Love Me

Chapter 48: Entertain Me

"Shadow's... Dead....?" Sonic says, his heart sinking when he hears the news.

"We had no choice", Nine says, his eyes averting Sonic's sad gaze, "If we didn't put an end to him, he would have killed us. You should have seen what he did to Tails; it was horrible"

Sonic is at a loss for words; he can't believe what he's hearing, his longtime rival, his friend, he almost refused to believe it, wishing it was some sick joke. But Sonic does remember back in England when he and Tails almost got crushed by him; had Nine not stepped in, they'd both be history. He wonders if that loss really changed something in him, if it drove him insane, if he was really that convinced Tails was the one behind those killings.

His head drops low, his watering eyes facing the ground as he grieved silently.

"Do you need a moment, blue?" Sails asks.

Sonic nods quietly, the foxes look at eachother and all four leave Sonic to be alone with his grief for a while. While Sonic sits by the beach, the foxes hang by the boardwalk, and the sound of waves crashing fills the air as they walk silently back to the pathway. Almost immediately after they get to a reasonable distance from Sonic, Tails grabs Sails by the vest and shoves him to the ground aggressively and swiftly, much to Nine and Mangey's surprise.

"You'd better start explaining yourself before I start stabbing you" Tails says, his eyes colder than the Arctic itself.

Sails tries to free himself from him, but Tails' grip remains strong, so strong it almost terrifies Sails. He's not sure how much more of this he can take so he just starts trying to explain himself to Tails as best he can.

"Alright, alright! I'll explain! Just release me, please!" Sails begs.

Tails lets go of him, he scurries up and stumbles backwards a little bit before Mangey runs behind him and catches him just as he finally loses his balance. Nine puts his hand on Tails' shoulder, trying his best to get him to calm down.

"Hey, relax. You were easier on us. Go easy on him, too," Nine says quietly.

Tails reluctantly decides to relax. Nine was right; he didn't know Sails' story, but it was only right that he heard him out.

Mangey licks Sails' face and helps him up onto his feet. He looks up at Tails again, this time to see he's much calmer now, the fox much more willing to listen to him.

"...What's your story?" Tails asks, adjusting the goggles on his forehead.

Sails shudders, the unpleasant memories all flooding back at once as he began to piece together how he was going to tell the story of him and his Blue...

~~~

Where Sails came from, Sonic was indeed successful at stopping the Chaos Council and was able to sway Nine from destroying the entire shatterverse. However, while trying to return home, Nine, in a desperate moment to try and keep Sonic to himself, attacks Shadow as he's transporting the weakened Sonic back to Green Hills. In his desperate bid to get Sonic back, he'd cause Shadow to drop Sonic, and he'd fall deep into the void... Sonic's friends, along with Shadow, would survive. However, Sonic would not make it back home, falling into a portal to No Place. Captain Rose and Dread, along with the other members of their crew, would save Sonic, and the hedgehog would eventually become a part of their crew... For a while, Sonic struggled with the fact that he'd not get to see Tails, Amy, Rouge, Knuckles or any of his friends ever again.

A calm breeze blows through the air as Sonic just sits there staring ahead at the endless ocean, his eyes following the movements of the waves as the ship sails across the sea. He was at a point where neither the sight nor the feel of water bothered him much anymore. All around him were sea dogs, which he'd lazily pick up and eat every now and then. Batten walks up to him and leans out in front of him, narrowing her eyes at him.