Switched

Day 5: Reactionary

The first thing Tails noticed when he came to was his head. It ached something fierce, the kind of hurt he had only felt when he had stayed up more than a few hours past his bedtime. The last time he had a headache this bad, Sonic had sent him to bed and given him some medicine. He thought he remembered Sonic calling it a migraine.

This certainly wasn't as bad as a migraine, he determined as the rest of his body began to sluggishly wake up. The migraine had seemed to come from deep inside his head, pangs of pain coming from even the dimmest of lights. This felt external, as if he hadn't moved for hours.

Which, he realized with a start, he couldn't. He tried to move his arm again, but he couldn't provoke even the slightest budge. He tried the same thing with his legs, gaining the exact same result. He then moved onto his tails, but-

I can't feel my tails.

Tails' eyes shot open, panic suddenly gripping him. He wasn't at home, like he had previously assumed, but was instead in one of Eggman's familiar labs, the harsh lighting making that apparent enough. The reason he couldn't move was because of the rope tightly wound around him, holding him to a chair from his shoulders to his ankles. But even under the tight bindings, he could see dark clothing and the glint of gold rings on his wrists. That's Shadow's, but why is it-

The events of the past few days came flooding back to him in an instant. His fear from the phantom state of his tails was quickly replaced once he realized where he was and how he had got there. Silver had been flying him over the jungle, up to the mountain when a pack of Eggman's badniks had surrounded them. They had been pulled apart, neither one of them equipped to fight back in any substantial way. The last thing Tails remembered was swinging his arms in an attempt to break free of the grip of the badnik, Silver in the arms of another.

For the first time since he awoke, Tails actually took a look around the room in which he was now trapped. He didn't only recognize it because many of the doctor's bases looked similar, but because he had been here only days ago. This was the computer room, where the machine had been, but it looked different. The lab was a mess, wires and plates scattered haphazardly around. The floor and walls themselves were in a similar condition, ashes dirtying the once sterile environment. The machine in question, once an imposing, chrome behemoth, was a mere shell of its former self, its plating covered in scorch marks and scratches. Tails could see the exposed wires of the inside, a clear work in progress.

A deep, rumbling laugh came from behind him, chilling him to the bone. "I see you're awake now." Eggman sauntered in front of him and bent down to face him. "Did you have a good night's sleep, little fox?"

"Eggman," Tails tried his best to sound defiant, but he couldn't control a slight tremor in his voice, "Wh- Where's Silver?"

The doctor grinned. "You don't skip a beat, do you?" He stood back up to his full height, towering over the small child. "Don't worry about him. He's fine. A bit more comfortable than you, actually."

"Yeah? You worried that I'll escape before you can use me for your evil plan?"

"Yes!" Robotnik cried, pointing a finger down at him, "You have been a pain in my ass every time I've captured you!" A small, prideful smile crossed Tails' face at that. "I'm not taking any chances! At least this time, I didn't have to bother with your pesky tails." The doctor thought for a second. "Speaking of..." He pulled a small, metal device out of his pocket and clipped it around Tails' neck.

Tails recoiled as the cold metal touched his skin. "Hey! What the fuck is this?"

"Shut up!" Eggman barked back, "You're like five! You don't get to say fuck!"