Sonic Runaways

Tails looked up at the statue alongside Sonic. They were both in total disbelief. Sonic felt tears drizzle down from his eyes. But he simply wiped any droplets away with his fist. "Is that what Longclaw looked like?" Tails asked, putting a hand on Sonic's shoulder.

"Yeah, that's a statue of her!" Sonic exclaimed. "This temple must have been made hundreds of years ago, how did they know about her?? Or me??"

"There's text here… and it's in English!" Tails exclaimed, looking at the base of the statue. "Can I read it to you?"

"Yeah, man," Sonic replied, staring up at the Longclaw statue's face.

"Okay, ahem…"

"'Here shall rest Longclaw the Owl, the brave Babylonian woman who is to tame the legendary power trapped within the blue hedgehog. The power that shall inevitably bring peace to Babylon Garden at the cost of the holder's life, protecting it from the barbaric world of Erius upon which it has descended. Longclaw was a warrior, a daughter, a mother, and a legend in her own right.'"

Tails looked to Sonic, who appeared to be taking it all in.

"Sonic, this is… wondrous! It's fantastical! You're a prophecized hero!" Tails exclaimed.

"No I'm not," Sonic disagreed hollowly. He looked to the ground, as the blue light faded a little.

"What do you mean?" Tails asked, suddenly concerned. "It says right here that---!"

"---My power is the hero. I'm just the holder who's trapping it inside me," Sonic growled, looking away from Tails. "She wanted my power, and nothing else. Show's over. I'm out of here." Sonic began to walk out of the room, shaking his head.

"Sonic, wait!" Tails exclaimed. He grabbed Sonic's arm, and his hand tingled gently with electricity.

"What do YOU want?" Sonic asked, not even looking at him. "Longclaw didn't even need ME. She didn't even love ME like I thought she did. All those years of raising me up… she just wanted my power as well! For some garbage prophecy about a stupid garden!" Sonic shouted.

Sonic took a deep breath, trembling. "Just like Robotnik." Sonic tugged his arm out of Tails' hold, and walked forward. His head hanging lower than ever before.

Tails looked at the statue. Then back at Sonic. "That can't be it," Tails said, following Sonic. "There has to be another piece of the puzzle." Without a word, Sonic ran off, leaving a trail of lightning crackling behind him. Tails watched sadly as he took off. There was no catching up to Sonic when he ran like that. But he had to follow him, still. Tails took off after Sonic.

As Sonic ran, he thought about everything that had transpired in the past few days, that completely changed his outlook on life. Whereas he used to see Robotnik as a harsh but caring and downright spoiling father figure, he now saw him as a manipulative tyrant. Whereas Longclaw used to be like a mother to him, she now seemed to be just like Robotnik. Both were no better than a farmer raising an animal for resources, only to slaughter them when the last thing of use from them could be the meat they had cultivated from an early age. Sonic felt so betrayed by everyone, it was like nobody truly cared for him other than how his power, his curse, could serve them and their selfish twisted desires.

Except for one person. Tails. Sonic slowed down, eventually skidding to a stop. He didn't know what he was doing. He was just going to ditch Tails here, wasn't he? No, he couldn't do that. Tails never tried to ditch him. Not once. Not during the uprising, after losing control and going hyper. Not after all the injuries Tails suffered while trying to catch up with Sonic as children. Not even after Sonic became public enemy #1 of their home country. Tails dropped everything, and was willing to leave his entire life behind… RISK his life, just if it meant still being by Sonic's side.

"Tails?" Sonic asked, looking behind him towards the darkness. Empty, cold darkness. But then, it was lit up by not a sight, but the sound of Tails flying towards him. This wasn't surprising. The whole reason Sonic and Tails had ever properly met was because Tails could never leave him alone. And he was so grateful for that.

"Sonic," Tails replied. He came into view and landed in front of Sonic. "You were just going to run off?"

"I guess I was…" Sonic said. "I'm sorry, Tails. I know it's not your fault. In fact, you're probably the only one who has ever actually cared about me."

"I seriously doubt that," Tails said, ears drooping.

"Nah, that's the truth. And you know what? I'm okay with that," Sonic nodded, and Tails did too.

"We're almost at de-mil…" Tails sighed, the smile falling from his face. "Then we'll be home free in the Iron Dominion."

"Where to next?" Sonic asked, looking at his friend as Tails looked into his handy-dandy Tails Electric's map of the country.

"You won't like this," Tails sighed. "We're circling back around to the mainland. Right in our way is one of Robotnik's most policed cities. Star Light. This should be our final hurdle before we get to de-mil. And after all that, we'll be home free." Sonic breathed in, and then out. Their escape was already coming to a close. But now more than ever, they had to be careful.

"Well, as long as you're by my side…" Sonic said, looking into the distance. "I know we'll make it through anything."

"And what about the prophecy? Didn't they say you would die inevitably?" Tails asked, worriedly.

"Screw the prophecy, screw everything we've ever done for anybody who ended up backstabbing us later," Sonic replied, smirking. "You should know by now… I don't follow anybody's rules anymore. I'm a runaway, and so are you."