Unbreakable Bonds

Sonic sipped from a cup of chai, as Tails sat on the other side of the small wooden table patiently awaiting his turn. There was a certain tension that neither one was ready to acknowledge. A feeling of uncertainty was brewing within the confines of the cafe.

"Pass the sushi?" Sonic asked, pushing the cup across the wooden table with a half-pleasant sliding sound. Tails grabbed the cup and slid the plate of sushi across the table in return. "Thanks." Sonic struggled with the chopsticks and eventually was able to lift the sushi to his mouth, taking a bite. Tails took a mighty swig of chai. "Careful— that's almost all our money right there." Sonic chuckled.

"Sorry," Tails mumbled. They continued to practically play table tennis with the cup of chai and the sushi, exchanging one for the other. Trading. Bartering. Rallying. Until there was nothing left. The crushing reality of their current predicament set in once more with nothing to distract them from what had happened mere hours before. "What now?"

Sonic thought on it. "I didn't think that far ahead. We're gonna need a place to stay, right?" He asked. "That means we also need jobs. Would anyone even hire us after—?"

"I dunno. Maybe we'll have to get a little bit under-the-table. What would we be good at?" Tails asked. "I'm good with machines. Maybe I could be a programmer."

"Yeah. I've never really had to think about everyday jobs before," Sonic mumbled. This caught the attention of someone in the back. She glanced over to Sonic and Tails from the sanity-crushing darkness of the break room. "I could be a delivery guy, but that'd get me nowhere." Sonic and Tails looked over to the sound of footsteps. They saw a little old woman with large glasses. "Oh. Hey, do you work here? If it's not a problem, we'd like some of those crispy and sticky chicken wings." The old lady glared at Sonic and Tails.

"I know exactly the kind of people you are," the old lady said. Sonic felt something pierce his heart and suck the color out of him. Tails' eyes widened. Was she onto them? "It's written all over you. Your clothes are raggedy. You reek of guilt buried beneath a grave of lies."

"Do you even work here?" Tails asked.

"I DO work here! And you work nowhere. You have not worked a day in your lives," the old lady yelled, pointing at Sonic especially. "You are just like all those other young hooligans plaguing the streets of our country. When you see a problem or a responsibility, you turn and run the other way. Well, what's the hurry, mister?"

"Ma'am, please calm down," Sonic replied.

"I will NOT calm down," the old lady continued. Other people began to walk out of the break room as she ranted.

"Lin, stop! Sorry, she does this sometimes," a middle-aged woman explained to Sonic and Tails. "Best leave before she gets too mad. Thanks for stopping by." Sonic and Tails jumped out of their seats and ran for the door. The bells jingled as they swung the door open and escaped.

…

"Yes? Agent Stone?" A sniveling voice asked, picking up the phone within the halls of the Iron Palace. "It's been too long, old friend. What is it?"

"Lord Robotnik is dead," Agent Stone sighed in his kitchen, sniffling. "He died this morning… Reports say that Sonic and Tails killed him."

"Ahh, my dear Uncle Julian. He gave me everything I could have needed, until that despicable rodent came along. My deepest condolences, but it's not my problem nor the Iron Queen's," Snively growled. "I suggest you talk to someone else about your grief, Stone."

"You don't understand. It is your problem, as Sonic and Tails are now in your country," Stone muttered. "From one nation to another, we ask that the Iron Dominion at least make some effort to rally their forces against Sonic and Tails." Snively groaned in response.

"Fine. I will give you to the Iron Queen now to spare myself your empire's meaningless threats. Make it quick, she is very busy," Snively said. He passed the phone to Iron Queen.

"Yes?" Iron Queen asked, leaning forward on her throne. "Oh. Robotnik's dead?" She paused. "Damn. Killed by his own kid with his protegee just standing and watching, that's what we officials call a rip. OOHOOHOOHOO!" Iron Queen sat on her back with her legs dangling over the arm of her throne. She twisted the phoneline around her finger. "Harboring refugees responsible for regicide? Haha… what?" She still kept her grin as she sat up properly. "When you put it like that… Yeah, I guess I should do something about it… Yep! Talk to you laterrr, byeee!" She gave the phone back to Snively. Agent Stone was still talking. Snively hung up.

"What are your plans for Sonic and Tails, my queen?" Snively asked.

"I'm sure I have something lying around that could kill Sonic and Tails," Iron Queen groaned. "Lemme see." She scurried over to the royal kitchen and rummaged through the cutlery drawer, tossing knives out of the way to look for sharper knives.

"AAAAHH!" Snively screamed as a speeding blade nearly cut his head off. "If I may suggest another option… Don't we still have that robot my Uncle Julian gave you as a peace offering for the Cosmic Eternity Project?"

"Oh yeah… THAT robot," Iron Queen said, closing the drawer. "Yes… THAT robot will do nicely." Snively pressed a button on his glove, and deep down in the Iron Palace's basement, a blue visor powered on within the darkness.

…

Sonic and Tails trudged through the snowy urban area. The streets were desolate where there should have been people. Each footfall into the snow echoed throughout the corridor of skyscrapers and twisting street signs alongside the wind and the clanking of metal.

"Sonic… how do you feel? About all this, I mean," Tails asked, after a while of trying to cough the words up. Sonic turned to him.

"I don't know," Sonic answered. "Part of me's just glad that we escaped, but it sort of feels like… we jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire, y'know?" Sonic looked away. "I wasted our shot at a new life."

"That's not true! We'll find a way to make it work," Tails exclaimed. "I won't give up on our lives. As long as I'm around, I won't let YOU give up on our lives!" Sonic smiled weakly.

"Thanks, man…" Sonic chuckled. He stopped walking, and grabbed Tails' hand, holding it between both of his tightly. "Tails, I don't care if the whole world has it out for us. You're still here, I'm still here. It doesn't matter what they think, or what they want to do to us…" Sonic squeezed tighter. "... Because you're all that matters in this damn world. I will do anything it takes to protect you." He and Tails gave each other a reassuring gaze, before running into the distance together.

After a while of running down the empty streets, they both stopped at a vending machine. Tails inserted two quarters into the slot, and two bottles of water slid out, the weak cold mechanism struggling to even function. The water bottles fell into the pick-up box with a CRASH. Sonic and Tails exchanged a blank glance, before checking the pick-up box. Only to find chunks of ice attached to jagged pieces of shattered plastic.

"Oh, c'mon, you stupid thing," Tails grumbled, walking forward. He mashed the coin return button, to no avail. He then punched the machine, leaving a small dent. Sonic walked forward, cracking his knuckles.

"What a scam! Give us back our money!" Sonic shouted, kicking the machine twice. Tails bashed into it in ball form, tipping it over. It regained its balance as they both began to wail on it. They couldn't help but laugh, interrupting their insults and threats to the inanimate machine. Sonic grinned, and shot forward a pulse of electric energy that sent the machine flying. It crashed into a dumpster. Neither of them showed any bit of restraint to the machine as they brutally ripped it apart piece by piece. Sonic then Spin Dashed into the vending machine at full force, breaking it open like a Motobug. They were able to scoop all the money out of the coin holder. They left the destroyed machine face-down in the snow. Felt good.

…

"All systems online, my queen. The artificial intelligence has finished building its body," Snively mumbled, in a dim humid room lit only by yellow electric crackles shining onto the blue, mossy floor from underneath a fireplace-like structure. The room, known as Scrapped Iron Zone, was covered in spikes and dumpsters attached to strange tubes leading to the fireplace. "Shall we release Julian's android? I for one can't wait to see Sonic become another piece of rubbish in this android's mass." Iron Queen stepped forward as the fireplace doors opened. Out wobbled a miniature mecha born of scrap metal. It looked like an iron replica of Sonic with a strange hook-like arm. "Ha-HA! It has an Ultra Hand!"

"It's kinda sorry-looking," Iron Queen mumbled, unenthused as the Iron Sonic toppled onto the floor, starting to spin around and kick its legs. "You sure it can kill Sonic?"

"My dearly departed Uncle Julian, for all his faults, was an excellent inventor. The only part of this… thing… that's actually programmed is the visor. It leeches off other bodies of metal to infinitely build and repair itself as long as the visor's code is intact," Snively explained. "The visor is made of Hexis' Gold, the most durable material within the atmosphere of our planet. It's VERY expensive and very rare. I would tell you to be careful handling it… but here's the thing… it is UNBREAKABLE!"

"Really?" Iron Queen asked, shocked. "Wow… Sonic won't stand a chance! Maybe this will get Agent Stone off my back." Iron Queen turned to Iron Sonic. "Here's your first order, my Iron Sonic… when you're done with whatever you're doing… KILL Sonic the Hedgehog!" Iron Queen cackled boisterously as Iron Sonic continued to roll around on the floor.