Chapter Text
Humming to myself, I skipped my way through the woods, head held high, and pulling a cart behind me with my inventions! I was wearing a yellow-blue lab coat and black boots, along with plastic goggles a bit too big for me. Something I’d have to fix later when I had the time, or maybe my hero would have some that fit me?
Well, first I’d have to impress them enough to give me the honor of wearing one of their sets of goggles. Something which, even I knew, would be an arduous task. As I exited the forest and entered the clearing, I immediately noticed the large, egg-shaped flying laboratory (which I called the ‘Eggship’ for simplicity's sake) currently settled on top of a hill with Badniks flying all around. Immediately after, I would notice the various ladybug Badniks rolling over to harvest nearby bio-material.
I marvelled at the inventions. Some of them had swinging blades which they used to shred shrubs and bushes before vacuuming the mulch into their chests, and upon reaching full capacity, rode back to the egg-ship.
Others had long chainsaws attached to their sides, which they used to cut down trees where dog-like Badniks would come over and begin devouring the downed trees as efficiently, if not more so, than a fully functional wood chipper.
“Half the size…” I said to myself as I walked up close to one mid-devouring. “15 feet chewed up in 2 minutes and still going, genius, nothing short a’ genius!”
My mind analyzed the Badnik in front of me, my mouth watering as I worked in my mind how I could make such an angel in my lab! If I were unlucky enough to be forced to work in such an environment again. Hopefully, after today, I’ll earn something to work with that would allow me to reach my ful!-
“Um! Excuse me!”
“Huh?” Turning around, I would see 2 Badniks, quite a bit more advanced than the ones mindlessly harvesting the surrounding woods, floating up to me. One of them had a square head and yellow in its design (which immediately made it my favorite), with the other having an orb head and red in its design. The latter seemed to be the one who spoke up.
“Hi! Sorry! You’re not meant to be here!” It said in a calm, if nervous, tone. “You should be… running and screaming, not trying to pet the dogs.” It explained.
Laughing, I would walk up to the Badnik and observe it up close. “You don’t seem to be menial drones…but you ain’t nowhere close to some of the Doctor's greatest inventions. What’re y'alls roles?” I asked. Of course, I knew the machine couldn’t actually understand me, so I didn’t wait for a response. “You seem to be smarter than the average Badnik, but somehow, unable to discern biological life from these beautiful creations!” I said, gesturing to the dog Badnik that was now returning to the Eggship.
“Uh…” The orb-headed Badnik scratched its head. “No, I think I can tell what is and isn’t a Badnik, Mr. Bystander.”
“Yeah!” The cube-headed one said, banging their fist against their chest. “We’ll have you know we’re very smart! Cowboy…b-boy?”
And I laughed. I laughed so hard I nearly peed myself. Slapping my knee from how silly these little machines were, I was barely paying attention to what they were saying. When I recovered at last, the red Badnik was ready to take orders. “Ahem!” It began. “You are to be taken to Dr. Ivo Robotnik a!-”
“Oh! Y’all already know what I wanted?” Wow! Were these machines mind readers? “Yes, thank you very much! I’d be glad to meet the good doctor!” Its body jerked around as I shook its hand. I knew I should be gentle, but I was way too excited to care right now.
“Wait. I thought being taken to Master was a punishment.” The yellow Badnik questioned.
“I am very confused.” The red Badnik replied, acting as if my rough handshake had made them woozy somehow! “I suggest just taking them to Master. He’ll know what to do!”
The two escorted me right up to the Eggship and past all the working Badniks. When we got to the gate, I noticed it was closed shut only until a Badnik got up close to where it raised just enough for the Badnik to get inside, before slamming down again. The design reminded me of a mouth ready to devour all that would enter. The large metal moustache and round windows above sold the illusion.
“Seems quite extreme,” I said. “I don’t think the, uh, ‘freedom fighters’ could do much damage if they got inside.”
The red Badnik raised its hand, and the door rose wide open. “Oh? The freedom fighters aren’t the primary security threat anymore!” It said.
“Oh! Did the Doctor handle them?”
“Oh no, they’re still messing with our operations!” The yellow Badnik explained in an overly cheery tone. “It’s because an anomaly overtook them in their threat level! All security systems are being planned around the idea that it’ll attack again!”
It didn’t seem to notice how concerning its words sounded. “I…see.”
“Nothing to worry about!” The orb-headed Badnik tried to comfort my mind. “Surely this anomaly will be destroyed by our wondrous Master in no time!”
“Halt!”
We had walked only a few feet into the facility when we all freezed. Looking up, I would see my hero standing on top of a balcony and looking down at me.
Dr. Ivo Robotnick the Beyonder.
The Human was just as my father described–large and bulky with a confident posture that oozed malice and contempt. I gulped. Even from this distance, I could tell that he was large, even by Human standards, I think!
“What is the meaning of this…” They adjusted their glasses, sight boring into me from behind the dark blue lenses that obscured his eyes. “...Intrusion.”
“Oh! It’s not an intrusion! I think?” The yellow Badnik said. Meanwhile, the Dr. casually stepped off the balcony and began floating midair! My eyes widened as I analyzed their hoverboots. “We’re not so sure! He says we’re taking him to meet you, but you said we should take any suspicious Mobian’s priso!-”
“And why do you think, Cubot?” The Dr. dropped the last few feet in front of us. I looked towards Cubot, and then at who I assumed to be Orbot. Then I looked up at the doctor and gulped. He was tall. “...that the words of a clear impersonator…” Robotnik grabbed the collar of his red coat, his own eyes analyzing my entire, small, shaking body. “Override my clear and direct order?”
That darn machine didn’t answer! Was it intimidated? Not shocking, considering it was facing the Dr. But I had to wonder how a machine could accurately mimic such an emotion. “U-Um…” I spoke up, the Dr’s gaze turned to me. “I-ah-I didn’t mean no offence…Lord Robotnick…” My accent involuntarily slipped past my lips and into his ears, causing him to furrow his brow. “A-As you can see here! I’m a-also an in-inventor!”
Chuckling nervously, I forced myself to smile and analyze the Dr. up and close. I wasn’t even looking for anything in particular, just needed something to latch onto. “You inspired me to…chase my dreams!” I clenched my teeth and gestured to my inventions. “I’m looking to learn under you! Learn more ‘bout the craft! I’ve brought some of my past inventions for you to…look over!”
“...I see.” He took some time to take in what I said, simply standing there with a finger on the side of his head. It was as if he were analyzing an equation in his head. Suddenly stomping past all of us, he grabbed one of my proudest inventions, a Caterkiller Badnik that I had repaired after discovering it damaged in the woods. “This.” He said, dropping it to the ground. “Is my Badnik, you simply repaired it, yes?”
I gulped. That was admittedly one of my worst inventions. Utterly horrible and flawed. “Y-Yes, my apologies. Um, b-b-but everythin’ else is…100% my own creation!”
“This is a toaster.”
“A red toaster!”
…
Thunk! Crunch!
“...It wasn’t very good to be honest. You were totally right to break it.” I was looking to the side now, glad that my goggles hid the worst of my pain.
“But I thought you sa!-” I, along with Orbot, shushed Cubot. We did not want to piss him off.
“Huh.” He picked up one of my oldest inventions!
“A wooden taser gun!”
“I can see.” I winced and backed away. “What’s your name, fox?”
I adjusted my collar and tried curling my tails behind my back. “D-Dr. Tails,” Robotnik cocked an eyebrow. “N-No, I don’t have a…doctorate.” I let out a small, awkward laugh.
“...Hmph, sounds like you’ve got shitty parents.” Robotnik let out a soft snort. “Imagine my parents named me ‘Vestigial Tail’? I would have strangled them in their sleep much sooner.”
I tried to smile, but cringed instead. “...Yeah…”
And that was all either I, or Robotnik, wanted to talk about it. “Tell me, Tails, since you have no problem tearing my inventions apart for your ego trips–why stick with wood?” He slid his gloved thumb on the taser. “Even the few metal components I can see clearly aren’t high enough quality to have come from my Badniks.”
“Oh, um, uh…” I looked down towards the ground with my hands behind my back. “Back at my village, um, people would bully me…physically.” I bit the inside of my cheek and tapped my foot as I remembered that incident. “And, um, I built it to defend myself.” Inhaling deeply, I forced myself to look up at Robotnick. “I…I, uh, had nothing but scraps back then, but I could still make somethin’ potentially…lethal, if I ever felt afraid for my life.”
Robotnick stared me in the face…and smiled. “...Hahahahaha! And some say I brought violence to this shitty little planet! And here you are, beating and killing each other without me even being involved! Hehehe-laugh with me.” The quick, blunt order immediately caused Orbot and Cubot to act.
Seeing that the Badniks were laughing, I followed along, trying to fit in with my future peers.
Assuming I lived.
“Uh, yeah, you’d be surprised by how vile some of us can be…”
“Such as you?” He still had that wide smile, but the rest of us had immediately dropped ours.
“I-I ain’t like ‘em!” Despite the quick burst of defensiveness, I quickly quieted myself, not wishing to offend the Doctor. “I just…if someone really wanted to hurt me, I wanted to make sure they…wouldn’t. Ever.” My gaze darkened for a second. “Ever…”
Another laugh. “Wonderful! Wonderful! Some common sense at last!”
I let out a sigh of relief as Robotnik’s approval brought me back down to reality. “Y-yeah, thank you for understanding. I don’t wanna-” I cocked an eyebrow. Was he raising the electrical intensity to the maximum? “Um, Dr? What are yo?-”
He placed the taser directly against his chest and pulled the trigger.
We immediately got away from the Dr. as electricity coursed across their body. His clothes scorched, and his moustache turned all fuzzy from the amount of electricity coursing through his veins. “Huh.” Robotnick, after all of that! Just dusted off some of the soot from his clothes. “Well, I suppose ‘lethal’ for Mobians is not the same for Humans.”
“Master!” Orbot rushed over and nearly grabbed their arm, but stopped after a glare from the Dr. “Are you hurt? Do you need medical attention?!”
“Nah.” He simply waved off his Badnik's worries and pulled the taser’s darts from his clothes. “I’m fine.” Robotnick then turned to me. I could sense the disappointment oozing from his body.
I was slack-jawed, but quickly pushed myself to respond. “U-Um, yeah!” I adjusted my sleeves, trying to ignore the smell of ash in the air. “While I, unfortunately, haven’t been able to test it on Humans, I assure you that if used against a Mobian, it’ll!-” Robotnick aimed the taser at me. “W-WAI!!!-”
The barbs dug into my skin. And the world turned electric.
I fell to the ground, spasming and foaming at the mouth as my mind went a mile a minute. For 30 agonizing seconds, all I could comprehend was the sheer amount of physical pain I could feel everywhere across my body. Just as I felt like my eyes were about to explode from their sockets, it ended. I was just lying there completely out of breath, with the smell of my burnt fur filling my nostrils.
My breathing came out ragged, and I could feel my lungs burning with each gasp I made. I could see Orbot slowly float over to me. Its hands were shaking. “M…M-Mr. Bystander?” It slowly raised my goggles up.
“A…Air…” I weakly gasped, my mouth pouring out foam.
“So much for ‘lethal’, eh?” My hero threw the taser on my chest, the barbs still lodged inside my body and bleeding through my coat. “Take the rat outside.” I could see him waving his hand and stomping off to do who knows what. All I could think of was how? How did Robotnik take that blast without flinching? Were all Humans that powerful? Father would have mentioned that, right?
I barely acknowledged Cubot as it flew me outside the Eggship and laid me to the side of the ramp. “Hey! Mr. Bystander sir! Can you hear me?” It snapped its fingers in front of my face. “Mr. Bystander! Hello?”
One of my eyes weakly went to look at it…or, him. “I-...yes…yes ah…”
I tried to stand up, but Cubot kept me down. Before I could protest, Orbot rushed out with a cup of water. “Drink this!”
I did as he said. Cubot helped keep me steady as I painfully gulped down the water. “O-Orbot?” Orbot nodded. “...Bless your heart, you’re a literal lifesaver.”
Orbot seemed genuinely touched at that moment. “Thank you.”
“No problem.” Standing up, I assessed the damage. I was definitely going to need a completely fresh coat. My perception was also now reduced. Hopefully, this whole incident wasn’t just the end of an eye. As for the bleeding? Miniscule. At worst, I'd have two small scars. But none of that mattered to me. Wounds heal. Reputation does not.
“W-Will…” I clenched my teeth as I finally stood up on my own two feet. “Lord Robotnik, allow me to…to come back?”
The two Badniks immediately recoiled. “You want to try again to impress Master?” Cubot asked.
“Well…” I scratched the back of my head as I tried to get my left eye to move. When that failed, I covered it with my goggles. No need to show that off. “I know that this… wasn’t the greatest first impression, but maybe by showing commitment…I can recover?”
“Mr. Bystander.” Orbot placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Dr. Tails.” I corrected. “Dr. Tails the fox.”
“Pleasure to know you.” He nodded politely. “But may I suggest not seeing the Dr? While I can appreciate your eagerness to serve him, I feel that maybe it’d be best if you…went your own way.” His voice was as calm as can be. It still ticked me off.
“N-no!” I pushed him away with what little strength I had. “I-I have what it takes!”
“Obviously, but…” Cubot looked me up and down, wincing. “Is it…worth it?”
I blinked. “Aren’t you two meant to be completely loyal to the Dr?”
“Yup!” Orbot cheerfully answered. “But…we know you might not want to be caught up in…” He looked at the blood leaking from where the barbs hit. “...this.”
I leaned over and looked him in the eye. “I do.” My voice was stern and final. “Sure, he hurt me, but so has everyone else.” Orbot’s eyes brightened a bit as he listened. “But unlike others, he’s actually helped me in ways you ca!-”
Suddenly, a crash, followed by an explosion.
Then another.
And another.
We all turned around to the clearing which once was full of wildlife, now swarming with beautiful Badniks. Badniks that were being destroyed by a blue blur which, in front of my very eyes, bounced around and destroyed them all in one hit in no time at all!
“IT’S THE HEDGEHOG AGAIN!” Cubot screamed. “RUUUUUUUN!!!!” He turned to face the door and nearly raised his hand to open it, but the door didn’t budge. Instead, a buzz was all he got. “FATHER, WHYYYY!!!-” A blue blur of light cut him off, blowing him to smithereens.
“HOLY!!-” Falling to the ground, I tried crawling away from where I had just seen Cubot die, only to see his head fall onto the floor in front of me, scorched and dented beyond belief.
“I’ll be fiii…” Were his last words.
“Wh-what is?” I turned around, my lone working eye looking around frantically for what had destroyed him. The pain in my chest from the taser made my panic far worse.
“Uhm! Mr. Primary threat!” One of Orbot's arms had been replaced with a small flamethrower that did not inspire confidence in either himself or me. “Maybe you can surrender for me? I feel that would be mu-OH GOD!!-”
Another blue blur and another explosion. Orbot was gone.
When the light rushed towards me, I knew it was over. “MERCY!” Was all I could yell as I covered my head with my hands and waited for death.
Instead, I heard the thunk of shoes on the ground right next to my ear. “Woah! You okay?” The voice wasn’t that of Robotnick, or either of the Badniks. “Sorry! I thought you were another robot Egghead made!”
…Egghead?
I could feel a hand on my shoulder, and when I looked up, I saw a blue Hedgehog looking down at me concerned. “Name’s Sonic, by the way.” He said with a grin and a thumbs-up.
Slowly, I stood up. “...D-Dr…Tails…” I tilted my head so I could see that…yes, he was indeed a normal Hedgehog. “Dr. Tails the fox, soon to be apprentice to Dr. Ivo Robotnick himself, so if y!-”
“Wait wait wait!” Sonic looked me up and down with a skeptical look on his face. “First, you’re bleeding.”
“Yes, a mistake on my part.” I admitted as I wiped some of the blood off my coat.
“Right…” Sonic didn’t seem to believe what I was saying at all. “Second, did your parents choose the name? Or-”
“Yes. And no," I explained. “My 'real’ name is…irrelevant–others gave me the nickname-”
“‘Cause of the two tails?” Sonic asked.
I winced. “‘C-cause of the two tails, yes.” My namesakes fluttered behind me. “Not ideal, but better than using my ducking birth name.” Sonic let out a snort. “It really ain’t funny, man.”
“I mean, it really is!” And here it comes. Now I was wishing either Sonic or Robotnik had just killed me. “Just say fuck, it’s really not a big deal!”
I blinked. “...You’re not gonna mock the name?” I grabbed one of my tails and showed it to him. “The defect?”
“Hm?” Sonic seemed a bit confused by what I said. “Nah man! Whatever name you like! I changed my name to Sonic ‘cause of the speed thing, and nobody's bothered by it!” He said with a shrug. “Why should I care how you present yourself?”
“Because your…mutation…is cool and mine is…” Why was I talking to this thing? It was clearly the anomaly Robotnik had prepared for. “Gross?” It felt kind of good talking about it.
“What? Dude that’s not gross!” He said. “From what I’ve seen, having double-tails isn’t even that uncommon!”
I blinked.
It wasn’t?
“Oh…” I turned away from Sonic, assessing all the damage he had done in under half a minute. “Why the heck are you breakin’ Robotnik’s Badniks?” Sonic looked like I had just eaten something disgusting–like a pineapple, yuck! “Don’t you see they’re making somethin’ beautiful!”
Suddenly, a tree fell down and crushed a Badnik that Sonic had disabled. It sparked, which set the tree alight before emitting an emergency alarm that was filled with so much static that it sounded as if it were a scream from Hell.
And who knows, maybe it was?
“Uh… cause they’re destroying something beautiful?” Debatable. “Okay, next question!” Sonic clasped his hands together. “Are you under physical, mental, or moral imprisonment by Sir Ivo Robuttnick of Ass-holestan?” He asked in a tone as formal as it was mocking. “If so, please ask Sonic for help, and he shall answer!”
I sighed and wiped some sweat from my brow. “No, I am here outta my free wi-” Suddenly, the sound of metal against metal filled our ears. As we turned to face the Eggship, we saw two giant spider-like Badniks crawling on the sides of the Eggship and aiming turrets at us. “W-wait! I’m with Robotnik!” I screamed, raising my hands in surrender.
Without missing a beat, Sonic turned into a burst of blue light and bounced against both of their heads, immediately causing their heads to explode and their bodies to fall to the ground. “Sorry about that! What were you saying?” Whether from exhaustion after getting electrocuted by my taser, or shock by the sheer amount of power Sonic casually showed off, I fell forward into his arms. “Woah! You good?”
“Y-yeah!” I used him for support as I pulled myself back up. “I just…need to…see him. Show my worth.”
Sonic frowned. “Well, if you’re going to be like that…”
My heart sank. The image of the many exploding Badniks repeated in my mind. I wondered how flesh would react to this things strikes. “You can’t stop me…” I growled. “It’s my destiny to serve as his right hand! Together, we will purify this world of self-righteous filth!” Reaching into my coat, I whipped out a wrench. “Mark my words, kiddo…” I got into as good a fighting stance as I could, and prepared for the first blow!
“Ow,” Sonic said. “The edge.”
In a burst of light, my life ended.
Or not. As I reappeared at the edge of a village in the jungle. “Hey guys!” Sonic yelled. “This kid's in pretty rough shape! Mind patching him up?” He then…smiled at me. And pat me on the head.
I. Was. Livid.
“You!-Why!? I oughta!-” I stumbled a bit, nauseous, but ready for a scuffle!
“A bit of advice? Stay away from mad scientists obsessed with world domination! They rarely have your best interests in mind!” And with a final salute, Sonic sped off.
Forever, I hoped.