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Hey guys! So, this one’s gonna be a little more angsty then I usually write, I just wanted to do something short and easy to sort of clear my head, this story aside from the end is from a comic by Tsaikonautz! Hopefully you’ll all enjoy!
Forged In Blood
Sonic was currently running as fast as he could, the object of the mission tucked firmly into his quills. Getting the small blue gemstone had been difficult, but they’d prevailed nonetheless. The new model of Metal Sonic had been infinitely more ruthless than he’d imagined, and he held in his arms proof of that.
Tails weakly panted in a futile attempt to dull the pain from his right leg as blood continued to flow out of the injury he'd received from the laser blast. His arms wrapped around Sonic’s neck in order to give himself some sort of reassurance. Sonic was naturally concerned about not only the pain the kitsune was in, but also how much blood he'd already lost.
The hedgehog continued to dart through the ruined city and abandoned alleyways until eventually, he found what looked to be an elevated highway. While it had long fallen into disuse, he imagined it’d provide the quickest method out of the city. Racing up the ramp and onto the empty asphalt, he quickly accelerated to even higher speeds, though to the point it was still controllable to avoid harming the kitsune even further. Eventually, however, he came to a point where the road had collapsed completely, leaving a large gap separating one side from the other. Sonic considered his options, he could try and get a running start in order to jump the bridge, but that presented the issue that they might not have enough time before Metal Sonic caught up and found them. But that left only one other option…
“Listen, Tails, I know you’re hurt but… That’s way too far for me to clear… Do-Do you know if you can still take us across?”
There was a short silence before the response, “S-Sure… N-No Problem…” Came the response, the kit’s voice tainted with an undertone of pain.
Sonic gingerly set the kitsune on his left foot and allowed him to lean his weight into the hedgehog as he held him under the shoulder. After a short pause and a grimace of pain, the fox took off, grabbing onto the speedster's arms as he rose. The droplets of blood falling from the injured leg not escaping Sonic's vision.
“You can do this…” Tails mentally told himself, “You can do this…”
“You ok?” Sonic asked once they’d gotten about halfway across, noticing the flashes of pain on the fox's face.
“Yeah… I’m-“
The response never finished as a laser bolt flew past Sonic's face, and suddenly, the only thing he could hear was a bloodcurdling scream from directly above him. Looking up in a panic, he noticed the fox's pained expression as his namesakes slowed and his hands slipped from the kitsune’s grasp. The two fell toward the ground below, tumbling to a stop.
Sonic quickly rose to his feet, frantically searching around for his friend. He saw the kitsune on his back, clutching his leg with bloodstained gloves. A new red patch had appeared in the center of one of his tails. The red patch on his leg had just gotten worse and had stained the fur around the wound and the tops of his shoes a deep red…
“Miles!” The hedgehog exclaimed, drawing the attention of the kit.
“S-Sonic… I can’t- I can’t get up…” He spoke, panic and fear seeping through every word.
Sonic didn’t know at exactly what moment his panic set in, all he knew was that seeing Tails' leg and glove covered in his own blood, all the while struggling and failing to get to his feet in a puddle of blood would be something burned into his mind for all eternity. He quickly set the kit on his own knee, wrapping his arms around him. “Miles I’m sorry this is all my fault! I’m so sorry!”
“Sonic… No, I wanted to-“
In nervousness, Sonic interrupted him. “Just let me take a look at it, you’re gonna be ok…” Though the hedgehog wasn’t sure if he was talking to himself or Tails when he said that.
Just then, he heard the sounds of metallic feet and pure fear filled the duo's veins as Metal Sonic charged down his doppelganger. Nailing him in the stomach and sending him sprawling backwards, the kitsune was tossed aside and landed on his chest a few feet away. The robot pinned down the speedster, brandishing his claws.
Tails gazed up from the ground, “You need to do something!” He mentally yelled to himself, but without anything around him, it left only one option. He pushed himself up with his arms and placed his left leg underneath him, slowly rising to his feet. The pain was unbearable and he quickly couldn’t hold his composure any longer and screamed in agony. Drawing the attention of both hedgehogs. Sonic's eyes went wide in horror at the sight. He delivered a kick to the robot, knocking it off himself.
“Miles, stay down!” He yelled. Before he could attack the robot, however, it dodged out of the way and made a beeline away from him.
Directly toward Tails…
He grabbed the kitsune by the neck and hoisted him into the air. Extending his robotic hand toward the hedgehog as he took a step backward, demanding the gemstone they'd acquired earlier.
Sonic felt pure uncontrollable rage and fury take over his mind. With speed never before seen from the hedgehog, he charged toward the machine. “Don’t touch him!
The hedgehog punched the machine in the face with such force that the steel plating dented and the glass visor acting as its eyes shattered. The machine collapsed backward, releasing its grip on the kitsune and allowing him to fall to the floor as the lights acting as its eyes flickered and eventually went dark.
The hedgehog grasped his hand as pain surged through it. He'd definitely broken something but that didn’t matter right now. He pushed it off as much as he could before carefully scooping the injured fox into his arms.
“Sonic… Your hand…” The fox said.
Upon looking at it again, Sonic noticed blood was flowing from his knuckles, and his hand felt like mush. “Don’t worry, I’m fine…” He responded, “Now let’s get you some help…”
-X-
“Tails should be waking up any time now…” Sonic thought to himself, adjusting the cast on his hand. The kitsune had recently finished surgery for his injuries to his leg and tail, both of which had been a lot worse than they’d thought.
“Mr. Hedgehog?” One of the nurses said as they approached him. “He’s awake.”
He quickly followed behind her to Tails’ room. As he stepped inside the kitsune gave him a warm but tired smile, a small blood transfusion bag stuck into his arm helping to replenish his own supply, along with an IV drip to help him recover from the recent surgery.
“Hey Sonic…” The fox spoke, “How’s your hand?”
“You’re asking me how I’m doing? I mean look at you!” Sonic responded, before realizing the legitimate concern in the kit's eyes. “It’s fine. How you doing?”
“Fine, still a bit fuzzy though… How long was I out?”
“A few days… Honestly, you’re awake much quicker than they’d expected.”
The kit allowed his vision to wander over to a nearby table, where several cards from some of his friends sat. The ones that immediately jumped out to him were Cream's, Amy's, and Knuckles'. Though if he looked he'd probably find a few more.
“Guess I learned how to be fast about things from the best then, huh?”
Sonic let out a soft chuckle at the joke. Tails noticed his behavior and knew what the hedgehog was thinking. “Hey… I’m ok.”
“I know just… Why’d you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Stand up to Metal Sonic like that, you were already hurt and-“
“Well, what was I supposed to do? Let him kill you? I wasn’t going to let him just hurt you while I watched…”
“He could have killed you… You know I’d never be able to live with myself if he-“
“Sonic. Put your hand on my chest for a second.”
After a moment, the hedgehog obliged the request.
“Feel that?” Tails continued, now obviously referring to his heartbeat. “I’m still alive because of you. I did it because you’d do the same thing for me. We’re family right?”
Sonic couldn’t argue with his point, “Yeah, we're family. Just don’t scare me like that again. For a second there I thought I was gonna lose you. Chaos, you scare me sometimes.”
“I just couldn’t let him kill you… You’re just as important to me… In fact, it’s the only reason I could even deal with the pain there, it’s because I knew I needed to.”
“You’re a little too determined for your own good sometimes you know that?”
“Learned from the best.” The kit responded, a tired smile crossing his face.
The two shared a quick laugh. “Alright, just get some rest. You’ve earned it.”
Tails slowly allowed his eyes to close and soon he was fast asleep. Sonic ran his hand through the kit's bangs before sitting in a nearby chair and joining his brother in dreamland.
Alright guys, I just wanted to do something short before starting the next story! Hopefully you all enjoyed! Let me know what you think in a review and I’ll see you guys later!