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whisker-biscuit · 3 months

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Sonic Big Bang 2024

Close Encounters of the Grim Kind: Chapter 2

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Tails stared at the device in his hands for a long time, just rereading the odd message over and over as if it could untangle the mysteries of the universe. It hadn’t been built to return on its own. There hadn’t even been a way for him to call it back to Green Hill once it had been set loose. He had made it for the sole purpose of collecting data beyond what he could access himself; a one-way trip reminiscent of the earliest satellites shot into space.

After nearly a full minute passed, he realized that checking the data logs would probably give at least some kind of answer to the first mystery. The fox opened the tiny outlet protector under its base and went hunting for the corresponding cord that would hook it up to his computer. Before he connected them, however, a more concerning thought occurred that made him pause.

How had his “hello world” message been changed? Who had changed it? Tails knew for a fact that the only person smart enough to make sense of his tech without tearing it apart was Eggman, and Eggman would have torn it apart anyway just on principle. If the mad doctor had somehow gotten ahold of this device, realized who it belonged to and what it was for, then its return could be indicative of a trap. There was no telling what kind of virus or spyware or any other kind of nasty cyberattack might be uploaded to the fox’s servers if he carelessly connected it.

Subtlety was not Eggman’s strongest suit by a long shot, but Tails wasn’t about to give him an easy chance at infiltration if he was trying a different tactic for once. Instead, he pulled out his Miles Electric to begin scanning the device. The “device.” He really needed to come up with a proper name for it since it seemed to be a more permanent part of his workshop than he’d first expected.

It came away clean, which only eased his worries a little bit – if Eggman had tampered with it, then at least the fox would have gotten some answers. Now he was just back at square one. With pursed lips and apprehension in his stomach, he attached the probe to his computer and watched the pop-up appear asking to sync its contents.

Now or never. Tails clicked ‘yes’.

At first, nothing came up out of the ordinary as data flashed across his screen beyond what he’d originally been aiming to achieve. The device had traveled at a rate slightly faster than the speed of light, helped by the power from the Paradox Prism. It had also made periodic “blips” – for lack of a better word – where it had seemingly jolted farther forward in its intended path than should have been possible even with its incredible speed, and often into a new, completely random set of coordinates. Tails suspected it was a kind of teleportation similar to how Sonic had described his own travels between the mini dimensions when he’d picked up enough speed.

None of the coordinates the probe recorded made sense on a three-dimensional plane, which Tails greatly hoped was evidence of the Shatterverse still existing instead of his tech being faulty. The device had to have gone somewhere for the week and a half it had been traveling so fast, right?

Just as the fox was about to stand up from his computer chair to take a quick snack break, the data fluctuated dramatically. The probe had done another “blip” through space into a new set of coordinates, and then suddenly its speed had come to a grinding halt. No movement, no more blips, no change in position or anything. It had still been active; it just...wasn’t moving.

Almost as if something had caught it.

Intrigued and mildly concerned, he studied the screen for any deviance from this strange new turn of events. The device had remained trapped in limbo for a lengthy period of time – almost as long as the entire section of travel it had recorded beforehand. Tails cursed himself for not adding some kind of time-keeper to its data log. He’d thought it would send him information in real time, not delayed like this, and now he had no way of telling when exactly the probe had been halted nor for how long it stayed that way.

Then, just as suddenly as it had stopped, the device had gone right back to traveling again. It gave up a string of coordinates that looked vaguely familiar and, when Tails checked, it became obvious that the probe had come back – or been sent back – on the exact path it had used to get as far as it had. That meant that whoever had encountered it had either the tech or the intelligence to handle its speed and keep it immobilized, and then figured out how to return it to its original sender.

An alternate Eggman, or an alternate Tails. Those were the only two possible explanations unless Sonic had neglected to mention a sudden technological genius cropping up within the other versions of their friend group. Without unplugging the cable connecting the probe to his computer, the fox picked it up again to stare at what was now very obviously an attempt at contact. It by itself wasn’t enough of a clue to determine the identity of the mystery sender, but he began to break down the possibilities anyway.

If an Eggman had been the one to grab the device, normally their response should have been to toss it, break it, or use it for their own purposes. But he remembered his brother talking about the teenaged-Eggman who was obsessed with gaming; if that version had picked it up, he might have returned it as some kind of twisted parry at a potential opponent. That, or just someone else to conquer once he had their location nailed down.

But there hadn’t been any malware in the probe. The interdimensional coordinates to Green Hill would have been easy to find for anyone smart enough to send it back, but without the Paradox Prism, the probe was likely the only thing they could send at all. If this was an Eggman’s doing, the fox still had the upper hand on that basis alone.

If it were another Tails, though…the long gap of nothingness in the device’s log made sense. They’d probably immobilized it to make sure it wasn’t dangerous, which is what he would have done. Returning it also made sense if they recognized their own technical prowess; they might even have been researching the exact same thing the Tails of Green Hill was, and found this to be a fortuitous shortcut for it.

Whichever way the pendulum swung, getting into contact with this mystery person was more beneficial than anything else. He just had to be cautious about how he went about it.

The fox ran his fingers along the seams in the metal of the device and gently removed the cover hiding the miniature keyboard. He deleted the message, then typed up a few new ones after a few moments of deliberation.

– Hello! –

– I’m researching the existence of alternate dimensions –

– Will you help me? –

While recharging the probe’s battery and running one quick diagnostic check for damage, Tails adjusted its programming by a brief margin. Instead of wandering aimlessly until it died or was destroyed, the device now had a set destination – the coordinates it had reached the moment it had been physically stopped. He paused, thumb hovering over the switch to get it going, then shook his head and flipped it before he could psyche himself out.

The probe hummed to life and hovered in the air before disappearing, just like before. Tails blinked the afterimage out of his head and leaned back in his seat. Sonic always said the best things in life were worth the risk. Whether this ended up being one of them remained to be seen, but he was going to be optimistic about it. There was nothing else he really could do, after all.

Well, that wasn’t quite true. He still had one other source for info, but he doubted Shadow was going to give up anything else. The deal they’d made was as sparse as it was for a reason, even if the hedgehog refused to say what that reason was.

And technically, he wasn’t the only one Tails could turn to. It was just a matter of getting his brother to tell the truth…or admit anything at all.

As if on cue, the sound of his workshop door opening was the only warning the fox had before a burst of wind ruffled his fur. He swiveled in his chair just in time to catch the tail end of a blue steak zipping up the stairs to the second floor.

It was pretty common for Sonic to take afternoon naps on the roof. Whether he chose to get there from the inside or the outside was a coin toss; lately, though, he’d almost always taken the route through the workshop itself, and Tails suspected it was related to his recent clinginess. Confirming the fox was around without bothering him was likely the cause of this oddly predictable behavior.

Tails stepped outside and flew upwards, unsurprised to find the hedgehog sprawled across the roof with his hands behind his head and one foot perched across the other knee. His half-lidded eyes had been lazily tracking the clouds in the sky, but they moved towards Tails at the sound of his aerial approach.

“Hey, Sonic,” he began, landing gently next to his brother so they could watch the sky together. “Can I ask you something about the Shatterverse?”

Sonic pulled one hand free of his quills to scratch the fur on his chest. “Sure. Shoot.”

“What were the other ‘Me’s like?”

“Honestly? They were pretty different from each other. The only thing they really had in common was being super smart, but it came out in different ways. Sails – the, uh, Pirate-You – was probably the closest to how you act. ‘Cept for the accent and the obsession with treasure.”

“Huh…”

The hedgehog gave him a sideways glance and a smile. “Of course, I would never compare them to the real deal. My best friend is perfect the way he is, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“That’s not why I –” Tails stopped himself with a grimace.

If Sonic thought he was asking because he was insecure, he might be willing to share more about those counterparts to ease his little brother’s mind than for any other reason. It wasn’t deception to let him think that way for a bit longer, right?

“…I’d still like to know about them,” he mumbled, averting his eyes to avoid seeing the growing crease in the hedgehog’s brow. “What did you mean about their intelligence? How was it different from each other’s?”

“Hm, well, I’m probably going to get a lot of concepts wrong, so bear with me. Basically…”

So, they laid together on the roof as Sonic described each of Tails’ counterparts and what they were capable of when it came to technology. He learned about Sails, who did maintenance on the pirate ship and had made a bomb in record time in the middle of a war zone. He learned about Mangey, who had helped Sails commandeer a giant robot and had increased the Chaos Council’s power output with just a few curious button presses. He learned about Nine, who had created multiple augmented tails to match his name and had single handedly figured out how to reform the shards of the Paradox Prism despite its incredibly unstable energy.

The fox listened with rapt attention. Every detail he turned over in his head, trying to determine whether it matched to the message he had received. His careful, vague questions eventually moved onto the alternate Eggmen, and his mental analysis was repeated all over again while his brother chatted away. It had been some time since they’d last done this, he eventually realized – Sonic reminiscing about an adventure as Tails worked through a dilemma that only he could solve. At least, it had been some time since it had been just the two of them.

Sonic seemed to realize it, too, because he trailed off after complaining about Dr. Deep’s “stupid katanas” and closed his eyes with a giant, contented sigh.

“Man, nothing beats this kinda life,” he said after a solid minute of comfortable silence. “Thwarting megalomaniacs and giving my legs a good workout are great, but having the downtime just to soak up some sun and hang out with my best bud is a luxury I’ll never take for granted.”

“Me, neither.” Tails paused, then turned onto his side so he was facing his brother. He chose his next words very carefully. “I’ve been meaning to ask…are you doing alright? Ever since we stopped Eggman from taking the Paradox Prism, you’ve been acting a little different.”

Sonic shifted in place. It would have been a perfectly nonchalant thing for him to do if not for the way he suddenly opened his eyes or how they darted towards Tails for a brief second before returning to the sky.

“I know you dealt with a lot in the Shatterverse, and you didn’t have us to back you up like you usually would,” the fox continued quickly before any shut-downs could be made. “And I know how happy you are about everything being back to normal. But just because we’re okay doesn’t mean you have to pretend to be.”

“…Heh. Thought I was being careful. Should’ve known nothing gets past you.”

“Never.”

The hedgehog sighed – this one a little more weighted than the last. He drummed his fingers on his chest, seemingly deep in thought, and Tails waited for him to reach a conclusion to his inner conflict.

“I’m mostly just worried about those other dimensions and how they’re all doing. We repaired the damage, and they all seemed to stay existing when the Paradox Prism got put back together, but there’s no way to really know. I was so relieved to get back home, that I didn’t really stop and think about how I left things until it sunk in that I was really in Green Hill with all of you again.”

“Not really sure about that last part, considering how clingy you’ve been the last few weeks.”

It hadn’t meant to be said loud enough for Sonic to hear, but he only huffed out a laugh. “That bad, huh? I’m shocked you waited this long to confront me about it.”

Now it was Tails’ turn to shift uncomfortably. “I was a little preoccupied myself. But I’m here now, and I want to make sure you know I’ll help you with anything.”

“Appreciate it, buddy, but unless you can somehow convince Shadow to lend me the Paradox Prism to check how they’re all doing out there, then we’re both outta luck. I’ll just have to assume the best and trust that the folks who helped me come back are okay.”

The fox opened his mouth, ready to tell his brother about his probe and the connection he’d made…and then closed it without saying a word. Shadow’s warning not to involve Sonic flashed across his mind. There was no way he wouldn’t learn about it somehow if Tails went back on his word, and then he’d take back the tenuous access to the other dimensions he’d given the young scientist.

Lying by omission was still a lie; he felt sick to his stomach at the sight of the hedgehog’s face clouded with worry, knowing he could potentially relieve it but choosing not to. He resolved immediately that no matter who this mystery person was – a Tails or an Eggman or even a Chao – that he would give them the benefit of the doubt for Sonic’s sake. The sooner he confirmed the dimensions were safe and their alternate selves thriving, the sooner he could declare his research finished, end the terms he’d set with Shadow, and tell Sonic exactly what he’d been doing and what he had found.

Even the possibility of working with Eggman would be worth the reassurance he could give to his brother.

When Sonic finally began to doze off, Tails crept off the roof and back into his workshop. He found a blank notepad and began creating a list of names.

• Sails • Nine • Mangey • Dr. Don’t • Mr. Dr. Eggman (?)

Next, he created columns alongside each in order to write down the notes he’d compiled in his head. Behavior that made sense for someone who might tamper with an interdimensional probe specifically to return it to its sender. Mangey, he crossed out within five minutes. From what Sonic had described, the jungle fox couldn’t or didn’t communicate with his companions in a way that would make sense to Tails. It didn’t mean that he wasn’t intelligent; it was just considerably less likely that he would recognize the written form of the language Tails had used for his keyboard. In some ways, linguistics could be more of a headache to decipher than complex calculus.

Unfortunately, almost everyone else still had logical potential for being his mystery pen-pal. He’d even added Mr. Dr. Eggman after hearing Sonic grumble about how much of a schemer he was compared to the rest of the Chaos Council. The one solace the fox had was that his own identity was most likely just as obscured. Unless someone somehow had Green Hill’s interdimensional coordinates memorized – virtually impossible, based on the short time frame that the Shatterverse had supposedly existed for – then he had nothing to fear. He just had to play it safe, stick to studying the dimensions, and keep Sonic out of it until he was done.

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The next day, Tails woke up to the probe sitting on his desk where it hadn’t been the night before. He practically sprinted to check on it, excited to see what the response would be, and felt a mix of enthusiasm and frustration over what he saw.

[ i will help on one condition ]

[ dont ask who i am and i wont ask who you are ]

[ this is purely a research venture, nothing else ]

Drat. That was half of his questions immediately nixed. The paranoia made him want to lean towards this being an Eggman, but the lack of interest in who he was threw a wrench in things, again. He sighed, tamping down the disappointment as much as he could, and focused instead on his excitement. Here was someone who was either proof that the Shatterverse was still intact, or at the very least was willing to help him examine the current state of things.

This endeavor was a resounding success! …So far.

Just as Tails began to draft an eager response, the device suddenly let out a series of beeps before the screen went completely dark. He panicked for all of two seconds until realizing that the probe wasn’t dead, simply out of power – it seemed the tiny smidge of Paradox Prism energy had finally been burned through after nearly two weeks. It was an impressive battery life; he could certainly see why Eggman and all his other versions had been so dead-set on getting their hands on it.

Luckily, Shadow had given him a number to call before they’d parted ways, and he picked up fairly promptly when the fox called.

“Yes?”

“My probe came back, but it’s out of energy. Do you think you could bring the Paradox Prism to my workshop so I can get it running?”

Instead of a normal response like a solid yes-or-no answer, Shadow hung up. Tails stared at his cellphone, dumbfounded, until the open center space of the room warped in a single blink. Shadow stood there, holding the neutralizing container the fox had given him to keep the prism undetectable from prying eyes.

“Um, thanks.”

“This is simply part of our agreement,” the hedgehog stated, flat as could be, while he unpacked the giant crystal. He raised an expectant eyebrow at Tails, who handed him the probe without hesitation.

The Paradox Prism glowed a little brighter the moment the device made contact with it. They both watched it recharge quietly for a while.

“Have you learned anything?” Shadow eventually asked.

“Well, it definitely worked. The probe gave me coordinates for its travel path that could only be mathematically possible through quantum physics. I don’t know if it actually visited any other dimensions, though, or if it just remained whatever void space exists between them.”

“Hm.”

The hedgehog pulled the probe away from the crystal when it made an affirmative ‘ding’ to signal it was at full power again. He rolled it almost idly between his hands as he stared at the prism, seemingly lost in thought.

“Shadow? Is everything okay?”

“Yes. I was just thinking back to being trapped in that void while Sonic was gallivanting through the different dimensions as he pleased.” He looked and sounded like he’d just tasted something incredibly sour. “I don’t plan on experiencing that again any time soon, so I expect you to remain careful when dealing with this energy.”

“Of course. I’d never abuse power like that.”

“Good.” Shadow offered the device, and Tails held out his own hands. Before they made the exchange, though, the hedgehog paused. “Was there anything else you learned? Anything about the state of the other dimensions or its inhabitants?”

Tails didn’t know why he didn’t immediately say yes. There wasn’t any reason to lie; he’d even promised Shadow that he’d keep him updated. If ever there was a time to talk about the mysterious messages, it was now.

And yet…

He thought back to Sonic’s troubled expression and the confession he’d made. He thought back to Shadow, two weeks ago, making it very clear he wouldn’t offer support for anything other than a basic survey job.

“No.” Tails looked him dead in the eye, feeling something cold prickle at the base of his neck. “There was nothing else.”

#sonic big bang 2024 #sonic the hedgehog #miles tails prower #tails nine #shadow the hedgehog

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