The Tails Doll

Takumi was just like any other fourteen year old kid; he was just a teenager 'living in the city' of Tokyo... but had made the biggest mistake he had ever made.

He adored anything and everything Sonic. In his room, at the head of his Sonic pillows and duvet, lay his whole collection of Sonic plushies, ranging from Sonic to Robotnik. Along the shelves, games from Sonic 1 delved into Sonic Jam, all pressed up against the wall. They were slightly dusty, but you could tell from the fingerprints on the games that they were still definately played alot, even though Takumi has already completed every single Sonic game he owned. He also had quite a huge TV in his bedroom too, with his very own Game Gear, Sega Saturn, Sega Megadrive and of course, a PC.

He also had a good friend called Naoki. He loved Sonic too, but of course, didn't have as many games or plushies as Takumi owned.

One afternoon, Takumi was out shopping with his mother and father; they needed to buy something for a close friend's birthday. Takumi decided to buy himself something nice too; he had some birthday money left over from two months ago. His parents agreed to meet him at a certain spot once they had done shopping, and they'd call him on his mobile when they were done.

Well, after that, Takumi walked straight to his favourite game store to see if he could find any good non-Sonic related games, as he thought that he'd completed his collection... how wrong he was. He was just looking at some shelves with many Megadrive games on, but then saw lots of PC games on the row up the top. But one definately caught his eye. That one racing game. A Sonic racing game. Sonic R.
He knew that he must have to have it to complete his collection! Takumi looked all around the room and found a stool. He put it where he was standing, stood on the metal stool, and reached up high for the mysterious game. As soon as he touched it, a tingle ran down his spine... he assumed it was nothing. He should've just put the game down right at that moment and looked for a different game. But of course, Takumi was too happy that he'd found a new Sonic game. He grasped the game with his left hand, and brought it down. He stepped down from the stool, and looked at the game. "Grand Prix, Time Attack, Multiplayer..." muttered Takumi to himself as he read the back of the case. Takumi walked up to the counter and held the game under his arm whilst he struggled to pull some cash out of his pocket. Takumi handed the shopkeeper the notes, but the shopkeeper shook his head and said, "I'll be glad to sell that to you for less, if you really want the game cheaper." Of course, Takumi wasn't aware that this wasn't any old game, so of course he smiled gladly and nodded. Takumi handed over the notes and received from the shopkeeper a few Yen back. Takumi looked astonished, but smiled thankfully as he ran out of the shop but the shopkeeper just sighed as he watched Takumi so happy. After running out of the shop, he immediately bumped into his mother and father. "Ah, I knew we'd find you around here somewhere," chuckled his father. They head for home and as soon as they arrived, Takumi plodded up the stairs and put the game on his desk. He ran back downstairs for his dinner.

It was merely 7 'o' clock, and no sooner had Takumi finished his rice balls than he had raced back upstairs to try out his new game. He flung open the door to his room and saw the game on the desk. "It looks so cool the way the light is reflected off the front..." thought Takumi to himself. He booted up his PC and put the disc in. He went through the installation and finally it had done. Takumi smiled as he double-clicked the icon on his desktop. The screen went dark, and then the words "Sonic R" in typical Sonic writing appeared, in front of a big black and white checkered banner. The game had four options to choose from. Just like he had read from the box, Grand Prix, Time Attack, Multiplayer and Options. He decided to choose Grand Prix first. Four characters, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy. He, being a big fan of the character itself, chose Sonic. He chose the first race track, Resort Island. He raced and raced around the track until he had finally overtaken them all. He was truly enjoying this game. He reached the finish line and of course, he had won the race. Takumi was ecstatic and pleased that he got this game. He would soon regret it.

Half past 7, he had won two tracks in not very long. He decided to ring Naoki to ask him to come over and try out the brilliant game multiplayer with him. His friend agreed to. Quarter to 8, there was a knock at the door. Naoki had arrived. "Hey, hey!" he said brightly. Takumi smiled and gestured him up to his room. As soon as Naoki saw the game, he went white with fear. "Nice, isn't it?! I've won twice already!" Takumi said, rather proudly. Naoki explained slowly but surely about the curse that the game holds. "Look, just don't complete the game 100%, alright? Whatever you do, don't unlock Tails Doll, 'cause if you do -" Naoki was interrupted by Takumi, "There's a Tails Doll? Sweet! Tails is awesome!" Naoki continued, "If you do, well, don't play as him in a multiplayer tag of 4 either. ‘Cause you will probably end up tagging Super Sonic last."
"So?"
"Well, Tails Doll will come out of your screen and try to kill you..."
"...And you must be an idiot if you expect me to believe you. This game is so fun!"
"Please believe me."
"But if the Tails Doll really does come out of the screen and kills you, shouldn't you be dead? Ha!"
"No. I read it off the internet. The cases are true, I'm your best friend, why would I lie to you like that?"
"To try and freak me out. Well, if you hate the game so much, why don't you just go?”
"God, I was only trying to help... well, just, please, heed my warning, 'cause..."
"Blah, blah, blah. Alright, alright, I won't complete the game. Now are you going to go or stay and play multiplayer with me?"
"Well, I'll stay and play one game... I suppose..."
"Good. Let's race!"

So, Takumi and Naoki played some areas on the game until it was around half past 8. Naoki had a call on his mobile, he needed to go home. "Catch you later, Takumi," said Naoki as he walked out the door. "Yeah, catch you later, Naoki." Takumi closed the door and ran back up to his room. He played on the Grand Prix again until 9 'o' clock, when his mother shouted to him from her room, "Time for bed, Takumi!"
”Okay." Takumi replied. He turned off his monitor and crept into bed. His mother came in to say goodnight. "Night, Takumi."
”Night, mum."
Takumi's mother exited his room. Takumi listened carefully. He heard a door close, and a bed creak. His mother had gotten into bed. Finally! Now he could get back to playing Sonic R. He was getting pretty much addicted and he'd only spent about an hour playing.

After 2 and a half hour of playing, he'd done it! He'd done all of the races, and had unlocked all characters. Even the Tails Doll. He was very happy indeed, but he needed a snack. He left the game on the menu screen and walked out of his room. He walked down the wooden stairs. They creaked underneath his Knuckles slippers. Silently, he snuck into the dark kitchen. He didn't want to turn on the light in case somebody heard. He could only just see the fridge, and so he walked towards it. He opened the fridge and a strong light descended out. He looked for something decent to eat. "Mmm, leftover rice balls..." he thought to himself. Creak! Takumi whisked around. Was there somebody on the stairs? He left the fridge door open and treaded out to look up the stairs... nothing. He shrugged his shoulders and wandered back to the fridge. He pulled out the small plate of 3 rice balls and slammed the fridge door by accident. He cringed as he realised what a loud sound it made. He listened for people stirring upstairs... nothing. It was safe to go up. If anyone caught him downstairs late at night, he would probably be grounded - and banned from the computer for a while. Takumi wouldn't be able to take that! Suddenly, as Takumi started to walk out of the kitchen, he heard a strange sound from the other end of the kitchen. Shumpy, shlrumpy... Takumi turned quickly to see in the corner a strange red glowing light and underneath two shiny blue orbs. He gasped, but as he blinked, it disappeared. He got slightly frightened, and suddenly noticed that it was really dark. Looking around paranoid, he ran up the stairs and back into his bedroom.

The only light in his room was coming from his PC. The music from the background of the start menu was a bit eerie right now. Still, Takumi tried to forget about it, and continued playing his favourite game. In the menu, he chose Grand Prix yet again. Yet again, Takumi chose Sonic. He was racing against Metal Sonic, Metal Knuckles and... Tails Doll. Takumi thought nothing of it though. The race was about tot start. Takumi saw all the characters at the start line before the race had actually begun, and he noticed that the Tails Doll was pretty scary after all. But he wouldn't let it get to him. Instead, to get rid of the fear, he joked to himself about how stupid he looked. Then the race began! As usual, Takumi was in first place. All of a sudden, Takumi felt something brush against his neck, something furry... He spun round on his swivel chair to find... nothing. Takumi quickly realised that he didn't pause the game, and spun back round. Tails Doll had overtaken him. Takumi had a plan though. As soon as Takumi caught up with Tails Doll... Takumi immediately rammed into Tails Doll. Tails Doll sped off somewhere and crashed into a wall. Takumi didn't think it was a too big impact. But Takumi laughed and raced on. He was first, Metal Sonic was second and Metal Knuckles was just third as Tails Doll lagged behind. "Tails Doll is so easy to beat!" Thought Takumi. He was just about to cross the finish line...

"WHAT! No way!" yelled Takumi in despair. Luckily, everyone was sound asleep. He gawped at the winner. Tails Doll was doing a victory dance on the screen next to a huge trophy. Takumi was fuming. He had a reason for being angry though, while Sonic passed the finish line, Tails Doll was still definately last. He couldn't believe it. He sat there with his head in his hands. Suddenly, the victory music stopped. Takumi looked up. The computer screen was totally black... except for that Tails Doll hovering in the middle. Takumi thought that it was either a glitch or something wrong with the computer. Those big black pupils staring... it started to freak Takumi out badly. Then... "Can you feel the sunshine? Does it brighten up your day?" Takumi recognised the song from Resort Island. Suddenly, the Tails Doll was moving. Its image on the screen was getting bigger. Or... was it moving towards Takumi? Takumi got out of his chair and started to back away from the computer screen. It kept moving. The music was still playing. "Can you feel the sunshine...? Does it brighten up your day...?" Takumi closed his eyes tightly. He hoped that when he opened them, the image on the PC would be gone, the music would have stopped playing and it would be back at the start menu. He slowly opened his eyes... to see the Tails Doll floating above his chair. "This isn't happening, the curse isn't real, c'mon, Takumi..." he said in his mind. Before Takumi could say it again, the Tails Doll leapt forward at Takumi. Takumi tried to scream in that last second but his throat wouldn't let him. He blacked out. The last thing he saw was the Tails Doll's face...

Takumi was sprawled out on his bedroom floor. He opened his eyes in a flash. He sat up, he felt his bones aching; it must of been from when he fell on the floor. Did he fall on the floor though? Takumi doesn't remember. He suddenly remembers the Tails Doll. He thought it was probably a dream. Turning his neck, he looks at his digital clock by his bed. 12:46 AM. Takumi picked himself up and stood upright, stretching his arms. Then he remembers - Naoki told him of the curse. He didn't believe him... Takumi reaches in his pocket for his mobile. He scrolls down his contacts. "Ah, Naoki's mobile..." he murmurs to himself. It rings. After a few rings, Naoki finally picks up.
"Naoki!" Exclaims Takumi.
"Oh, um, hey, Takumi... what do you want at this time of night? Shouldn't you be asleep?"
"Well, um, that's the thing, you see, umm... I completed Sonic R."
"You what?! I told you about the curse though!"
"Yeah, well, thanks for telling me, and I'm sorry I didn't believe you..."
"What... happened?"
"Tails Doll won a race. He came out of the screen and I think he must've knocked me out for a while..."
"I freakin' told you, didn't I?! But no, Takumi doesn't listen to his best friend!"
"I thought it was superstition! You get it alot these days!"
"Yeah, well!"
"I'm really sorry, Naoki. Are we... still friends?"
"Hmm... I'm angry that you didn't listen to me. But, I s'pose we're still friends!"
"Woohoo! Thanks, Naoki."
"It's alright. OH! What about the Tails Doll, Takumi?! It could still be in your house!!"
"Oh, God... what should I do?"
"Hmm... I'm trying to think fast.... hey! Come to mine! Maybe you'll be safe. Get out of your house fast, though."
"Okay, I -"
"...Can you feel the sunshine...?
"Huh? Naoki, I can't hear you, turn your Goddamn music down!"
"...Does it brighten up your day...?"
"Naoki?? Hang on... that was the music on... oh no! Don't worry, Naoki, I'm coming!"
Takumi hung up and is about to turn off Sonic R and the PC. But when he sees the character selection screen, there's something not quite right... "What? The Tails Doll is... gone?! I only unlocked him, like, an hour ago!" Forgetting about the game and remembering Naoki, he charges down the stairs and out the door...

Takumi sprinted down the block as fast as his legs could take him. He was getting extremely worn out, but knew there was something wrong at Naoki's. He twisted round the corner and slammed on Naoki's flat door. No answer. In anger, he kicked the door down. Naoki's parents were out for the evening anyway. Then, he heard "shlumpy, shrumpy" coming from the living room. He burst in and saw Naoki down and out on the carpet and above him was the Tails Doll. Takumi made no sudden movements. He just stood there and looked at the extraordinary creature. It looked back at him with that blank stare. Takumi looked rapidly around the room for some form of weapon. He saw a vase -- it could work... the Tails Doll knew that Takumi was about to try something, and Takumi knew that too. But, without hesitation, he ran to the vase. The Tails Doll, with no emotion, floated fast over to Takumi. No sooner had the Tails Doll reached Takumi than Takumi had grabbed the vase and smashed the Tails Doll on the head with it. It shook a bit and fell to the floor. Takumi ran over to Naoki. "Naoki! Wake up, please!" Slowly but surely, Naoki sat upright. He turned to face Takumi slowly... but as his head looked up at Takumi, Naoki's eyes were black and glassy. Takumi was confused, and just as he was about to ask what had happened to him, he said in a stern voice, "TAILS DOLL FOREVER. TAILS DOLL FOREVER. TAILS DOLL FOREVER." Soon, what he was saying started to turn into murmuring. Takumi was distraught. What had happened to his friend? He stood up and backed away from his friend. But it was no longer his friend. He had turned into some kind of monster. Then, just when things couldn't get any worse, he started to hear something... could it be someone coming to save them? "Can you... feel the..." Said the voice. "Sunshine...?" whispered Takumi. "Sunshine." Replied the voice. Takumi bumped into something behind him, so he whisked around, and blacked out. The last image he saw... a red ruby.

Takumi opens his sticky eyes. He is sitting upright against a wall. He looks across the room; he's still in Naoki's flat. The place is a bit smashed up though. He groans, and carefully picks himself up from the ground. He looks at his watch - 5:29am. He yawns, and wonders where Naoki could be, and why he's even in his flat. All of a sudden, his memory comes back to him. What happened that morning... he couldn't believe it. He even looked over to the other side of the room to notice the smashed vase. He decided it was best to go home at that point. As he takes one step towards the door, something drips onto his head. "Water?" Thinks Takumi. He puts his hand on his head and looks down at his palm. He gasps. Red. Blood! He slowly, very slowly, looks up... to reveal Naoki nailed to the ceiling. Takumi is in shock. Naoki's mouth is gaped open, and what seems like a long strand of stuffing hangs from the back of his throat. Takumi's eyes are watering. He covers his mouth with his hand as he reads the writing of blood next to Naoki's body...

TAILS DOLL FOREVER.