Don't Take Wooden Nickels 8

Don't Take Wooden Nickels

A Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction

8: Generations

Notes: "What-if, after traveling all the way to the present, Classic Sonic and Tails can't get back to their own time at the end of Generations?"

Answer: This.

Okay guys, I can flat out tell you that I have no idea how Sonic Generations ends (it's a shock that any of us knows how it starts, considering how tight-lipped SEGA is about the whole thing), and this whole thing is a what-if I've been sitting on for a while now. It's not supposed to be taken seriously, especially in regards to the actual game.

Oh and Classic Sonic can now speak! HUZZAH! I'm not dealing with the telepathic link he and Classic Tails possibly share… Because there's no other explanation as to how Tailsy is speaking for him… (Yeah, I know body language and a possible thought-decoder thing can be considered, but c'mon, the kid is like four.) Deal with it.

I realize that this is pretty plot-less. I know. Don't tell me. Just enjoy it.

More than likely, I will be doing a Theme Challenge (50, 100, 200, or otherwise) with this scenario or I will be expanding it into a full-fledged story, because I enjoy writing it.

Enjoy!

(P.S. Anyone else find it extremely strange that SEGA's trying to stick Sonic CD in between (game timeline wise) the first two episodes of Sonic 4? That's just... wow... 2010 game, 1993 game, 2012 game... Doesn't make sense to me.)

An explosion woke Sonic in the morning.

Though, it didn't wake him all the way. His right ear simply flickered upward as the foundation rattled a bit before he grumbled and turned over, burying his face further into his green pillow. His sleep afterward was fitful, mainly because he couldn't fall back into dreamland with all of the sounds of banging and tinkering that sounded after the smoke had cleared. He flipped over onto his other side, rubbing at his eyes and mumbling curses under his breath.

"TAILS!" He yelled, throwing his pillow towards his feet. "Shut the door to the Workshop!"

"Can't!" The fox's voice filtered up seconds later, unhindered by the walls it had to travel through. "Too much smoke!"

"Argh…" Sonic tried once again to fall back asleep, flipping onto his belly, but he knew he was pretty much done snoozing for the moment. "Stupid kid… Why must he tinker this early in the morning?" Sitting up fully, he glanced at the clock, scowling at the green numbers. Placing his feet on the floor, he leaned down and groped around under the frame of bed, searching for his shoes. When his hunt for his sneakers turned up nothing decidedly red, shiny, or buckle-able, he scowled again.

"Tails!" He called again, standing fully and starting towards the door. "Don't tell me that smoke has something to do with my sneakers!" Silence followed the yell and Sonic's face fell into an unmasked expression of annoyance. "They better be in one piece by the time I make it down there!"

A crashing sound bounced its way up the stairs, signaling the fox's rush to stitch back together the soles of Sonic's prized trainers. Sonic sighed, giving the kid a benefit of the doubt and stalked his way down the hall, passing the bathroom and banging on the door to the guest room. "T2, Lil' S!" He called, hitting his fist against the wood a few more times for good measure. "It's time to face another day!"

A thump on the other side of the door signaled that one of the occupants was up and moving, and would no doubt wake the other within a few minutes if he wasn't up already, and Sonic turned away, walking back down the hall and slipping into the bathroom to splash some water onto his face and to brush his teeth.

Minty breath thusly achieved, Sonic pushed his way back into the hall, almost running into a small ball of yellow fluff moseying its way towards the stairs. The glob of fuzz looked half asleep, and didn't even seemed jarred as Sonic wiggled his way around him to keep from knocking the small being to the ground.

"G'morning mini-lil'bro." Sonic's voice jolted the little one out of his trance however, and he nearly jumped a foot in the air, his tails going rigged behind him.

"S-Sonic?" His voice shook as he looked up at the larger hedgehog, his dark eyes going wide.

"Hey there, lil' Tails." The blue one answered, bending down and scooping the smaller one into his arms. "How are you this fine morning?" Seeing the small four year old always seemed to make the young adult's mood pick up for the better, even if it had started off worse for wear. "Where's Little Blue?"

"I'm fine," the small fox answered, settling into the thin arms of his older protector. "And, last I saw, the other Sonic was looking for his shoes."

"Hm…" Sonic placed one of his hands on his hip once he was sure his small charge was steady in his other arm. "Seems both me and the mini-me have been attacked by the same shoe stealing fairy…"

"Oh?" Sonic couldn't help but chuckle at the cute, inquisitive face the other adopted as he questioned the larger incarnation of his older brother.

"Yeah, he's got yellow fur, blue eyes, and two tails, just like yours."

"Oh." This time, the tone of voice was flat, almost like the younger Tails didn't approve of his older self stealing Sonic's belongings. "That would explain the explosion…"

Sonic narrowed his eyes, instincts flaring at possible foul play. "What do you know about the explosion?"

"Uh…" The four year old squirmed, attempting to slip out of his friend's arms. "It was too short and contained to do any lasting damage… So, it was intentional, probably to test the fire-resistant polymer the older me was talking about developing…"

"Ah…" Sonic trailed off. He had almost forgotten how unknowingly smart Tails had been at that age. "Okay…"

The younger Tails opened his mouth to speak, but someone stomping up the stairs made him snap his mouth closed.

"Speak of the devil…" Sonic trailed off, catching sight of the newcomer as he rounded the corner. The thirteen year old fox was covered in soot and grease, making him look more black than gold, and he looked a little burnt around the edges, as if he had been too close to a blast of fiery substances. His bright blue eyes were rimmed in clean, gold fur, showing that he had at least been cautious and worn goggles.

"Tails…" Sonic's voice held the edge of a reprimand, and the fox froze with his foot halfway in the air. "What have I told you about setting off explosions inside the house?"

"Not to…" The fox answered, his voice coarse. Suddenly, his head snapped up and his eyes narrowed when he caught sight of his younger self still sitting in Sonic's arms. "But, I had this new blast-resistant polymer spray for your shoes, and I knew you wouldn't let me test it while you were awake and I didn't have time to get to the rock quarry and back to detonate before your alarm clock was set to go off, so I improvised and set off a small, controlled charge in the workshop; imagine my surprise when the smoke didn't get sucked out by the ventilation system and I had to move my experiment into the kitchen; the oven makes an amazing blast chamber, and the microwave is incredibly effective at heating things up to the proper temperature without having to guess like I always do in the worksh-"

"Woah, woah." Sonic was getting dizzy just listening to his charge speak. "You know you're supposed to breathe in the middle of sentences, right?" At the fox's nod, Sonic continued. "And what was that about the oven being a blast chamber?"

"Uh…" The older of the two fox's bit his lip, attempting to think quickly. "It contains an explosion very well."

"And how do you know this?" Sonic questioned after the fox had put forth no other information on his inquiry.

"I, um, might have – accidentally – set off a small explosive inside it – with the door closed – to see if your shoes could survive in a small, closed environment."

"Tails…" Sonic trailed off, looking down at the small fox sitting in his arms. "How is it that you can overlook the most important variable in that experiment?"

Both kits cocked their heads to the side simultaneously. "What's that?" Both said at the same time, a breathy quality to their voices, as if they were excited to hear input from someone else in reference to an experiment.

"What does it matter if my shoes survive an explosion in a small closed environment… if I can't?" The hedgehog didn't mean for his voice to sound so harsh, but it still came out with a sharp edge.

Both boys winced and the younger finally managed to squirm his way out of the blue hero's arms. He hit the floor lightly before dashing his way over and hiding behind the back of his older self, attempting to conceal himself in the other's tails. The older allowed the smaller fox to cling to his back while he schooled his features into an unexpressive face. "You make a very important point, big bro." He said after a lengthy pause, weighing his words carefully. "I will have to take it into consideration next time I decide to directly disobey you even if I strongly believe that my experiment might very well prolong the life of your sneakers."

The hedgehog sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Tails, I could care less about my shoes. What if you had gotten hurt in the blast? Or, if you had accidentally set the house on fire, huh? You know our insurance premium is already through the roof."

"Yeah, but the odds of something catching on fire with a skilled pyrotechnican controlling the explosives are very low and…" Catching sight of his friend's face, Tails let out a nervous laugh. "I won't do it again."

"Good, now… How about the three of us find the other me and we go survey the damage?" At two nods, the hedgehog grabbed the hand of the younger fox and nudged his own personal charge forward with his foot. "If anything blows up in my face because you didn't check for active sparks, I'll haunt you."

The blue eyed Tails looked like he was going to argue against Sonic's ghosty plan, but a voice from behind stopped them.

"Hey, have any of you seen my shoes? I've been looking all over and… Woah, what happened to you?" He had caught sight of the taller fox's crispy looking fur. "Did the oven explode in your face or something?"

Sonic's face fell into another scowl while the two double-tailed creatures fell against each other in laughter.

"Miles here," the green eyed Sonic pointed to his best friend, "decided that detonating explosives in the kitchen was a good idea."

"Hey now, there's no need to use my real name. It wasn't that criminal of an offense. You blow up stuff all the time."

A scoff wormed its way up the older Sonic's throat without his permission. "That stuff belongs to Robotnik and it is generally used for evil purposes."

"Yeah, but what about that time when you took his cell phone and sm-!" Sonic slapped a hand over the mouth of his little brother, silencing his words.

"That was a misunderstanding." He said in way of explanation to the other hedgehog and fox. After a beat, he let go of his friend and turned to the black eyed hedgehog. "Has T2 done anything possibly house-destroying yet?"

"Tails? Oh yeah. A few days before you showed up, he decided that lasers were a much needed accessory to the toaster. I'll never look at crispy bread the same way ever again."

"Oh, just wait until he decides that the bathroom needs a few adjustments…"

Both of the foxes scowled as the hedgehogs started to walk away, heading for the stairs, lost in their own conversation.

"Just for that," the older mumbled, leaning down and checking to make sure that the caretakers were going down the staircase, "I'm gonna give you the plans I had for an acid shooting refrigerator."

"Awesome." The smirk that decorated the smaller kit's features looked almost alien on his innocent face. "But, where do we get the aci-?"

"TAILS!" Two similar voices cut off the vulpine. One was older than the other, but they both defiantly belonged to one person: Sonic.

Sudden ending. Horrible ending. Ugh.