea that Tails was hurt scared Sonic that badly?

The more he thought about it, though, the more it made sense. Sonic had raised him, taught him right from wrong, made sure he was clothed and fed and loved. He’d loved Tails more than anyone ever had before or since, and whenever Tails was in trouble, he’d do everything in his power to save him. Him disappearing without a trace must’ve worried Sonic enough already, and then to find evidence that Tails was hurt with no idea of where he was or what was happening to him...if their places were swapped, Tails definitely would’ve been freaking out, though maybe not quite as much as Sonic...

But it made sense. As much as Tails didn’t like admitting it, he was smaller and weaker than most of their friends. His intellect was his strongest asset, and his technology allowed him to stay on a mostly equal level with the others, but that meant if he was separated from his tech, he was at a major disadvantage. Sonic knew that as well as Tails did, if not more. He was bigger and older than Tails. He’d raised Tails since he was four.

They’d been together so long that Tails could barely remember a time before he had Sonic in his life. The idea of losing Sonic terrified him. Apparently, it terrified Sonic too, far more than he’d realized. And Metal did threaten them and try to kill them...

Besides, Sonic had no way of knowing what had happened between Tails and Metal. Unless...

Tails had an idea. He knew how to prove his story was true and prove Metal could be redeemed.

He just needed to show them what he saw.