Sonic and Tails Brotherly Oneshots (Sonic Boom version)

Chapter 43

    This one's the second idea C0nch3_ requested.

    A scratched, bruised, and miserable Tails was laying in a hospital bed one day, badly injured by his tails, which were wrapped up at the bases. His face was turned to the wall, and the pain was almost unbearable. As he stared at the wall and fought to keep his tears at bay, he recalled the events that led to this moment...
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    Eggman was on the move once more. Cosmo had been abducted while she was at town getting stuff for Zooey. Despite her valiant attempts to defend herself, she was nonetheless captured thanks to Metal Sonic himself leading the attack. Now the team was fighting off Eggman's robot horde, not wanting to lose her again after what happened to her previously (watch Episode 77 of "Sonic X" if you haven't). Tails was flying his plane towards Eggman's lair, Sonic riding on the wing as he always did. "Ready, Sonic?" asked Tails, looking up at the wing.

    "Ready when you are, Tails," replied Sonic. "Let's do this."

    Nodding, Tails turned on the "autopilot" on his plane and, spinning his namesakes, flew out to the wing. Grabbing Sonic's hands, he was soon off to the entrance of Eggman's lair. Suddenly, lasers flew at them everywhere, but Tails dodged them left and right, all the while keeping a tight grip on Sonic's hands. However, this wasn't to last...

    As the brothers got near the interance, a laser suddenly caught them both by surprise, getting Tails' tails in the process. Tails yelled in pain, tears immediately pricking his eyes. He quickly willed them down and, seeing that they were plummeting, used all his strength to throw Sonic to safety. The hedgehog watched, horrified as Tails fell from the sky. "TAILS!!!" he screamed.

    Tails hit the branches, the wood scratching at him as he fell through them and hit the ground with a thud. The branches luckily broke his fall some, but the fox was badly injured. Scratches and bruises covered him from head to foot, his ankle was probably broken, and worst of all, his beloved fluffy namesakes were bleeding at the base, and were scratched and bruised badly. As Tails tried fighting the pain, his communicator buzzed to life. "Miles! Miles, you okay?!" Sonic asked, clearly scared for his little brother's safety.

    If Sonic was calling Tails by his real name, then times like this were serious. Tails gritted his teeth, breathing through them sharply as pain shot through him before answering. "N... No," he said. "I... I've been shot. And injured. B... Because I fell through tree branches."

    "YOU WHAT?!?!?!" Sticks practically screamed, making Tails flinch away.

    Amy could be heard scolding Sticks in the background while Sonic spoke again. "Just stay where you are," he said. "Don't move. We'll come and get you after we free Cosmo, alright?"

    "O... Okay," Tails sniffed, trying not to cry.

    As the connection cut off, Tails laid on the ground, panting painfully and soft sobs coming out despite his efforts. His head hurt, and his vision was blurry as a result. Hearing a clanking sound, Tails couldn't turn his head to see who it was, but immediately knew that it was another Eggman robot. He tried moving, but his body screamed in pain as the robot went around Tails so it could face him, confirming his suspicions. All Tails could do was growl in a failed attempt to scare it away as it advanced towards him. Just then, as the robot prepared to finish him off, a wave of Chaos energy flashed past him and hit the robot, destroying it instantly.

    Regaining his bearings as he looked at the now-destroyed robot, Tails wondered who it was that saved him. He soon got his answer when he saw a familiar pair of red and white rocket shoes in front of him. Scared (because he knew who owned those shoes), Tails whimpered and tried scooting away, but pain shot thorough his body once more, forcing him to quit. All he could do now was stay still, shivering with fear. But a gentle hand to his head ceased it some, the touch comforting. Tails tried to move his head so he could see his savior easier, but a voice, muffled from his point of view, made him stop. "Sh... Sha..." the fox tried saying.

    "Sssshhhhh..." said the voice reassuringly.

    Feeling himself get carefully picked up in someone's arms, Tails could only let out a soft whimper before ultimately falling unconscious, his face falling into soft, white chest fur.
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    With a sad sigh, Tails closed his eyes, trying in vain to fight away the growing wetness forming. The door opened at that moment and someone entered, their footsteps echoing in the room. Tails turned his head to the source as soon as a hand was on his shoulder, recognizing a limiter bracelet on the wrist. "So you did save me," said the fox in a thankful but broken voice. "Thanks for doing that, really. But... now I'm useless." His voice broke as he said that last part.

    A red and black arm just wrapped itself around him and, turning Tails around, pulled him in close for a hug. At that action, Tails finally saw clearly who saved him as he looked up at red-ruby eyes. "Shadow..." he whispered.

    Shadow just shushed him once more and wrapped his other arm around him, a hand reaching to pet behind his ears. "You're not useless, Tails," he said. "You're useful in so many ways. So just because you're injured doesn't automatically mean you're the opposite. You just need to rest up and heal."

    All Shadow got as a reply was a sniffle. Being careful not to hurt Tails, the Ultimate Lifeform moved Tails in his arms in a cradle position and sat back in his chair. Tails just cuddled closer to him in reply, trying to push away the negative thoughts in his head as he buried his face in fluffy white chest fur. "Where's Sonic and everyone else?" he asked, looking up at Shadow one again after a while of silence. "They're worried about me, aren't they?"

    "They are," Shadow replied as he used his Chaos energy to heal Tails' scratches and bruises. "But I let them know where we are. They're on their way here right now."

    As if on cue, a knock was heard at the door. "You can come in," said Shadow, knowing who it was.

    At that, the door opened, revealing the team, along with a freed Cosmo. "TAILS!!!" everyone exclaimed.

    Relieved to see him, Sonic ran over and, picking up Tails from Shadow's arms, took him into his own and spun him around in his arms. Everyone else joined in the hug as well. "Thank goodness you're alright, little bro," said Sonic as they calmed down. "You really had us worried. We thought you broke a limb or two by that fall."

    "I didn't," said Tails, happy to see his team (his family) again. "I'm okay. Mostly just came out scratched and bruised. Would've been attacked by a stray robot if it hadn't been for Shadow, though."

    He turned to the Ultimate Lifeform. "Thanks again, Shadow," he said.

    "Yeah. Thanks, Shads," Sonic agreed. "Knew you had a soft side."

    Shadow grunted at the nickname, but still smiled nonetheless. "Just get home," he said. "And make sure he's fully rested up. I may have healed him, but he's not ready to get back on the battlefield just yet."

    Sonic nodded and left, the team chatting happily as they followed. A gentle hand in his brought Tails' attention to the freed Seedrian. "Glad you're alright, Tails," she said.

    "Same with you, Cosmo," Tails replied with a smile.

    He then looked up at Sonic, blue meeting green. "You okay, Sonic?" he asked.

    "Not for a while," Sonic admitted. "After what happened to you, I totally went on Metal Sonic hard. I think I ended up destroying him."

    Tails' eyes widened. "Why?" he asked.

    Sonic just gazed at Tails and hugged him closer to him, glad to feel his warm, fluffy fur (something that Tails enjoyed because of his purrs). "Because if anyone hurt you," he said, "then that means they've messed around with the wrong person."

    Second request done, C0nch3_. Hope you love it. Same with everyone else.