Chapter Text
Seven percent.
Miles "Tails" Prower, child genius, mobian fox, and eternal sidekick hunched over a young rabbit in the cold metal shaft, twin tails pressing down rhythmically against her chest as he leaned in, using his hands to tilt her jaw back. Blood tinged clear fluid seeped onto the floor from the hole in the back of her head. The same hole he had in his own.
Breathe.
Seven percent to survive with help on the way. Seven percent with optimal conditions. Seven percent if she was defibrillated right now. Seven percent just to survive, however damaged.
Hiding in a freezing ventilation shaft with no tools, no room, and no medical help coming?
Breathe.
Not great odds. Dropping every minute.
Mobians couldn't hold their breath that long. About thirty seconds. He'd almost drowned in his tank before he escaped. She'd been in there at least twice as long before he got her.
Breathe.
Miles pulled back, his lungs burning and the tank's acrid slime foul in his mouth as he probed the side of the shaft for a maintenance panel, for anything. His bare, ungloved fingers probed in the dark. Totally smooth.
Six point three percent.
His tails ached from the unfamiliar movement. Was he going to have to-
"Mister Prower." Her voice, Cream's voice whispered through the shaft, warm and caring, a voice he'd heard every day for longer than he could remember.
The voice that belonged to the rabbit in front of him.
A whirring sound came from the room beyond the vent, metal clattering on metal and rust squeaking as a pair of whirring mechanical horrors clattered into the room. Miles forced his ragged breathing still, staring between the grate at his pursuers.
The two bots separated, limping between rows of silent metal cylinders searching for him.
Once they might have been designed after crabs, legs and claws sprouting from an egg-shaped core. Now, they couldn't make one crab with all their parts combined.
"We know you're here, Mister Prower." Cream whispered gently from both the machines, completely at odds with their decayed appearance. "We want to help you."
Five point eight percent. He leaned over again.
Breathe.
"We just want to bring you back where it's warm, and safe." Beams of light shone through the room as the bots swept from row to row, column to column.
Breathe.
He was delaying the inevitable. CPR couldn't fix a pulseless heart beat, it could only prevent tissue damage. Only an electrical shock could reset the electrical signal, and only if her heart was merely dysrhythmic, rather than stopped.
"We love you so much, after all." Cream whispered breathily. One of the crab-bots slammed its lone claw into a cylinder, sending a hollow boom through the room.
Breathe.
Miles pulled back, black spots swimming in front of his tear-filled eyes, taking over compressions with his hands to let his tails rest.
It might be hopeless. But he wouldn't stop. Couldn't stop.
Because he wasn't sure he could live without her.
Because he was sure this was his fault.
Broken beams of light penetrated the grate, illuminating Miles' hiding place.
"We found you!" Cream cried in a sing-song voice from two different voice boxes. The two crab-bots skittered towards him.
Miles blinked.
Two powered robots.
He exploded out of the vent, flying fist first into the closest crab. Even as weak and slow as he was compared to normal, he struck with the force of a small fuzzy cannonball. An arc of electricity sparked past his head as the bot rocked backwards.
Four point four percent.
Miles spun sideways as the second crab sent out a salvo of metal flying at him. They bounced harmlessly off the first crab's dented metal shell, clattering across the floor.
The thing people always seemed to misunderstand about his IQ, which was almost as many standard deviations above average than there were IQ points in those standard deviations, was that it didn't make him a scientist. He launched to his feet, slamming both tails into the second crab's cannon, smashing it to reveal sparking wires beneath.
It didn't make him talk in big words, give him a perfect memory, it didn't even make him right all the time.
The first crab righted itself, sending another shock towards him from behind. But Miles was already moving out of its way. The bolt crackled over his ear, right into the second crab's newly exposed circuitry. It exploded next to him, a skeletal bird clattered to the floor amidst a shower of scrap.
What it did do was make him think faster. Faster than most computers. Fast enough that by the time someone finished asking him a question he'd already considered every possible ramification, every possible angle, simulated countless alternatives, and had long since drifted onto tangents while he waited for them to catch up.
Miles dropped under another shock bolt, closing the gap in a low crouch before using his tails as a spring to launch up into the crab in a surging uppercut. It smashed backwards once more, losing most of its remaining legs on impact.
"Mister Prower, why? We… just… want… to… help… you~"
Miles' foot smashed into its chassis, and Cream's heartbroken voice buzzed into silence. Too late to preserve his own breaking heart.
Three point two percent.
"Don't explode yet." Miles muttered numbly as he tore the mech's damaged arm free, dragging it bodily with him towards the vent. His aching head was swimming even more now. Probably the cerebrospinal fluid leaking out of his neck.
Anyone could arrive at the right answer with enough thinking. Anyone could learn anything with enough time and patience.
And in that overclocked head of his, Miles had had plenty of time to learn all sorts of things.
Tearing sparking wires out of its body with his bare hands, Miles hauled Cream's bod- Cream out of the vent with his tails.
"Thish should… shtop yourr heart." Miles shook his head, voice slurring. "If you're not already-"
"Clear."
Miles poked the wires into her chest. Her body arched. The scent of burning fur hit his nostrils, bringing old trauma back to the forefront of his memory even as his mind continued to fade.
Why was he so- Miles' eyes widened.
The thing the robot shot. Knockout gas canisters.
Running out of time.
Miles pressed his fingers against the rabbit's throat.
Nothing.
The door opened once more. Three massive, if poorly maintained, robots clanked into the room, stylised moustache faces almost completely obscured by rust and decay.
"There you are, Mister Prower!" Cream murmured happily from the three of them.
Miles heaved forward, using his tails coiled around her to constrict the rabbit's chest to time as he dragged her and the robot back towards the vent. Bolts of energy crackled into the crab as he held it between himself and the approaching mecha.
Miles panted in exertion, aware that doing so was flooding his body with even more of the gas. Blood dripped from all across his body as the effort reopened the wounds where they'd inserted the tubes before.
Inside the vent, Miles dragged the crab bot into the opening as far as he could. Its lone glowing eye stared mutely at him as more metal canisters bounced off its body outside.
"Clear." Miles muttered.
His own warning barely reminded him to remove his own tails before he shocked her again. He wasn't going to make-
Cream let in a slow, shuddering breath, then vomited.
That was it. That was all he could do. Miles grabbed her, dragging her behind him with all the strength his fading consciousness could muster as he crawled through the mess and into the darkness beyond.
Moments later, a metal claw burst through the crab, scraping around inside the vent.
"Mister Prower? Little rabbit? Where did you go?"
The heavy mech peeled the crab-bot's body off its arm, letting it tumble to the floor where it exploded into scrap. The three heavy mechs walked in unison towards the door.
"Darling little children. We do so enjoy hide and seek."