A shrill scream echoes across the land. The last and recognizable.

Tails freezes, his eyes widening. He slowly turns around, panting heavily as he clutches his injured and frail arm. His breath hitches in his throat, his ears going down. This is a sight he never wanted to see. Not this early. Not this time.

2011x, holding Sonic’s decapitated corpse, and his bloodied head. The monster only chuckles in satisfaction, not caring for the lives he took. Tails, still confused and scared, looks around, trying to resist the urge to cry. The grass, trees, and rocks are all covered in his allies blood. Sonic, Amy, Knuckles, Cream, Eggman, and Metal Sonic are all gone. He’s the only one left.. and frankly, he prefers being dead.

Instinctively, he runs away, trying to gain distance from the manic doppelgänger. Tails’s arm cannon isn’t ready, and that makes him panic more than that’s possible. His small feet run across the bloodied grass, his once bright yellow fur covered in the blood of his trusted friends, his breath heavy and loud. God, he’s only a toddler.

Tails mutters under his breath, frail and confused.

“I want this to stop.. I wanna go home.”

No one responds. Only the shrill wind, soft rain, and the leaves crunching under his shoes reply. He’s all alone. He’s alone. He must survive until the ring spawns.

FRIENDS NO MORE*