Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“What are you talking about? Why are you on fire? And why-” Sonic’s voice gets slightly more panicked as flames surrounded him. And why are you trying to set me on fire?? 

Before he can even begin to express that final thought, his vision flashes white as her spell envelops him. He falls to the floor, his body weak and smouldering from this unprecedented power.

“How do you feel now?” Blaze asked nonchalantly, landing back on to the ground next to a still lightly smoking Sonic.

“How do I feel ??” Sonic coughs slightly, his voice now sounding much less formal. He looks up at her with disdain, and continues talking, now using his usual, snarky and plebeian tone. “I feel like someone just tried to cook me!” He pushes himself back up onto his feet, brushing ash off his quills in disbelief.

Blaze probes him again. “But, you remember…? Don’t you?”

Sonic again, scowls at her incredulously. “ What… ? Why’d you think that burning me alive would somehow help restore my memory ?!?”

Her eyes widen in surprise, but she attempts to conceal her shock. “Did- Did it not work? It should have worked…” She trails off, seemingly perplexed, and starts pacing back and forth, deep in thought.

“Umm, sorry …? But no…” He responds, shrugging and shaking his head sheepishly. “Still no memories…”

Blaze cuts him off slightly. “No, I’m sorry…” She contemplates her brazen actions. “Suddenly casting a spell without even giving an explanation beforehand…” She looks up at him apologetically. “I imagine that must have been alarming, to say the least…”

Sonic blinks at her, slightly stunned at her well-maintained composure. He stands up straight, trying to match her laid-back demeanour. He follows up with a relaxed shrug.  “Ehhh, I suppose that’s only as weird as waking up with concussion and amnesia, only to immediately be confronted by some random girl chewing me out for supposedly ‘ruining her lawn ’… “ His much more true-to-form manner causes a slight smirk to curl in the corner of Blaze’s mouth.

“And why was I unconscious??” He continues with his snark. “Oh yeah ! Because I had literally just crashed out of the sky …!”

She smiles, amused by his sarcastic jesting, and thankful that his pompous and cavalier attitude seemed to have waned. “Well, at least it looks as though my spell was able to fix that unbearably pretentious personality you were exhibiting...” She reiterates by matching his mocking tone. “But I’m afraid it seems that your arrogance simply cannot be cured!”

They both chuckle slightly, but Blaze’s mirth is short-lived, her face turning stern once more as she looks down, stroking her chin, pensively.

“If I might interject your majesty…?” A voice cuts in. Blaze glances up, attentive to her butler’s musings. “Perhaps this issue may go too far beyond our understanding…?” He continues, pontificating. “If this loss of memory is the result of a complex or intense emotional struggle, I fear that attempts of physical intervention may not be enough to resolve master Sonic’s internal turmoil…”

“Hmmm…” Blaze ponders the Koala’s theory. “So, you’re saying that he has experienced so many taxing situations that his mind simply can’t cope anymore…?” She turns back to Sonic, explanatorily. “That likely means that this problem may only be helped by experiencing some sort of personal revelation…”

“Wait, what… ??” Sonic replies, still moderately perplexed. “But, how exactly am I supposed ‘ reflect on myself’ or whatever, if I can’t even remember who ‘myself’ is ??” He looks sceptical at his own poor phrasing.

Blaze sighs. “I know it’s difficult, but I’m afraid this is going to be a whole new kind of journey you will have to undertake..” They glance at each other, defeatedly. “And I don’t think there’s any more I can do here to help you…” Sonic’s face drops slightly.

“But don’t worry…” She continues, reassuringly. “You don’t have to do it alone…”’ She smiles towards him.

“I think it’s about time we call for some backup…”

Chapter Text

There is a moderate kerfuffle in Tails’ workshop; The room is filled with an atmosphere of mild concern and injury, as members of the Resistance are gathered, discussing their next steps.

Rogue can be heard gently arguing with Omega, trying to reason with the impatient robot head. “We will get the parts necessary, I promise! But we need to come up with an action strategy first…!”

Omega responds, imploring her to make haste. “ I must be restored to optimum capacity! The lemur’s reckless actions have caused severe damage! ”

Tangle looks over at him, and retorts in frustration. “Hey! I got’cha out, didn’t I ?” Her and Whisper are sitting in the corner of the room, her long, normally flexible, tail appears to be damaged. Her wolf-friend is carefully bandaging it up. Tangle continues. “Plus, I got hurt tryna save your stupid, metal butt, so stop complainin’, tin can!” She crosses her arms and looks away in a slight huff.

Everyone was on edge after their last excursion. While trying to celebrate their victory over the Zombot Virus, Dr Eggman unceremoniously attacked once again, stealing Omega’s software to power a new, and seemingly well-built, weapon. 

It had been an incredibly close call, with Tails and Amy managing to come up with a plan of action in the spur of the moment. Everyone was left run-down and exhausted, but at least they had managed to all make it out okay in the end, whilst somehow also protecting the town…

Tails sighs, glancing out the window as he contemplates how much easier the situation could have gone if Sonic had showed up to help save the day, like he usually did. But he still hadn’t shown up since stopping the Zombot Virus with Silver…

Suddenly, whilst the group is still arguing behind him, his wrist watch starts buzzing as a voice call comes through. He hastily answers. “Hello…?” He can hear a faint murmur, but the tense conversation behind him was too much of a distraction. “What?? Urgh , I’m sorry, give me a second, it’s just too loud in here…”

He moves away from the main room and shuts himself inside a closet, closing the door behind him to block off the background noise. “Hello…?”

A formal woman’s voice speaks over the line. “Oh, good day Miles… Are you busy??”

Surprised, he replies, slightly anxiously. “Oh..!? Miss Blaze..! Your majesty…? Ma’am..? Um, no, of course not, it’s totally fine!! Are you back on our world…? What’s wrong?? How can I help??”

"Oh, um, yes,  well, temporarily… And just Blaze is fine…” She pauses slightly, trying to carefully choose her words. “I must be quick, I just needed to let someone know- “ She is suddenly interrupted by an exuberant Tails, who was still feeling worked up from the manic series of events they had experienced over the past few days. “You’ve missed the craziest couple of days! There was this horrible metal virus which was spreading super fast-“

“Umm, Miles…” Blaze attempts to cut back in, but he continues, oblivious. “And loads of people were getting infected, including Sonic! But-“ 

“Miles-“ She tries to stop him again, but his absent-minded chatter had overtaken his humility. “But then Sonic fixed everything using the Master Emerald, but then he disappeared! And-“

“ TAILS !” Blaze yells, managing to break through his train of thought. He falters, vaguely stuttering at his embarrassing blathering. “Oh, right, sorry ..!” He looks down, lightly blushing ashamedly, allowing Blaze to finish her query.

“…Sonic…” She pauses again, pondering how to put it delicately. “Sonic is in my dimension …”

Blaze can hear a hitch in the fox kit’s breath as he processes this new information. Just as she is about to speak again, he pipes up first. “Oh, of course !! ” Tails shouted enthusiastically. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that! Is he alright? Can I speak to him?“

The exuberance in his voice is extremely evident, however the increase in volume causes the line to crackle, distorting their connection slightly. Blaze was only using an old payphone to contact Tails, since she had only popped back to Sonic’s dimension quickly to inform his friends of his location and ask for assistance. 

It wouldn’t have felt right to her if she had just sent the hedgehog back to his own world directly; not in his current… condition …

Blaze exhales dejectedly. “I think it would be best if you come to pick him up…” She hesitates a bit before deciding on what she thought would be the most sensible option. “I will create a connection between our worlds and send you the coordinates to travel to in your aircraft…”

Before she can continue her train of thought, the elated fox cuts in once again, eagerly exclaiming. “I’ll fly right over! Thanks so much Blaze!”

“Tails, wait , there’s-” Before she can finish her sentence, he had already disconnected the phone call, presumably feeling too excited to see his brother again. All Blaze could do was let out an even deeper exasperated sigh, rubbing at her furrowed brow as she turns away.

She would have to update him of their new ‘situation’ once he touched down outside her castle. For now she would have to simply focus on setting up their rendezvous point and figure out what to say to both the confused hedgehog and his younger brother.

It was going to be a rough couple of hours…

Chapter Text

After a short discussion (and mild disagreement) with the other team members, it was agreed that Tails would travel to the Sol Dimension on his own to pick up Sonic, after which they would check out a disused Eggbase together to search for the blueprints needed to fix Omega. Meanwhile, Rogue, Amy and Cream were going to enter Cheese into a Chao racing competition in order to find parts.

Tails’ tablet screen lit up as he was taking off, indicating that a portal to the Sol Dimension had been opened nearby, so he quickly set a course for the signature. The Tornado leisurely soared through, entering into the new world with ease, and Tails couldn’t help but light up at the both the sights that were now below him, as well as the prospect of seeing Sonic. 

He wasn’t entirely sure why Blaze couldn’t have just used her power to return Sonic to them directly, but Tails was sure she had her reasons, and he quickly pushed aside any doubts or worries as he approached the castle. He landed smoothly onto a larger expanse of flat land, being careful not to disturb the grass and rolling to a stop not too far from the castle entrance.

He heads towards the castle’s large front door and swings the metal knocker. It slams down, creating a menacing, echoed bang. The door is answered quickly as it slowly creaks open, revealing the Princess’s butler on the other side.

“Oh! Why good day Master Tails.” The butler bows lightly and continues, slightly flustered. “We seem to have underestimated your eagerness… Her majesty is still preparing in her chambers. No matter…” He ushers the fox inside. “Please, make yourself at home in the lounge room. “ He gestures towards another large door which is slightly ajar, with light vaguely shining through. “I will fetch the Princess to inform her of your arrival.”

“Oh um… Okay, sure…” Tails is overwhelmed by the sight of such an extravagant royal hall. He lightly calls up to the butler, who has already ascended half-way up the stairway. “Thanks so much!” 

Tails was beaming, not only fascinated by the castle’s grand interior, but also in anticipation of seeing his best friend again. He walks casually down the hallway, taking his time to admire the high-class décor and expensive paintings which graced every inch of the castle’s glistening halls. He enters the aforementioned lounge door, only to find an equally as extravagant, yet surprisingly sparsely furnished, meeting area. The space was almost empty, aside from a few chairs and a lone buffet spread, which had been tucked away in the corner of the room. Tails noticed that the table was filled with trays of delightful looking refreshments, but also, positioned beside it, and seemingly pondering which snacks to try, stood a familiar-looking blue hedgehog.

“ Sonic!! ”

Sonic had already filled his mouth with a variety of the table’s snacks, when his head was suddenly turned in response to his name being unexpectedly shouted from across the room. He was surprised to be greeted by a small, orange blur, which rammed into him, suddenly embracing him with a giant hug.

In a bit of a shock, Sonic splutters slightly, as he attempts to quickly gulp down his mouthful of food. He gently pushes the creature away from him slightly in order to release the tight grip. 

”Woah, hey..!? Umm, calm down there little buddy...!” He smiles awkwardly and looks around the room, confused. “How’d you even get in here…?”

The young fox looks slightly taken aback by his reaction, but he hangs back, and then, in realisation, responds. “Urgh, right! Sorry, my bad… I guess you must still be sore from your crash landing, huh??” He looks up at Sonic with a cheeky smile, almost as if to try and tease him about his recent accident…

The confused hedgehog continues with a nervous chuckle. “Uhhh, sure… But uhh, what’re you doing here??” His eyes keep darting around the room, almost as if he was looking for somebody else…

Sonic, with very limited knowledge of his former life, is assuming that this child must have simply snuck away from a nearby village in order to visit the castle. Perhaps rumours had spread about the random blue blur which, just a few days ago, had plummeted down from the sky and torn a crater in the middle of the royal gardens… He couldn’t blame the kid for being curious! And so he queries once again. “Like, uhh… Did’ya get lost or something?”

The fox looks up at him, and pulls a confused expression. He responds in a frustrated tone. “W-what?? What’re you talking about??” His voice gets a bit angrier at Sonic’s dismissive attitude. He steps forward slightly, and in a firmer tone exclaims. “I’m here to bring you home!!”

Sonic backs away a little with his hands raised slightly. “Wait, what? L-look, I’m sorry kid, but uhh…” He scratches his head in confusion. “How exactly do we know each other…?”

Tail’s face drops, tears welling in his eyes. Not believing what he was just asked, he questions again. “W-what? What do you mean??” His voice gets louder. “ What’re you saying???? ” Now Tails is backing away, his face dropping as he overflows with a mixture of emotions. He meekly points to himself. “It’s me! You- We-” He pauses slightly, and, exasperated, he pleads. “Urghh! Sonic, we-!!!” He stops himself as his voice gets quiet: “W-we’re brothers….”  He sounds conflicted, facing his head down at the floor.

Sonic is slightly shocked and looks him up and down, confused. “Huh? A fox…?” He glances to his side to check out their reflections in the wide mirror which sat on the wall next to them. “But I’m, a…” He looks up and down at his own body, as if attempting to confirm his own hedgehog form, and then, confusedly blurts out with, “How does that work??”

Tails, still staring down, lightly shakes his head in disbelief. He looks up again, his eyes opened wide with fear. “Do you…? Not remember…?”

Sonic notices the young fox’s sadness and a rush of guilt flows over him as he senses the child’s anguish… He was obviously distressed and struggling to comprehend what he was being told. Sonic sighs. “Urgh, look, I’m really sorry…. But I, uhh.. Kinda woke up from a major blackout a few days ago with no memories…” He rubs his head awkwardly. “I don’t really know who I am… Or where we are… Or, well…” He lightly shrugs, seemingly apologetic. “Anything…”

Tails stutters, incredulously. “W-wait? Seriously..?” His voice trails off. “No way…”

The pair’s ears both perk up slightly as they overhear a slight ruckus outside. They hear Princess Blaze’s flustered tone getting closer. “I thought I told you not to let him in before I saw him!?!” A quiet voice responds. “My sincerest apologies my liege!”

Blaze rushes into the room, causing the door to slam shut behind her, closing right in front of the face of an embarrassed looking butler.

“Oh Tails!” She hurriedly walks over to the boys. “Urghh, I’m sorry! You got here faster than I expected… I tried to say on the phone… I-I wanted to warn you-”

Tails interrupts her, despondent. “B-Blaze… What did…??? Is this really happening???” He turns back to face his long-lost friend. “Sonic, you…” He stammers. “You really don’t remember… Anything?? Anything at all?”

Disheartened, Sonic shakes his head with an apologetic look: ”I’m sorry, I don’t…”

”No…” Tails blinks, devastated. “No way…”

Blaze approaches and puts her hand on Tail’s shoulders. She faces Sonic. “Do you mind, um, just giving us a minute…?” Sonic nods and awkwardly kicks his feet as they walk away. She guides the fox back out into the hallway. 

Sonic can hear them faintly mumbling on the other side of the door, presumably discussing his amnesia. Once he knows they will be out of earshot, Sonic slaps himself in the face and exclaims, exasperated at himself. “Urgh! Jeez, dude!” He sarcastically adds. “Way to go totally alienating the first new face you meet! Bravo…!” He continues sarcastically and ashamedly muttering to himself. 

The door opens once again and the cat and fox duo re-enters the room. There’s an awkward silence as they walk towards each other again, but Blaze tries to smile reassuringly at them both. 

The young fox is holding his tail, fiddling nervously with his fur. Whilst encouraging Tails to step forward a little, Blaze speaks up first.  “Sonic…This is Tails.” Tails glances up and looks at him shyly. He’s never had to be the outgoing one who does the introductions before! She explains. “He's here to take you back to your home.”

Sonic tries to smile at him a bit, but he is once again confused by her words: “Wait, really? This kid?” He kind of gestures towards him awkwardly, wondering how a child could transport them anywhere. Tails gives him an offended scowl, causing him to backtrack. “Oh uhh, no offense dude!!! Sorry, but you just seem kinda… Well, young, you know…? I mean how are we even gunna get back….?”

Tails gets a little defensive at Sonic’s apprehension. “I brought my plane…” He tries to argue but his voice is quiet.

“W-wait, what?” Sonic stumbles over his words. “You mean..? Like, an AEROplane???” Tails gives a small, dejected nod. Sonic continues. ” You flew here in an aeroplane ??”

Another little nod.

“On your own???”

Nod.

“All this way??”  

Nod.

“To come and get me ??”

Tails nods a final time.

Blaze smirks and chimes in: “Oh, he can do lots more than just that… Tails is a genius !”

Her statement makes Tails blush gently. She continues. “He’s helped to saved the universe more times than I can count!”

Sonic stares in disbelief, but he is secretly super impressed and so can’t stop himself from smiling lightly.

Tails, embarrassed, attempts to make an excuse. “Oh well, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything without everyone else’s help….” He pauses again, and hesitantly adds. “Sonic… Our friends… We all thought…”  He stops again for a few seconds before sighing and sadly but clearly sharing. “We’ve been really worried about you…” Sonic is surprised by the sudden sincerity as the fox glances up at him anxiously.

He smiles back at Tails and nervously remarks. ”Heh, well…” He pauses and sighs mixed with a slightly exasperated chuckle. “Okay then!! I mean, I know that I’ve waaayyy over-stayed my welcome here!” Tails and Blaze seem a bit surprised at his change in attitude, but he continues. “So let’s go check out this plane of yours! It’s not like I’m gunna get any memories back by just sitting around here!” He winks at Tails with that last statement, who timidly smiles back.

Sonic then turns to address Blaze. “Blaze.. Or umm, your majesty…? Umm, well… Thank you so much for lookin’ out for me! I’m really sorry for suddenly crashing in on ya’ and for being an extra thorn in your side these past few days!” He chuckles and rubs head awkwardly…

Blaze smiles reassuringly: “Sonic, we’re friends ! I’m just sorry I can’t help you any further right now…” She turns to tell Tails whilst gently crossing her hands gently over her heart… “I’m afraid recovery might take a while… Even the Sol Gems couldn’t heal his mind….”

Sonic interrupts, jokingly. “Oh yeah! Cuz earlier, she totally tried to set me on fire!” He smirks and Blaze responds by lightly shaking her head whilst smiling fondly. “I am so sorry for suddenly leaving you both with this, but my kingdom really needs me… I have to return to my duties…”

Sonic looks down embarrassed and glances over to the newly burdened fox-child.

Tail’s voice gets a bit deep, as he manages to reply with a weak but understanding smile. “No, of course… It’s okay… Thank you for… Well… You know… Everything...”

Tails gives a defeated smile before turning around and trundling meekly out the door. Sonic and Blaze exchange glances and slowly follow suit. Sonic whispers to Blaze. “Will this really be alright…? I feel horrible…” Concerned, he reiterates. “He’s just a kid…!” 

She reassures him. “Don’t worry. He’s strong… And so are you.”  They smile at each other and continue to the front door.

She shows them both outside and as they turn and wave goodbye she finishes by saying. “I wish you both the very best…” They wave slightly as she returns inside. They turn around and start their way away from the castle, and are followed by the sound of the door slamming shut behind them.

Tails doesn’t know what to say or how to act. Sonic senses his nerves and so he anxiously clears his throat and attempts start making amends. “ Sooo… Ummm, it was… Tails, right?” He looks down at the fox and his eyes widen slightly again as he notices his new friends mutated double tails. “I’m kind of guessing that’s because of the two tails…?” 

Tail nods and responds shyly. ”Oh yeah… Umm.... Well, Tails is actually a nickname that, you gave me…” 

Sonic looks a bit surprised but happy. ”Huh, oh, okay… Cool…” He looks up, smiling and feeling slightly prideful…

The pair clamber aboard the Tornado, and Sonic is quickly surprised by how easily the young fox takes the wheel and easily manoeuvres the large vehicle. The plane takes off just as Blaze appears from an upstairs balcony to wave goodbye. 

”Woo hoooo!” Sonic puts his arms up into the air excitedly as the plane quickly flies away and Tails can’t help but smirk slightly at his enthusiasm.

Blaze whispers to herself, watching them leave. “Good luck… My friends…”