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“Squish!” Sonic shouted as yet another burst of near manic laughter filled the room. Tails watched, his heart hammering away as Sonic continued to squish the very grumpy, every-threatening face of none other than Shadow the Hedgehog. This could get very bad very fast.
“What’s wrong with him?” Shadow asked, his voice distorted as Sonic’s hands smushed his cheeks in.
Tails sighed, looking between Shadow and the blue hedgehog lying prone on the hospital bed. He was surrounded by blinking monitors and crisply folded, white sheets in a small room with a large window. Tails knew Sonic had the ability to heal fast, but after the beating he got—a beating no one had seen and Sonic can't seem to remember—everyone had agreed it would be best if he was taken to the hospital. At least until he could be stabilized, which thankfully hadn't taken long. Now it was just a matter of getting the hospital to let him go—which might take some convincing considering the state he was still in. Sonic had arrived as a waterlogged mess of bruises and singe marks, and as grateful as Tails was that Team Dark had helped him get Sonic safely off the battlefield, he was a little confused why they were still here.
“He’s on pain meds,” Tails explained.
Sonic giggled mischievously. “I don’t need pain meds. I’m inedible.” He frowned at the word. “Incredible. Uh—invisible. Yeah.” He nodded solemnly. “I’m invisible.” He snorted, his hands now rubbing all over Shadow’s face, messing up his usually flawless fur and quills. Shadow’s hands snapped forward, holding Sonic’s wrists in place. To Shadow’s mild concern, Sonic suddenly went from fully-alert to dead-to-the-world in no time flat, strangled snores leaving his mouth as his head dramatically lolled to the side. Shadow gave Tails a hard look, which would have been intimidating if he didn’t look like he had just gotten into a fight with a blow dryer and lost.
“Are you sure it should be affecting him this much?” Shadow asked.
Rouge stepped forward, studying Sonic’s sleeping face. “He does tend to burn through whatever he’s given pretty fast. Do you think the doctors may have overcompensated?”
Everyone flinched when Sonic suddenly gasped. He was so loud Tails was nearly certain he had been shot. “You didn’t bring me ice cream from the ice cream airship!”
“It’s a possibility,” Tails conceded flatly.
“I wanted a SpongeBob popsicle,” he honest-to-goodness whined. The pout on his face could have been measured with a yardstick.
“I can get you ice cream,” Tails offered, laughing nervously. Sonic wasn’t paying attention to him, though, he was making grabby hands at Shadow. “Or I could ask Amy to bring some. She said she’s on her way over now with a care package.” Sonic’s focus was still on Shadow. The dark hedgehog, who had just finished smoothing his quills back down, had apparently dropped his guard long enough to be caught unaware when Sonic suddenly bent forward and pulled him onto the bed. Before Shadow could blink, he was wrapped in peach arms.
Sonic had the widest grin on his face as he effectively squished the life out of Shadow. “You’re so soft!” He sighed. “And you smell amazing.”
“If you weren’t already injured,” Shadow warned. “I would beat you to a pulp here and now.”
“Awww,” Sonic swooned. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me!” He made a sound halfway between a hum and a scream as he squeezed Shadow’s head until the dark hedgehog was nearly unrecognizable.
“I think he stopped breathing,” Rouge said nervously. She gave Tails a look.
Of course this had to happen to him. “On three?” Tails asked.
“On three,” Rouge agreed. “Want to help out, Omega?”
“THIS UNIT IS ENJOYING THE SHOW.”
“Fair enough,” Rouge grumbled. She and Tails walked up to the bed, placing their hands on the peach arms that were definitely keeping the air from Shadow’s lungs. “Ready when you are.”
“Okay,” Tails said. “One, two, three!”
They pulled in unison, loosening Sonic’s surprisingly strong grip just long enough for Shadow to pop out, stumble backwards across the room, trip over a chair, and sprawl unceremoniously across the floor.
“Hello, Miss Rose,” he mumbled from his place on the floor. Tails turned to see that Amy had chosen that exact moment to enter the room, her arms holding boxes piled high with goodies.
“Shadow! Are you alright?” Amy asked.
“Fine.”
Tails wanted to help Amy carry her supplies inside, but he was stopped when he felt something tug him backwards by his hips. Rouge dodged just in time to avoid Sonic’s reaching hands. Tails’ tails, however, were now in a death grip.
“Did I ever tell you,” Sonic started, unaware of their new visitor. “How much I love that you have two tails? It’s twice the fluff to hug!” He buried his face into Tails’ namesakes, nuzzling them enthusiastically. Tails was starting to wonder how much more of this he could take.
“Amy’s here,” he said in a weak attempt to distract his brother.
“I am!” Amy said with her cheerful voice. Shadow and Rouge helped her carry in a total of five boxes. Tails could see now they had everything from snacks, to plush toys, to a stack of Get Well Soon cards. “How are you feeling?” Amy asked. Sonic’s grip tightened, painfully so, as he noticed for the first time the pink hedgehog in the room. He began growling loudly, his fur standing on end as his teeth were put on full display, warning the approaching hedgehog to back off.
“Sonic?” Amy asked. “What’s wrong?”
“I think he remembers that you’re usually the one to give him medicine,” Tails said, trying to soothe Amy’s growing sadness.
“Plus he’s high,” Rouge snickered.
Amy made a concerned face, but it disappeared when she let out what Tails suspected was supposed to be a calming breath. She looked around the room, deciding what to pull out of the box first. She walked right up to the growling hedgehog, holding out an adorable stuffed chao toy with what had to be the biggest begging eyes Tails had ever seen. “Want a toy?” Sonic growled louder, as if the stuffed chao was coming to murder him personally via a stake to the heart.
“Try that one,” Tails suggested, pointing at a different stuffed chao. One that was black with red stripes and seemed to closely resemble a certain someone. Amy presented the dark chao to Sonic whose eyes immediately widened, mimicking the toy’s own oversized eyes. His grip loosened but he still didn’t let go. Instead, he turned his head, giving Amy a side-eye so venomous it could have dropped a herd of elephants.
“In exchange for what?” he asked.
“Nothing!” Amy chirped, her brilliant smile never faltering. “I brought it just for you. So that you’ll feel better.”
“But nothing’s wrong with me.”
“Yeah,” Shadow said with a smirk. “He’s invisible.”
Sonic glared at Shadow. “Don’t you take her side.”
“Let go of your brother’s tails before I make you,” Shadow shot back. Sonic hugged Tails closer, eyes flicking between the hedgehogs as he contemplated their betrayal.
“Oh look!” Amy said, noticeable relief in her voice. “You have more visitors.”
“Hi, Sonic!” Tangle said, waving enthusiastically as she hopped inside the already crowded room. Whisper stayed close by her side, eyeing Sonic apprehensively. “We came to see how you’re doing.” She paused, noticing the tension in the air. “So...how are you doing?”
“I’ve been betrayed,” Sonic said in a dangerous voice, glaring lasers around the room.
“Oh,” Tangle said. She looked like she had no idea what to say. “That’s nice.”
“He won’t let me go,” Tails explained, pointing at the peach arms holding him securely in place. “Amy and Shadow are trying to tempt him with something else.”
Tangle’s face lit up. “Oh, oh, oh! You can hold my tail!” The lemur bounded over, offering her long tail to Sonic. To Tails’ immense relief, Sonic let him go. His eyes shone as he grabbed Tangle’s tail, but instead of giving her a hug like he had with Tails, he started pulling. The room watched with mild horror as Tangle’s tail grew with each tug. Soon enough Sonic was drowning underneath it all.
“I didn’t know your tail could get so long,” Whisper said. Her voice was quiet but it cut through the stunned silence like a knife through butter.
“This is awesome,” Sonic laughed, his voice muffled by the pile of tail. “Where’s my ice cream?”
“We’re getting ice cream?” Tangle asked, her eyes sparkling.
Tails sighed. “He was asking for ice cream earlier,” he explained. “I already offered to get him some. What kind of ice cream did you want, Sonic?” Sonic said nothing. Instead the room seemingly held its breath until it was filled with soft snoring. “Aaand he’s out again.”
“Here,” Amy said, helping Tangle recollect her tail as she pushed the stuffed chao into Sonic’s arms as a replacement. “Let’s hope that does the trick.”
Sonic smiled, pulling the stuffed dark chao firmly against his chest. He hummed with content. “You’re a good boy, huh?” he said in his sleep. He smiled, a dopey looking grin spreading across his face before he slowly licked his lips and bit down on his bottom lip. The effect made Amy walk backwards across the room until she pressed against the wall. Sonic squished the toy in his arms, laughing lazily.
“Well,” Amy said, clapping her hands together. “We all came to wish him well. Maybe we should let him get some rest now.”
“But I just got here.” The group turned to see Knuckles standing in the doorway, a half-deflated balloon in his hands that read: “Birthday Girl.” He looked a bit tired and more than a little annoyed, and Tails couldn’t blame him. The trip from Angel Island wasn’t exactly a short one.
“What’s that for?” Rouge asked with an amused smile, pointing at the balloon.
“It’s all I could find,” Knuckles explained, eyeing the mostly deflated balloon that was more akin to roadkill than a get-better gift with an apologetic look. “What are you all doing here?”
“Same as you,” Rouge said with a cheerful tone, wiggling her fingers at him. “Celebrating the birthday girl’s birthday.”
“Ha ha,” Knuckles said. He tried to toss the balloon to the side, but the distance it moved was pathetic and it just ended up sadly floating to the ground anyway. The room watched the dying balloon with remorseful silence.
“We’re just here to make sure Sonic’s doing okay,” Tails said, finally breaking the silence. “But he just fell asleep so we were thinking of heading out.”
“So I came here for nothing?” Knuckles asked.
“Not at all.” Everyone turned to see a certain blue hedgehog now fully awake and alert. He had an unusual half-lidded expression and he was honing it in on the red echidna. “Hey Knux~.” Tails watched the echidna visibly bristle, his muzzle turning as dark red as his dreads. Sonic was using a weird tone that Tails did not want to think too hard about. “You know how much I love your visits.” He blew Knuckles a kiss, and before it could “land,” Knuckles was charging out of the room, probably never to be seen again. Rouge was trying very hard to hide her laughter.
Sonic was laughing, too, and it made him sound deranged. “That’s okay,” he said, turning that same heated look to the dark chao he was now holding out in front of his face. “I still have you. And you’re such a good boy.” His eyes shifted to Shadow. “Aren’t you?” It was Shadow’s turn to blush. If Rouge hadn’t been laughing before, she was now. Sonic took his time looking Shadow over, a smug grin on his face. “Why don’t you come over here, handsome boy, and make me feel better?”
“I’m not doing this.” Shadow left without another word. Rouge was doubled over at this point, laughing her lungs out.
“Aw,” Sonic pouted. “He left.”
“Maybe we should go, too,” Whisper said, half-hidden behind Tangle who looked more amused than anything else.
“Yeah,” Tangle agreed. “We can come back tomorrow. I hope you get better soon, Sonic!”
“Thanks for coming to my birthday!” Sonic said, waving as they quickly left the room. “I had fun!”
Amy waited a moment more before speaking. “Well I don’t know what all of that was,” she said, brushing off her dress. “Whatever they gave him, it must really be messing with him.”
“That’s one way to put it,” Rouge said between shaky breaths. The dark chao hit Rouge square in the head. She looked up to find a massive pout on Sonic’s face.
He huffed dramatically. “Bring him back!”
Rouge failed to push her laughter back down. “Now that sounds like fun. Hold on, Blue. I’ll bring your boy back.” Sonic gave her a smirk and Rouge returned the expression.
“I AM STILL RECORDING,” Omega announced from the corner of the room where everyone had forgotten him. “NOW TRANSMITTING LIVE RECORDING TO TEAMMATES.”
Rouge tapped at her wrist, humming happily when she saw the recording appear on her communicator. “Good thinking, hon. I’ll be right back.”
The second Rouge left, Tails and Amy turned to Omega. “You really don’t need to record,” Tails said. “I don’t think any of us want to remember this.”
“INCORRECT. ROUGE AND I WILL CHERISH HOLDING THIS OVER SHADOW UNTIL THE END OF TIME.”
“Great,” Tails muttered.
“Where is Shadow?” Sonic asked.
“Don’t worry about him,” Amy soothed. “You need to get some rest. I’m sure you’ll be back to normal tomorrow. Come on, Omega. We should all leave.”
“No!” Sonic whined, his face was a pleading one. Here we go, Tails thought. “Now’s my chance to tell him how I feel.” How he feels? Oh boy.
“That doesn’t sound very wise, Sonic,” Tails tried to warn.
“It sounds like a great idea!” Tails twisted towards the sound. He could have sworn he had just heard Rouge, but she wasn’t in the room. Had her voice come from Omega? “I’ve almost caught up with him.” Yup. Omega was projecting Rouge’s voice into the room in her absence.
“I’m not coming back, Rouge.” Shadow’s voice was playing from Omega now, too.
“Yes you are!” Sonic shouted. “I need to tell you something!” Omega really wasn’t far enough away for Sonic to need to yell that loud, but that didn’t seem to register to him.
“Tell him tomorrow,” Tails pleaded. He was certain whatever came out of Sonic’s mouth next would be unfiltered and mortifying.
“But I don’t wanna wait anymore. I’ve been in love with him for years!” The next sound out of Sonic’s mouth was a snore as his head fell onto the pillow. He was completely out of it, leaving everyone else in stunned shock. Not that Tails hadn’t seen the signs.
“What?” Shadow and Amy said in Unison. In the background Tails could hear Rouge dying of laughter.
“I’m leaving,” Amy said beside him, her voice hollow. She turned slowly and it looked like the life had drained from her body, leaving her nothing more than a shell operating on autopilot.
“Yeah, I’m right behind you,” Tails said. The two of them made their way to the door, the sounds of Team Dark arguing filling the room. But just before they could leave this whole mess behind, two new figures stepped in front of them, not bothering to get out of their way as they rudely pushed inside. Tails felt his fur stand on end. What in the world were Surge and Kitsunami doing here? How had they even known Sonic was here?
“Hey, Sonic,” Surge said, setting down a Get Well Soon card on his table. The Birthday Girl balloon Knuckles had brought was drifting along in Surge’s wake. She watched it approach her before harshly stamping it into the ground, popping it with the heel of her shoe. Sonic wearily blinked his eyes open, his gaze drifting between the balloon and Surge before he immediately went back to snoring.
“I think he’s sleeping,” Kitsunami helpfully informed her.
“Well,” Surge said, crossing her arms. She smiled and it revealed her jagged teeth. “We just came to say thanks. We had fun today. We should do it again sometime.”
Tails felt his blood run cold. Surge is what had happened to Sonic today. Surge was why he was currently laying in a hospital bed. Surge was the one who had given his brother the beating of a lifetime. Tails was furious, and he wasn’t the only one.
“What did you just say?” Amy’s hammer was already out in the open, the look in her eyes promising a slow and painful death by her hands and her hands alone.
Kitsunami’s eyes glinted in the shadows. Surge only smiled wider. “I think you heard me just fine,” she said with not a hint of trepidation.
Amy let out a vicious war cry, hammer swinging wildly as she charged.
“THIS UNIT WOULD LIKE TO JOIN!” Omega jumped to his feet, his arms rotating to reveal his machine guns.
“Outside! Outside!” Tails shrieked. Surge and Kitsunami were somehow dodging Amy’s attacks despite the narrow space, but Amy wasn’t having it. With a guttural roar, she knocked both of them clean through the room’s large window, sending them flying several stories down to the ground below. Her feet shook the room as she quickly followed them. Omega was close behind, guns already unloading several rounds into the hospital parking lot from the height of their third floor room. Tails ran to follow, nearly colliding with a blip of light as Shadow appeared in the room, he looked absolutely livid. Tails gave Shadow a questioning look.
“I’ll guard him, just go!” Shadow shouted, raising hands now crackling with chaos energy.
Tails nodded, using his namesakes to slow his descent as he pulled out the stun-gun he always kept with him. Chaos spears rained down from above, mixed in with flying bullets and now Tails’ electric blasts. Amy was clearly doing just fine on her own, but the sudden air support was quickly helping to force Surge and Kitsunami away.
Kitsunami’s long hydro-coils danced through the air, deflecting the incoming projectiles. However, all of his watery limbs came crashing to the ground when Amy kicked Surge into his side. They both stumbled back. Surge recovered first, ducking with wide eyes as Amy swung. Kitsunami wasn’t so lucky. He took on the full force of Amy’s hammer and went soaring into the horizon.
“Tell him to feel better soon!” Surge shouted over her shoulder as she chased after Kitsunami, making her retreat before anyone could give chase. Her laughter faded into the distance as she disappeared from view.
“And don’t ever come back!” Amy cried, her hammer smashing against the pavement hard enough to leave a three-meter wide crater. She was breathing hard, eyes still aflame. Tails felt the same anger himself, but he also worried about the parking lot they had now turned into a smoldering battlefield, as well as the many now-broken vehicles. This was going to be a pain to fix, but thankfully there was no one around to have been hurt.
The sound of metal impacting pavement made Tails turn his head. Shadow stepped to his side, his eyes forward and arms folded. “The nurses want to move him to a different room.”
Tails sighed. No rest for the weary. “Maybe I’ll just take him home.”
“That would be wise.” Shadow began to walk forward but paused, half turning to look back at Tails. “Sonic likes vanilla ice cream, right?”
“That or rocky road,” Tails said. That was an odd question coming from Shadow.
Shadow only nodded before wordlessly walking off to join Omega, leaving Tails to wonder what the dark hedgehog was planning. He watched as Rouge swooped down from above, the whole of Team Dark walking into the distance.
“I missed all the action,” he heard Rouge complain. Omega began to recount their battle in detail, his large arms swaying for emphasis. Tails got the distinct feeling he would be seeing them again. And probably soon.
He spun his tails, returning through the broken hospital window to find frantic nurses cleaning up shattered glass. Sonic was giving him an amazed, wide-eyed stare. He turned the stare to his hands before looking back at Tails.
“Can I fly, too?”
Tails turned to the nurses. “I’m taking him to my house.”
