𝔸 𝕕𝕚𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕞𝕖𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕟𝕒𝕘𝕒

      — No, Tails! — the striped naga refused and did not give him the ring. — We shouldn't give up too early. I'm sure this time we will definitely succeed. Tails at first wanted to be indignant and yell at his naga, saying that he knew that he was in love with him. However, he thought about the naga’s words for a short time and, having calmed down a little, after one look around, he removed the flower from his chest. He stood up, looked at his black and scarlet giant and said a little doubtfully: — Yes... Perhaps you're right... You can't give up too early. — he said and stood up. Shadow himself smiled back at him. — But what should we do first? Have we lost Luz again? And what if we don’t succeed again and he runs away again? — I think he’s still stronger than us, even when it’s just the two of us. I think we could use some help. We need to find some inhabitant of this world or several here and ask them to help us catch him. Then Luz will definitely not run away from us this time. — suggested Shadow. — Okay, let's go! — answered the two-tailed man. This time he temporarily forgot about his despair and moved on. Shadow, as usual, crawled after him. They walked past a couple of trees and noticed the largest bush with berries. — Wow! How huge the trees and bushes are in this forest. Maybe we've found ourselves in the world of giants again? — the fox wondered questioningly out loud. — Don't know. — that’s all Shadow could answer, although the fox’s question was rhetorical. Looking at the berries, he became interested and decided to try one of these. Having picked it, he puts it in his mouth, chews and swallows. — M! It tastes like blueberries mixed with cherries. It seems that the berries in this world are very tasty. Maybe we can get a couple of seeds from here, and when we return home to our world, we’ll try to plant a couple of these in our world. For one thing, we will treat our residents from our world. — We don’t have time for this, Shadow. — Tails answered and moved on. Shadow crawled after them and suddenly they heard someone's voices: — Clap! Don't relax! — said some childish voice, and after it laughter was heard from several such voices. — Benny, stop it! — Come on! Can't you make a joke? — Enough, be serious already. We're still going for berries. You don’t want us, like last time, to be caught again by some naga who would want to eat us, and then we would wander somewhere again? — Okay-okay! Sorry, I won't do it again. — It seems these are the inhabitants of this world. — Tails suggested out loud and poked his head out slightly from behind the bushes. He noticed that five children were walking along the path here. Four of them were hedgehogs, and the fifth was a two-tailed fox. It looks like this is a local version of him, but still young. Moreover, two of the four hedgehogs are gray, the oldest and youngest, and the rest are brown, middle-aged, brother and sister. — O! These are children! — he said out loud about them. They had not yet paid attention to him and moved on, not noticing him from afar. — Children? — Shadow asked and stood closer to his fox. — Wait! They say that there are nagas here too and that they almost ate them. They'll probably be afraid of you when they see you. You better wait here while I try to establish contact with them. While the naga stood still and waited, Tails himself came out of the bushes and the children saw him. — Wow! — that's all the children could say. When they saw that same fox, and even with two tails, they were shocked that they hadn’t even thought of saying hello to him yet. — Um... Hello. — all that the adult fox could say, waving his hand at them. The children still stood still and didn’t know what to say to him. Only the little fox somehow broke his promise and asked: — Father? Adult Tails just laughed slightly to the side and replied: — Not really! I... — Who are you? — Benny himself was the next to break the silence. He looked at the fox with suspicion and, forgetting about the difference in size, attacked the adult fox, knocking him to the ground. — Who are you? Tell me, why are you so similar to our Tails? — Benny, stop! No need! — Sammy grabbed him from the back and pulled him away from the adult fox. — Forgive our brother, please! — Everything is fine. I wouldn’t believe it myself if I saw my other self and attacked him as if he were an impostor. — explained the adult Tails, and the young version immediately guessed who it was from these words. — You... You... Is it... Me? — he asked him. — Well, yes. You can say that. — the adult fox answered honestly, because there is no need to hide the truth anymore. And why, since in front of him is his alternative version. — You are our brother from the future, right? You must have come to us from the future? — asked Tiny. — Or maybe you are from an alternative universe? — asked Nelly. — U. Ni-i... What? — adult Tails did not understand such a word, because it did not yet exist in his world and the simple word “World” sounded more understandable. — I would say I just came from another world. — So from another universe. — the little fox realized and extended his hand, shaking the adult’s hand to himself. — Hello! We are all glad to see you. — he said a little shyly, as if he were addressing a foreigner or a robot. The adult fox laughed and said: — You don’t need to talk to me like that. I can understand any speech normally since school. I'm glad to meet you too, kids. What are you doing here... In the forest... And all alone. — And we are not alone. We live in this forest in a family with two nagas who take care of us and protect us. Sammy explained. — Naga Sally asked us to go to the forest to pick berries so that she could bake us a pie. — Nelly added. — I wouldn’t tell him everything. I don't trust him. — Benny folded his arms over his chest. — Sorry Benny, his don’t trust everyone with him. — Tiny said. — Everything is fine. At least you trust me, and that's the main thing. — answered the adult fox. — By the way, I'm not alone here. My own nakedness is with me. My best friend and protector. — Really? — asked the five at the same time. They were interested in seeing his own naga and getting to know him. — And where he? — Tiny asked. — I'm here. — a voice was heard from behind the tree, and then Shadow himself crawled out. True, the children, when they saw Shadow himself, were at first afraid of him. They mistakenly thought it was their naked Shadow, who hated them and was still trying to catch them to eat them. They turned around and screamed at the top of their lungs, trying to run away as quickly as possible. Tails and Shadow did not understand why they screamed and ran. They looked at each other questioningly, and then turned their gazes to the fleeing children. — DON'T BE AFRAID, THIS IS MY FRIEND!!! — adult Tails shouted to them. Despite the heap of screams, the children still heard him and suddenly froze in place, their eyes bulging. They couldn't believe their ears. Benny even turned suspiciously towards the adult fox. — Shadow... Your... Friend? — he asked him incredulously. — Friend friend. — the adult two-tailed man confirmed and approached the children. — Why were you so scared and ran away? The children, except Benny, breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that this naked man, since he was his friend, was also from another universe, like the fox himself. Shadow himself crawled up to them and asked: — Forgive me, I didn’t mean to scare you like that! — Everything is fine! You yourself will forgive us. We just thought you were our Shadow. — Little Tails explained. — Your Shadow? — asked the black-scarlet snake hedgehog. — Our Shadow is the same as you. Only he hates us for some reason. He is trying in every possible way to catch us and eat us. — Tiny explained. — That’s why we’re afraid of him and try not to catch his eye. — Nelly added. — A! Now everything is clear. — said the adult fox out loud. — But you don’t have to be afraid of my Shadow. If you want, we will protect you from your Shadow. — he added, unsheathing his samurai sword. When the children saw the fox’s weapon, they were surprised and simultaneously exclaimed — Wow! — Wa-a-ah! I said wow! Wow!... Wow!... — Wo-o-oh! Ay, okay! And so it will do! — This is a sword! — Sammy said enviously and lightly touched the very tip, as he liked the weapon. — Are you armed with this sword? — asked the little fox. — Certainly. In my world, I am a naga hunter, but you are not? — the adult fox asked them, to which the five shook their heads in response, because they had never been them. Although they heard about such things in their world and once encountered them. — I see you have baskets with you. You say you were going for berries? — Yes. Sammy replied. — O! Do you want us to help you collect your berries, and then you will help us find and catch one evil naga, whom we are hunting through other worlds and still cannot catch. — suggested adult Tails. From what he heard, Shadow looked at him questioningly. — What kind of evil naga is this? — Benny asked. — A huge half snake, half scorpion. His name is Luz Bucket. He is now hiding somewhere in your world. We are all trying to catch him, because he travels to other worlds and wants to ruin them so that only nagas live in them, and people and Mobians cease to exist. — the striped naga explained. — So what? Agreed? Will you help us if we help you? — Wait, but they are still children. Are you crazy to take them with you? They're still small! — Shadow protested. — So what? — he turned to his friend. — I heard the following saying: “Small, but distant!” Although they are smaller, they will certainly be able to benefit us in this way. Luz probably won't notice them and with them it will be easier for us to catch him. Am I right, kids? — Certainly. We may be small, but we are very brave and are always ready to help anyone. — Tiny confirmed. — So we agreed? — asked adult Tails, holding out his hand and Sammy shook his hand, answering: — Certainly. We will help you, just help us with the berries first! — No problem! — answered the striped naga. — With me you will even collect much more. I will carry them in my hands. The children, an adult fox and a striped naga headed towards the very bush where those very berries grew. They didn't even suspect that Luz himself was hiding from behind another tree. He saw everything and heard everything. — We figured it out, naive and annoying splinters. — he cursed about them in a whisper. — Who are you? — Someone suddenly turned to Luz. He turned around and saw in front of him a striped naga exactly like his Shadow.