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Pillows, socks, and alarm clocks. Tupperware and wooden spoons, all covered in a soft layer of sea foam. These were only a few of the uncountable items that Sonic and Tails encountered along the beach at Station Square. They picked up these items dutifully, examining them as little as possible. They put them in giant cloth trash bags, and sent them along a chain of dozens of people, where the bags were loaded onto trucks to be either discarded or recycled.
There was little that could be done for clothing and other fabric items. All the clothing and fabric they found was, of course, already water-logged, and reeked of dead fish. Glass and plastic could be recycled. Most of the electronics had to be crushed, and the valuable metals separated out later. Some wooden items could be cleaned up and reused. Finding the original owners would be a separate hassle. But it was satisfying to dig through the refuse, and finally see the fresh, white sand below.
In the few days since Eggman’s attack on the city, the residents of Station Square had been able to clean up a few hundred feet of beach. More than a mile remained. Sonic and Tails decided to stay until the whole beach had been cleared up. It was the least they could do, they agreed.
“Hey, what’s that?” a man behind them called out. Indeed, there was something floating in the water, just twenty feet or so from the shore.
A few more people looked up from their labor, and saw the same thing.
“Here, I’ll go out and see!” Tails volunteered, launching himself into the air.
“Tails, wait!” Sonic bit his lip. He had a bad feeling about what his brother might find.
Tails approached the object cautiously, flying around in a circle to make sure there weren’t any sharks in the vicinity.
After pulling off a few ropes and buoys that had attached themselves to the object, Tails yelped and flew straight up in fright. Staring back at him was a human body. The body had straight black hair, and was dressed in a red shirt and blue jeans.
“It’s okay Tails, you’ve seen this before,” he whispered, recalling the morning years ago when he had tried and failed to shake his parents awake. At least they had died in their sleep. This person, though, probably hadn’t been so lucky.
Tails decided he could at least take the body back to the city. Perhaps somebody there could still identify it. He descended slightly, and shuddered as he grabbed the body’s cold, bloated hand. With a mighty heave, he began dragging the body through the water to shore.
“Oh no…” Sonic gasped once Tails had pulled the body onto the sand. Exhausted, the fox released his grip and fell to the ground.
“I think maybe we can find an ID somewhere…” Tails panted.
“Right, good idea buddy,” Sonic pulled his brother upright, and looked him over to make sure he was okay. Once assured of that, he looked over the body and delicately pulled a wallet out of the jeans pocket. He opened it and managed to find a driver’s license.
“Diego Soto Moya,” Sonic whispered. “Age 24. Well, let’s get him to the hospital. Maybe they can find his family members there.”
“Oh, right!” Tails nodded.
“Wait here, I’ll get a stretcher,” Sonic instructed, and sped off.
He returned a few seconds later, holding a makeshift stretcher made of wooden oars and a torn-up sail. Sonic spread it out on the ground, and he and his brother carefully hoisted the body onto it.
It took them about half an hour to get to the hospital. Sonic supposed they could’ve run faster, but it didn’t seem right. People made way for them, at least, and showed them the way to go.
Once they reached the hospital’s parking lot, a nurse ran over to them.
“Hello! Do you need–oh, come with me,” she said once she saw what the two Islanders were carrying. She handed them each a face mask, and ushered them to the morgue.
Neither Sonic nor Tails had spent much time in a hospital. Their bodies were particularly robust, even for Islanders, and they were both too stubborn to accept much medical attention. Sonic kept a well-stocked case of bandages and basic medicines, made sure that their vaccinations were up to date, and that was just about it.
So both of them were taken aback by the rows of mysterious beeping machinery, the harsh white lighting, the sterile air, and the hushed conversations of the doctors.
“Another body?” A doctor stepped up to the nurse. “Do you know who it is?”
“Yeah, we do,” Sonic piped up, and the doctor’s gaze moved down to the small blue hedgehog. “His driver’s license says ‘Diego Soto Moya.’ He washed up by the beach while we were cleaning up.”
“Okay, good work,” The doctor had deep bags under her eyes, but she appeared to make an attempt at smiling. “Thank you for bringing him here. Ms. Gonzalez, take this body to room C-3. I’m pretty sure this body here is Dr. Garcia’s nephew. I can’t let him see his own nephew like this. I, uh–I need some time to prepare before I tell him what happened.”
“Right,” the nurse picked up the body without much apparent effort, placed it onto a real, metal stretcher, and wheeled him away along the endless white hallway.
“Hold on now,” the doctor narrowed her eyes. “Aren’t you the one that saved us from that terrifying water monster?”
“Y-yeah,” Sonic gulped. “But I had my friends to help.” Sonic put a hand on Tails’s shoulder. “And it wasn’t really the monster’s fault. There’s this guy–we call him Eggman–he was controlling the water monster.”
“Still, you’re a hero!” she exclaimed. “Imagine what would’ve happened if you hadn’t been here! You saved the entire city!”
“Aw, I dunno,” Sonic wrung his hands. “You’re doing the important work now, right? Saving people’s lives, or at least sending them off if they’re dead.”
“It’s just my job,” the doctor sighed.
“Say, how many people did die?” Tails asked.
“You really wanna know?” The doctor twirled a pen in her fingers. “A hundred and fifty so far, with thirty people still missing. But it could’ve been much worse.”
“A hundred and fifty!” Sonic exclaimed, grabbing his ears. “That’s terrible!”
“What are you talking about?” the doctor shook her head. “You SAVED thousands! Meanwhile, I had a patient die this morning, and now another body comes in, and I…I just don’t know how much more I can handle. I feel guilty that I can't do more. I know that self-pity doesn’t help anybody, but–”
“Whoah, hey,” Sonic squeezed the doctor’s hand in his own, hoping that it felt reassuring. “It was Eggman that caused this destruction. The guilt is his alone. Just doing whatever you can to repair the damage…that’s enough, don’t you think?”
“You’re right,” the doctor sighed. “Thanks. I needed some motivation today. Anyway, you two should get some rest,” the doctor said, herself yawning. “But remember how much you saved. We’re in your debt.”
“Don’t mention it,” Sonic and Tails grabbed a hold of each other. “I hope you get some rest too, uh…”
“Dr. Lopez,” she responded, waving the pair off. “And thanks.”
Sonic and Tails trudged back to their stretch of beach. In the time they were gone, the other volunteers had cleaned up about ten more feet. Tails grabbed another cloth bag and held it open, while Sonic began shoveling garbage into it.
“Hey, you two can go home.” The two brothers looked up to see the man who had been coordinating the beach cleanup. “You’ve been out here all day.”
“Aw, we appreciate the concern, but it’s no big deal,” Sonic said in his best ‘not a care in the world’ voice. “You can just let us be and we’ll keep chipping away.”
“Well, we still have a mile or so to clean up, and I can’t have anyone wearing themselves out,” the man said, pointing at a clipboard with a roster of volunteers. “And uh–look, I don’t know where you two live or who your parents are, but I know the hotel has some rooms open for people whose homes got destroyed. Just tell them Fabio sent you, okay?”
“Alright, well thanks,” Sonic nodded. “We’ll think about it.”
“Okay then. See you tomorrow,” Fabio waved to them as he ran off.
“See you!” Sonic took a deep breath, and dug his shoe into the sand. “It might be nice to stay in a hotel room while we fix up your workshop, right, Tails? That way we can put away our sleeping bags, and it’ll give you more space.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Tails nodded. “Let’s go.”
Fortunately, the hotel didn’t ask them very many questions when they asked for a room. They even gave Sonic and Tails a few quarters to use the hotel’s laundromat for washing their gloves.
“Kinda like old times, isn’t it pal?” Sonic remarked, taking off his shoes and sitting on the hotel room’s clean, light blue bed. “It’s like when I first met you.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Tails looked around the room. He took his shoes off, and joined Sonic on the bed. “It feels like such a long time ago.”
“It does,” Sonic whispered, kicking his bare feet idly.
“A hundred and fifty people,” Tails whispered. “This is the first time he’s killed civilians, isn’t it?”
“As far as I know,” Sonic answered, folding his hands and frowning. “We can’t let it happen again.”
“No way,” Tails curled his hand in a fist, and let it go just as quickly. He sniffed, and a few tears dripped from his eyes.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Sonic asked, wiping the tears away from Tails’s eyes with a gentle touch of his finger.
“It’s just…I slowed you down, didn’t I?” Tails huffed. “I was distracted when we got up to the Egg Carrier. I dropped that frog that had Chaos’s Tails. I couldn’t even do much when you were fighting Chaos. I was just dead weight.”
“Tails, don’t say that!” Sonic gasped. “It’s not even true. You noticed a lot of stuff on the Egg Carrier that I didn’t. And besides, wasn’t it YOU that stopped Eggman from detonating his bomb? Wasn’t it YOU that smashed up his Egg Walker all by yourself!?”
Tails buried his face in his older brother’s shoulder. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“You go so hard on yourself sometimes,” Sonic rubbed Tails’s head. “But you have so much to be proud of. Just try to remember that.”
“Okay,” Tails took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.
“Hey, Tails,” Sonic whispered. His eyelids drooped uncharacteristically, then opened again. “Just in case–there’s something I want you to promise me, okay?”
“What is it?” Tails’s eyes grew wide.
“Promise me that if I die, or if we get separated, or anything else happens–promise me you’ll keep going, okay?” Sonic looked Tails dead in the eyes, his attention not waving for a second. “Whatever you think is right, just do it. Whether that’s fighting Eggman, cleaning up beaches, or anything else. Don’t spend your time worrying about me.”
“Sonic,” Tails sniffed, and hugged his brother to him as close as he possibly could. “That won’t ever happen. I won’t let it.”
“I know,” Sonic returned the hug, pressing the fox to his chest. “But I still want you to promise.”
“Okay,” Tails released his grip on the hedgehog, and sighed. “Only if you do the same for me. And we pinky promise.”
“That’s only fair,” Sonic nodded, and extended his pinky finger. Tails grabbed onto it with his own.
“I, Sonic the Hedgehog,” Sonic started.
“I, Tails Prower,” Tails added afterward. His voice was surprisingly deep for his age, yet still tender and green in its own way.
“Swear that if anything happens to my brother, I will continue to do what’s right. I won’t let grief slow me down,” Sonic improvised, with Tails repeating only a second later. Sonic’s voice, high and clear, layered on top of Tails’s slower, more deliberate speech.
“Thanks, Tails,” Sonic released his pinky finger. “I feel better now.”
“Me too,” Tails admitted.
“You know what this calls for?” Sonic smiled a bit.
“What?” Tails asked.
“Tickle fight!” Sonic declared, pouncing on his younger brother, and attacking him with his fingers.
“No!” Tails tried to curl up, but it was already too late. “That’s-hahaha!--not fair–hehe! I’ll–hahaha!–get you for this!” He managed to slip out of Sonic’s grasp at the last minute, and jumped over the hedgehog. From here, he could attack Sonic’s secret weak spot–between his two back-quills.
“It’s–ahaha!--not over yet!” Sonic laughed, clutching his sides, but took no particular defensive action against Tails.
Just when Tails thought he had the upper hand, Sonic flipped around so that he faced Tails. Tails realized this, and attempted to wrap the sheets around himself in defense.
But Sonic was simply too fast, and attacked again without mercy.
“Haha! Okay, okay, I tap out!” Tails finally stammered, his chest hurting from the laughter.
“Victory is mine!” Sonic said jokingly. “Phwew. Well, I guess we should get ready for bed.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Tails nodded.
“You can shower first if you want,” Sonic suggested.
“Okay, thanks,” Tails said, realizing that in fact, his fur was still full of sand.
He decided to take a long shower that night, shampooing himself twice over. His fur certainly needed it, to be sure. Once he was done, he found that Sonic had left him a chocolate bar and a bottle of apple juice on the table to enjoy while Sonic showered himself.
After eating the chocolate, Tails turned the TV on to check on the news. There was still no sign of Dr. Robotnik. The death count had been increased to a hundred and seventy, and five people were still missing. The mayor of Station Square had fortunately secured some extra federal funding for the rebuilding efforts, and there were plans for a new public park.
Tails turned the TV off. He stretched, and buried himself under the covers of the bed. Sonic joined him a few minutes later. The hedgehog’s fur was much cleaner as well.
“I do wonder what Eggman’s gonna do next,” Tails mumbled as he situated himself under the covers.
“A question for another day,” Sonic replied, wrapping an arm around Tails. “We should try to sleep.”
“Okay,” Tails yawned.
“G’night, Tails.” Sonic whispered. “Love ya, buddy.”
“Love you too.”
—
A few days later:
Knuckles gazed in awe at the ruined city. The human buildings were so much taller than anything his own people had ever built. And yet, they were lighter and slimmer, almost insubstantial in their construction. Ultimately that had been to their detriment, as many of the “skyscrapers” (a young girl he met at the city’s central plaza taught him the word) were now useless husks, their glass exteriors having been shattered by the floods.
But that was not Knuckles’s main focus right now. He had to find Sonic and Tails. He had to apologize for getting tricked by Eggman again. He had to regain their trust.
But so far, they were nowhere to be found. He had asked the people who had cleaned up the beach, the hospital, and even the hotel where apparently Sonic and Tails had stayed for a few nights. None of them knew where the duo was now.
Probably they had just gone to another city, in search of new adventures. That hedgehog in particular could never seem to stand still.
Oh well. He went back to the beach and watched the waves break, and the sea foam accumulate at the shoreline.
He would have to get back to Angel Island soon. He really shouldn’t leave the Master Emerald unattended for so long.
But just as he was about to turn back, he noticed a blue dot on the horizon. The blue dot grew larger and larger with surprising speed. An orange dot appeared next to it. Finally both dots emerged as the people they were, the objects of his pursuit.
“Sonic! Tails!” Knuckles exclaimed, waving a hand. Fortunately, the two of them saw him, and came over.
“What are you doing here, knucklehead?” Sonic teased.
“I was looking for you. I just wanted to say, I’m sorry I let Eggman trick me,” the echidna huffed. “I guess it’s kinda my fault that Eggman got all the Emeralds so quickly, isn’t it?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Sonic folded his arms. “You’ve learned, right? You can do better next time.”
“Yeah…” Knuckles looked out at the ocean. “The world is so big, and there’s so many kinds of people. I had no idea. Anyway, I’m really glad I ran into you here.”
“Me too,” Sonic nodded. “Hey, I know you’ll be guarding the Master Emerald, but it would be nice to talk, or hang out sometime.”
Knuckles rubbed his nose. “Do you mean…you want to be friends?”
“Yeah!” Sonic exclaimed. “I think we should stick together, don’t you?”
“You’re right…” Knuckles said slowly.
“Here, take this,” Tails placed a round object with a lanyard into the echidna’s hand. “It will let you talk with us, no matter how far away we are. Just press the button to talk.”
Knuckles examined the object closely, and pressed the single button a few times to test it. “Thanks. Um, you two are welcome to come up to Angel Island any time you want.”
“That sounds great!” Sonic smiled. “I’m sure we’ll visit in a few days. Is that okay?”
“Uh, sure,” Knuckles scratched his head. “What are you two doing, anyway?”
“We’ve been helping Station Square rebuild,” Sonic explained. “But we might start to go and look for a new adventure soon.”
“I see,” Knuckles folded his arms. “Well, let me know how that goes.”
“Sure thing, pal.” Sonic gave Knuckles a quick hug, which caught the echidna off guard.
“We’d better get going now. But we’ll see you soon!” Sonic said, as he and Tails continued to walk along the beach.
Knuckles’s heart fluttered as he watched them fade into the distance. He stared out into the ocean again. He wished they could talk for longer, but clearly his friends had adventures to find, and he had an Emerald to guard. At least his days of pursuit had come to an end.
His parents had always warned him about venturing off of Angel Island. They had told him that the world was vast and confusing and dangerous, that he would not be able to trust anybody from the surface. In nearly every respect, he admitted, they were right. They just hadn’t accounted for people like Sonic and Tails.