(EDITING) Sonic Rift

Chapter Twenty Two : This Will Be A Breezie

Ogilvie's POV

"...and since Floral Forest was still in ruins when we came home, the Acorns gave us the Hailstorm to live in until then," Tails said, concluding the story.

"Wow..." I said, unsure what else to add.

"We've only been back for two months, so, it's still a fresh wound," Tails added solemnly. "She never sings that song anymore either. It's too painful for her."

I was stunned for words. There was a lot to take in, and I had so many more questions,  especially about that... Dark Sonic, as Tails referred to it. Why was he acting like that, or rather, what made him act like that? And can that happen to me? I opened my mouth to ask, but I saw the somber expression on the orange fox and changed my reply. "Thank you for telling me. I'm sorry you had to go through all that."

Tails shrugged, as if he didn't just dump a year's worth of trauma onto my shoulders. "It's fine. What else can you do, right? When evil robots threaten the stability of the entire universe, somebody's gotta step in."

"Yeah."

The orange fox shook his head, proclaiming, "Now, I gotta focus! We're almost at Casino Park, and despite the name, there's no parking spaces, ever."

As he was about to turn off the autopilot, I pulled a quick hug on him. Tails hesitated, but eased into it, his little arms holding my waist. I pulled away just as quickly, "Sorry, I just... felt like hugging you."

The orange fox half-grinned back, visibly confused, "Okay."

I stood up, going towards the control room door, "I'm gonna go."

"Sure thing," Tails said, returning to the steering mechanisms without a clue. My fingers were turning the metal doorknob when he said, "It does feel good to talk about it. So, thanks for that, I guess."

I left the control room into the cool night air. We were talking for so long that the sky had turned from the sunny blue to near-black, the stars invisible despite the air being clear. Clear as in empty, because the air itself was heavier than what I was used to. I coughed a little, tasting a bit of smog on my tongue. As for the stars, their light was replaced by the dazzling fluorescents of the city below. I peered over the railing to get a better view of the billions of glowing yellow dots. It reminded me of Station Square back home, only instead of an ocean bridge leading into the town, this one was surrounded by a dirty suburbia. There were remnants of old factories, still billowing oily smoke into the air, which we were flying past. I coughed again, this time in unison with Knuckles.

"Scrap-Brain Zone," Knuckles said, a gloved fist covering his face. "I hate this place."

"Scrap-Brain?" I repeated.

"It's nothing but pollution and crime, a disgusting preview of its equally-ugly city."

"Casino Park..."

There was something different. Nothing changed as Tails and I talked, but I felt different. I began to notice things that I hardly acknowledged beforehand. The Doppelgänger Theory that Sonic had told me about; I finally had time to ruminate on it. How that everyone I see as animals here existed as a human in my world, and how I've only just made that connection. How could I not see it sooner? These past two weeks I've done nothing but compare Tails to Myles, or Amy to Rose! It made me wonder who else I could recognize.