Chapter Text
Tails flew through the air with Sonic in relative silence, the hedgehog holding the fox’s hands in a death gripe.
He looked down to see the blue hedgehog staring forward, murmuring to himself, “Don’t look down, don’t look down, don’t look down…”
Tails subconsciously tightened his grip, as though to reassure Sonic that he wouldn’t let him fall.
“Hey!” Tails decided to speak up.
Sonic immediately looked up at him upon hearing his voice, something which gave Tails slight goosebumps.
“You, uh… are you okay?”
Sonic was silent for a moment before he nodded slightly. “Yeah… yeah, just… my brain is just trying to process everything that’s happening…”
“Oh, that’s okay! Take as much time as you need!” Tails quickly said with a helpful smile.
He winced a bit, feeling his namesakes starting to get tired. “Uh, y-you wouldn’t mind if I land, right?”
“Huh?” Sonic blinked, shaking his head. “Oh! No, of course not! You can, uh, you can totally land, dude.”
Tails almost felt surprised at his hero’s approval, but didn’t need to be told twice.
With great relief, Tails slowly hovered them down to the ground, letting Sonic let go of his hand when they were close enough to the pavement before landing himself.
Tails sighed as he let his appendages rest, allowing them to droop on the sidewalk.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever flown that much in my life!’ He thought to himself.
He looked over at Sonic, who was brushing and straightening out his messy quills before turning to him.
Sonic stared at him for a brief moment, making Tails feel a deep nervousness rising in his gut.
Oh no. Did Sonic not like him? Was he going to call him a freak just like all the others? Why was he just staring at him like that??
Sonic opened his mouth to say something, and Tails braced himself for the worst.
To his surprise, Sonic paused before he shook his head.
“I’m sorry, since we’re outta harm’s way for the moment, let’s start over. Hi! I’m Sonic.” Sonic said, sounding like he was trying his best to stay calm, “Who are you again and how do you know so much about me?”
“Are you kidding?” Tails smiled excitedly, practically bouncing up and down on his feet. “Everyone knows about Sonic the Hedgehog! I spent my whole life learning about you! You were Longclaw’s final protege! The apprentice of the last of the owl tribe warriors!”
“Right…” Sonic hesitantly nodded. “You, uh, still haven’t given me your name yet, kiddo.”
“Oh!” Tails giggled sheepishly. “Sorry! I'm just really excited.” He held out his hand. “Hi! I’m Miles Prower! But you can call me Tails!” He smiled brightly.
Sonic stared down at his hand before reaching out and grasping it.
Tails’ smile widened even further as they shook hands. “Like I said, it is an honor to finally meet you! You’re, like, my hero!”
Sonic smiled back as Tails continued to shake his hand, becoming visibly uncomfortable.
Tails’ smile quickly faded. “I’m… I’m shaking your hand too long aren’t I?”
“Uh, yeah,” Sonic replied awkwardly. “Yeah, you are.”
“Sorry.” Tails mumbled sheepishly, letting go.
“No, no, it’s okay!” Sonic quickly reassured him, scratching the back of his neck bashfully. “It’s, uh, it’s nice to meet a fan.”
Tails shuffled his feet around awkwardly. “So… what’s your plan?”
“… My plan…?”
“Yeah!”
“Uh…” Sonic hummed, cupping his chin in deep thought before he perked up. “Oh! I remember, Tom told me that if anything happened to go to Wade’s!”
“Wade’s?” Tails asked.
“Yeah!” Sonic nodded with a grin before glancing around the street. “His house shouldn’t be too far from here. Follow me!”
Sonic took off down the street in a light jog, leaving a trail of blue behind him.
Tails – albeit hesitantly – spun his namesakes before flying after his hero.
He pushed himself as hard as he could to keep up with the blue blur. The hedgehog was quickly pulling ahead, going faster and faster while Tails pushed himself to do so as well.
But no matter how hard he spun his tails, Sonic was still far ahead while he was slowly falling behind.
He felt helpless. He couldn’t keep up with his hero and it didn’t help that carrying him such a long way had left him partially exhausted.
“Hey!” He called out. “Wait… wait for me!”
He could feel that the adrenaline from earlier had worn off, and while he wasn’t quite on the verge of passing out, he still wasn’t quite operating at optimal performance.
He lowered his head slightly. His mouth felt dry and a lump began to form in his throat. His forehead began to throb slightly as his breathing quickened.
He raised his hand to rub his temples, ease the pain. He felt the same pain whenever he was being left out of the games the other kids played back in his village.
“Hey, you okay?”
Tails’ head snapped up, surprised to see Sonic now running next to him at a more brisk pace.
The hedgehog’s face was painted with a look of concern.
As though he were worried about him.
Tails quickly shook off the swelling feeling in his chest. “Y-Yeah. Just… a little tired is all.”
Sonic nodded.
The throbbing pain vanished as Tails relaxed. He continued to fly after Sonic, but noticed that the hedgehog was running at a much slower pace.
Another thing he noticed was how Sonic was intentionally running right alongside him. He could see the way his eyes briefly shifted towards him before snapping back to the main road.
In those emerald greens, Tails could clearly see the hedgehog was studying, still trying to fully determine if he was friend or foe (not that Tails blamed him).
But underneath that suspicion was an underlying worry, not for himself strangely enough, but in an oddly concerned way.
As though he were concerned for Tails.
He felt his heart do a slight somersault at that thought. The idea that Sonic, his hero , was concerned for him caused a warmth to spread from his chest.
His lips twitched upwards into a shy smile as he followed Sonic down the dimly lit street.
In his brief time on planet Earth, Tails had made a few critical observations.
The animals of this world tended to walk on all fours. The humans left lights on all night in a stunning waste of energy. And for some reason, even people with lots of friends needed space to be alone.
That last one was the hardest idea to pass, but that’s just the place that Sonic had led him. A secret enclave, a world away from the world, something he called “Wade’s Garage.”
As they floated down towards the cube-shaped building and its retractable door, Tails spotted its owner, a large man loosely wearing a brown deputy sheriff jacket.
This must be the Wade person Sonic was talking about, Tails immediately assumed. He had seen the man a few times during his monitoring of Sonic. He honestly hadn’t thought much of him other than him just being there.
The man himself was currently trying to fix up what appeared to be his bike, albeit unsuccessfully.
“C’mon, Wade,” The man grunted to himself, trying to thread a chain through the gears of the bicycle, “who needs a car when you’ve got this super cool bike since high-!” He let out a yelp of pain, pulling away from the bike as he held his finger. His finger had likely been caught in the chain. “OW! That pinches!”
Tails winced at the man’s pain, having had a few nasty injuries when building his inventions himself. Still, the man’s basic inability to fix up a simple two-wheeler left much to be desired.
“Uh, Sonic? This man does not seem familiar with basic mechanical operation.” Tails whispered to the blue hedgehog from their place in the bushes.
They were observing Wade through a small hole in the foliage, Sonic insisting that they make sure the coast was clear.
“Who, Wade?” Sonic said, shaking his head. “Don’t underestimate him.”
Tails contemplated his friend’s words as he looked back towards the garage, just in time to see Wade pull one of the gears loose, causing the whole bicycle to fall apart.
He looked back at Sonic, raising an unimpressed brow.
“Don’t overestimate him either.” Sonic shrugged sheepishly.
Tails resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
“C’mon.” Sonic gestured for him to follow.
Tails silently followed his hero as they stepped out from the bushes.
The two of them quietly snuck up towards the open garage, stepping through the dimly lit entrance.
He watched as Sonic stepped out from the forward, walking up to the human who was trying to reassemble his bicycle again.
“Hey, Wade!” Sonic called out. “You alright over there?”
Wade immediately stood up. “Hey, yeah! You know, I’m uh… I’m just, uh, fixing up the ol’ bike-a-rooney, heh! Thought I might get myself back in shape, shed a few LBs, you know?” He chuckled. “Plus, someone did steal a police car.”
Tails cringed. He hid a bit behind his hero nervously.
Ooh, so this must be the cop whom he stole the car from.
Probably best not to mention that to him if he wanted to repair his relationship with this world.
“So, Wade,” Sonic spoke up, stepping aside and allowing the human to get a full view of him, “I want you to meet Tails! He’s not from around here, like me.”
Tails wilted a bit under the man’s stare, but quickly shook it off as he pulled out his Miles Electric. Fiddling with the knobs, Tails scanned the whole room, and Wade himself, to see if there were any signs of danger.
“Is your headquarters secure?” He inquired.
“This place?” Wade asked before he nodded. “Yeah. Super secure. No one comes in or out, well, except for my mom. And the worst thing she’ll do is try and make us a snack plate.”
He walked over and hit a button on a wall, causing the retractable door on the garage to slide shut.
“So do you guys like ants on a log?” Wade asked.
“Ew, what?” Sonic seemed grossed out, but Tails didn’t fully understand that. He’d eaten plenty of bugs when he was living on his own. It wasn’t like the people in his village were going to feed him. Plus, they were a great source of nutrition. And honestly, most of them didn’t taste half bad.
“Not real ants!” Wade quickly reassured.
Oh. Well now Tails felt a little disappointed.
“Raisins that you sprinkle on peanut butter that's laid on a bed of celery. You guys don’t have that snack?”
Tails winced. Okay, now that sounded disgusting.
“Uh, Sonic? Where are we?” He asked.
“Welcome to the Wade Cave! ” Wade answered for him, waving his hands in a grandiose way. “Which is something I hoped to someday say to a woman. A woman who’s not my mom, heh.”
“Wade, focus. ” Sonic said sternly. “We need to figure out why Knuckles thinks I’m the key to the Master Emerald. And why did he mention Longclaw?”
Tails furrowed his brows. “There must be a connection.” The fox voiced his thoughts aloud.
Just then, Sonic’s eyes lit up. “Wait a minute, there is! ” He reached into his pouch of rings, pulling a parchment that unfolded into an old paper map.
“Look! There’s an emerald symbol on the map Longclaw gave me.” Sonic pointed out said symbol on the map. “I never knew what it meant before!”
Tails spotted the emerald symbol on the map. Etched onto the old paper in faded black ink, with several red question marks surrounding it, likely made by Sonic. The map itself had pictures of worlds across the galaxy, every known planet on this side of the universe was represented by visual markers.
However, as he inspected the map, something caught his eye. A small glow emitted from the ink when it was placed under the moonlight shining through the windows. As if it were charging electrical circuits within the paper.
“Something’s happening!” Tails pointed out.
Just as he said that, the dim glow spread all across the ink on the map, causing the paper to glow a bright blue light.
Sonic, likely just as startled as he was, dropped the map.
The piece of paper gently floated to the floor as the lights began to flicker off.
A massive blue shape emerged in the center of the room, projected from the map and taking the form of a familiar owl into the air above their heads.
“Longclaw …?” Sonic voiced in awe.
Tails stared at the projection of the wise owl in wonder. Even if it was a simple holographic image and not the real thing, the fox kit could still feel the power and presence of the great owl warrior.
Her image was one that conveyed great strength and a fierce determination, something that sent chills down Tails’ spine. But at the same time, it was one that displayed great wisdom and a deep kindness.
“Hello, Sonic.” The image of Longclaw spoke sagely, her voice echoing throughout the room. “If you're watching this, then something has happened to me. And I pray you’ve made it to Earth unharmed.”
Tails glanced briefly over at Sonic. He could see the hedgehog bearing a sorrowful expression on his face even in the dimly lit room. The fox felt a pang in his heart for the older blue hedgehog.
They both had grown up alone, it was part of the reason Tails felt like he related to Sonic so much. But seeing his hero look so disheartened wounded Tails’ heart deeply. Like a real punch to the gut.
“This world has been chosen for a very important reason.” Longclaw stated. “It’s the secret location of the Master Emerald.”
She spread her wings out wide, revealing a large emerald green gem almost the size of his forehead. It gave off a bright mystical glow of archaic and ancient energy that left Tails in awe of its presence.
“Woah…!” Sonic gasped, just awed as he was.
“The emerald has the power to turn thoughts into reality.”
Tails had only heard stories of the legendary Master Emerald, forged centuries ago by the seven Chaos Emeralds.
The emeralds too were also known for their unlimited power as well. And as such, many had sought to gather them together. The goal differed for everyone, but it always boiled down to gaining the immense cosmic power they commanded.
However, while the emeralds were known for granting the user whatever they wanted, they were also known for amplifying what was in the user's heart, good or evil, often corrupting the wielder. No one could wield the emeralds’ power without being corrupted, and as such many who sought them often didn’t live to tell the tale.
It was the greatest gift, and the greatest curse.
Rumor had it that only those pure of heart could wield the emeralds properly, but such a specimen was hard to come by.
“Like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters.” He heard Wade whisper.
“Shh!” Tails shushed him, giving the man a slight glare telling him to shut up.
“In the wrong hands, it could threaten all life in the universe. Protecting the emerald was my sacred duty.” Longclaw lowered her wings, a sad smile gracing her beak. “ And now I must pass that responsibility to you.”
“This… is my moment…!” He heard Sonic whisper softly.
“Follow the map, find the emerald, and keep it safe.” Longclaw instructed.
She sighed. “My dear Sonic, you have a heart like no creature I have ever known.”
“I love you so much.” Longclaw closed her eyes sadly. “Goodbye…”
With that, her projection began to fade back into the map.
“No, no, no, wait!” Sonic cried, reaching out a hand desperately for her, for possibly the last remnants of his beloved caretaker.
But the light simply slipped through his fingers, as light was a simple electromagnetic radiation only visible to the naked eye. It could not be touched or felt. It just… was.
The only thing the blue hedgehog could faintly grasp onto was a lone feather that drifted down towards his palm before dissolving into sprinkles.
And then nothing.
The lights flickered back on, but Tails didn’t acknowledge that, his gaze still focused on the likely grieving hedgehog.
“I won’t let you down, Longclaw.” Sonic vowed, his voice so soft that it was almost a whisper.
Tails stared at his hero for a long time. Watching his idol desperately try to cling to probably the only remaining memory of the closet thing he had to a mother before.
It reminded Tails of own isolation back on his home planet. How any family that he might’ve had left him on his own to fend for himself for the long eight years of his young life, and how those could could never be brought back.
It nearly broke his heart seeing his hero in such a state of emotional vulnerability.
“So is that… y-you’re dad?”
Tails blinked incredulously up at Wade. “What? ”
Wade shifted his eyes awkwardly. “... No?”
Tails shook his head with a sigh.
Moment ruined.
He looked towards Sonic, watching as his hero sucked in a deep breath before exhaling slowly. He watched as the blue hedgehog stepped towards the paper on the floor.
Peering over the hedgehog’s shoulder, Tails could see that the illustrations and directions on the map had changed. The message itself must have triggered some current, changing it into a new kind of map. A map full of mountains and oceans instead of stars and galaxies.
“According to this map, the first clue is in Siberia,” Sonic stated, picking up the map from the floor and analyzing it carefully. “It’s a compass that will lead to the Emerald.”
“And with Knuckles already here, it’s a race.” Tails concluded, to which Sonic nodded in agreement.
“Knuckles? You know I knew a kid in middle school named Knuckles, could fit his whole fist in his mouth.” Wade spoke up, trying to be involved. “If this is the same Knuckles, we are screwed.”
Tails looked up at Wade dubiously before glancing at Sonic, the hedgehog meeting his perplexed expression with one of his own.
What... what was he talking about? While he seemed nice enough, Wade just continued to baffle Tails in new ways.
Sonic shook his head, folding up the map before putting it away.
“This Knuckles, that Knuckles, doesn’t matter!” Sonic shrugged, pulling out a golden ring from his pouch, a confident smirk on his face as he tossed the ring into a portal.
“We’re gonna get there first!”
Huh?
Tails’ head snapped up as he registered Sonic’s words.
Not, ‘I’m gonna get there first.’
We.
He let out a nervous laugh, his eyes glancing back and forth around the room. “Um, w-what do you ‘we’? ”
Sonic looked at him, his smirk softening into a smile. “You’re coming with me.”
WHAT?!
“Oh ho, no, no, no, no!” Tails quickly shook his head. “I-I just came here to warn you! I’m not a field guy!”
This was supposed to be simple! He was just supposed to come here, warn Sonic about Knuckles, and then go home! His job was already done! He wasn’t an adventurer like Sonic! And why would someone like Sonic the Hedgehog want someone like Tails to come with him?
But at the same time, he felt flattered that his hero wanted him to come. No one had ever offered him anything like that back in his village. Nor had anyone looked at him with such welcoming eyes, emitting an aura of solace and a potential for happiness.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got your back.” Sonic almost immediately reassured him.
He then held out his fist towards him, a warm welcoming smile on his face. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Tails stared at Sonic fist in confusion and bewilderment, his heart pounding with both fear and excitement. The electric feeling bubbling up his chest couldn’t even be described as it threatened to burst.
He looked up at Sonic inquisitively, as he stepped closer towards him. He glanced down for a moment at Sonic’s fist before looking back up at him.
Sonic thankfully seemed to understand what he was implying.
“It’s a power bump.” He explained. “On Earth, it means an unbreakable promise. ”
An unbreakable promise.
Unbreakable.
No one had ever made Tails a promise before. Or if they did, they never kept it.
But looking up into Sonic’s eyes, he could see an amicable fire within those emerald greens. A desire to protect and preserve at any cost.
And it was for him.
Tails felt himself relaxing more and more in the presence of his hero. He could trust him.
He did trust him.
And that trust quickly swelled into his heart, reigniting the surge of confidence in his veins as it flowed into his hand.
Clenching his fist, Tails looked down at his hand as a smile spread across his lips.
“Okay…” He replied, his voice steady and sure. “I’m in! ”
And with that, Tails bumped his fist against Sonic’s.