StH: The Virus Ch1

The day had started off just like any other in the forest that was Mystic Ruin. The sun shone brightly overhead through the trees, the breeze was blowing cool and gently. It was truly a day to be thankful for.

That is, unless you happened to be young Miles "Tails" Prower. The little double-tailed fox had been bedridden inside his workshop for a whole day now, after inexplicably falling ill.

"Ohh... my head." Tails moaned as he sat up in bed, placing a hand on his forehead. About that time, the fox heard a voice call out to him from downstairs in the kitchen.

"Hey, Tails! Ya feelin' any better this mornin'?"

The voice belonged to none other than Tails' adoptive older brother, Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic had insisted on staying with Tails ever since he collapsed while working on the Tornado the previous day.

"I don't know, my head hurts and I still feel kinda sick to my stomach." Tails said to Sonic as the blue hedgehog walked up the stairs and into the kit's bedroom carrying a tray of food.

The spread consisted of hot chicken soup, fresh toast, and a large glass of orange juice. Sonic knew all of the best feel-better foods... considering all of the times Amy would mother him (or SMOTHER him, depending on your point of view), when he was sick.

Tails was indeed hungry, indicated by the way the fox licked his lips when he saw the tray of get-well goodies.

"Thanks, Sonic! That looks deli... uh-oh."

"What's the matter, Tails?" Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow.

Tails placed a hand over his mouth and quickly jumped out of bed screaming, "BATHROOM!" The fox then took off faster than Dr. Eggman at an all-you-can-eat buffet. The second that Tails closed the bathroom door, Sonic could hear a violent retching noise coming from behind the door.

"Hmm... I wonder if Amy cooked for him before I did. That would definitely explain the chunk-fest in there." Sonic chuckled to himself. A few noisy moments later, the hedgehog heard a flush and Tails opened the door, walking on shaky legs whilst holding the door jamb for leverage.

"I think I beat my last time." Tails said with a weak smile. The kit attempted to forget his illness for a moment as he asked Sonic a question.

"So, Sonic. Whaddya say we go out and look for the Chaos Emeralds tod..." Before Tails could finish, the fox began to lose his balance, his legs unable to support him in their weakened state. Sonic noticed this and quickly rushed over, catching the fox before he collapsed.

"You o.k., Tails?" Sonic said with a slight hint of worry in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just got a little dizzy there for a sec." Tails replied as Sonic helped him back over to the bed.

"No wonder. You blew some major chunkage in there, lil' bro!"

Tails laughed and slowly crawled back into bed as Sonic placed the tray of food over his lap. "But seriously, you really should try to eat something, Tails. The emeralds can wait."

Tails wasn't happy at this response, but he knew Sonic was only concerned for his health. The kit looked at the food and then smiled, picking up a piece of toast and hungrily shoving the entire thing in his mouth.

Sonic watched in amazement as Tails ate each piece of toast in one bite, then picked up the bowl of soup and dumped it all into his mouth, not missing a drop. Finally, Tails grabbed the glass of orange juice and chugged the whole thing in two seconds flat.

"Wow... (burp) I guess I was hungrier than I thought." Tails chuckled, looking at the empty tray.

From the corner of his eye, Tails could see the concerned look on Sonic's face, and knew that the hedgehog would not want him to leave the workshop in his condition. But Tails was beginning to go stir crazy, so he decided to fake feeling better.

"Wow, I feel a lot better now!" Tails cheered getting out of the bed and stretching his arms above his head. "So what are we waitin' for? Let's go find the Chaos Emeralds!"

"You sure, buddy?" Sonic wasn't so sure Tails was up for this so soon. He placed a hand on the fox's forehead, checking his temperature. Luckily for Tails, Sonic forgot to remove his glove, nor did he think to use the thermometer.

"I'm fine, Sonic. Really!"

Sonic removed his hand and said, "Well, it doesn't feel like you have a fever..."

"Great! C'mon, let's go!" Tails said eagerly as he kept up his masquerade of good health when in reality, the fox was fighting the urge to pass out at any moment. Tails slipped his socks and shoes on and ran downstairs and outside to the Tornado.

"Hey, Sonic! Ya comin' or what?"

"Comin', Tails!" Sonic called out to his friend. The hedgehog was still worried that letting Tails leave the house wasn't a good idea, but then again... he did LOOK like he felt better... or so Sonic thought.

****Windy Valley: Mid Afternoon****

Tails had just landed the Tornado and Sonic jumped out, turning back to Tails, just in time to see the fox stumble and fall out of the cockpit. Sonic ran to the kit's side as he slowly rose from the ground.

"You o.k., Tails?" The blue hedgehog said, helping his friend to his feet.

Tails feared that his 'healthy' cover had been blown, but he continued the charade nonetheless.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Sonic. I uh, must've tripped. Yeah, that's it, I tripped! M...my foot got tangled in the seatbelt."

Sonic raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Are you sure you're feeling better, Tails?" The hedgehog questioned the fox.

Tails put on a fake smile and replied with, "Of course I'm sure! Would I lie about something as important as my health?" Sonic smiled back at the all-too-clever fox and said, "Nah, I guess not. All right, then. Let's go find that emerald!"

"Great!" Tails exclaimed as Sonic turned and starting walking. But as soon as the hedgehog turned his back, Tails let out a quiet whimper and closed his eyes, placing his hand on his forehead.

"Ohh... maybe this wasn't such a good idea..."

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Sonic and Tails had been searching for the green Chaos Emerald for almost an hour now, and the search was beginning to take its toll on the kit's already sickened condition.

"Man, this bites! We've been at this for an hour and still nothing! Are you sure the emerald's around here, Tails... Tails?"

Sonic turned around and saw the young kitsune hunched over, his hands on his knees and breathing heavily.

"You all right, bro?" As Sonic approached Tails, he noticed that the fox was sweating profusely, despite the fact that it was a relatively cool day. Tails continued to pretend he wasn't sick. The kit never liked anybody slowing down because of him.

"Yeah... (pant) I'm fine... (pant) just a... (pant) little tired." The fox replied through short breaths. Suddenly, some shining object ahead of them on the ground caught Tails' eye.

"Hey, Sonic. Look!"

Sonic looked at what the kitsune was pointing at and said, "Yeah, I see it... maybe it's the Chaos Emerald!" The blue speedster returned his attention to the exhausted fox in front of him, and had an idea.

"Yo, Tails! How 'bout I go check it out while you take a rest? You look pretty beat."

Tails looked up at his concerned brother and slowly nodded, the sweat dripping from his bangs as he did.

"Cool. I'll be back in two shakes of a lamb's tail... or, one shake of your two tails." After saying this, Sonic raced off to inspect the possible Chaos Emerald.

Meanwhile, Tails' health was taking a turn for the worse. He was feeling extremely dizzy and his vision had started becoming blurry.

The fox grew frightened when everything started to turn black... he knew that he was losing consciousness. Slowly, Tails lost his balance and started to collapse. As he fell towards the ground, Tails whispered the only thing he could think of...

"Sonic... help..." The young fox then hit the ground with a soft thud.

********************************

Sonic had arrived at the glowing object, and smiled when he saw that it was indeed the green Chaos Emerald that he and Tails were searching for.

"Awesome! Tails was right. We're one emerald ahead of ol' Egghead."

The hedgehog then had a thought. "I better get back to Tails. Lil' guy didn't look too good when I left. But I'm sure once he sees this, he'll feel a lot better!" Sonic then took off back to Tails' location, having no idea of what he was about to find.

"Hey, Tails! You were right, bro! It WAS the Chaos Emerald!" Sonic cheered as he raced to the scene, but once he arrived, his face changed from joy to horror as he saw Tails, lying face-down on the ground, completely motionless.

"Tails!!" The blue hero shouted, rushing to his little brother's side, not knowing whether or not the young fox was alive... or dead...

....To Be Continued