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It was a warm summer morning that Tails woke up and got ready for his day. He and his friends had planned a camping trip weeks in advance, and today was the day they would finally get to go through with it. The young fox got out of bed, yawning quietly and slipping his gloves on, making sure they were fit correctly, before heading towards his bedroom door. Walking down the hall, he paused in front of a door, placing his hand against the wood softly. He smiled sadly, eyes glossy as he stared at the door. His brother's door. Sonic's door.
"Hey, Sonic... Miss you, wherever you are..." He murmured, his voice quiet and sad. Tails stayed a moment, before lifting his hand and continuing down the hall. Once in the kitchen, he started up some coffee and made himself a bowl of cereal, eating while waiting for the coffee pot to finish. He grabbed his phone, unplugging it from its charger and turning it on. He swiped through some social media, idly shoveling cereal into his mouth.
He clicked on a notification of a text, smiling softly as he saw the group chat with all his friends. Amy had sent a text, telling everyone 'good morning' and that she was excited for the trip. Tails quickly texted a 'good morning' back, agreeing with her sentiments on the trip. He chuckled as Knuckles went on a rant about how excited he is.
There was a beep from somewhere behind him, and he got up, pouring himself a cup of coffee. He loaded it with creamer and sugar, taking a sip and wincing at the still hot liquid on his tongue. He sipped idly from the cup as he moved about the house, getting his bags and any last minute items for the trip. He passed by Sonic's door again, and paused. He hasn't really gone into his brother's room. Not since he disappeared. But this time, he did.
It was still just as messy as Tails remembered. Random socks were strewn about the floor, and the bed was a mess, with the comforter half off the bed and on the floor. He looked around for a moment, seeing the thin layer of dust coating all that he could see. His eye caught something on the bedside table, just as he was going to leave. It was his brother's medallion. An old trinket that he never explained to Tails, only that it was a part of his family. Slowly, ever so slowly, the two-tailed fox walked over, gently picking it up. He swiped some dust off of the item, turning it around in his hands. He pulled it by the string, holding up to look at it. He sighed softly.
Tails slipped the medallion over his neck, holding the metal in his hand delicately. He sniffed, rubbing his nose, before leaving. He walked into the main room, standing in front of a mirror for a moment. Sonic's old medallion sat proudly on his chest, hanging from delicate string around his neck. He smiled softly, tracing the designs on the front of it. Sonic would be proud, he thinks, I'll start wearing this from now on.
With that thought, he turned, only to stop when he heard a knock at the door. Tails walked to it, opening it to see both Amy and Knuckles. He grinned.
"Hey, guys!" He greeted, before letting them inside. 30 minutes later, all 3 were out the door and into Amy's car, Tails' bags packed securely in the trunk.
They parked at the campsite they planned to use, finding the rest of their friends already there. There was a large lake behind them all, and a wonderful waterfall flowing into it. Rouge was bickering with Shadow, picking on the ebony hedgehog playfully. Shadow only rolled his eyes, continuing to set up the tent for the bat and himself. Tails turned to find Blaze and Silver talking quietly, sitting in two chairs in front of their own tent, which was already set up. The Chaotix were all fighting eachother, arguing about how the tent was supposed to be set up. Cream and her mother Vanilla watched with amusement at the 3, sitting in chairs in front of their tent.
"Alright, guys!" Amy yelled, catching the attention of the rest of their friends. The boys stopped arguing with eachother, and Shadow paused momentarily before continuing to set up the tent in front of him.
As Amy began to walk forward, talking about all the things they could do, Tails got out the tent kit and his bags. He was going to be sleeping in the same tent as Amy and Knuckles. It was decided between all of them that the 3 stay together, since they have known eachother and Sonic the longest. Tomorrow was the anniversary of Sonic's disappearance, after all.
The group of friends all spent the afternoon talking and having fun, catching up with eachother and telling stories. When the sun fell beyond the horizon, horror stories of all kinds were brought out to be told among them all. There were some good scares and even a scream or two. It was late into the night when all of them eventually departed for their tents, all but Shadow and Tails. The kit was staring into the fire, his thoughts swirling. He jumped when Shadow sat next to him. The two were quiet for several minutes.
"...I miss him," Shadow's voice was quieter than Tails had ever heard it. He turned his head to the hedgehog, watching his face morph from his usualy serious scowl, to something... Softer.
"Me too." Tails gave, reaching a hand up to grasp at the medallion around his neck. Shadow's eyes flicked to the fox, watching him hold the trinket.
"I wanted to ask, what is that necklace?" Shadow asked, voice a tad louder than before. His face had returned to its stoic edge from before.
"It was Sonic's. He only ever told me it was a medallion in his family. I... Actually went into his room this morning. First time in 5 years," He chuckled sadly, "I saw this on the night stand. Put it on, and... It just feels right." Tails finished, looking down at the cool metal in his hand. Shadow hummed, and Tails could see him nod out of the corner of his eye. "...Thanks." The fox murmured, before getting up, heading to his tent. He turned back, watching Shadow's back for a moment. He wondered... Were he and Sonic closer than it seemed? He shook his head, and turned back to the tent, walking inside.
The next morning, Tails was woken by someone yelling. He looked up, seeing Amy still in her bedrollm and Knuckles nowhere to be seen. As he blinked the sleep from his eyes, he realized that Amy was slowly waking up as well, and it was Knuckles that was yelling. He got up slowly, yawning. Walking outside, he looked over to see Knuckles running towards them, fur soaked and eyes wide. He stopped, panting softly, babbling something about the water.
"Knuckles, slow down, what do you mean? Something was in the water?" Tails blinked a few more times, rubbing his eyes again, ears perked towards the echidna in front of him. Around him, the others were coming out of their tents, confused and concerned. The echidna wheezed, stumbling towards the chairs around the fire. He sat down heavily, slumping forwards to put his face in his hands. He sighed shakily.
"Knux, what's wrong?" Behind him the tent opened, and out came Amy. She walked forward, putting a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder.
"I went swimming," Knuckles started, still in the same position. The rest of their friends came forward, standing in a loose circle around the shaken echidna. "Well, I went diving really, but there was-" He paused, pulling his hands from his face and shoving his muzzle into them instead. "There was a body."
There was complete silence for several long moments. All of them were horrified at the idea of a corpse being in the lake. How they didn't know.
"A-and..." Knuckles continued, shoulders hunching in on himself. "They weren't... Completely... Decomposed." He shivered. "That body... It... It looked so much like..." He shivered again, and hunched in on himself, shock and grief gripping his body. "I think it was Sonic." His voice was so small, so scared.
It felt like a bomb had just been dropped on Tails. He felt his entire body turn cold in shock and fear. No. No. NO! Not Sonic, no, he can't be-!
"NO!" Tails cried out, his hands flying to his ears, gripping them tight and pulling. The others all exploded into sound, and suddenly nothing could be heard or understood between all of them.
"QUIET!" A loud voice cried out, causing everyone to snap their mouths shut. Shadow was the one whom had just yelled, louder than any of them had ever heard him. Turning to the black hedgehog who looked so much like Sonic, Tails could see that he was on the verge of hyperventilating, eyes blown wide. His face was slack in shock, like the rest of them. "We need to get that body out of the lake." There was a barely perceptible shiver in his voice. "We need to... To see if it's really..." He didn't finish his sentence. The rest of them wore grim looks.
"Who's going to go get them?" The innocent, sweet voice of Cream spoke up after a moment, her hands gripping harshly onto the pyjama shirt Vanilla was wearing. Shadow glanced at her, then at Knuckles, then down at the forest floor.
"...I will. Knuckles isn't in a state to go into the lake again, and I don't need to breathe..." Shadow spoke only loud enough that the rest of them could hear him. He looked out at the lake, eyes haunted.
"It may be best if we wait in our tent, Cream." The quiet voice of Vanilla guiding her daughter back into her tent were the only sounds that could be heard for several moments, then more silence. Slowly, ever so slowly, Shadow walked to the lake, hestitating, before heading into its murky depths.
The rest of them spent nearly 15 minutes in tense silence, waiting, hoping, that whatever Shadow finds isn't what Knuckles thought it was. When Shadow's head finally popped up from the lake, his face was slack and shock wrote his features easily. He slowly ascended from the water, carrying in his arms a half decayed corpse, one barely recognizable as a hedgehog. A hedgehog with blue fur. A hedgehog with red shoes and gold buckles.
The corpse was barely recognizable. But god... God it was definitely Sonic.
Shadow slowly came forward, stopping in front of them all. Tails immediately began crying softly, seeing the half skeletonized corpse of his big brother, his invincible, unbeatable, big brother. Sonic the Hedgehog.
The left side of his face was the only part that still had any flesh on it, only a tattered ear and what remains of his cheek. His entire torso was riddled with holes and patches of fur and skin, any and all organs missing or piles of mush in between slimy and paper thin flesh. His legs were mostly bones, and his once bright red shoes were dull and scuffed up, and the gold buckle was rusted. His gloves were all but gone, tattered remains and pieces of flesh still clinging to the bone. There were rusty chains wrapped so tightly around his legs, the bones looked as though they had been worn through by them.
Shadow set the body down slowly, carefully, as if he were afraid of harming him further. He stepped back once he was done, staring at the corpse of Sonic. It was completely silent. All but the soft sniffles and sobs of Tails, as he slowly sank to the ground, grief and shock ripping through him like a speedy hedgehog through a badnik.
The biggest thing about Sonic's body, though, as Tails sat on the ground, was the chain wrapped loosely around Sonic's neck. And the metal pendant attached to it. A single cartoonish face looked back at him.
Eggman killed Sonic.