wrote this in three hours cause my other angst fics aren't close enough to finish so it's not as good as it can be but i wanted to put the imagery in everyone's brain lmao
happy broken bond sunday everyone <3
Sonic and Tails were angry.
Which isn't entirely unusual for them during fights, Knuckles notes as his fist collides with another motobug.
But this time it was different.
This time, they were angry with each other.
Knuckles has heard about them fighting before, but this is the first time he's ever seen it happen. It's such a surreal, unthinkable situation and yet it was happening right before his very eyes.
The usual witty banter the brothers would shout to rile up their human nemesis was completely gone, replaced by a silence that hung heavy with anger as the destroyed badniks in a much more aggressive manner. (Knuckles didn't think Tails could ever get more explosive than he was, but he was very quickly proven wrong today.)
Eggman seemed to notice the change too, unsurprisingly. He kept poking them about it, curious about their silence.
Knuckles, while not one to usually mediate fights, tried to get some information. But when he'd ask them, he'd be shrugged off with a grumble.
It was a little worrying, to be honest.
Knuckles freezes when there's another explosion, but this time accompanied by a loud yelp. He turned to the sky, eyes searching for the little fox that was handling the buzzbombers just in time to watch as he fell.
Smoked trailed him, and Knuckles quiet prayed that the way it looked like it was coming from the kid's tails was just a trick of the eye.
But before the echidna got to even think about running to catch the fox, a blue of blue shot through the air, taking Tails with it.
Sonic was behind Knuckles a second later, trusting him to provide cover as he looked over Tails’ injuries.
But as soon as he was put down, the fox pushed his brother away. “I'm fine.’
“No, you're not.” Sonic argued, wrapping a paw around the youngest’s arm to drag him closer again, “Stop acting like this.”
“Leave me alone, Sonic.” Tails frowned, trying to tug his arm back. “Despite what you think, I can take care of myself.”
“For the love of Chaos, Tails, really?” Knuckles’ brow furrowed as listened to the quiet argument. What happened between them? “You're being dramatic.”
“That's so ironic coming from you of all people.” The kit argued back, rolling his eyes.
“In case you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of a battle right now, Tails.” Sonic leaned down to be at eye level with the little fox, “We don't have time to deal with this tantrum.”
“Because that's all it is, right?” Tails grumbled, pushing the hedgehog away. “All you ever do is deal with me, huh?
“If you would stop being a brat every time I do something you don't like then I wouldn't have to deal with anything, would I?” Knuckles could feel his expression morph in a mix of shock and anger. What had gotten into these two?
When he turned around to check on his brothers, he could see how Tails’ eyes were shining with tears. Knuckles never liked it when the fox cried.
Sonic didn't seem to fully understand what he said until he saw the expression on the youngest’s face. His eyes immediately filled with regret as he processed his own words.
Tails sniffed and scrubbed at his eyes, backing away when Sonic reached out for him. “I'm so sorry adopting a mangey child wasn't the happily ever after you were hoping for, Sonic.” Is the last thing the kid said before turning and flying back into the battle.
“Tails, wait!” Sonic shouted after him, but heavily groaned when he realized the kid wouldn't listen to him. He ran a paw down his face as he stared after his little brother.
“What happened between you and the kid.” Knuckles demanded more than asked, roughly turning Sonic to face him. This is the first time he's ever seen the hedgehog make Tails cry and he wanted some answers.
“It's been a long morning, okay?” Sonic sighed and shook his head. “I'll explain more later, but I gotta go apologize to–”
Sonic's sentence was cut off by another, much louder explosion than the previous ones.
The teenagers turned to find the source of it, their eyes widening as they watched a building collapse.
And Tails was nowhere in sight.
“Tails?!” Sonic screamed, speeding over to the destroyed building to search his brother. Chaos, please let the kid be okay.
He could hear Knuckles not far behind, also calling out for the fox, but he didn't care. His full focus right now was finding Tails, he didn't care about anything else.
It didn't take long to find him.
Or– it didn't take long to find most of him.
Tails was unconscious. Thick streams of blood spilled from a gash on his head where his left ear was supposed to be. His left arm was also missing, the hole at his shoulder gushing out more blood.
And, oh Chaos, how long is the pole impaled through his chest? It's so close to his heart. It didn't pierce it though, right? It couldn't have. Sonic can lose Tails. He was going to be fine, right?
Sonic pushed down the rising nausea, dropping to the fox’s side to cradle his head with one paw as the other searched for a pulse. He was muttering to himself, pleading with someone to keep his brother alive.
His gloves were quickly staining red as his paw frantically felt around the kit's body for some sign of life.
His panic grew when he couldn't find anything. It had to be because he was shaking, right? There's no way Tails is– he has to be fine.
“Sonic.” The hedgehog stilled at his name being called. He didn't look away from his brother's body though, even as a tear fell from his cheek. How long has he been crying? “Let me see him.”
The teen shook his head. He couldn't step away and let someone else take his place, Tails needed him.
Knuckles stepped around him, wincing at the sight of the little fox. He kneeled down to check for a pulse, but he knew he wouldn't find anything.
Tails was a strong kid, but there was no chance at surviving being impaled through the heart.
Sonic had leaned down to press his forehead against Tails’s, whispering a million apologies to the kid.
Knuckles closed his eyes and took a deep breath before turning to look at the hedgehog.
The younger met his eyes, a deep plea for the echidna to tell him his brother would be okay.
“He's gone.”
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