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Chapter Text

The Wachowski house was unusually quiet that night. Everyone in the house was deep in sleep. Everyone except for the youngest member of their self-proclaimed “tribe.” Tails was in the garage, welding together the russet colored metal he found only a few days prior. Sonic’s words rang in his ears. 

“I guess the rest of my rings are in the snow somewhere in Siberia. It’s fine though. I run fast enough to escape any amateur that may try to hurt me.” The hedgehog smiled brightly, but the thought still nagged at the young fox’s mind.

“What if we are in danger and there’s no way to run out of the situation in one piece?” And thus, Tails started on his work to create replicas of Sonic’s rings that were given to him by Longclaw. Ironically, despite the simplicity of the device, there was a lot more going on below the surface. It had taken the young fox a couple of weeks with breaks to spend time with his family in between before he finally finished his project. He held up the ring in between his thumb and index finger. “Not the right color, but it’ll have to do,” Tails mumbled to himself. 

He looked to his right where a piece of paper was pinned. On it was a list of possible places for him to test out the rings on. At the top, and his first test run for the rings was New York City. Tails faced an open space in the garage, and he let out a shaky breath as he threw the ring in front of him, envisioning the busy, colorful city. Please work please work please work…

In the end, his quest was successful. The ring opened and in front of him was the colorful, bustling streets of New York City. Tails stepped through and took in the city air. It was a lot more smelly than he expected, but he was more amazed by all the colors and how alive the city was. He was so engaged with the colors that he didn’t notice the portal closing behind him. Tails turned back, ready to go back through the portal to the comfort of his home, eager to share the news with his family that his long nights of experimenting finally paid off, but all he saw was a wall behind him. Panic started to rise up in the young fox’s chest. 

Before he could think any more about his predicament, a woman gasped behind him. He turned and saw a group of people staring at him in horror and fear. “It’s another mutant!” The fox held his two tails defensively, scared of what these people may do. The group of humans merely froze and stared at him in fear, as if he were an unpredictable wild animal. Many of them pulled out their phones and started frantically describing him to whoever they were calling. 

“Yes, it looks like a red fox…” 

“I think it’s a kitsune.”

“Oh my god. I just realized it has two tails.”

“Sad disgusting little thing.”

“Oh no it looked at me! What should I do?”

Tails looked around him and finally saw an opening in the crowd. He decided not to stick around and find out what would happen to him, so he made a run for it. The crowd screamed and made the opening much easier for him to run through before starting to chase after him. He used his tails to try and fly to the roof of a nearby building, which sent the humans into a frenzy. 

“Oh my god it can fly! Someone take care of that thing before someone gets hurt!”

“Damn mutants…”

Tails’ heart pounded as he finally made it to the roof, far away from the prying eyes of the humans. He sat down and started hugging his knees to his chest in order to calm himself down. His tails wrapped around him, which slowed the fox’s racing heartbeat. After calming himself down, the young fox quickly took a peek over the roof to see if the humans who saw him were still there. They were gone. Tails breathed out a sigh of relief before standing up and looking all around him. Now that he was able to take a breath of air, the question finally arose in his mind. 

“Where am I?”

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Sonic yawned as he quietly walked down the steps of the attic. He took a glass out of the cabinet and filled it with a little bit of water for him to drink. As he drank the liquid, his ear twitched at the familiar sound of a portal ring closing from the garage. Sonic’s senses heightened and he quickly made his way to the source of the sound. Sonic knew that Tails had been hard at work in his lab the past few weeks. With what, he didn’t know. All Tails would tell him was that it was a surprise and left him in bed to ponder over what Tails possibly could be making. The thought of what Tails was making was killing him, and Sonic was curious.

Sonic slowly creaked open the door to the garage and could only see Tails’ empty lab. “Huh… maybe Tails finally went to bed and forgot to turn off the light?” Sonic sped back up to the attic and took a glance at Tails’ bed. It was empty…

Sonic’s breath quickened as he sped back to the garage and sped around multiple times, fear rising up in him. “Sonic?” A voice mumbled at the door of the garage. Sonic turned to see Tom, half awake, rubbing his eyes with his palm in an effort to wake up more.
“Okay so I got up to get a glass of water because I was thirsty, but then I heard a weird noise from the garage so I thought maybe Tails was up late working on his project again, but he wasn’t in there, and he isn’t in his room, and I can’t find him anywhere-” Tom grabbed Sonic by the shoulders, and the hedgehog looked up at his father. “Slow down buddy. Just take a second to breathe first, then you can tell me what happened once you’ve calmed down.” 

Knuckles and Maddie shuffled sleepily into the room. Sonic tried his best to breathe and calm himself down. Knuckles spoke up drowsily, “Hedgehog, where’s the fox? He isn’t in his soft cocoon.” Maddie’s eyes suddenly opened wider as she turned towards Knuckles, “He’s not in his bed?” Knuckles simply shook his head. 

A bag on Tails’ workbench fell over on its side and a single red ring fell out with a clang. It rolled until it collided with Sonic’s foot, gaining the attention of the blue hedgehog. Tom picked up the ring and the realization hit him like a truck. 

“Oh god…” Sonic raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean, ‘oh god?” Tom lifted his head to meet his son’s eyes then turned to face Maddie and Knuckles. “We may want to freshen ourselves up a little bit.”

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One thing Tails started to miss about Green Hills was how quiet it was at night. New York was constantly busy. There was always someone up and about down in the streets. Tails for once didn’t know what to do and resorted to just looking at the lights of the city for comfort. He had looked through his backpack and found a couple of red rings, but they weren’t completed, so Tails was stranded in a large city with no one he knew.

Suddenly, Tails’ ear twitched as he heard the sound of footsteps. The fox turned around quickly, laser gun raised, ready to defend himself. Four tall, shadowy figures jumped from one building to the roof where Tails resided. Tails took a moment and realized the figures weren’t exactly human. They looked human in structure but upon closer inspection, it turned out they were large turtles. The tallest one, donning a red mask crouched down to Tails’ level, and spoke in a soft voice, which made Tails ease up ever so slightly. 

“Hey buddy. What are you doing up here? You lost?” Tails could only nod as the turtle in the purple mask muttered, “What an interesting weapon. Where did you get that?” Tails stammered, “I um… I built it myself.” The turtle in purple’s eyes widened with what seemed like excitement as he turned toward the other three turtles, “Ohmigosh can we take him home? I want to show him all of my inventions-” The red-masked turtle sighed, “Look this kid is lost. We’ve got to find his parents.”

“They’re back in Montana.” The largest turtle paused his speech to pay attention to the young fox. “Wait, where are your parents?” Tails finally lowered his gun all the way. “They’re in Green Hills, Montana,” Tails spoke clearly. The turtles looked at each other with a confused look on their faces. “What? What is it,” the young fox asked. The purple-masked turtle stepped toward him. 

“There’s no town named ‘Green Hills’ in Montana…” Tails looked at the four turtles confusedly, but then it clicked. Not only was he not in his hometown, he wasn’t even on the same planet anymore. He was in a completely different universe. And his family probably doesn’t even know.

“Well look, kid, it’s late, and I don’t know about you, but it is not a good idea to be out in New York City late at night. There’s rumors of a dangerous fox-kitsune mutant going around and I… don’t… wait…” Tails tensed up, his two tails bushed up and wrapped around his body. The smaller turtle in an orange mask spoke up, “Raph… I think that’s the mutant that everyone’s been talking about...” The turtle Tails assumed was named Raph’s eyes widened as he stared at him. “It’s just a kid. There’s no way this little guy is dangerous!”

The blue turtle spoke up, with a voice a little too familiar to Tails. “Baxter Stockman was also a kid, and I know you remember how much of a menace he was.” Tails was taken aback by the blue turtle’s voice. The way he stood and talked reminded him so much of Sonic.

“Well we can’t just leave the poor kid out here.” Tails clutched the straps of his backpack nervously as “Raph” stepped closer and kneeled down with an outstretched, three-fingered hand. “Hey look… just until we find your family, are you ok just coming with us? We’ve got somewhere you can stay until we find them.” 

Tails pondered for a second. He didn’t know these turtles. Sure they seemed nice enough, but he didn’t know if they were truly good people or not. Then again, what other choice did he have. Tails took a glance back down at the busy street and sighed before taking the large turtle’s hand.

The red-masked turtle smiled. “Welcome to the team little dude!”

Chapter Text

After freshening themselves up, Tom let out a sigh. “So I think I know what Tails was working on.” Sonic’s ears perked up, curious as to what the answer was. “Ever since Sonic mentioned losing his rings, Tails has been hard at work in his lab. I think he may have been trying to recreate the portal rings you lost.” Tom placed the ring in Sonic’s hand. 

The blue hedgehog looked at the device resting on his palm. It looked like one of his rings, but instead of a bright gold, the metal was a bright red, and a red star pulsated in the middle. “So that’s why he’s been busy lately…”

“And he has this list of places, probably to test out the rings. None of them were crossed out, so he must have gotten locked into the first location on the list with no way to get back.” Maddie grabbed the paper then the bag of rings. Knuckles followed closely behind her. Maddie took a look at the paper in hand then grabbed a ring and threw it with all her strength toward the open space and the ring opened up to a colorful bustling city. Maddie and Knuckles turned to look at Sonic and Tom.

“Well, are you going to stand there or are you going to help us find the fox?” Knuckles’ voice boomed. Without a second thought, Sonic and Tom stepped forward to join their family members, then they stepped through the portal together. Once they got to the other side, the portal closed behind them.

They stood in front of a large hotel. It looked quite fancy and it had the words “Grand Nexus Hotel” at the top of the building, in big neon letters that glimmered with the lights of the city. They stepped closer to the front doors of the tall building. 

“Huh… never heard of this hotel before. Think they may know where Tails is?” Sonic looked up at Tom, hope gleaming in his eyes. Before Tom could speak, Knuckles spoke up, “We have to start somewhere if we are to find the fox.” 

And with that, the Wachowskis walked through the hotel doors. The floors were a very expensive looking carpet, and everything about the hotel’s waiting room seemed very sophisticated. An upbeat voice rang out in the hotel. “Well scrumdiddlyumptious! What have we here?” Their heads turned to see a woman with purple skin and silver hair standing elegantly. Her clothing was about as elegant as her stance.

Sonic stared at her before saying, “You talk weird.” The woman’s eyes widened. “Why, you sound exactly like a certain someone I know. But enough of that. You lot seem tired. Let Big Mama escort you to your appropriate rooms.” 

Maddie stepped between her family and the self-proclaimed “Big Mama,” defensively. “We’re a family. We stick together.” Big Mama smiled sweetly, “Oh! No probbledoo! You all can come right this way.”

She led the group to an elevator and inside was a weird penguin creature with 8 legs. “Yokai, Level 5.” Tom took a glance, and then he took another to process what this creature was. Big Mama seemed to notice Tom’s shock and giggled, “Oh don’t mind him. We have a lot of your childrens kind here.” Sonic’s ears perked up, but Knuckles only “hmphed” at Big Mama’s comment.

“Hard to agree, peculiar temptress. I’ve been ‘around the block,’ as some say and there’s no one else quite like the hedgehog here.” Big Mama leaned down and placed a finger on the echidna’s nose. “Oh quite the contrary. There’s many yokai just like you and your friend here,” Big Mama said with a smile. Sonic looked up at Big Mama in confusion. “Yokai? You must be confused. I’m not a yokai.” Big Mama raised her eyebrows in curiosity. “Why, that’s peculiar, but no matter! I’m sure you’ll feel right at home here.”

The elevator finally stopped and the doors opened with a ding. In front of them were many different “yokai” as Big Mama called them. They sat at elegant tables, and they looked toward Big Mama and her new guests. Sonic sped around the room, seeming eager to strike up conversations with everyone in the room, but just as soon as he left, he rejoined the group. “Ugh everyone here’s so boring.” Big Mama said nothing and led the group through many different rooms, one of them showcasing a similar set up as the one before, but with large orbs showcasing some type of gladiator battle. 

Knuckles tensed up as he took a peek at one of the large orbs and saw a wolf yokai tear apart a giant snake from the inside-out. He was reminded of the gladiator battles he had to take part in, but he simply just shut his eyes, grabbed Maddie’s hand, and followed his tribe to wherever Big Mama was taking them.

They eventually came into a large office with a desk and chair in front of a floor-to-ceiling window. “Let me just get the proper paperwork and then I can lead you to your rooms.” As she shuffled through her desk drawers she tried to make conversation. “So what brings a ragtag group like you here?” Maddie crossed her arms. “We’re looking for a family member. He’s 8 years old. He’s probably got a backpack on with a lot of inventions. He’s probably alone and scared, and we just want to get him back home.” Big Mama giggled, “You seem like such a good mother. Well I haven’t seen anyone with that description, so I can’t help you much.” 

Suddenly Big Mama stopped shuffling through her drawers and slowly lifted her head. “So little question for you little kiddies here. Do you have any mystical abilities?” Knuckles tilted his head. “Yes we do. Are you requesting our help with something?” Big Mama grinned.

“Why yes… I need some more champions for the Battle Nexus.” Before they could react, Big Mama morphed into a giant spider and shot webs at the Wachowskis, leaving them unable to move. Knuckles managed to break out of his cocoon and lunged toward Big Mama, but he abruptly stopped as he felt a prick on his back. He looked back to see a scorpion yokai who just pricked him with its tail. 

Knuckles tried to fight the poison that quickly spread through his body, but his arms and legs got weaker and weaker, and his breathing slowed. The last thing he heard was his family screaming his name in desperation as darkness swallowed his vision.

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If there’s one thing Tails would say was smellier than the streets of New York would be the sewers. The large turtle known as “Raph” let Tails ride on his shoulders when they reached the halfway point of their “lair.” After many twists and turns, they made it to their home and were met with a rat in a robe watching TV on a tattered chair. He looked at the turtles and smiled. “My boys. Welcome home!” Raph chuckled nervously. “Hey pops. So um… we have a guest with us.” Tails took that as his cue to drop down to the ground and introduce himself. 

“My name’s Miles Wachowski, but I just go by Tails. It’s nice to meet you.” The rat’s shocked expression then softened before grabbing Tails and lifting him up as if he were the rat’s own child. “So this is the ‘scary mutant’ that was on the news! Ha! Wow! Oh no! Don’t fluff up and cuddle me to death!” The rat laughed and gently placed Tails on the ground and ruffled the fur on top of his head. “Well just know you are always welcome here.” The rat made his way back to his chair and his eyes were glued to the tv once more. Tails took a peek at what he was watching and realized the rat was watching commercials. Tails looked confusedly before he heard a voice behind him. 

“Hello fellow science man!” Tails turned to face the tall, purple-masked turtle. His eyes seemed to gleam with excitement. “The name’s Donatello. Would you like to see my vast array of inventions?” Tails’ eyes gleamed in excitement. “Oh I’d love to!” And with that, Donatello led the young, two-tailed fox into his mini lair, both of them chatting away excitedly.

Chapter Text

When stepping into Donnatello’s lab, Tails almost ran into some type of flying robot. Mikey was in the laboratory as well. He had a piece of paper and box of crayons, and he seemed focused on what he was drawing, tongue sticking out in thought. The robot stopped in its place, staring at Tails curiously, and Donatello sighed. “Shelldon… what did I tell you about speeding through the lair?” The robot made a sighing noise, “Not to do it.” A metal arm sprung from the contraption on Donatello’s back and patted Shelldon gently on the “head” before the robot slowly flew past Tails. 

“Ooh I thought that thing on your back was just for show! What else can it do, Mister Donatello?” Donatello’s eyes lit up. “First of all, just call me Donnie. Secondly, my fellow inventor: This is my Battle Shell. Unlike my brothers, who have hard and sturdy shells, my shell is soft and frankly, not the best protection.” Donnie pressed a button and the purple battle shell clicked off his back, revealing a softer looking shell. Unlike his brothers, Tails could make out Donnie’s spine from his shell. “So it’s kind of like battle armor which also has other uses?” Donnie smiled. “Bingo. I have multiple of these. This is just the one I happened to be using tonight. They all utilize microwave transceivers as a form of communication.”

“Ooh! Can I see the other battle shells?” Tails asked, eager to see the rest of Donnie’s inventions. Donnie excitedly led Tails to a wall in his laboratory wall. There were many battle shells that looked like the one Donnie was wearing earlier, but they seemed to have different functions. Donnie put the battle shell he took off back on the wall and grabbed a different battle shell off the wall and put it on his carapace.

“Now normally I wear this one simply because of convenience, and you’ll see why right about… now!” With a press of a button, motors appeared from the battle shell and Donatello started hovering in the air. Tail’s mouth dropped and he tapped his feet in excitement. “Oh that’s so cool! I can do that too!” The young fox’s tails spun rapidly and he rose in the air to meet Donnie at eye level. It was now Donnie’s turn to be amazed. 

“How do you do that?!” Tails giggled bashfully as the both of them lowered to the ground. “Ah it’s just one of few perks of having an extra tail.” Mikey seemed to perk up from what he was drawing.

“Few? I can think of so many reasons having two fluffy tails like that would be awesome! You can use them to grab things, you can use them as pillows, you’ve got the flying thing. And there’s so many more!” Tails looked down at the ground. He did start feeling more comfortable about his genetic mutation, but he still felt self conscious about it. He couldn’t help it.

“Well… growing up, my tails were a source of bullying, and I think this,” Tails grabbed one of his tails. “Is why I’m now ‘New York’s Most Wanted.’” Donnie sighed. “Look. If I know anything about humans, and I definitely do, it wasn’t really the extra tail that set them off. It was the fact you are an anthropomorphic fox that kind of freaked them out.” Tails furrowed his brow at the turtle. Mikey gently shoved his brother away. 

“Not helping Donnie.”

“I mean it’s true. That’s how humans are.”

Tails stood there awkwardly as Mikey sighed. “Look. Humans don’t really take kindly to us either. It’s not just you. There are a few good ones though, trust me. We can introduce you to our good friend, April, tomorrow.” Mikey smiled and Tails felt a little better. 

Only thing that was missing was the rest of his family…

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Knuckles awoke to Tom violently shaking him awake. “Okay bud, time to wake up!” Knuckles blinked a few times before his eyes focused and he recognized Tom. He looked quite frazzled and riddled with anxiety. Maddie placed her hands on Tom’s shoulders and dragged him back. Sonic piped up from somewhere outside of Knuckles’ line of sight.

“Don’t worry guys! I’ll get us out of here in no time!” Maddie and Tom looked away from Knuckles. Maddie face-palmed and slightly laughed and Tom walked off saying, “Sonic, what are you wearing? I know you got super speed and Knuckles has the power bump thing, but Maddie and I? Kinda screwed, buddy.” Sonic merely laughed and the memories of before the poison kicked in came back to Knuckles… only to be replaced with sheer panic. His hands slightly trembled. The only one to notice was Maddie, but all she could do was place a hand on Knuckles’ clenched, trembling fist.

As Knuckles’ eyes adjusted, he finally realized that Maddie and himself weren’t in their usual clothes. In fact, as Knuckles turned his head to look at Tom and Sonic, all of them had a weird array of costumes on. Sonic lowered his shades and laughed. 

“So the mighty echidna warrior finally woke up from his slumber!” The hedgehog’s words merely echoed through Knuckles’ mind. It can’t happen again… not again… never again… I need to remain strong… I need to be strong in order to get my tribe out of here safely…

The sound of giggling brought Knuckles back to reality. Big Mama, back in her human form, patted Maddie on the back. “Good luck out there, cutie. I think you’ll need it you snugmuffin!” Maddie’s brow furrowed, and her cheeks flushed a bit. She turned away from Big Mama to focus on her son, not saying a word. “Oh so we’re being silent now! Well no matter! Have fun out there!” 

As Big Mama left, Knuckles tried to get up and attack her, but he found it difficult to raise his fists. That was when he noticed the cuffs right above his gloves. “Tsk tsk tsk, oh sweet little cherry blossom. You will be wearing these at all times. But don’t worry! The weight will be taken off when you step into the arena.” And with that, Big Mama walked away. Knuckles looked at his fists, dejected. There was no way for him to smash his way out of this one. Him and his family were trapped. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey big guy. Don’t worry about it. They did the same thing to my speed too.” Knuckles knew Sonic was just trying to make him feel better, but it was to no avail. Suddenly a group of yokai pushed Knuckles and his family towards the gates of the Battle Nexus Stadium. Knuckles could hear the agonizing, maddening screams of a large creature in the gate across from them. Tom muttered a very shaky sentence that every one of the Wachowski’s were thinking at that moment…

“What have we gotten ourselves into?”

Chapter Text

Tails fidgeted with his hands nervously as he stood in front of the apartment complex. While he was wearing a yellow hoodie, he was scared that someone would take off the hood and reveal his freakiness to the world once more. Mikey put a hand on Tails’ shoulder and smiled. “Don’t worry. We will be right here with you. Just stay close, and you should be fine.”

The group of mutants and Tails stepped into the apartment complex and made their way to the elevator. As the elevator rose, Tails nervously gripped a hand. He didn’t care who’s hand he was gripping. Tails just wanted to make it to this “April” person’s place so that he didn’t feel like he’d have to hide anymore. The doors of the elevator opened up and Tails followed the turtles as they stepped out of the elevator and made their way down the hallway to a door.

Donatello knocked on the door, and soon after, the door opened. Behind the door was a tall sheep? Goat? Tails wasn’t sure what he was. He had a cold stare and just quietly stepped to the side to let the group in. The fur on his face was pink and his hair was maroon. His orange eyes glowered at Tails who simply just stood close to the turtles. 

A bright, cheery voice rang out. “Finally! I was getting kinda worried that I’d have to eat dinner alone with ‘sheep man’ Baron Draxum here. So what’s this surprise you’ve been telling me about, Don?” Donatello smirked. 

“Behold!” Suddenly Tails was pushed to the front of the group and the hood was removed from his head. In front of him was a young woman with dark skin, hair, and eyes. She stared at Tails for a second before smiling and picking him up!

“Awwww he’s so cute! What’s your name, little guy?” Tails was caught off guard. He didn’t know she would react like this to seeing him in person. “Umm,” Tails stammered, collecting his thoughts. “It’s Tails.” April brought him into a hug and started petting him on the head. “Oh my gosh, he’s so fluffy! Where did you find him?”

As Raphael explained the events that transpired a few days ago, the girl let go of Tails, giving him one last pet on the head before doing so. Behind her he saw a weird looking creature that seemed to resemble a cat, but it had two tusks sticking out of its mouth. Its tail swished and it tilted its head curiously. Suddenly it disappeared in a flash and reappeared on the girl’s shoulder. Tails stepped back from the initial shock, but then slowly stepped forward again to carefully pet the creature. It leaped onto his chest and started purring, prompting the young fox to pet the creature some more.

Tails looked up to see the turtles and the girl staring at him as the creature’s purring continued. Raph crossed his arms. “Lucky! I can’t get a word in without Mayhem clawing my face! Seems like he likes you!” Mayhem teleported away from Tails, reappearing on the girl’s shoulder again. This must be the April O’Neil that the turtles were talking about. Tails lifted an outstretched hand toward the girl. 

“It’s very nice to meet you Miss…” The girl put a hand on her chest. “Awww! so sweet! Just call me April.” She smiled brightly, and Tails felt a slight bit of comfort. She reminded him of Maddie. Both very kind, yet April seemed like more of a firecracker than Maddie.

Someone with a very deep voice cleared their throat. “Hate to interrupt this… touching moment, but dinner is served." And with that, the turtles silently made their way to the table, with Tails right behind them.

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The meal itself wasn’t the worst thing Tails ever had to eat. It’s not like Tails had any right to complain. He was so hungry that he really could care less about the quality. Everyone was sitting around on the furniture just chatting away, but Tails let his mind wander. He wondered how his family may be doing without him. Did they even notice he was gone? Are they looking for him? What if they used the rings, followed him here, and now they’re in trouble? What if-

“Hey, Tails? Helloooooo?” Tails was snapped out of his spiral and turned to see Leonardo waving his hands in front of the young fox’s face. “I asked if you wanted to go to the Battle Nexus with Donnie and me. I thought maybe it would take your mind off of… this whole situation.” Tails was taken aback for only a moment, then nodded his head. Leo ruffled the fur on top of Tails’ head and walked away. Tails took in a deep breath, and his mind started to slow down, and eventually, stop its spiral. His family most likely had Sonic with them. If they did get in some sort of trouble, Sonic could get them out of said trouble easily!

…Right?

Chapter Text

Tails sat on the floor of the lair, drawing absentmindedly with the crayons Mikey gave him. While his hands made the picture, the young fox’s mind was elsewhere. He couldn’t stop thinking of all that had happened to him in such a short period of time. Just a few months ago, he was watching Sonic from his planet, now he’s in a completely different universe, with no idea where his newly-found family could possibly be.

Tails was snapped out of his thoughts by a familiar voice laughing. “Whatcha doing, buddy?” The young fox’s hopes rose, if only for a second, but he soon realized that it wasn’t his brother he was hearing. Leonardo sat down beside him, staring curiously at the paper on the floor. Tails realized he had been absentmindedly drawing Sonic with the one blue crayon that was in the box. Tails placed the crayon down gently as Leo lightly chuckled.

“I don’t know who that guy is, but he sure does look cool!” Tails’ eyes brightened up. “That is Sonic the Hedgehog. He’s super fast, and he saved his planet from an evil scientist! Twice! …Actually, you and him are pretty similar!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! You and him are both great heroes, blue suits you both very well, you’re both really funny…” Leo made a dramatic pose and snarked, “I’d like to meet this guy.”

“But… he also can turn into a golden version of himself with these things called the chaos emeralds. With them, he can gain almost godlike powers. He used them to save the world a second time, but he gave that power up. Now that I think about it, maybe that was actually the best option. I can’t imagine having to live with that much power all the time. But you two sound almost exactly the same!” Leo smirked. “Really? Does he have a missing arm?”

“Missing arm? What missing arm? You don’t have a missing-” Tails was cut off by Leo detaching his right arm, holding it in his left hand, leaving the young fox shocked. “I… how???” Leo simply laughed. “Lost it fighting an ancient alien called the Kraang a few months ago. Ugly looking things. But hey, I learned a lot from that experience.” Tails smiled. “Funny you say that. Sonic and I have had our own adventure a few months ago as well.” Leo saw the young fox fidget with his hands, so he began asking more questions to comfort Tails.

“So what was it like before you met Sonic? I’m sure you were the coolest guy around being that you could fly with those things!” The young fox looked away and simply replied, “That’s… not exactly true. Back on my home planet, the village I grew up in didn’t really like me. They thought I was a freak due to my freaky genetic mutation here,” the fox gestured to his tails solemnly. 

“Honestly, I’m glad that Sonic’s family took me in. I don’t think I could ever return back there…” Leo scoffed, “Well, as Donnie would say, the people in your village are dumb-dumbs.” He placed a hand on top of the young fox’s head and ruffled the fur playfully. “You know… you actually remind me a lot of Mikey and Donnie. I mean you are very creative, you’re a huge tech whiz, and most importantly, you aren’t afraid to let yourself be vulnerable. Don’t ever lose that. ‘Kay little dude?” Tails nodded and wrapped his arms around the teen. 

Leo instinctively reciprocated the embrace. Something about this young fox seemed to bring him back to his turtle tot days. Whenever he mended his brothers’ wounds, especially Mikey’s, he always managed to bring them comfort, and the same was happening here. 

Once the two separated, Leo put a hand on Tails’ shoulder. “Hey, we still up for our day out in the Hidden City? See what’s going on with the Battle Nexus?” Tails smiled and nodded excitedly. Leo sat for a while with the kit, rambling about their respective siblings as well as some other stuff. One could say it was like they were family as well.

Chapter Text

“Oh come on, Dontron! You gotta try it!”

“No, ‘Nardo, I don’t care how many times you try to convince me, I’m not eating that.”

Tails laughed warmly at the twins’ exchange as he followed them throughout the Hidden City Marketplace. Unlike his home planet or the streets of New York, the fox was able to walk through the Hidden City without having to worry about being harassed about his two tails. There were whispers from the surrounding yokai, but those that approached him after whispering were extremely respectful, almost as if he were royalty. It was an unusual experience for the kit, but it was better than being called a “freak.” 

Eventually, the three approached a large colosseum. Tails could hear the roaring of a crowd and the sound of metal clanging against metal from inside, making his stomach churn. The fox started spinning his tails, lifting him up into the air as Donnie followed him up and Leo made a portal inside the arena. Once Donnie and Tails made it to the open roof of the colosseum, they scanned the crowd for any sign of Leo. 

“I swear, if he accidentally portaled himself on top of the Eiffel Tower again-”

“No wait! I see him!” Tails pointed to a splash of blue and green in the distance waving at the turtle and fox. They hovered over and saw that the splash of blue and green in question was Leo. “And to think you doubted me, dear brother of mine,” Leo teased as Donnie crossed his arms, sitting down to Leo’s left. Tails plopped onto the seat of the bleachers right in between the turtle twins. 

“So what are we doing here?” Tails asked curiously. 

“Well, we typically run into the owner of this arena a lot on missions, and it’s best to know how well her champions fight. It’s more of a strategic approach rather than a form of entertainment.” Static crackled and on a large screen, a feminine voice spoke. “That was quite the battle! I’m sure our unfortunate loser won’t be able to walk for weeks after that scuffle. Next up we have the Firestarter facing off against Boneflayer! Whoever wins this fight has to face off with the three other winners from today’s fights against the Thunder Chasers, featuring a new and well-polished team look!”

As two yokai stepped onto the bloodied dirt floor of the arena, Tails felt even more sick to his stomach and instinctively turned away from the carnage that started to ensue. Tails fidgeted, his tails curling around him. Everything was so loud. The crowd was screaming. The sound of metal scratching against metal. The young fox put his hands over his ears and tightly shut his eyes, desperate to escape the overwhelming amount of noise. Tails felt cold metal graze over his hands. He opened his eyes and turned his head to see Donnie was placing backup headphones over the fox’s ears. Tails removed his hands from his head to let the softshell gently place the headphones in place. The sound was muffled just enough now, and the tension Tails was feeling dissolved with every moment the headphones were on. 

By the time he had completely cooled down, the fight was over. “And it looks like Boneflayer was victorious!” Donnie watched as the fighter dubbed “Firestarter” was hauled out of the arena. “Looks like Firestarter forgot that bones don’t necessarily burn as easily as one may think,” Donnie mumbled.
“And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! Boneflayer will fight alongside Frostblood, The Executioner, and Bloodpelt against our recently crowned champions! Defending their honor, the Thunder Chasers!” Three other yokai padded out to the arena as the lights somehow dimmed. The other gate opened and four fighters entered the arena. Two of them were taller and were close together. They also looked human. One was small and sped around the arena floor. The other clobbered their fists together, sending out a red wave of energy that intimidated the competition. But they couldn’t back out now.

Tails watched in shock, and his stomach dropped as the champions started to fight. The young fox looked towards Donnie and Leo, but they only were intent on watching the fight, not tearing their eyes away long enough to notice the kit start to shake. Fly you fool! Get them out of there! But he was frozen. He was frozen, shaking, terrified, and just flat-out distressed. He began to hyperventilate again, but this time it wasn’t the noise that overwhelmed him.

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Leo was watching intensely, but his focus was broken as he felt the young fox shivering beside him. He turned his head to see Tails hyperventilating and wrapping his arms desperately around himself. Leo could see Tails clawing to get his arms tighter around him. The slider nudged Donnie, and once his twin’s attention was gained, Leo nodded towards Tails. Donnie nodded as he scooped up the young fox in his arms. Leo took out his sword and as discreetly as he could, made a portal to the lair. He stepped through once Donnie and the kit had completely phased through the vortex.

In the lair, Leo and Donnie rushed towards Donnie’s lab. Not only was it a place for Donnie to tinker with tech, but it was also a good place if someone were to have a panic attack like Tails was having at that moment. Donnie gently placed the kit down and ran towards a shelf as Leo gently held the kid’s hands. Almost as soon as Leo held his hands, the young fox started to sob uncontrollably. Mikey seemed to have heard the commotion because within a minute, he was also by the boy’s side, helping Leo calm the fox down.
“Tails, can you hear me?”

No response. Only tears.

Donnie came right away with a large weighted blanket and wrapped it around the young fox. Once it was in place, Tails’ crying seemed to cease. He was starting to calm down, but was he well enough to talk about what happened was the question.
“I’m sorry... I shouldn’t have…” Mikey, ever the wiser, laid a hand gently on Tails’ head. “Hey, you don’t have to talk about what happened right now. Just rest.” And with that, Tails’ eyes slowly closed as he fell into slumber, his face still stained from the tears that exhausted him. Mikey removed his hand from the fox’s head and quietly gestured for Leo to step outside Donnie’s lab with him. Despite not really being that good at the whole feelings thing, Leo knew the young fox was in good hands with Donnie in his lab. Scientists tend to just simply “get” each other like that.

Once outside of the lab, Mikey crossed his arms, a concerned look on his face. “What happened, Leo?” Leo took a deep breath and explained the events as they occurred. Mikey listened intensely, nodding as an indicator that he was listening. “Maybe it was something about the fighters? Did something about them stand out to you?” Leo shrugged. “Well, there was one that had super speed and another had this weird glowy red energy, but it’s the Hidden City . For all we know, one out of five yokai there have either or both of those powers.”

“But didn’t you say there were two other fighters? What were they doing during the incident?” Leo thought long and hard. Looking back, the two other fighters, the taller couple that seemed more… human… they didn’t exhibit any mystical abilities at all. All they could really do was use the tools provided to them and fight that way. But even then, they were still formidable enemies in the arena, but that’s to be expected from a Battle Nexus Champion, much less a group of Battle Nexus Champions.

“Yeah. They didn’t really show off any mystic abilities. In fact I don’t think they have any, looking back.” Leo felt his heart and stomach drop. If the Thunder Chasers were who he thought they were, Tails’ panic attack just got a lot more meaning than just a reaction to the brutal nature of the Battle Nexus.