The day progressed quietly, after 'waking up' you acted none the wiser while you and Tails talked over the plan for the next few days. You elected to wait one more day before diving underwater so that the two of you could strip some moss off the walls and fashion a makeshift cushion on the hard rocks, plus it would help you dry off after. The sun grows dim in the sky as you both work, laying down enough moss to make sleeping patches for either of you. You sit down after the long day and take a food pill each, testing the water in the cave and thankfully it seemed to be clean... Well more or less. You could taste the guck in it but it had enough flow somewhere along it's path to naturally filter it enough for your stomachs not to hurt.
Tails pokes at his makeshift bed idly, "East.. Can I ask you something?" His tone seemed to get a little distant.
You perk up, looking over at him neutrally, "What is it, fox?"
He hesitates to look up as he continues, "Can I ask why you hate heroes so much? It's alright if you don't want to answer I just... Well... Amy and Knuckles told me about how during the fire on South Island a few months back you ran back inside a burning building to save a random kid's parents."
You raise your brows, that felt so long ago you had already forgot all about it.
"It's not that I think you wouldn't, but I just- Well it was sorta heroic of you to do something like that... at least I think so.. I thought you wanted to keep your distance more with stuff like that." Tails kept his voice low, a pensive apprehension in his demeanor.
You lean back on your hands, "To be honest I viewed it as a waste. Eggman didn't need to murder the kid's parents to take control of the island. The Resistance fighters, sure. Your friends, absolutely. But the innocent people didn't do anything to usurp his command." You think back to the day it happened. You know that at some point you were struggling to get yourself out alive with the parents but you couldn't remember what made you keep them slung over your back...
Tails raises his eyebrows, "Oh- I see... So, do you look at things more like a business transaction all the time? That seems pretty lonely."
You tilt your head to the side, your gaze locking onto the moss, "It's what I'm used to, so I guess I never really thought about it like that. It's normal for me." You pause for a moment, an innate curiosity rising up in you that you try to fight off but fail to as your question slips out... "Why do you save people? Why try so hard for a bunch of people that don't even know who you are?"
He looks to you with a sad expression, "Well because everyone deserves a fair chance to have a happy life. If I stood by with all my talents and chose to just use them for personal gain then how could I ever even say that I have any genuine feelings? Don't get me wrong I love building and learning and tinkering but it would be so much emptier without people that I care about, and those people were strangers at some point too..."
It's what they're used to? That's so sad....
You laugh bitterly to yourself, "Maybe that's why I don't have friends."
Your gaze hardens...
No that wasn't why... It was because they always only made things harder. They always ruined everything...
Tails looks at you with a vacant tinge behind his eyes. "What about your crew? They shot us out of the sky so they're at least reliable, right?"
"My crew..." Your mind traces over them.
Ava was always super noisy and nosy but she had a good heart, she cared about everyone on the ship and wasn't afraid to say so when she needed to..
Jasper was quiet and stupidly timid but he was street smart and followed your command to the letter. He was never much for talking about his life but he was always willing to show you something cool he had found...
Viper was quiet and mysterious, you could never tell what they were thinking but they always followed you with devotion and never deviated from your plans. They never questioned you either, even when you knew they disagreed..
"My crew would be fine without me, they all share the same goal. I have no need for attachment towards those that share a goal with me." You huff quietly. They didn't need you at the end of the day, and you didn't need them. All you needed was your vengeance.
Tails frowns, leaning in a little, "It's okay to get close to people you know. I'm not telling you that's what you need to do but..." His eyes lingered for a moment in thought. "Things change, East. People can change, and I don't know what made you be this distant with everyone but... It's okay for you to change too. And if you ever decide you want to then I'll be your first friend. Promise."
You scoff, looking up at him. "That's a cute sentiment but I don't really believe in stuff like that."
He shakes his head, "No I mean it!" He holds a fist out to you, "This isn't a sentiment thing, it's a promise." He looks at you with pleading eyes, his tone gentle and firm. "I told you the day you saved us from the giant mech bomb, my friends call me Tails. And I want you to call me Tails."
Your eyes get a little wide at his sudden insistence, a genuine look of vulnerability flashing on your face before you push it back down. "Sorry fox, I'm not so easily swayed. We all have wants, doesn't mean we always get what we want."
He pouts a little, lowering his hand, "Well.. What do you want? If you could have anything in the world what would it be?"
"That's easy-" You let out a sinister chuckle, "I want Eggman to pay for all he's done. I want my hands to be the ones that deliver that judgement."
Tails sighs quietly, shifting gears. "Alright East, then I'll try to do this your way... I have information on Eggman's current plans. I know what he's planning on using the star posts for and why he's been in hiding for these past few months."
You sit up quickly, even the detectives hadn't given you any info on Eggman's current plans. "It's not smart baiting me, fox. If you end up toying with me I might just find ways to force information out."
He shakes his head, "I'm not baiting you, and in fact I'm willing to tell you everything I know. My only condition is that we work together."
You raise an eyebrow, "Sounds too good to be true, fox. Often times these types of deals where one side gains without compromise is a bad deal, you're not trying to play me are you?"
"You should know by now that I'm being sincere." Tails holds a hand out to shake, "No strings attached, we both share the same goal and I can't count on your team staying out of the way when mine launches an attack. We both need to work together to stay out of each other's way."
You make a stink face. This wasn't how he really felt, he wasn't looking at it like that but he said it to rationalize it to you. In actuality you figured he just wanted to force you to soften up some.
Though...
For him maybe it was something you could be willing to do... It was becoming hard to remain apprehensive of him after all of this one-on-one time you've been spending together.
You look down at his hand... "If I agree to this I want to be absolutely clear that this is an alliance between you and I, it does not extend to any of your friends or allies."
He nods, "Naturally, I wouldn't expect them to honor the agreement in the same way I will."
Of course he wouldn't force them into a cease fire either, he was so frustratingly open... So reasonable and yet so impossible. You roll your eyes, reaching a hand out and shaking firmly. "Alright fox, you have a deal. We will remain aligned until this threat is destroyed, now explain the doctor's grandiose plan."
. . .
As Tails relays all that he had learned from sifting through the hard drive you feel a pit developing in your stomach. From the construction to the use of chaos energy to the very research that you re-discovered and delivered to the doctor. You had broken into many government systems, hacked all kinds of schematics and tooling out of the without them even knowing you were there. If the Doctor had developed this weapon on a small scale and it was capable of destroying planets then he could destroy an entire galaxy with a fully operational fortress, not to mention his power supply would be unlimited... You grimace as your brows crease. It all adds up as well, the doctor was never one to sit still and if he got quiet it meant a storm had to be coming... Even when attacking his facilities you never once saw him in the flesh confronting you, the only recent event where you encountered him, or at least his voice, was most recently with the underwater fracking facility...
Tails finishes his explanation with a worried expression, rehashing the entire chain of events and what's to come leaving him distressed to say the least...
"-so yeah..." Tails looks at you apprehensively.
"A few months to prepare for something that big..." You tense, holding a finger to your chin in thought. "Alright... A preemptive strike would be the smartest move here, if he perfects even one weapon that runs on the Special Zone's energy we'll be in for the fight of our lives."
He nods along, "That's what I was thinking too, waiting for him to come to us will mean we lose. I actually have been trying to think of a plan but- there's a few things missing for it to work..."
You perk up, "A plan? You've really been thinking, though all things considered I understand why. You can bounce the ideas off of me, maybe we'll figure something out."
Tails hesitates a bit, "Yeah... To be more accurate I only need one thing to make the plan work with a 87% success chance. At current it's a 45% chance..."
You raise your brows, "That much of a jump? What is it? A weapon of some kind? Or maybe some complicated tech from the ancients?" You rattle off a few more guesses in your head, impatiently waiting for the other to speak.
"The thing I need is... well..." He avoids your gaze, the words getting caught in his throat. He finally pushes himself a little harder as you stay in suspense-
"I need you."
You continue look at him expectantly, waiting for more as he remained quiet and gazed upon you. "Me? You're kidding right? Even if I agreed to that there's no way that one person's going to make that much of a difference. 42%?" You cross your arms, "Seriously, what do you actually need to make this work."
"I need you. It has to be you." He begins counting on his fingers, "There's no time to look for anyone else that meets the ideal criteria; we don't have enough chaos emeralds for three of us to have one; even if we had the emeralds we're supremely limited on people that can use chaos control... The list goes on, East."
You shake your head, "I can't use chaos control, first of all. Second are you implying that you want me to work alongside Shadow? That arrogant old hedgehog?"
He looks at you pensively, "You're missing the point- You don't need to use chaos control to move fast. You can kinda've just do that on your own, I've seen you do it before! My plan requires three that are able to use chaos control to lead the fight. We already have Sonic and Shadow, Silver's still in the future so we're up a crick with no paddle. If the plan's gonna work we need your speed and reflexes too."
"You know how I feel about heroes fox, did you honestly expect me to let it all go just to save everyone? Without me your chances are slimmer but you still have a decent chance." You squint your eyes, "If this is your best attempt at swaying me then you've failed, I don't trust any of them for a moment."
"I'm not asking you to trust them, I'm asking you to trust me." He lets out a weak sigh. "I know it's a lot to ask and I know it's sudden but I've gone over this so many times in my head... Countless more will die if you don't-" He shakes his head. "East, I'm asking you as a fellow mobian, living creature, and enemy of Eggman. I don't have anything else, no clever trick to get you to join or some crazy promise I can keep. All I can promise you is that if you help me with this plan Eggman will be defeated and you'll play a direct part in it."
You hum to yourself...
He's obviously desperate, but to come to me like this? Oddly unprepared for him... Maybe not unprepared, just didn't have any more options other than asking and hoping I would agree to it. All things considered he probably can't promise anything because Shadow is involved, Sonic would bend over backwards for this guy.
"You'll have to sweeten the deal, what you offered isn't enough."
Tails looks around the cave, "Geez, I don't know what else I could do for you... I could give you some of my gadgets or build something for you but that also takes time-"
You hold your hand up, "Alright, I have a thought. I will help with this plan and in return you will teach me how to build my own gadgets and machines."
That would be perfect! Eggman's devices always fascinated you but there was no way the bastard would ever take time to teach you or care to. Long term applications would be invaluable plus you'd finally gain an upper hand with the hardware to software gap that you had.
Tails blinks a few times, "-Really?" He chuckles a little, "Honestly East, that actually sounds less like payment and more like... Never mind." He holds a hand out to shake.
You raise an eyebrow, "No, please go on. I'd like to hear what you have to say, fox." You scan over him with your eyes.
"It sounds more like fun, East. Honestly I would love to teach you some stuff, no one else really cares to understand the mechanics of what I do. I appreciate they think it's cool but it feels a lot more rewarding when I can... Well when I can talk to someone that understands my passion..."
You watch as his expression becomes softer, as if something had been confirmed in his head. You could pursue it but.. it was probably nothing anyways. You grab his hand and shake. "I accept. Two deals in one day fox, I'm impressed you managed to get that out of me."
He shrugs coyly, "I guess I'm just good like that~"
What was up with that tone? It was oddly playful... Did you miss a joke or something?
"A-alright..? I digress."
You cross your legs and close your eyes as you begin to slip into a meditation, Tails' eyes lingering on you for a moment. You swear as you close your eyes you see the smallest smile creep onto his face.