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“Please, Sonic? Pleeeaaaseee?”
“For the last time, Tails, no—”
“I promise I’ll stay safe! I jus’ wanna see you fight ol’ Robutt’nik! Can I please come with you?”
The hedgehog sighed.
Very briefly, he entertained the idea, but he just as quickly shot it down; he just couldn’t fight the madman if he had to worry over the safety of his 4-year-old brother.
“Not this time, alright, buddy? I wanna wait until you’re at least five.”
“But Sonic!” the kit protested with a pout, and ooh, he was making it so much harder for the hedgehog to resist. “You say that every time!”
“And that’s because you’re not five yet!”
“But I’m gonna be in a week!”
“So, in a week when Eggman’s back to his old tricks and you once again ask me to tag along, I’ll say yes!”
Tails’ ears flattened against his head. “But what difference does a week make?”
“Oh kiddo,” the blue blur sighed with a smile. “If I had the time right now, I’d sit you down and tell you why. The whole nine yards and everything. But I have to go stop Robotnik right now, okay?”
The pout on the kit’s muzzle only intensified.
“Nuh-uh, that’s not gonna work on me. That’s not—aaand the puppy eyes are out. Nice try buddy, but I’ve become immune to those!”
“Are you sure?” the kit innocently asked, eyes wide and oh so terribly adorable. The hedgehog’s resolve almost, almost broke.
But this time, he was victorious. “Positive. Stay here, kid, I’ll be back in a flash!” And with that, he was off, leaving the still-pouting cub alone in their shared home.
Tails sighed, resigned to his fate. Sonic wouldn’t budge, no matter how many times he tried.
An idea came to the kit’s mind. What if he followed him? He’d never tried before, too scared to get lost or disappoint his big brother, but his newfound resolve prevented the familiar fear from reaching him this time. He knew Sonic would get mad if he joined the fight, but maybe he could hide a safe distance away and then speed home undetected.
With a solid plan in his toddler mind, the fox eagerly flew out of his home and in the direction of the fight, following Sonic’s signature trail.
Trees seemed to zoom past him as he picked up speed, and as giddy as he was, he fought every bone in his body not to whoop in joy. I’m gonna be as fast as Sonic someday!
The same couldn’t be said for his stamina, however, as his namesakes quickly grew tired from flying for so long. Just as he began to pant from sheer exhaustion, the tree canopy seemed to thin out, making way to a clearing, which he instantly recognized from Sonic’s stories as their signature battle arena. Even without knowing of the clearing, his large ears could already pick up the telltale sounds of a fight as well as Sonic’s jeers and jabs at the enemy.
Careful not to be spotted, Tails halted to a stop, quickly spotting a fairly large rock he could peek from and still be hidden enough to avoid being seen. He dropped down to the ground, taking one quick moment to catch his breath before tiptoeing over to the rock, pressing his ears flat against his head so they wouldn’t poke out of his spot; he had learned that trick from playing hide n’ seek with his big brother.
His eyes widened in delight as he excitedly watched the battle taking place before him. With every taunt coming from the hedgehog and every missed hit thrown at him, Tails quietly cheered, eyes shining with admiration for his big brother.
That admiration quickly turned to horror, however, as Sonic tripped over something he couldn’t make out, and the evil doctor took advantage of that, sending a well-aimed fist his way.
Not knowing that Sonic could easily dodge that and concerned for him, Tails gasped and leaped from his hiding spot without thinking twice. “Sonic, watch out!”
“Huh?!” The hedgehog, who was taken by surprise at his young charge’s warning, was unable to dodge the doctor’s incoming attack and received the robot’s fist smack on his face, sending him flying further into the forest.
The fox gasped, calling out his brother’s name again before flying after him, completely ignoring the cackling madman or his creation.
Robotnik hummed, keeping his eyes trained on the younger Mobian. “What a peculiar creature,” he muttered under his breath, ordering his robot to follow the fox while he silently trailed behind in his hovercraft. Not only was the fox itself defying the laws of physics by using his two appendages to fly, but he also seemed to be closely connected to his arch-nemesis.
The perfect test subject.
With a diabolical grin, the doctor inched forward as he stared at the sight before him. The young Mobian stood with his arms held protectively in front of the hedgehog, who looked unconscious. A quick look at their surroundings showed a bloody bump behind the blue blur’s head, which had made sudden contact with a tree. His robot towered over the two, and while the fox cowered in fear, his gaze never left the metallic menace.
“And who might you be, mh?” the doctor inquired, grinning as the fox flinched with fright.
“I-It’s none o’ your business! Stay away from S-Sonic!” Tails retorted with all the bravery he could muster.
The madman cackled. “My, what a brave little boy! You’d make an excellent pet.”
“P-Pet?” the kit asked and then squeaked as Robotnik’s machine snatched him from the ground, squeezing him in its grasp. “Ah! Sonic, h-help!”
The hedgehog on the ground groaned, his fingers twitching, but his little brother’s pleas did not wake him.
“Ho, ho ho! Looks like I really got him this time! And I have you to thank for that!” He cackled at the look of sheer terror on the kit’s face. “It really is all your fault, you know.”
“N-No it isn’t!” the kit protested as he squirmed to break free from the robot’s grasp, to no avail. “Wake up, Sonic! P-Please!”
His cries were left unheard. The madman cackled again and snapped his fingers; the robot holding Tails took off, carrying its prisoner up and away, Robotnik in tow.
“Sooooooniiiiiic!”
XxX
Groan.
Why was Tails hammering away inside his head? The ol’ noggin’ was pounding.
He groaned again, bringing a hand to rub the back of his head where the pain came from. He hissed as he felt a rather nasty bump, and he brought his hand back to the front to reveal some blood on the tips of his fingers, staining his gloves a bright red.
“What the heck happened…Tails!”
It took him no more than a sonic second to remember the previous events. Somehow, the fox cub had snuck out of their house, followed him to the clearing, stayed hidden so Sonic wouldn’t know about it, had tried to warn him, then everything had gone dark.
Now wide awake, he quickly stood up, ignoring the dizzy spell that overcame him. “Tails?!” he called out, frantically looking at his surroundings.
Silence answered.
He clenched his fists with a growl.
Robotnik had taken his little brother, and he would pay for that.
XxX
Tails was freaking. Out.
He had been captured by none other than Doctor Robotnik, and Sonic hadn’t heard his cry for help.
During the whole trip to the madman’s evil lair, the kit had tried his best to slip out of the robot’s grasp, hyperventilating when he couldn’t escape. His whimpers didn’t fall on deaf ears, either; the madman had yelled at him to “Be quiet, you annoying little pest!” which had caused him to freeze for the rest of the trip, scared out of his mind.
Once inside the base, the doctor and his creation took so many turns that even Tails’ analytical mind couldn’t follow along. Eventually, the group reached what looked like a wide storage room; out of sight at first, the madman revealed a lone cage resting in the far corner.
Following the doctor’s orders, the robot threw Tails into the cage, locking it before the kit could recover.
“Now, sit still and be a good little boy,” Robotnik uttered, glaring at his cowering prisoner. “I’ll figure out what to do with you later.” He turned his back to the kit, smoothing his mustache as he left the room.
Tails flinched as the heavy doors to the storage room slammed shut, plunging the desolate space into total darkness. Luckily, the fox’s vision was decent without light, but the fright he felt about his current situation overcame any sense of logic.
He curled into a ball, wrapping his namesakes around his tiny body while trying to ignore the slight chill of the cold room. His mind drifted to the state his brother was in before he was captured. Sonic had been greatly injured and hadn’t woken up in time to save him, but Tails was confident he would be awake soon, and would definitely come to the rescue. All the kit had to do was hold tight and wait for his big brother to save him.
He sighed. How he wished he could get out on his own. How he wished he could be as strong and as brave as Sonic.
He perked up. What if he could? His mind turned to the books Sonic had brought him from the library, the ones he’d been most interested in; mechanics and electronics. Sonic hadn’t questioned his interests despite his young age, and now he was thankful. He’d already devoured through the few books he had at home and he always carried his trusty screwdriver with him no matter where the dynamic duo went, cherishing the first gift Sonic had gotten him.
Tails dug into his namesakes, grinning as he felt the tool buried deeply. It was likely that the mad doctor didn’t even think to check the child for any weapon or tool.
That was his mistake.
For one brief moment, the toddler studied his cage. Most of the bars were rusted, the offending device probably unused for the most part. He trained his eyes further in front of him until he spotted the lock, barely held together by a measly few screws…and bingo!
Those were his ticket out of here.
Mindful of any sound he could potentially make, the kit carefully unscrewed the lock one by one. He winced as it fell to the floor with a loud clang that resonated within the room, and he prayed that nothing or no one was close enough to hear.
He tested the cage door, meeting no resistance. His heart erratically pounded in his tiny chest as he slowly made his way to the heavy doors, knowing he couldn’t open them himself without any attention falling on him, but perhaps he could wait for something to open them for him…
He could do that. He could wait.
Tails remained alert, lending an ear out for any outside noises. It didn’t take long for the doors to open again, and he quickly flew out of sight of what could have possibly opened them to begin with.
It looked like his suspicions had been correct; something had heard the clang of his lock as it had fallen, and a few robotic units filtered inside the room, equally on guard.
They proved to be no match for the fox cub’s quick mind, however, for he easily flew out of the room and out of sight of those units. With a grin, he flew a good distance away for good measure, then softly landed on the metallic ground.
“I can’t believe I’m that lucky,” he mumbled to himself, giddy at the thought of escaping all on his own. He clutched his screwdriver tightly as he stealthily made his way around the maze of halls until he could find his way out. Sonic would be so proud of him!
He paused. He was the reason he was in this mess in the first place, and the reason Sonic had gotten hurt. Sonic wouldn’t be proud; he would be angry. It truly was his fault.
He was so lost in thought that he failed to notice his surroundings until something cold and metallic snatched his namesakes. He gasped, dropping his screwdriver as he found himself face to face with another robot, harshly holding onto the tips of his tails.
“N-No, let me go!” he yelled, squirming to get away from the robot’s grip. His efforts were rewarded with pain as the machine lifted him off the ground by his tails so he wouldn’t have any traction to get away. He yelped, barely able to grab onto his screwdriver as the machine took him to a different room that looked like a control room; it was hard to tell while being upside down.
“Master Robotnik, I have the prisoner here,” the machine beeped, causing the madman sitting in a large chair to turn around, anger and annoyance clearly etched on his face.
“Bah! How did you escape?!”
Tails remained silent, but ultimately gave himself away when he attempted to hide the trusty tool in his hands out of sight from Robotnik.
The man huffed, making his way to his prisoner in three quick strides. “Give me that!” he snarled, snatching the tool out of the kit’s hands.
“Give that back!” the kit pleaded, scrambling to retrieve his gift from the enemy, but he could do nothing but watch as Robotnik made his way to a hatch on the back wall.
“You seem smart, for your age,” the madman hummed with interest, ignoring the look of sheer dread on Tails’ face. “But clearly not smart enough! You won’t get the chance to pull this one off again, mark my words! And, seeing as you won’t be needing this anymore…”
“Wait, n-no, don’t!‒”
Too late. The cub watched in dismay as his gift was thrown down the trash chute, clanging loudly as it hit the walls on its way down. The sounds eventually grew fainter the farther it fell, taunting the distraught kit, who began to cry.
Robotnik merely cackled, making his way back to stand in front of his prisoner. “Aww, is the little baby upset because I took his toy?” Tails, not understanding the madman’s pity to be fake, slowly nodded, his chin wobbling. “Good!” the madman snapped, causing the fox to shrink in on himself. “You should be! You deserve that for trying to escape.”
He snapped his fingers again, and the robot holding the kit carelessly dropped him onto the ground in the corner of the room. He yelped at the sudden pain as he landed on his bottom, but he didn’t focus on that pain for long; the ground he rested on rose, suddenly surrounded by a threatening glass wall.
Panicking, the kit could do nothing as he found himself trapped in a tube, Robotnik’s evil cackling echoing in his mind. “Let me out!” he shouted, banging his small hands against the glass wall, to no avail. His attempts grew weaker as his lower lip quivered. “Please…let me out.”
Silence answered, the madman having long decided to ignore him as he typed away on his control panel, his back facing the fox.
Tails curled up, pressing his back against the wall of his glass prison and pressing his ears against his head. He sniffed, brushing away the stray tears from his damp face. His escape attempt had failed and he no longer had his precious tool, his favorite gift from Sonic, in his grasp.
He was well and truly screwed*.
XxX
Robotnik hummed, typing away at his computer. The room was silent minus the sounds of the keys as he clicked away.
He spared a glance at his prisoner, who had long since cried himself to sleep, curled up in a fluffy ball in the glass tube. He huffed, thankful for the cub’s silence as he had found his cries to be quite annoying.
Still, he couldn’t help but think of the kit’s little escapade earlier in the day. Surely, he couldn’t be any older than 3, 4 years old at most, and yet, he had figured out his cage’s lock and had successfully disabled it with a tiny amount of time and his stupid little screwdriver.
The madman’s original plan was immediately shot to hell; he had wanted to roboticize the fox to taunt his blue enemy, but it was apparent that the fox was incredibly smart for his age, and his smarts would be no use to him if he was turned to a mindless machine.
Perhaps he would make a great pet, after all. One that would be forced to do his bidding, to build all of his machines for him. He was young enough to be raised into a worthy adversary for the hedgehog.
Grinning to himself, he resumed his typing, already plotting the next steps of the kit’s life, when he was suddenly interrupted in his work by flashing red lights and blaring alarms.
He ignored his prisoner, who was now wide awake and alert, his ears perked up. He growled; this could only mean one thing.
Sonic was here.
On cue, the door leading to the control room was blasted open, and the blue blur barged in, an expression of sheer anger on his face. “Where’s Tails?!” he shouted, clenching his fists together. He answered his own question with the kit’s cries coming from the glass tube in the corner of the room, and the anger grew exponentially.
Interesting, the doctor mused, I’ve never seen him this worked up before. He once again glanced at the fox, who was now banging on the glass wall, eager to escape and join his brother. It must be him.
He grinned, and with the press of a button, he summoned a large battle armor into the room. He immediately settled in, not waiting for the top of the mech suit to fully encompass him before facing the hedgehog. “Come to take your little fuzzball back, Sonic?”
Sonic tensed into his own battle stance, narrowing his eyes. “Give him back, Robutt’nik!”
“You’ll have to go through me, first!”
It was Sonic’s turn to grin, getting ready for his signature spindash. “You’re on!” He propelled himself forward, aiming for the suit’s chest, but found himself flying past as the evil doctor sidestepped, sending a well-aimed fist flying his way.
Tails gasped, but Sonic easily dodged it, using his momentum to bounce back and go straight for the head. He successfully hit the back of the suit’s head, sending Robotnik careening toward the ground with a shout.
The evil doctor glared as he managed to right himself, pressing a series of buttons in quick succession on his control panel, which sent a few small missiles flying right at the hedgehog.
Sonic dodged each and every one, causing them to explode onto the wall behind him, charring it a deep black.
“Gah, blasted hedgehog!” Robotnik exclaimed. “Stop destroying my belongings!”
“Stop making it so easy!” the hedgehog cockily retorted, charging right back at the mech suit.
From the corner of the room, the young cub watched with anticipation as his big brother clearly dominated the fight; he would be out in no time! “Go, Sonic!”
Unfortunately for the two of them, his words served to once again distract the hedgehog; history repeated itself when Robotnik successfully backhanded the speedster, sending him flying right at the glass capsule.
“Augh!” Sonic shouted, his back harshly hitting his little brother’s glass prison.
“No! Sonic!”
“Ho, ho ho! Gotcha!”
Sonic groaned, trying to fight the dizzy spell that befell him as the hit jolted the bruise on the back of his head. Faintly, he could hear Tails’ fists as they banged against his glass prison, and his pleas for his hero to save him, but the sounds were muffled, overtaken by the heavy pounding in his heart and in his head.
“Get up, Sonic! P-Please, get up!”
His eyes snapped open, and he growled, getting up despite the pain. All it took was one look at the kit’s eyes, which reflected the desperation he felt deep inside, for him to charge the madman without warning. He was determined to rescue the cub he had come to care for, and with a yell, he phased through the doctor’s robotic armor as if it were paper thin.
“Nooooo!” the madman bellowed, hastily retreating as his suit crumbled to the ground, once again defeated. “I’ll be back, Sonic!” he yelled, vanishing from the room and far away from his enemy.
“Beat it, Egghead!” Sonic replied, huffing in annoyance. He snapped out of his state when he heard cheering coming from the corner of the room.
“Way to go, Sonic!” Tails cheered, his namesakes wagging behind him as he pressed his hands against the glass. “N-Now can you get me out, please?”
The blue hedgehog nodded with another huff. He charged into a spindash again, propelling himself straight into the glass. The young kit immediately curled up and covered his body and head with his tails as the glass shattered, tiny shards raining on him.
Sonic breathed in, not saying one word as he scooped his little brother up into his arms. He ignored the startled squeak, holding tightly as he rushed home to their quaint little house in the Mystic Ruins.
Once the dynamic duo arrived, the older Mobian wasted no time and barged into the house, setting the kit down on their living room couch.
Sonic gave him the once over with heavy breathing. “Are you hurt? Tails, did he hurt you?” he frantically asked, barely catching his breath.
“No, Sonic, I’m okay!” the kit reassured, his namesakes wagging at all the attention and care he was getting.
“Good. What were you thinkin’, Tails?!”
The kit’s ears flattened against his head at the angry tone suddenly coming from his big brother. “Sonic…?”
“Don’t you know how worried I was about you when I found out Robotnik took you? You could’ve been really hurt!”
Tails’ chin wobbled, shrinking in on himself again. “I-I’m sorry, Sonic! I-I won’t do it again, I p-promise!”
“You won’t get to, ‘cause you’re grounded!”
“W-What? That’s not fair…!‒”
Sonic’s eyes narrowed. “Not fair? You know what ain’t fair? You not listenin’ to me when I tell you to stay here!”
“S-Sonic, I’m really sorry, honest!” the cub pleaded, his body shaking. The blue blur went to berate him again, but he paused, finally noticing Tails’ body language.
He wasn’t guilty, he wasn’t nervous. He was terrified.
The hedgehog took a deep breath, calming himself. “Tails?” He ignored the pang in his heart when his little brother didn’t respond, still shaking and now softly crying. “Oh, buddy…come here.”
That was all Tails needed to pounce onto Sonic’s lap with a sob. “I’m sorry, I’m s-sorry, I’m sorry!” he repeated, his words muffled by having his face pressed against the hedgehog’s chest. While his words weren’t easy to understand with the loud sobs that accompanied them, Sonic could get the gist of it.
“Ssshh, buddy, you’re okay,” the older Mobian soothed, tightly holding onto his little brother. He ignored the growing dampness on his chest in favor of tending to the distraught boy. “That sure was scary, huh?”
“Huh-uh…! D-Doctor Robotnik was r-really scary, Sonic! A-And mean!” He took a moment to steady his breathing and calm himself, his sobs slowly subsiding to soft sniffles. “How do you fight him all the time…?”
Sonic hesitated, wanting to be truthful without getting too vulnerable. “Well, buddy, I’m used to it by now. But lemme tell you, it was real scary for me too when I started fightin’ him!”
He grew confused at the soft giggle that came from the youngest. “You, scared…? You’re not scared, Sonic, you…you’re super brave! An’ I wanna be brave like you!”
The hedgehog smiled, smoothing the kit’s bangs out of his face. “But you were real brave today, lil’ bro.”
A pause. “You…you really think so?”
“Oh yeah! You totally gave Robotnik a run for his money!” Sonic replied, giving the cub a wink. “And being brave doesn’t mean not being scared, kiddo. It means to keep pushin’ even if you’re scared! ‘Cause in the end, you’ll always win!”
It was Tails’ turn to smile as he mulled over his big brother’s words. “Yeah…yeah, you’re right, Sonic! We’ll always beat nasty ol’ Robutt’nik!”
“That’s the spirit, lil’ buddy!” Sonic encouraged with a small laugh. His laughter grew as the kit joined in, joyful giggles echoing in their living room.
Soon, the duo calmed down, but neither one of them wanted to move; Tails was comfortably nestled onto Sonic’s lap, and the older didn’t have the heart to push him off.
“Sonic?” Tails asked, shattering the comfortable silence between them.
“Yeah, bud?”
“…Robotnik took my screwdriver.”
Sonic paused, a tad bit confused at the sorrow in his little brother’s tone. “It’s okay, Tails, it’s just a screwdriver.” He offered a smile, hoping to cheer the fox up.
It had the opposite of the desired effect, for the fox’s lips wobbled. “But…you gave it to me and…and I really liked it.” It was special was left unsaid, but Sonic could almost make out the words anyway.
The hedgehog gently rested his hands on the cub’s shoulders, making sure their eyes met. “I’m sorry he took your gift, lil’ bro, but how about this; I’ll get you another one, yeah? I’ll even get you a brand-new toolkit, how’s that sound?”
Tails’ eyes shined with unshed tears at the offer. “You…you really mean it?” he softly asked, nervously wringing one of his tails in his paws.
Sonic gently cupped the cub’s chin. “I sure do, kiddo.” He watched as the kit’s eyes shone with delight before finding himself with an armful of fluff once again. He chuckled, reciprocating the new hug, holding onto his little brother tightly.
He wouldn’t let him out of his sight. He would protect that fox if it was the last thing he ever did.
“Thank you, Sonic, thank you so much!”
“Don’t forget that you’re still grounded, pal.”
“Aawww!”
XxX
“…Egghead, huh? That’s a new one…Eggman doesn’t have a bad ring to it. Watch out, Sonic; I know your weakness now! And you can count on me to exploit every inch of it to defeat you once and for all!”
Maniacal laughter could be heard far in the distance, an unsettling chill falling into the night.