A/N: I know it's unusual for me to do author's notes past the first chapter, but I feel this particular chapter warrents it. As the chapter title ("Finale") suggests, this is the final chapter of this particular fic. However, if you truly enjoyed this fic, I am planning on making a sequel.

This fic was a joy to write, and I want to thank everyone who's read it. Especially those who have reviewed.

--

I want to kill him.

No, shut up. I don't want to...

I want to kill him now.

But what if... I don't think I'm ready to kill Tails yet. I'm just not ready.

Yes I am.

No, I'm not.

It had been around an hour since Esplouge had drugged and kidnapped Tails. He had broken his usual pattern and chose to hole up in a place that was unfamiliar to him. It was just some old building near the ocean, but it seemed deserted enough. The general atmosphere was spooky, although Esplouge would not have chosen that particular word. Eerie, perhaps. A blanket of fog hung around in the air and there was no one nearby, so it suited him perfectly.

I am ready to kill him.

No I am not.

Esplouge looked to Tails thoughtfully, watching his small chest rise and fall slowly with his breathing. He had been having this internal battle with himself since the initial thought had crossed his mind. Would he kill Tails, or would he let him live?

I've been planning this for a long time, anyway...

But that doesn't mean that now's the time!

But I already know the fucking details! Right down to the very last second!

It was true, he had been planning on killing Tails for a long time. He had it all panned out; he cut Tails over and over, wait for Tails to scream with agony, practically begging him to end it, then he'd gouge out Tails' heart. He would then place the heart in a jar and carry it around with him. That way Tails would be with him forever, whether he liked it or not.

But he looks so peaceful...

For as long as Esplouge could remember, his life had never exactly been calm. His thought raced, he attacked people, they almost always fought back, his entire line of thinking was disorganised, he couldn't sleep or even relax... But Tails could sleep, and watching Tails sleep was almost relaxing. He looked so calm and peaceful when he slept, as long as he wasn't having a nightmare.

I'm going to kill him sooner or later anyway. It might as well be now, so I can get it over with.

But he looks so peaceful...

He wished Tails would just wake up. Maybe that would help him decide what to do.

--

The phone in Tails' house rang loudly, waking up the three sleeping hedgehogs immediately. Sonic, Shadow, and Blaze practically raced for the phone, thinking that Tails was still in the house and trying to sleep. Sonic got to the phone first and held it to his ear groggily, too tired to gloat about being the fastest hedgehog alive.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Sonic asked rudely.

Who on earth calls past midnight?

"Are you aware that Esplouge has Tails?" Rouge asked from the other line.

Rouge's words took a moment to sink in, but when they finally did, Sonic felt his blood run cold.

"You're lying. You... You're lying, there's no way..."

"Go look for him if you don't believe me. I saw Esplouge with him..."

"Who is it?" Shadow asked, concerned by Sonic's grave expression.

Sonic ignored Shadow and ran up the stairs to Tails' room. He dropped the phone in the process, so Shadow took it upon himself to pick it up.

"Hello?" Shadow asked.

"Shadow?" Rouge asked. "What are you doing at Tails'...?"

They were interrupted by the sound of Sonic screaming. Blaze dashed up the stairs, unsure of what was happening and wanting to be there in case he was needed. Shadow flinched and nearly dropped the phone.

"Rouge, what the hell's going on?!" Shadow questioned, sounding agitated.

Blaze darted partway down the stairs, stopping near the middle of the staircase.

"Tails is gone," Blaze explained.

"What?!"

"Esplouge has Tails," Rouge explained. "Now do you guys want to know where I saw them or not?"

--

"I don't want to kill him!"

"Yes I do!"

Tails could feel the world coming back into focus almost too quickly. He could hear Esplouge arguing with himself out loud. It was odd, even for Esplouge.

What is he even arguing about?

My head feels like it's going to explode.

As the world around him began to clear up, Tails began to realize that he wasn't in his home. He was in some abandoned looking building. It was dark, although not too dark to see fairly well.

"Oh, he's awake."

Tails flinched at Esplouge's voice, feeling the "fight or flight" response kicking in. He tried to sit up and managed with some difficulty.

"Esplouge...?" Tails asked slowly, still a bit hazy from whatever Esplouge had drugged him with. "Where are we...?"

Esplouge grinned darkly, unnerving Tails more than usual.

"Oh, we're far enough away that any scream you make won't be heard. Is that a good enough description for you?"

Tails just stared at Esplouge, dizzy, frightened, and confused. Esplouge pinned Tails to the floor and held a large shard of glass to his throat.

"Did I ever tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Did I ever tell you how I was going to kill you?"

Esplouge cut lightly into Tails' cheek, just enough for him to bleed. Tails shuddered.

"Did I tell you that I was going to cut you up and then rip out your heart? Did I ever discuss that with you, Miles?"

"Wh- what?"

Esplouge cut Tails' other cheek, digging the glass in a little deeper.

"And after that, after I cut out your heart, I'm going to keep it in a little jar so you can be with me wherever I go. Isn't that romantic, Tails? It's kind of like you're giving me a Valentine, except I'm taking it from you whether you like it or not."

But Valentines Day isn't for another few months...

"Esplouge... I don't... You got mad at me when I asked if you'd kill me, remember? You slapped me over and over and screamed at me so loudly, I thought my head would explode. You don't want to kill me. Why are you all of a sudden saying that you want to kill me?"

"All of a sudden?" Esplouge asked. "I've been planning this for a long time. I just never thought I'd get around to it."

"Y- You made it sound like you have to kill me. You don't have to kill me. You don't want to, either."

"Shut up!"

Esplouge slapped Tails, seeming to forget that he could just as easily have cut him.

"I do want to kill you! I hate you and I want you to die!"

"Then why did you wait so long?" Tails asked. "And why were you arguing with yourself about it when I woke up? And you mentioned Valentines Day, which suggests..."

Tails was slapped again. His eyes began to tear up.

"I don't fucking love you!" Esplouge screamed. "How dare you even think that, you little bastard!"

"I didn't mean that," Tails said, his voice softening up as he tried not to cry. "I just meant that... Well, you called me your friend earlier, didn't you? Friends give each other things on Valentines Day."

"When the fuck did I call you my friend?"

"When you came to my house to ask me to hack into that disc, remember? You called me your friend, and..."

"I remember that," Esplouge said, seeming to calm down a little. "You were... And... I don't know."

"Esplouge, friends don't kill friends."

"But I'm different! I'm...! I'm so fucked up, you wouldn't believe some of the thoughts I get in my head!"

Tails touched Esplouge's palm timidly, expecting to have his hand cut off or slapped away. Esplouge looked at Tails, puzzled.

"We're not that different," Tails explained. "See? We have the same hands. We both have two tails. And we both like mint candy, you said that earlier, right?"

"But I'm a psycho."

"So was Eggman," Tails pointed out. "Even Shadow acted a little crazy, remember?"

"When he tried to kill everyone? Yeah, I remember that. I... How did you know I would remember?"

"You seem to know a lot about Shadow. And me."

"Yeah..."

Esplouge pulled his hand away from Tails'.

"Hey... Uh... Do you... This is going to sound completely off topic, but..."

Esplouge wasn't sure what to say next or how to phrase his question. He just looked at the ground by Tails' shoulder as if he was being torn up inside.

"What?"

"Do you still think about what happened to your parents?" Esplouge asked. He waited for a moment before continuing. "Blaze and I were talking and he... mentioned something kind of similar... so I just wanted to know. Do you still get the nightmares?"

"How do you know about that?" Tails asked, on the verge of crying.

"I have your memories. And Shadow's. Your memories tend to go through my mind a lot, especially when I sleep. But can you answer my question? Do you still think about it?"

"Every day," Tails answered. He finally broke into a sobbing fit and Esplouge finally allowed him to sit up. "I should have done something, I should have done something...!"

"Hush," Esplouge ordered, pulling Tails into an awkward hug. "It wasn't your fault. Stop blaming yourself."

"But I could have done something, I really...!"

"Unless you could have seen into the future, which we both know you can't do, there was really nothing..."

Esplouge let go of Tails.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up. I should have known you'd react like that."

Tails just stared at him.

"Maybe I'm not ready to kill you. I mean, I still care about you I guess. I like hearing you speak, even though I complain about your voice. You really are pleasant to listen to. And you're the only person that treats me like a person and not a monster. Well, most of the time anyway..."

Tails' focus drifted to the door way to the building they were in. Esplouge looked as well, wondering what Tails was looking at and froze.

Metal Sonic was staring back at him.

"W- what the...? How many times are you going to come back, you stupid robot?!"

Metal Sonic didn't respond. Esplouge began to feel uneasy.

"Uh... Hello?"

Metal Sonic suddenly lashed out and grabbed Tails, dragging him a fair distance away from Esplouge. Tails shrieked, not knowing what was going on, and Esplouge was tempted to join him.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Esplouge screamed.

"My master would want revenge," Metal Sonic explained, holding Tails' throat threateningly with one of his clawed hands. "You killed him. You took away the only person I cared about. Now I'm going to do the same to you."

"No you won't!" Esplouge screamed. "Tails never did anything to you or your stupid master!"

Metal Sonic grabbed Tails' throat as if he was about to twist it off. Both of the foxes flinched.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Please, don't hurt him. Tails has never done anything to you or your master. He's completely innocent, you don't really want to hurt him."

"An eye for an eye. You killed something precious to me, so I will do the same to you."

"But you want revenge for your master, correct?" Esplouge asked. "You... You said it yourself. Ikilled him. Eggman would want revenge on mefor killing him. I betrayed him by trying to kill him shortly after I woke up for the first time, and then I succeeded later. No one else was involved in the betrayal."

"Are you aware that you are asking me to kill you instead of the boy?" Metal Sonic asked.

"Yes, I am aware of it. I'm not willing to let Tails die because I messed up."

"You will take his place?" Metal Sonic asked.

"Yes. If you don't harm him, I will take his place."

Metal Sonic paused for a moment before letting Tails go. Tails ran to Esplouge as if he were a child running to a parent for comfort.

"Esplouge, why are you...?!"

Tails and Esplouge hugged for a moment, both wanting comfort from the other. Esplouge looked to Metal Sonic.

"Can I have a moment with him?" Esplouge asked. "Just a moment?"

Metal Sonic nodded.

"Tails, I lied earlier. I'm about to die anyway, so I might as well..."

Esplouge was cut off by Metal Sonic's claws digging violently into his back. Tails screamed, completely horrified.

"Why did you do that, he said he needed a moment, he hadn't even finished talking, you...!"

Metal Sonic looked to the blood on his claws triumphantly.

"He said 'a moment'. He never specified how long 'a moment' was to be."

Tails watched Metal Sonic leave, pushing his way through the small crowd that was gathered in the door way. The small crowd rushed in, revealing it to be Sonic and Blaze and everyone else. Even Arcane was there.

"Tails, what...?" Sonic began.

Tails grabbed one of Esplouge's wrists, praying that he would feel a pulse. He was disappointed.

"He was going to tell me something..." Tails muttered.

"Don't worry about it," Sonic said. "It was probably another stupid death threat..."

"He gave up his life for me!" Tails screamed. He was crying and shaking. "The least you can do is be grateful!"

"Jeez, calm down. Look, we should probably go home. You really should get some rest..."

"But..."

"If it'll make you feel better, we'll bury Esplouge tomorrow. Would you like that?" Sonic asked.

Tails nodded without saying another word. He let Sonic lead him home and went to sleep in his own bed without a word. He woke up fairly late the next morning to some shocking news.

Esplouge's corpse had vanished.