Chapter Text
Perusing the government's secret files had become a bad habit of Tails’, having started out when he first came to this foreign world. At first, he had used it to figure out exactly where Creme and Cheese were being held. Then it became something to do while being stuck inside the house, with the added benefit of keeping tabs on whether or not a chaos emerald had been found without contacting the media. While the latter fact is still true, he could probably do without hacking into the files so frequently. This only increased the likelihood of getting caught and getting into trouble, which would mess with the already tenuous relations between the Mobians and the government.
Tails shifts slightly in his chair feeling slightly guilty for snooping so far into his allies systems. But, the late-night anxieties about never returning home had struck him hard, preventing his sleep. The fox glances at the clock, self-conscious of just how late his latest bout of worries was driving him to stay awake. The clock mocks him, declaring it to three in the morning, far too late in the evening to stay awake. Yet, no yawn overcomes him, and there is an absence of weariness in his eyes. So he turns back to the computer, ready to continue carefully down this weaving rabbit hole.
As he dives deeper into the depths of the government's secrets, he finds a name almost familiar to him. Tails had only heard it spoken a few times in relation to their greatest enemy: Robotnik. The file that lays beneath the name is locked with a password. He starts immediately gathering any information that he can on this man that appeared to share last names with Doctor Eggman. His search led him to discover about the man's daughter, Maria, and that there had been some sort of accident on something called the Space Colony ARK. Figuring a close relation would be as good as any other guess, the fox returns to the file, typing in the name. It unlocks and his eyes widen in alarm as information starts to violently stream down his screen. There was so much there, but what caught the eye of the fox was a note about a life form being kept on Prison Island, sealed away from the whole world. Navigating to that section of the file to learn more, Tails finds that some creature that seemed to be much like a Mobian was imprisoned. But, it was referred to as the ultimate weapon. Tails’ ears bend back, unhappy at the thought of anyone being locked away for so long. Quickly, he jots down some notes about the location of this creature and a brief idea of how he plans on getting them out.
The buzz that came with such a discovery abandoned him soon after, leaving him with a bone aching weariness. Tails slips out of the government system leaving no traces of him having ever been there. He goes back to his bed, sliding easily into a dreamless sleep.
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Tails tells no one of his discoveries and makes preparations for the mission on his own. If he was caught alone breaking in, the others would likely not be dragged into trouble with the government, especially if they could truthfully claim that they had no idea he was planning this. So he kept quiet, making a small ship that could slip through the water undetected powered by a chaos emerald. He only made it big enough for two and made plans to carry the emerald with him through the base in a small bag in case he needed to use its power to overload the systems. A few days post his discovery, the fox finds himself ready to venture out.
He leaves before the dawn, making sure to leave a note about investigating the city alone on foot. Tails feels his nerves biting at his stomach as he drives through the water to one of the best-guarded facilities on this planet. But he had his plan and he would not fail the creature that had been kept there for so long.
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Grabbing his satchel to carry the chaos emerald, Tails takes one last look at his submarine-like vessel. He breathes deeply, securing the hood of his robe over his head and rechecks the bonds on his tails. These items, along with a dark bandana to cover his muzzle were just-in-case his loops on the cameras within the facility failed. His fur and double tails would be a dead give away to who he was and could come back to bite him. With his resolve stiffened, Tails begins his ascent up the cliff using a rope he had thrown to the top.
Passing through the woods undetected had been a simple task, allowing him to reach a control panel that lay on the outside of the building. Tails quickly uses this panel to hack in and start to loop the security feed and to turn off traps located in the areas he planned to pass through. Then, with his knowledge of the building that he had gotten through blueprints stored in the government’s files, he scales the side of the building to an air duct opening. Quietly he hopes that the creature he is helping to escape can fit within the ducts. A problem for later, he thinks pushing aside the worry. Tails begins slips quietly through the facility, passing unnoticed.
The journey is uneventful and Tails stands before the panel in the room that held the being. He taps out the same password that had been the key to the file, slipping the chaos emerald then backs up as fog fills the room. When he spots a figure amongst the fog he backs up worried.
“Sonic? What?”
But as the figure comes to stand directly before him, Tails realises his mistake. While the outline had been similar, the details were greatly different. This was a black hedgehog with red markings where Sonic was blue. The fox felt his tails twitching against their bonds as they responded to the nervousness that once again was growing in his stomach.
“ My name is Shadow. You’ve awakened me from a state of suspended animation and I am very grateful. To show my gratitude, I am at your command."
Tails shifts back and forth.
"No, I err. You don't need to be at my command. Noone should stay locked away like this."
The fox speaks with a voice full of anxiety. He grabs the chaos emerald from the panel. Then an alarm begins to blare loudly. The black hedgehog glances around with narrowed eyes, falling into a fighting stance.
"Come on, let's go. We gotta get out before they catch sight of either of us."
With that he hopped back into the air duct. The sound of metal being hit informs him that the mysterious hedgehog is following. He quickly crawls ahead wanting to get off this island as soon as possible. Tails is somewhat unnerved by the lack of questions from the stranger. He knows if it had been him who was freed he would have a million and one things to ask.
They reach the roof and quickly move down the side of the building. Tails' ears twitch noting increased robotic activity in the woods. It was going to be much harder to return to the boat.
"I've got a ship that way, just below the cliff face, but I'm not sure how we're going to make it through without being caught. Sorry, guess I didn't plan well enough."
Tails lets out a small self deprecating laugh.The black hedgehog glances at him and then back out at the woods. With no warning, the fox is scooped up and the hedgehog begins darting through the trees. Tails lets out a yelp clutching his satchel to his chest as the world whirls past.
'This guy's as fast as Sonic!'
They reach the cliff face and the stranger puts him down. Tails then moves over to the rope he had set up and slides down into the ship. A quick glance up reveals that the hedgehog is close behind. The fox places the emerald back into its place within the ship and submerges as soon as the stranger is in the second seat.
What he had not accounted for was underwater defenses. The tiny sub, while highly maneuverable, was slow comparative to the other underwater craft that were surging after them. Tails realized this could very quickly end in destruction as he spins around yet another missile.
"Let me show you my power. Hand me the emerald."
The voice of the stranger behind him gives the fox pause.Tails is unsure, but the prisons underwater defenses are coming pretty close to blowing them up.
"Okay."
He pulls out the chaos emerald, handing it over with a nagging worry that whatever the hedgehog chose to do would not be enough. Then he hears the stranger speak and a blinding flash whites out his vision. He blinks rapidly, only to find that his sub, along with its two occupants had been transported to a new location. From the sheer amount of metal, Tails assumes they are now within another ship.
"Wow!! That was amazing!"
The fox turns to the stranger, gushing. The black hedgehog gives a small smirk and hands back the chaos emerald. Tails accepts it back and tucks it into his satchel. Deciding that the sub is getting stuffy, Tails pops open the top. He hops out of his small craft, soon followed by the dark hedgehog. Now that the danger appears to have passed, Tails begins dismantling his disguise. He removes the robe and the binding on his tails, then he pushes down the bandana that had covered his face. The pilot turns back to the creature and grins.
"Hey! My name is Tails."
The other being seems to take a moment to stare at the now undisguised fox. Then he slowly responds.
"I am Shadow. I hope I have proven myself powerful enough to serve you."
"Nice to meet you! You don't need to prove anything or serve me Shadow. By the way, where are we?"
"We are on the Space Colony ARK."
Tails' eyes light up, his tails twitching violently.
"You mean we are in space!"
Shadow merely indicates a window that lies behind him, and watches as the young fox dashes over to it. The world lays in all its glory just beyond causing the pilot to make a noise of awe.
"It's so beautiful."
"Shame that it is filled with such scum."
The fox jerks back from the window, looking over at the black hedgehog who now stands beside him.
"Why would you say such a thing? There are many nice people on that planet who had nothing to do with your imprisonment."
Shadow's eyes do not leave the globe that lays below, anger lighting them up.
“I don't care what they did to me. They took Maria! That planets fowl governments came here and took her away.”
Tails stiffens at the growling, watching Shadow carefully. He did not know this hedgehog. At any moment the angry being could choose to turn and attack him. But Tails wanted to try and calm the fire that he sees rising.
“Shadow, I have no idea what happened here. And I know for a fact that very few, if anyone on the planet below are aware of what happened, much less had a say in causing it. It’s been fifty years.”
Shadow bares his teeth, seemingly unwilling to let go of his rage. Tails decides to push onwards.
“I know what it's like to be alone. And I know how valuable the person who breaks the loneliness can be. I don't know what Id do if anyone ever permanently removed Sonic from my life. I'm not asking you to drop your anger towards those who took Maria. I'm just asking that you not hold the entirety of the world accountable. I didn't know her, but I don't think she would want that from you…”
Shadow glances at Tails who tries his best to look reassuring. The hedgehog shifts, softening his tension a bit but still seems stiff. Tails gets the distinct impression that the other his deep in thought, considering his words.
“I'm going to let you think this through. Come find me if you want to talk more Shadow.”
Tails gives a small smile and then walks away, giving the hedgehog space to work through his thoughts.