A Broken Bond

4. Blood in the Water

Green Hill Zone, 3:30 PM. On a long, wide wooden bridge, stretched out across a raging rapid, Tails stands under the pouring rain. Arms crossed, waiting impatiently for the last few minutes. Then, the blue blur approaches from the horizon and makes his halt a fair distance away from Tails.

"Never thought I'd see your face here," said Sonic.

"That's what I thought too. You're late. And you're telling me you're the fastest thing alive?"

"Nah, it's just... y'know, I actually thought about ditching you here. Under the cold rain, all by yourself, waiting for someone who's never gonna come. But then I thought: "Wait a sec, I couldn't do that, this guy's come all the way here to get his ass kicked. So, I might as well give 'em what he wants." And that's how I got here, right at the final minute," said Sonic in his trademark snarky attitude.

"Ha ha. Very funny, you comedian. You're about to see what kind of harm I can do to you!" Tails threatened as he puts on his fierce expression and steps into his fighting stance.

"Ooh, I'm really scared... what are you gonna do, teach me trigonometry? Nerd," mocked Sonic, letting out an arrogant laugh afterwards.

Having had enough, Tails starts propelling himself towards Sonic with his fist raised and pulled back, ready to throw a punch the moment he gets to him.

"You won't be laughing soon!"

Tails swung his fist at Sonic, but in the blink of an eye, Sonic suddenly vanished, leaving Tails to hit only the air and fall face down on the hard, wooden surface. Tails pulls himself up and looks around in confusion when suddenly, something tapped on Tails' shoulder. He immediately turns around and is greeted by a condescending Sonic, standing there as if he never moved from that spot.

"What are you trying to hit, air? I'm right here, bro."

Tails immediately swung his fist again, only for the same result to happen: a complete miss. He tries again, and again, and again, hoping that this time, the hit will connect. This only served to intensify Tails' anger.

"WILL YOU JUST STAND STILL AND LET ME HIT YOU ALREADY!?"

"What? I am letting you hit me! It's not my fault you're so slow!" Sonic sneeringly said while sticking his tongue out as he dodged Tails' strikes.

This vicious cycle would continue for some time and after a while, Tails finally becomes exhausted. He stops his attacks to catch his breath while resting his hands on his knees. Sonic smirks triumphantly, celebrating what seemed to be a very early victory.

"Dude, you can't even land a single hit on me? Really? That's pathetic. Tell ya what, maybe you should just- ARGH!"

Sonic's arrogance finally got to him. Tails exploited his vulnerable moment by landing a punch to Sonic's gut and then an uppercut, knocking him hard onto the wooden boards.

""Never take your eyes off the fight." Wasn't that the first lesson you taught me?"

"Hmph. Not bad, I admit. Let's see what else you remember."

Sonic springs up and proceeds to unload a barrage of punches and kicks (mostly kicks) at Tails, who falls back into defensive mode and either blocks or dodges the incoming hits, waiting for an opening to counter. He then ducks to dodge Sonic's roundhouse kick and realizes this is his chance. He performs a sweep kick, knocking Sonic down on his back once again. Tails walks over to Sonic but is caught off guard when Sonic delivers a double kick to Tails' gut while standing on one hand, causing him to flinch. Sonic swiftly gets back on his feet and throws a straight punch to Tails' nose and another roundhouse kick, sending him to the ground. Tails groans as he covers his nose with both his hands, which are now partially covered by streaks of red running down his nose and hands. Seeing this, Sonic himself is mildly surprised as he'd never thought that he would one day spill his own best friend's blood.