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Tails walked around the forest, trying to find Shadow the Hedgehog. According to his readings, there was usually a speedster running through this area. Tails knew it wasn’t Sonic, so it had to be Shadow. It was information he always kept to himself - it wasn’t any of his business what Shadow did, as long as he wasn’t attacking them. He hoped that Shadow stuck to his routine today of all days - he really needed his help. There was no way Tails and his friends could fight Sonic, but Shadow could.
“What are you doing here, fox?” A menacing voice asked behind him. Tails jumped and turned to see Shadow with his arms crossed.
“I…” Tails swallowed. “I need your help.”
Shadow scoffed. “Why would I help you? And where’s your faker friend?”
“That’s why I need your help,” Tails admitted. He gave Shadow the rundown of how they found a mysterious cave with a mech suit that took over Sonic’s mind. “It’s not Sonic’s fault that he’s causing all of this destruction. We have a plan that requires me to get in the cockpit.”
Shadow raised an eyebrow. “It sounds like you already know what to do, so why are you interrupting my day?”
“Because we can’t fight him.” Even saying the words sent a pang through Tails’ heart. He never thought he would ever consider a scenario in which he would have to fight his big brother. Any situation where they were on opposite sides of the battlefield was unfathomable.
“Can’t or won’t ?” Shadow demanded. “From what I’ve seen, you’re clever enough to beat him, Faker’s girlfriend is powerful with that hammer in her hand, the echidna will punch anything you tell him to, and your paranoid friend seems very capable. You can all take him down one on one. You simply refuse to, even when your village is at stake.” The dark hedgehog scoffed. “Pathetic.” Shadow walked away, leaving Tails in the dust.
Still trying to process the closest thing to a compliment Shadow ever said about his team, Tails called out. “Wait! There must be something you want!”
Shadow stopped in his tracks. “What could I possibly want from you, fox?”
Tails shrugged. “I don’t know. But you said it yourself - I’m clever. If you help us, I’ll owe you a favor. Anything.”
“Anything?”
“Well, not anything , anything,” Tails stammered. Oh chaos, what has he gotten himself into? Shadow wasn’t evil or anything, he just hated Sonic and many other things…“Within reason, of course. And you’ll be able to get your fair fight with Sonic later on, too.”
“Hmmm,” Shadow put a finger on his chin. “You’re right. Not to mention I’ll be able to hold the fact that I saved him over his head. Of course, that won’t mean much to him compared to you owing me a favor.” Tails didn’t like the grin that appeared on Shadow’s face. It was unnaturally terrifying. Tails hated being a pawn in Shadow’s vendetta against Sonic. He hated being used against Sonic, it made Tails feel like a useless burden to him. But right now, Tails didn’t have a choice, and he would do anything to save Sonic.
“So, deal?” Tails offered his paw. Shadow shook it, surprising Tails with the lack of force behind his handshake.
“Deal. Now, where is Sonic now?”
“Town Square. Amy, Knuckles, and Sticks are trying to fend him off- Woah!” Shadow’s arms swooped up Tails and the speedster ran to town. The world was a five second blur to Tails before it became still and his feet touched the ground. He tried to blink the dizziness away as he focused on the scene in front of him.
Shadow was staring Sonic down, red eyes meeting red eyes. Amy and Sticks were helping Knuckles up from the ground, and the villagers were running and hiding. “Faker,” Shadow acknowledged. “As much as I want your demise, I at least respected the loyalty you had toward your friends. Yet here you are, overcome by a simple symbiote? You’re a disgrace to hedgehog kind.”
“Uh Shadow, what are you-” Tails stepped forward and was stopped by Amy putting her hand on his shoulder.
“He’s trying to make Sonic angry enough to focus all his energy and power on him, come on,” she whispered, tugging him back. Once they were at a safe distance from where Amy could launch him at the cockpit, they looked to Shadow and Sonic.
“So my former friends replaced me with you? Pathetic.” Sonic’s words stung, but Tails reminded himself that it wasn’t Sonic speaking. He did notice that the mech suit was glowing a much darker red. Tails gasped, the plan was working.
Shadow sped around Sonic, trying to form a perimeter. “I can’t blame them, can you? They got tired of your constant nonsense and realized that they needed someone who’s far superior.” Shadow was flung back by a power blast. Tails had his opening. He jumped on Amy’s hammer and she swung it. Tails catapulted off it directly into the cockpit.
“Get off of me, you little twerp!” Sonic exclaimed, but Tails wasted no time. He pulled the symbiote off the wall of the cockpit. The mech suit started vibrating, and he jumped out quickly and landed on his feet. The red glow faded, and Sonic blinked his blue eyes.
“What happened? I couldn’t think straight. Nothing made sense,” Sonic looked confused. Tails let out a sigh of relief. They did it! Sonic was back to normal!
“Yeah, you get used to it,” Knuckles chimed in.
Tails held up the symbiote device. “The mech suit was controlling you, but you don’t have to worry about that anymore!” Tails said cheerfully. He tossed it on the ground and Amy gladly smashed it into a hundred pieces with her hammer.
Sonic hopped out of the suit. “Just the same, I like it better with my feet on the ground. But I guess the suit will come in handy once in a while.” The blue hedgehog frowned. “Is that Shadow?”
Tails gasped and turned around, where Shadow was still laying on the ground. “Shadow!” Tails didn’t hesitate to run towards the other hedgehog. Kneeling down, he gently shook his shoulder. “Shadow, are you okay? Please wake up!” No, no no, how did Tails forget about that hit Shadow took? The hit that Tails practically asked him to take? He assumed Shadow would’ve gotten up immediately, but he seemed to have gotten seriously hurt.
On his end, Sonic was confused. Where did Shadow come from, and why was Tails so worried about him? So concerned to the point where the fox ignored everything around them to run to Shadow of all people? Sonic wasn’t going to lie, he felt confused and stung - why did Tails suddenly care so much about Sonic’s rival, who’s made it very clear he hates all of them? Sonic was about to race over to them, but Amy stopped him.
“Wait,” she whispered.
“Wait for what? For Shadow to attack my best friend?”
“Shadow isn’t going to hurt Tails, he’s the reason he showed up here anyways. I don’t know what Tails said to him, but I doubt Shadow will try anything,” Amy explained.
Sonic didn’t like it, but he listened to her and kept a close eye on the young fox. If Shadow hurt a hair on his head, Sonic was going to hop right back in that mech suit.
Meanwhile, Tails successfully managed to rouse Shadow. “Shadow? Are you okay?”
“Mar- Tails,” Shadow corrected when he realized the blue eyes hovering above him were larger than a human girl’s. He swatted Tails’ hand away, albeit gently, and stood up himself. The pain in his head was fading quickly and he was able to observe the current scene. Tails standing next to him, concern shining in his eyes. Part of Shadow was touched, no one had shown him genuine concern since Maria. The warm feeling caused by the fox faded when Shadow looked beyond him to see Sonic and the rest of his friends.
“I see the plan worked,” Shadow said to Tails while glaring at Sonic. While Shadow easily survived the strong hit, he didn’t know if any of Sonic’s friends would’ve.
“It did, thank you. Are you alright?” Tails looked up to him.
Shadow spared him a look. “I am the ultimate lifeform. My injuries heal much faster than yours. I’m better already, fox.” The dark hedgehog smirked when he looked back at Sonic. “Your friend here asked me to help him save you.”
Sonic sighed. “Well, I suppose I owe you a thank you, Shadow.”
Shadow smirked. “Oh, you’re not the one who owes me.” He looked at Tails then looked back at Sonic. Thankfully, the blue hedgehog got the hint, based on how wide his eyes got.
Now Sonic was angry. He was genuinely going to thank Shadow for his help, but now? He must’ve forced Tails into some kind of deal just to help Sonic. Tails would do anything for Sonic, and vice versa. The difference was that Sonic was the older one and Tails was his responsibility. He raised Tails since he was young, heck, since they were both young. Sonic loved Tails more than anything in this world, and for someone like Shadow to take advantage of that…
“How dare you-” Sonic was cut off by the gust of wind that resulted from Shadow speeding away. He immediately turned to Tails, who was okay. Sonic rushed up to him and put his hands on his shoulders. “You okay, bud?”
Tails smiled at him. “Yeah, I am. Are you?”
Sonic smiled back. “Never better. I’m sorry, bud, I should’ve listened to you all from the start about the suit. If I was more careful, none of this would’ve happened.”
“It’s okay, Sonic. Really!”
“But you owe Shadow a favor. That’s not good, Tails.”
“Within reason, Sonic. Besides, I doubt he’ll ask me to do anything bad.” Tails assured Sonic, who still looked worried. “Can we go home?” Tails changed the subject. During distressing times like these, Sonic pretty much did whatever Tails wanted. Right now, he just wanted to go home.
“Of course, buddy.” With that, the five friends headed home for the day, all of them wondering the same thing - when will Shadow call in his favor with Tails?
~~~~~~
Sonic refused to leave Tails’ hut that night. Amy, Knuckles, and Sticks silently agreed to go home and give the two brothers their space, which both Sonic and Tails were grateful for. The two in question found themselves on Tails’ couch, with a movie playing on his TV.
“I really am sorry, bud. I would never treat you so horribly…” Sonic trailed off, wincing at the thought of treating Tails anything less than with kindness and gentleness that he deserved. Part of him wanted to destroy the symbiote that made him do it, even though Amy already did that.
“I told you, it wasn’t your fault, Sonic. Besides, everything is back to normal now. There’s no point in dwelling on the past,” Tails reminded him. He scooted closer to the hedgehog and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m not mad at you, Sonic.”
“You should be!” Sonic exclaimed. “I didn’t listen to you, and now you owe Shadow a favor. I don’t trust him, Tails. How many times has he tried to hurt us? Honestly, I don’t even know what to expect from the guy anymore.”
“He won’t ask me to do anything crazy, Sonic. I don’t think he’s as bad as we thought,” Tails admitted. Shadow did end up helping them, and he didn’t begrudge any of them for his injury. He also could’ve left Tails in the middle of the forest, leaving Sonic to the mercy of the symbiote, but he didn’t. If Shadow was truly a villain, he would’ve left Tails and the rest of the town to fend for themselves.
Sonic blinked. “Do you really think that?” He didn’t miss how his little brother was lost in his own thoughts. He wanted to know every detail of what happened, from the moment Tails approached Shadow to the moment the hedgehog ran off. Sonic wanted to respect Tails’ boundaries, and trusted that he would tell him if he needed to. So far, Tails had nothing bad to say about Shadow, and Sonic trusted his judgement.
Tails let out a yawn and snuggled closer to Sonic, dropping his head on his shoulder. “I do,” he said, overcome by sleepiness. All of the adrenaline from the day finally wore off, and the combination of Tails’ physical, mental, and emotional exhaustions were taking its toll. It’s been a while since Tails fell asleep on Sonic, but he missed their moments like this. Tails let his eyes close, lulled by Sonic rubbing circles on his arm.
“Alright, bud, I trust you.” Sonic just didn’t trust Shadow. “Good night, little buddy.” Sonic leaned his head back into Tails’ couch and closed his eyes. With the fox’s warmth at his side, Sonic fell asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~
When Tails opened his eyes, he noticed three things - Sonic was sound asleep with his arm wrapped protectively around him, it was still dark outside, and there were footsteps outside that roused him from his slumber. A quick glance at his electrical clock told Tails it was a little past midnight. It was surprising that Sonic didn’t wake up too, but Tails figured he was extra tired as a side effect from the symbiote and the mech suit. Deciding to investigate in case it was Eggman, Tails carefully slipped out of Sonic’s hold. The hedgehog thankfully didn’t stir, and Tails quietly left his home.
He walked a few steps and saw a familiar shape in the moonlight. “Shadow?” Tails called out. The dark hedgehog turned and stayed in the same spot while Tails approached him. “What are you doing here? Why are you lurking near my house?”
Shadow crossd his arms and his eyes flashed. “I wasn’t lurking, I was merely in the area and decided to check and see if Faker was still causing trouble. I saw that you two were asleep, so I left.”
“You were in the area at midnight?” At Shadow’s narrowed eyes, Tails put his hands up. “Okay, okay. Well, I suppose if that’s all…”
“Since you’re here, I can tell you what I want my favor to be,” Shadow cut in. “Or we can wait until tomorrow, if you prefer.”
Curiosity ate at Tails, both for the favor, and for the fact that Shadow was genuinely willing to wait until Tails was well rested before telling him. “What is it?”
“I want you to let Sonic believe that I haven’t called in my favor yet.”
Tails blinked. “What?”
“Let Sonic believe that you still owe me a favor. I want to hold this over his head for as long as possible. This should be the easiest favor you’ve ever done, fox - all you have to do is keep quiet, and if he asks, tell him that I haven’t asked you to do anything,” Shadow explained.
Tails took a moment to process. Shadow could’ve asked for almost anything, but he wants Sonic to believe that Tails owes him a favor. He wants Sonic to constantly be worried about him showing up, asking Tails to do something for him. It would certainly put Sonic on edge. Shadow was wrong, though - this wasn’t the easiest thing for Tails to do.
“It’s not easy for me to lie to Sonic, to keep secrets from him. He’s like my brother,” Tails protested.
“A deal is a deal,” Shadow reminded Tails.
“What kind of psychological warfare is this, anyways? I thought you wanted to fight Sonic on your terms.”
Shadow smirked. “These are my terms, fox. Now, will you hold up your end of the bargain?”
Tails sighed. He was a fox of his word, and while he hated all of this, he didn’t have a choice. “Yeah, I will. We’re even now.” At Shadow’s nod, Tails asked the question that was burning in his mind. “Why did you decide to help us?”
“So I could hold it over Faker’s head,” was his immediate response.
Tails shook his head. “No, there’s more to it. Not even you would do something for such a shallow reason.”
A pause. Tails was starting to regret his decision to ask Shadow that, and was about to tell him to forget about it until Shadow responded quietly. “You remind me of someone I knew a long time ago. Good night, Tails.” His voice softened only slightly, but Tails noticed it. With that, the hedgehog sped off and left Tails standing there. The fox stared at the distance for a few seconds before heading back in.
Who exactly did Tails remind Shadow of? He remembered when he tried to wake Shadow up earlier, the hedgehog started saying a different name that started with the letter ‘M.’ Tails figured he was just concussed, but what if for a moment, Shadow thought he was someone else? The person he reminded him of? Tails shook his head- it wasn’t the time nor the place to dwell on Shadow’s personal life.
The fox jumped on his couch and curled up next to Sonic again. Tails didn’t know how he would be able to lie to Sonic and hoped he wouldn’t ask him about Shadow. That was a problem for tomorrow, Tails decided. Right now, he just wanted to stay close to his brother and get a good night’s rest.
Snuggled up with his brother made Tails feel safe, and it was easy for him to fall asleep once again.