Chapter Text
Life was good.
At least it was so for Miles “Tails” Prower, the young, orange fox who kept himself busy as Sonic the Hedgehog’s sidekick, both on and off the battlefield. The notoriously evil Dr. Eggman hadn’t been terrorizing the people of Mobius for some time now, so the two-tailed kitsune put his free time to good use: stocking up on tools for his workshop.
After purchasing a bag full of supplies from downtown Station Square’s hardware store, the fox decided that a treat to help cool himself off from the scorching hot weather was in order.
“Man, this is delicious!” Tails said to himself, walking out of a fast food restaurant with a straw in his mouth, enjoying the Mobian Scout™ mint chocolate chip cookie shake as he strolled down the crowded sidewalks of the big city. “If only they had this shake year-round, I’d be a regular customer!” Taking another sip, the young fox stood in the center of the sidewalk, pondering his next move.
Should I walk back to my plane or fly there?
Tails planted his feet against the concrete as he bent his knees, focusing on spinning his rotary namesakes which allowed him to take flight, an abnormality which, to this day, he is unable to explain with the laws of physics. Sticking his tongue out slightly from the side of his mouth, he increased their speed as he began to lift himself from the ground like a helicopter.
“Hey, man! You’re makin’ too much of a ruckus here!”
Tails immediately stopped spinning his namesakes, landing back on the ground before swinging himself around to find a row of fellow Mobians of different species waiting behind him. The normally well-kept hair of those nearest the orange kitsune were sticking up, and their eyes were wide open in surprise.
“Oops, sorry about that.” The orange fox placed a hand behind his head and chuckled nervously, forgetting just how much wind his tails could generate.
I guess that settles that, then.
The young kitsune strolled along, sipping his dessert beverage in one hand as he swayed the disposable bag in the other, smiling to himself as he took in the air around him. While he enjoyed the unpolluted fresh air of the Mystic Ruins, where he lived with Sonic at his combined household and workshop, the scent of car exhaust reminded him greatly of machinery, making him all the more excited to get home and start his next project: upgrading his signature Tornado biplane.
Walking down a busy sidewalk, the fox could hear something down the alleyway over the sounds of passing vehicles and pedestrians on their cell phones.
“What is that?” The orange fox peered down the alley, bags of garbage caking the gap between the two tall buildings on either side with broken glass, dented aluminum cans, and other refuse strewn all about. Twitching a triangular ear, the fox cupped a gloved hand around it, hoping to better hone-in on the noise.
“Is that…” Tails leaned in closer, as if wishing to avoid physically stepping into the disgusting alley unless absolutely necessary. “Is that crying I hear?” The young kitsune took careful steps into the abandoned alley, watching the ground below as he narrowly avoided crushing a rat feeding on a half-eaten hotdog. The crying grew louder as he ventured deeper down the narrow path. Finally, he came upon a dumpster, located on the corner where the alley made a sharp turn between several sets of tall buildings.
Setting his beverage and bag down on the dirty pavement below, the fox rubbed his hands before lifting the heavy lid, allowing it to crash against the side of the parallel building where it remained upright. Pulling himself up by the side of the refuse bin, Tails looked within. His pupils shrank and jaw dropped when he discovered what was contained therein.
“What the heck?” he managed to say as he crawled over the side of the slimy dumpster, landing inside with a thud, falling on his behind as garbage caked his once pristine fur. The force of the fall caused the dumpster lid to close with a loud bang, plunging Tails into the pitch black.
“Great. Just great…” The young kitsune reached his dirty paws into his utility belt for a miniature flashlight. Fumbling in the darkness for several seconds, he eventually found it, pulling it out of the zipped compartment and flicking it on. Scanning the immediate vicinity of the dumpster, his face contorted as his nose finally caught up with the smell of the weeks-old garbage stewing in the hot sun. He was about to plug his nose with his fingers when he remembered that his gloves were covered in slime.
Resisting the urge to vomit, Tails aimed his flashlight toward the corner of the dumpster to find a cardboard box. Crawling over to it with one hand, and holding the flashlight with the other, the orange fox verified what he thought he saw and heard earlier.
A litter of fox cubs.
Five to be exact. Each were small, about a foot tall, no clothes save for their diapers. The furry toddlers were crawling over each other to see the light flashing at them from above.
“At least they stopped crying.” Tails wedged his flashlight beneath his armpit as he felt around the cardboard box. “Seems sturdy enough.” Standing up, Tails lifted himself out of the dumpster, pushing the lid open as he balanced along its rim before using his rotary namesakes to float back down into the refuse bin toward the box of cubs. The toddlers appeared transfixed, adorably looking up at their savior with big eyes. The elder fox smiled back at them as he hovered over the nameless kits.
Maintaining a small gap between himself and the cardboard box, Tails clasped onto either side as he began to float out of the dumpster.
“Man…you’re heavy for a bunch of cubs.” Tails strained his wrists as his arms wobbled. Steering himself away from the garbage, the young kitsune gently set the box down in the alley before collapsing next to the fox litter, smashing his face against the cement as he fell.
“Ohhh…” Tails rubbed his bruised forehead before returning his attention to the box by his side. All five of them stared at him with wonder in their eyes, their heads tilted in curiosity and their small paws hooked over the edge of the box.
Tails crawled over to get a better look at them. All were roughly the same size, a shade of yellowish-orange not unlike his own fur, but none of them had more than one tail. What they lacked in tail quantity they more than made up for in fluff, their faces so overgrown with fur they’d need some proper grooming eventually.
“Ahhhh.” Tails sighed as he allowed the endorphins to course through his veins. He extended a gloved hand toward the box, the small cubs reaching their own hands out to touch it. They merrily laughed, with one clapping their hands together excitedly.
“They’re so adorable.” Tails chuckled as he placed his free hand behind his head. His face turned cold, however, when his mind wandered to how the cubs ended up in the dumpster in the first place.
“What kind of monsters would throw away their own kids?” He frowned as he allowed the children to grab hold of his arm. They laughed as they crawled over each other.
“Well, I can’t get them home all by myself.” Tails activated his wristwatch communicator, which was conveniently strapped to his free arm, and raised it to his muzzle.
“Call. Sonic.” The watch began ringing before abruptly stopping with a crackle.
“Hiya Tails!” came a cheerful, enthusiastic voice.
“Hey Sonic,” Tails began, trying to figure out just how to explain the situation to his older brother. After a few seconds of silence, he ultimately decided to keep his request vague, determining that it’d be best to show the blue hedgehog his predicament rather than to tell him over the phone. “Kinda have a situation here. Can you meet me in Station Square? I’m in an abandoned alley just south of the burger joint.”
“I’ll be there in a flash!” Not questioning his younger bro, Sonic disconnected the call as Tails placed his wrist in his lap. Looking down, the young kitsune smiled once more as two of the cubs gnawed his arm.
“That tickles!” Tails giggled, refusing to pull his arm away as the remaining cubs watched the elder fox laughing beside them with cheerful smiles on their faces.
Lifting the arm that kept the cubs amused, one of them clasped their own arms around it as Tails brought the child toward his lap. Carefully maneuvering his other arm, he cradled the kit against his furry belly. Having no experience in the area of parenting, the elder fox instinctively rocked his arms left and right as the cub’s eyelids slowly began to close.
Tails’ own eyes began to grow heavy until he jolted himself upright as a blast of air whizzed past him, followed by the unmistakable sound of a certain hedgehog’s shoes skidding against the concrete. Tilting his head back, he looked up at his older brother, sipping on the orange kitsune’s long-forgotten mint milkshake.
“Oh, hiya Sonic.” Tails smiled as the blue hedgehog slurped down the rest of the dessert beverage. “What took you so long?” Crushing the cylindrical cup with a gloved fist, Sonic threw it toward the nearby dumpster. Despite the long throw, the cup landed perfectly in the center of the refuse bin.
“What d’ya mean ‘so long’?” Sonic made air quotes with his fingers. “Your directions weren’t exactly specific, you know.”
“Heh, I guess not.” The young kitsune itched the back of his head while using his other arm to keep the fox cub cradled against his chest.
“What do we have here?” The blue hedgehog bent his knees, allowing himself a closer view of the fox cub below. “So…who’s the mom?” Sonic grinned at his younger brother, who gasped at the blue hedgehog’s sarcastic insinuation.
“Wait, they’re not my kids, Sonic.” Tails looked down at the cub in his lap before peering over at the toddlers in the cardboard box, who had since cuddled against each other and begun to fall asleep themselves. “After all, they each only have a single tail.” The young kitsune fluttered his namesakes to emphasize his point.
“Either way,” Sonic replied, standing upright once more before folding his arms, “how’d they end up here?”
“I’m just as confused as you are, Sonic.” Tails gently lifted himself up, careful not to wake the cub in his arms as he gently set them alongside their siblings. The toddler instinctively wrapped their small arms around a neighboring torso. “You see, I was walking back to the Tornado when I heard them crying in the alley, so I came to investigate.” The young fox pointed toward the dumpster. “I found them in the trash over there, so I flew them out and called you.”
“Absolutely disgusting.” Sonic tightened his fists as his arms shook. “Who’d do something like this, Tails?” The blue hedgehog gritted his teeth in anger.
“It’s okay, Sonic.” Tails approached his older brother and gave him a hug. “I’m just as mad as you, but what matters now is that they’re safe.” It took Sonic several seconds to loosen his fists before raising his palms against the orange kitsune’s back, reciprocating his hug in earnest. Gently pulling himself away from the embrace, Tails raised a gloved finger to his chin.
“What should we do now?” He looked down at the sleeping toddlers, concern written on his face.
“Have you thought about taking them to the police?” Sonic emulated his younger brother, rubbing his chin as he peered down at the small fox cubs.
“I’m not sure that is a good idea.” Tails gently kicked a small pebble into a dirty puddle several meters away. “If we do that, the kids would be put into some foster home. I don’t wanna do that to them, Sonic!” The young kitsune’s eyes began to moisten.
“I don’t want that either, Tails.” It was Sonic’s turn to provide emotional support, clasping his younger brother’s hands. “Foster homes aren’t all bad, despite what you often hear.”
“I know,” The young fox turned his face away, “I just…don’t want them to grow-up without parents…like me…” Tails allowed a stream of tears to roll down his face.
“Hey, don’t cry, little guy.” Sonic used a gloved finger to gently stop the teardrops in their tracks, flicking them away before giving his younger brother a hug. Tails returned it as his teared ebbed, sniffing as he allowed his face to rest against Sonic’s chest.
“…what if we adopt them?” Tails looked up at the blue hedgehog, who had a surprised look on his face.
“What do you mean?” Sonic gently ceased the embrace and folded his arms once more.
“Well…you know…” The young kitsune rubbed the back of his head with his hand. “Like…just keep them?”
“I’m not sure that’s how adoption works, buddy.” Sonic placed a gloved hand on Tails’ shoulder. “But ya know what? Our place is better than a rundown alleyway, so let’s say we take ‘em home for now!”
“Right!” Tails turned back to the cardboard box, where the fox cubs still slumbered soundly. “You mind helping me out with this?” The young kitsune planted his feet beside the box and bent his knees as he attempted to find a good handhold along its bottom edge.
“Sure thing, pal!” Dashing over to the other side, Sonic reached down and dug his fingers under the box. “Ready? One, two, and…”
“Three!” They said in as and they picked up the box. While both could carry this sort of weight for short periods of time, especially in the heat of battle, they decided that sharing the load would be the safest option, especially given the precious nature of the cargo in question and the distance they had to walk.
Tails snagged his bagged hardware store supplies as he and Sonic carefully backed out of the alley and into the sidewalk beyond, turning as they stepped into the pedestrian traffic and slowly made their way back to the biplane.
Hope you all liked the first chapter! The idea for this fic came about while chatting with users on the r/MilesPrower Discord server that I help moderate.
I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments on what you’d like to see next in this fic! Unlike A Prelude to Chaos Control, I don’t have this story thoroughly mapped out. While I have some ideas going forward, I’m going to fly by the seat of my pants for much of the ride. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, ideas, or critiques, though, feel free to drop a review or shoot me a PM on FanFiction.net, Tumblr, or Reddit! My only major requirement is that it contains all the fluff! UwU
Meanwhile, work continues on chapter 12 of Prelude. The spouse and I have been unexpectedly traveling a lot this past week, so I haven’t been writing as much, but I still hope to get my next chapter up by Wednesday, September 9, 2020. I’ll update my profile if I miss this deadline.
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed the first chapter! Expect more in the foreseeable future. :P