Chapter Text
"Tails! I need air sup-" a series of explosions happened above Sonic.
"Squadron of Spinners is history! I'll hold the next from the sky, keep focusing on Eggman!"
"He will not get there, that's for sure!"
Sonic finished the last three Egg Pawns before starting to catch up with The Egg-Hammer IV. The tank was rushing towards Forest Hill Village, destroying every plant on its path.
A maniacal laugh could be heard: "HOOOHOHO, this time victory will be mi-NO!" As the Doctor watched on the monitor he saw Sonic coming fast from behind: the hedgehog hit the tank hard enough to make it flinch.
"You lousy pesky little hedgehog! You're always a pain in my butt! PREPARE TO DIE!" Eggman started swinging the two giant hammers attached to the tank at the ground in an attempt to crush his fast nemesis while also keeping heading to the village. Way too slow for Sonic, who started responding hit by hit, as any dodge could let him a clean hit on the tank.
Suddenly Eggman stopped the tank: "Hohoho, now it's time to choose Sonic! It's me... or the people!" He shot 3 supersonic missiles in the direction of the nearby village, but Sonic didn't even move from his spot.
Eggman was astonished: "W-what? But you were supposed to-"
"Turn around Egghead? I have something you don't have!"
The missiles exploded! The new orange Tornado-4 came out of the cloud of smoke.
"The best backup ever! As for you..."
With a well placed spindash, Sonic hit so hard that it overturned.
A missile came from the Tornado-4, hitting the belly of the tank, making it explode. Eggman flew out of the tank, screaming before landing and rolling on the grass for a few meters, stopping belly up.
Tails landed nearby, taking an extinguisher and using it to control the fire before it could spread.
Sonic got closer to the Doctor with his confident smile.
Eggman angrily murmured: "I hate you so much, you cursed hedgehog." He tried to get up, suffering in pain, but ended up staying on the ground.
Tails came nearby after he extinguished the fire: "What now, Sonic?"
"Everything depends on him, lil' bro."
"Shouldn't we capture him? Or... help him? He seems badly hur-"
"I have some broken bones, you pesky beasts! - Eggman shouted pissed - I hope you both are happy now, since I will have to stay still in bed probably for weeks!"
The Egg-Mobile came from above, piloted by Orbot and Cubot: "Boss! Boss! Let's retreat! You need medical attention!" The two bots helped the Doctor standing up, giving him two crutches to help him maintain balance.
Eggman shouted again while flying away: "I will be ba-OUCH! CUBOT STOP TOUCHING ME! It hurts! I'll be back! Enjoy your little vacation, for once!"
As Eggman flew away, they stayed a little in the almost renewed silence, watching the destruction Eggman caused to the forest once again, then turning and seeing the people from Forest Hill Village turning off the little fire started by the supersonic missiles explosions. Among them they managed to spot Cream and Vanilla.
Sonic broke the silence: "Do you really think we won't be seeing all of this for a few weeks?"
"He seemed badly hurt, Sonic. I think I exaggerated... maybe that missile was a little too much..."
"It was fine, pal. We both know how Eggman mechs work; that's why I overturned it."
"So you knew he could have-"
"Survived? For sure! He always does! We make his mechs explode all the time with him inside, and-"
"No, I meant... he could have been hurt like this."
"Oh, that? Actually I was not expectin' that one either, to be honest."
"Plus he said weeks, but bones are a real issue... It'll probably take him a few months."
A pause followed.
"But you know - Sonic spoke again -, everything always comes for the best. If you're right and Eggman will be off for a few months, that means that we'll be able to go around the world having an adventure together." Sonic said nudging Tails.
"Awww Sonic, that's so sweet of you. - The fox replied. - But, you know, I promised myself to go on an adventure on my own after that cyberspace thing, to grow up, and... I really don't want to disappoint you because I truly love spending time with you, having adventures, saving the world, or small villages, helping my friends and everything. But with Eggman turned off, I think this might be the best occasion I'd ever have to do that journey."
"Now that's talkin'! Where do you want to go?"
Tails took a deep breath before answering.
Then watching the sky he replied: "In outer space!"
In Tails' workshop what Amy and Cream heard from Sonic and Tails, especially from Tails, shocked them: "What!? You want to go into space!? On your own!?"
"Yes!" The young fox was more determined than ever.
"Tails, it's way too dangerous. You have to demonstrate nothing to anybody." Amy replied.
"I've never been so sure in my life, Amy. I don't want to demonstrate anything to anyone. It's just that I want to do that. I know I can do that, and it's something I need to do for myself. The last adventures I experienced with all of you guys made it clear that yes, I had become more independent, but I still depend on you somehow, especially Sonic. It's not a bad thing per se, but I just want to try something new that will help me grow up even more. I thought about asking you Sonic to tag along with me, but first you'll get bored, and second when will I learn if I don't distance myself from you?"
"Hahaha, it's ok pal." Sonic was smiling. Amy and Cream were still confused. "Don't worry girls, that was my first reaction too. I should have seen it coming, it was like a huge brick in the chest. But then I realized: what's the limit of our friend?"
Amy and Cream looked at each other: Amy moved his head in denial, questioning with her eyes while Cream said: "Does Mr Tails have one?"
Sonic answered: "It's us. He cares too much for us. Am I right pal?"
This time it was Tails who hadn't seen it coming: "How do you..."
"C'mon bro, didn't you think I could not understand you? I know how you feel. And I know you want to give your complete best without puttin' anyone of us in danger. Plus, as Cream just said, without us slowin' you down, you really have no limits."
Tails started sobbing: "That's my line Sonic."
"Hey, I didn't mean to-" Tails hugged his brother.
"Hey, buddy..."
"Thank you, Sonic."
Sonic responded the hug.
Amy and Cream went closer to them.
"I understand now Tails, I'm sorry for before." Amy said putting a hand on his shoulder.
"No need to be sorry, thank you Amy." Tails replied.
Cream took his hand: "What Mr Sonic said is true! Even this morning you both put your lives in danger just to protect us. And now that Eggman is not a menace, we all have to shine the best we can!"
"Thank you Cream." Tails sobbed.
A few seconds of hugging were needed.
Then Sonic spoke first: "So pal, I have 2 questions. The first bein' when do you want to leave? And the second bein' with what spaceship are you leavin'?"
"About when, I was hoping to go tomorrow morning: I don't want to lose any precious second, just the time to salute everyone and finish some preparations. As for transportation, I already thought about everything. Come with me, Belle is already there!"
Tails led everyone to the basement of his workshop.
"Is it just me or is this basement a little bigger than I remembered?" Sonic asked in the shadows of the basement.
"I had to dig a lot to make some more space." Tails replied.
Belle saluted from the depths: "Oh, hi guys! Since you are here, I imagine you Tails told them everything."
"I did, yeah. They're about to see them! Is everyone ready?"
The two hedgehogs and the rabbit nodded.
Tails turned the lights on. One big ship and one smaller ship were waiting for them in the renewed huge basement. The big one was an orange dome-shaped space cargo, with a big mouth as a garage-door, porthole as eyes and two ears just like Tails'. The smaller yellow ship was in the shape of a two-seated jet.
"I present you the Typhoon and the Tornado-S! - The fox proudly announced. - These are my new latest inventions that will bring me into outer space, which Belle and I built. The Typhoon will be my main source of movement, equipped with powerful engines and a fast-travel system that'll make me travel through planets in hours, through planetary systems in days and galaxies in weeks! It has a lower floor where the Tornado-S will be parked and a separated top floor with fresh oxygen and everything that will let me live properly in space! Yeah, it has the same shape of my workshop, but I had no idea how to make a better shape. - Everybody chuckled a bit. - And his younger brother is the Tornado-S, a space jet I'll use to travel across the planets I'll visit. Both of them are equipped with the finest technologies me and Belle could have studied and gotten our hands on, and they are powered by fake Chaos Emeralds that just emulate the original ones. I also installed in the Typhoon a backup portable cold fusion nuclear reactor, just to be sure not to run out of power and to recharge the fake Emeralds, for any emergency."
Cream ran towards the new ships to watch them closely and entered the Typhoon to inspect it from the inside. "It's huge!" She shouted. Amy was still standing with her mouth open. "Tails, Belle... these are amazing! How did you two find the time to do everything?"
"Well, I'm a robot so I don't need to sleep." Belle answered.
"And I was too excited that I forgot to sleep sometimes, hehe." Tails admitted.
Amy turned towards Belle: "And you Belle, why didn't you tell us before?"
"Well... when Tails came back from your last big adventure, he told me about his plans, asking me to keep it a secret. I was excited at first, and he immediately started the project for the Typhoon. When I asked him about how he would have used it, he was not sure yet."
Cream went out of the big spaceship saying: "The Typhoon has two bedrooms! It's so sad knowing that one will be unused."
"I'm sorry Cream. The only thing I knew back then was that I just wanted to visit outer space; I took my decision after."
"And when he did I was mad! - Belle replied - More than 60% of the project was complete and you wanted to use it just on your own without your friends? I was about to call you Amy, but he stopped me."
Amy started looking at Tails, while he wanted to bury himself from the embarrassment.
Belle continued: "And since the Typhoon already had 2 bedrooms, he built the Tornado-S with 2 seats, just to make things even."
"Since you can carry both yourself and another person, do you think you'll find aliens on your journey? It'll be a waste of a bedroom." Cream asked.
Tails replied: "I actually thought about that. It's unlikely that I'll find some aliens, but if I manage to find some and become friend with one... at least I can offer him terrestrian hospitality."
[Editor note: the canon mainline wants that Sonic and friends now live on Earth. I know most fans like the planet's name as "Mobius", but i prefer to stay as close to the canon mainline as possible. No hard feelings, i also like "Mobius".]
Sonic then mocked him: "2 seats here, 2 beds there... what if it's all an act and you built all of this just to find an alien girlfriend?"
Amy and Belle laughed, Cream giggled, Tails smiled looking at Sonic with accusatory eye.
Sonic laughed: "Hahaha, I'm so sorry pal, it just came out."
Tails laughed too: "Haha, you took me off guard, I should have seen it coming. Now that I think of it, if it happens it would be really funny, haha." He joked.
Amy asked: "And who do you think she'll be? Or he?"
Tails started thinking: "A "she" for sure, if sex exists for other species other than us terrestrian, but I cannot tell."
Cream then said: "I think that the person Tails might fall for would be someone that's completely the opposite of him."
Tails started thinking, becoming a little embarrassed.
Amy replied: "Do you think so Cream? I was thinking about someone just as smart and nerdy as him."
Sonic chuckled: "Both are good assumptions."
Tails then cut off: "Anyway, both I leave my doors open, and this is getting a little awkward. I don't want to have any expectations about who I'll meet in my future. Besides, It's unlikely that I'll find any alien where I'd like to go."
"Why? Where are you going?" Amy asked.
"I'll go to Galaxy BX-12. By my calculations, the Ancients came from that galaxy a long time ago, we're talking about several millennia. I want to go there and try to find some more information about their past. Maybe I'll also discover some of the Chaos Emeralds yet to solve misteries."
"Now I wish I'd come too." Sonic said.
"How much time will it take you to get there?" Amy asked.
"Well, time is relative and depends on gravity. The closer you get to a strong gravity source the slower the time passes for you. So in outer space, time will pass faster for me and I'll feel the journey way longer than it'll be. In order to understand how time will pass, we've built 2 clocks inside the Typhoon: one "normal" and one that will slow down or hurry up depending on the gravity force I'll be facing, so that I will always know exactly how much time has passed when I'm back. Back to the question: if my calculations are correct, it'll take me about 2 weeks to get there, that I'll feel like about a month of journey."
[Editor note: i know it does not work like this and it may take years to travel across galaxies, that's why distance is measured in "light-years". The gravity-time thing is real though.]
Sonic whistled: "PHEW! Now I'm glad I will NOT come!"
They all laughed.
Amy snapped her fingers: "You'll need a lot of resources on a journey like that!"
"Miss Amy, let's hurry to my home and prepare a lot of food for Mr Tails!"
"Sure thing Cream! Let's move! Bye guys!" Amy said while running away with Cream.
"But you don't have to-" he was not able to finish the sentence that Amy and Cream rushed upstairs and away.
Belle was laughing hard.
Sonic got closer to his younger brother: "You already thought about that too, didn't you?"
"Yes, Belle and I had prepared a lot of dehydrated food and water for drinking, eating and washing myself. But for the most time I'll be in forced sleep, just not to waste resources. Besides, there's nothing much to do till I get there, and the ship can handle itself during that time: for any unusual problem the systems will wake me up. About that, Belle: did all the tests work properly?"
"Everything passed the tests, Tails!" The marionette answered, after having recovered from her big laugh.
Sonic smiled: "As expected from your brilliant mind."
"Thank you. It'll be hard telling the others though." Tails replied.
A little pause followed.
"Who shall I tell?" Sonic asked.
"Well, Knux and the Chaotix for sure. I'll leave a message for Tangle, Whisper and Jewel since they're on a vacation. Rouge, well, she'll eventually find out on her own, so we might better tell her too. Shadow... if you find him, I'm pretty sure he might be interested in Chaos Energy."
"I'll be off then pal, I'll let you handle all the last preparations you need to do."
"Thanks, big brother. See you tomorrow in the early morning then."
"Catch you later!"
Sonic snapped away. The silence covered the room filled with laughs and joy a few seconds before. Tails closed his eyes and took a deep breath, knowing he wouldn't be hearing those laughs or seeing those smiles anytime soon.
"Tails?" Belle asked.
Tails opened his eyes: "I'm ok, Belle. Let's finish the last preparations."
Tails was thinking: "I've already been alone in the past; it won't be that hard now. No, correction: I was alone back then. Now I'll be just lonely".
As Sonic was running towards his own Tornado to get to Angel Island he thought: "Tails, you don't know it yet because you think you still have to grow, but you already grew up and you did it fast. And this journey will let you figure it out-huh?."
He stopped by seeing a dark figure watching the sunset.
"Hey there, Shadow."
No response came from the black hedgehog.
Sonic got closer to him: "I'll make it quick. Tomorrow morning Tails is leaving for a space journey by himslef. He'll try to find out more secrets about the Chaos Emeralds, where the Ancients once lived. He asked me to say bye to you, and if you want to salute him you know where to find him."
"I'll pass."
Sonic chuckled a little: "Hehe, I imagined. We were wondering if you might be interested in what he could find out."
"When will he be back?"
"Probably in a month or two. I'll let you know."
"What about you?"
"Now you care about me? That's so out of character of you."
"Hmph. Tails is the mind that covers your recklessness. How many disasters will you cause without him?"
"Hehe, that's more like you, now I understand. I'll be fine and I'll be more careful if that makes you feel any better."
"Coming out of your mouth, I feel worse."
"Eggman will be out of commission for a few months. You don't have to worry about him or me for a little."
"That's somehow reassuring. I still cannot figure out why you haven't killed him already."
"That's a debate for another time, Shad."
A pause followed.
"Why is Tails leaving?" The black hedgehog asked.
"He wants to become more independent and grow up."
"His brain really doesn't match his age. But sometimes it does."
"That was harsh even from you, Shad. I also know he is already independent enough and has grown up fast. But it's something he has to figure out on his own."
"He'd better be back. I'm curious about what he might find. And most importantly I don't really want to become your personal nanny."
"Hahaha. He'll be back, you can sleep peacefully."
"Before you go, if you're heading to the Chaotix to tell them, they're out for work in Empire City."
"Thanks for the news. Would you mind also telling Rouge? You have more chances than me to find her."
"I'll let her the message."
"Thanks again for your time. See ya."
Sonic zipped away.
Shadow was still standing there at the sunset, still thinking: "That fox really has a brain that matches Eggman's. Yet he's still a child, and this decision of him proves it. So much potential wasted."
The sun set away.
The light of the moon started kissing the Green Hills.
"I thought I would have found you here. - Rouge came from above, landing next to him: - I've got some fresh good news for you."
"Sonic already told 'em to me. No Eggman for a few months."
"News travels fast, I see."
"I do have some news for you instead."
"Oh, do you? Now I am surprised."
At Rabbit's home in Forest Hill Village, Vanilla hadn't digested the Eggman's good morning yet that she had to digest another news brought to her by her daughter. At least this time she was not in danger, but Vanilla was not able to get up from the sofa for hours due to the shock. And Cream and Amy were not helping much there, since they were cooking non stop.
"Remember Cream, we cannot prepare anything that cannot last for long, nothing fresh. Tails has to put things inside the freezer and eat them whenever he feels like."
"Yes Miss Amy! In fact I was thinking about preparing this now." Cream said pointing at a recipe on Vanilla's personal cooking book.
"That's perfect! Go on with that, I'll work for some cookies! And, please, stop calling me Miss."
"Mother, how do you feel?"
"Oh geez... Cream, Miss Rose... I'm so sorry, I'm not feeling well. I wish I could help you right now."
"It's ok Miss Vanilla, we both reacted in shock when Tails told us!" Amy replied.
Vanilla was still confused: "And... how are you so much okay with this? I mean... it's outer space: it's really both unknown and dangerous! And he's still a child!"
"It's Tails we're talking about."
"Yes Mother. You know Mr Tails is extremely brilliant. He's a genius. If there's someone that can handle the unknown dangers of outer space, that's him."
"Calculating probability of Tails' death in outer space. Result: 0.3%." Gemerl tried to reassure.
"But why?" Vanilla asked.
Amy answered: "Tails needs to prove to himself that he cannot depend neither on Sonic nor on us forever. He already does not, he grew up fast with Sonic. But that's something he has to discover and understand on its own."
"He also decided to travel up to the galaxy where the Ancients come from, remember Mother? That they're from another galaxy?"
Vanilla nodded.
Cream continued: "So it'll be for him both a spiritual journey and an adventure. He'll come back with lots of stories about the Ancients, the Chaos Emeralds and himself."
Vanilla took a deep breath while the two young girls were still working.
Cream tried again to reassure her mother: "I know Mother, it was hard also for us, and it will be hard especially for Mr Sonic. But we cannot stop him. We must not."
Amy's voice became extremely sad: "He always felt incomplete. Before meeting with Sonic he felt like he had no place in this world, due to where he lived and... well, how people treated him."
"He needs to do this on his own. And that's the best time for everyone!"
Vanilla took another deep breath: "That boy... he will never stop surprising everyone, will he?"
Amy's voice became joyful again: "Sonic basically raised him."
"So he will never stop! Right Cheese?"
"Cha-Chao!"
"Ok, ok, you both convinced me! - exclaimed Vanilla while standing up - I'll help you then. Cream, after finishing that dough, go with Gemelr and grab more flour. Miss Rose I'll handle that other dough, please keep checking the hoven."
The next morning the sun was rising gently, making warm reflexes with the grass in front of Tails's workshop in the Mystic Ruins.
Amy, Cream, Vanilla and Belle were loading all the supplies made at Rabbit's home the evening before inside the Typhoon. Sonic, Knuckles and Gmerl were helping Tails with his lagguages. Rouge was sitting above the Typhoon, enjoying the guys working. Shadow was watching everything from the distance.
After everything was properly loaded, Rouge mocked Tails while landing on the ground: "Do you really think that Blue and Red will have enough brain cells without you, sweetheart?"
Knuckles took it personal: "HEY!"
Sonic laughed.
"I am joking knucklehead!"
Tails laughed: "Haha, I'm not worried, they're more than capable of almost anything. And if Eggman has to come back earlier than expected they will handle the situation. Eventually, in my absence, Tanlge and Whisper can do anti-aircraft pretty properly."
"You braniac!" Knux grabbed Tails by the neck, rubbing his fist on his head.
"Hahaha, please Knuckles!"
"You really thought about everything, haven't you?"
Amy replied: "He would have never done something this crazy without properly thinking first."
Tails moked her: "Yet you all doubted me."
Everyone laughed.
"Rouge tell me - Sonic asked, watching Knuckles - why aren't you trying to steal the Master Emerald?"
"Oh, it would be way too lame from me. I'm a classy lady. If I have to make a heist, I have to do it with style, not cowardly take advantage of such an emotional moment. I mean, I would do it, but that's a little too much, and the fox boy asked specifically for my presence. I'll let him take off, then Red will have to be faster than me."
"That's... sweet of you, bat girl, I guess." Knux was not sure how to react.
Then a pause followed. Everyone was not sure what to say anymore since they knew the time was coming. Gemerl spoke: "It's 5:55am. 5 minutes left before takeoff."
"So Tails - Amy started - it's time, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is."
Amy, Cream and Belle hugged Tails.
"Bye Tails."
"Bye Tails."
"Bye Mr Tails."
"Bye girls, thank you for all the supplies and the help."
"Be sure not to starve, Tails." Vanilla warned him giggling.
"I'll have to contain myself with all those supplies of yours."
Vanilla chuckled.
Rouge kissed the fox on his cheek: "I'll miss you, braniac. Come on Knux, salute the boy properly like I did."
Tails smiled at Rouge, freeing his right hand from the hug and pointing his fist to Knuckles, which he responded with his fist: "Ha! He knows how to salute properly!"
Tails felt much warm inside. Then he and Sonic watched at each other. The girls freed Tails from the hug to make the two brothers salute properly.
Tails offered Sonic his fist. The hedgehog punched it. They chuckled a bit, then they hugged immediately after.
"Bye Sonic. I leave my workshop to both you and Belle until I'm back."
"Bye Tails. I'll help her keeping it clean. Safe travels."
Sonic left Tails from the hug.
Tails went inside the Typhoon, waving at everyone while closing the main door.
After almost a minute of silence the engines started.
Everyone backed off.
A strong wind started coming from the Typhoon.
The ship took off, slowly lifting from the ground. Then it started taking speed, moving up towards the clouds. As the seconds passed it became smaller and smaller, eventually disappearing in the sky.