𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙭𝙚𝙨

      Adult Tails, young Tails, as well as two nagas Shadow and Luz Bucket, along with samurai Jack in samurai armor and four hedgehogs Sammy, Nelly, Benny and Tiny, were taken to an empty and dark cell in the form of an empty room without windows with bare gray walls. Four more were sitting in the same cell with them. One was a skeleton with yellow horns in the form of lightning bolts on its skull, a green-skinned girl in a helmet with yellow horns in the form of lightning bolts. A one-eyed dwarf with an eye instead of a head and a pink cat with a toy bear without a head. They were imprisoned with them and left in the same cell. At the same time, the electric handcuffs were removed from their hands, knowing that they would not escape anyway. Adult Tails beat his fists against the iron doors and shouted to all those who locked him here: — Damn you all, Irads! Sammy and Benny, along with the cat Little Bits, walked from wall to wall, clasping their hands behind their backs and lowering their heads, thinking all the way. The nagas sat in two corners and turned their tails instead of legs, sad and thinking. Samurai Jack, along with young Tails, hugging him, sat in the middle with his back to the wall. Both lords sat between them. — You were caught and sentenced to death, just like us? — asks the skeleton. — Yes. — the young fox answered sadly. — Don't cry, Tails. We'll figure out something to get out of here. — Jack answers. — Oh, if only everything were so simple. — the girl answers and turns her right hand in a yellow glove into a large lava hand, with which she tried to melt the wall, but the wall turned out to be intact and unharmed. — We’ve already tried to escape from here. It didn't work out. — What should we do now? — asks Shadow. — It’s all my fault! — Luz almost cried and lowered his head to his tail. Tiny hugged Nelly and began to cry, while Nelly tried to calm her younger sister. — Okay-okay, don't be afraid! For at least we are together again and meet again, as we promised each other. — she says with a smile, looking at the adult Tails and Shadow. — Tails, Shadow! We are so glad to see you again! — she told them, stretching her arms to the sides. Even Tiny stopped crying and smiled too, for she was also glad to see those she had missed again. — Hello children! — says the striped naga, standing up from his seat. He crawled up to the hedgehogs and hugged them all. The children were also glad to see this kind naga, who, unlike their Shadow, is kinder and more cheerful. Smiling with their eyes closed, they hugged the huge head of this naga hedgehog. Even young Tails got up from the samurai's arms and ran to hug the large and striped snake hedgehog. And then adult Tails came up to them and the children hugged him in one. Each hedgehog and the little fox hugged the adult two-tailed fox in turn. — Tails, we missed you so much. — Shadow, Luz and I missed you so much, you can’t even imagine! — the adult fox said smiling and almost cried with joy. — And we are even stronger for you. We even wanted to find a way ourselves to leave our universe and go visit you ourselves. But we didn’t think that we would encounter such circumstances. — says Tiny. — So! — Adult Tails raised his right index finger and began to list everyone by name. The children smiled and listened as he called them one by one by name. — Sammy, Nelly, Tiny, the other me and... Barry? — Tails remembered a little incorrectly and called the name of the brown hedgehog, to which the latter was indignant. The other children just laughed. — Actually, his name is Benny! — Nelly corrected Tails. — A! Sorry! — Adult Tails apologized. — O! Allow us to introduce you to our new friend. — says young Tails and began to imagine the samurai. — Samurai Jack, this is Tails, that is, an adult me from another universe and his friends, two nagas, Shadow and Luz Bucket! Tails, Shadow and Luz Bucket, this is Samurai Jack! — he introduced them to each other. — Very nice to meet you! — Shadow answers a little shyly, extending the elongated, clawed index finger of his right hand to the samurai. The samurai takes his hand by the claw and shakes it like a hand. — Me too. — he says smiling to the naked man. — Although I didn’t expect that you giants would be these children’s friends. In principle, I am ready to believe in anything. — I don’t understand, are you meeting for the first time or have you been around for a long time? — asked the big-eyed dwarf, placing his hands on his waist. — Peepers, shut up! Don't you see that they are in trouble? — asks the skeleton. — Sorry, sir! — Who are you? — Sammy asks. — What do you mean who? I am the king of nightmares! Baron of Ruthlessness! Galaxy Punisher! Lord Hater! — the skeleton introduced itself tailily, getting into cool poses. — He's a braggart! Like me, I could just introduce myself as usual. — The girl with red eyes rolled her eyes. — I am Lord Dominator. — Lord? — Nelly laughed, covering her mouth. — Why are you called Lord if you are a girl? I could then call myself Lady Dominator! Or Mrs. Dominator! Or just DominaWuman! — This is my nickname! That’s what I want to call myself! — The Dominator said sternly, folding her arms over her chest. — I'm Peepers! Watch commander from Lord Hater's army! — the big-eyed man introduced himself. — And I’m Little Bits! Loyal subordinate of Lord Hater! — the cat introduced herself, making a touching look with her big eyes. — O-oh! — Sammy, Nelly, young Tails and Tiny, as well as Shadow, were touched. Only Luz Bucket, adult Tails and Benny usually looked at her at first. Luz and Benny turned away, spitting to the side. Adult Tails asked: — Do you want to hypnotize me? — No. I just want at least someone to take pity on me. — Little Bits replies, to which Samurai Jack replies: — It's useless! Even though I love children and animals, I don’t easily fall for such tricks that can be used for their own benefit. — Me too. — Tails answers. — But I don’t really care about this, because I don’t trust anyone at all. — the brown hedgehog said sternly, folding his arms over his chest. — Even me? — the scorpion naga asks Benny and the latter turns his suspicious glance at the large purple naga. Luz sighed heavily and turned away, saying: — Even you don’t trust me that I’ve reformed. — Scorpio rolled his eyes. — Well, of course! I almost ate you then! That's why even you are suspicious of me. Benny widened his eyes and asked the naga: — Was anyone else suspicious of you besides me? — He also asks to make fun of him! — Luz says about Benny, rolling her eyes again. — Don't be angry with him! — the striped naga intervened. — He put up with so much. Ever since he used to be bad, but then he started to improve and became good, all the Mobians and people were suspicious of him. They even refused his help and almost cursed him behind their backs. Tails and I are the only ones who trust him now. Benny immediately realized that he shouldn’t have looked at him so suspiciously. For the first time he felt ashamed of it. The brown hedgehog came closer to the scorpion, although he was still a little afraid of him and deep down in his soul did not trust him. Approaching the scorpion, the hedgehog hugged his waist. Luz's eyes widened as he felt the warm embrace and lowered his head. Benny stopped hugging him and said: — Forgive me! I didn't mean to offend you like that! I am suspicious of everyone. Since I once naively trusted one naga who tried to deceive me and eat me. Since then I have become more cautious and suspicious. — You will also forgive me for almost eating you then. — says the scorpion naga. — But in the end, you didn’t eat any of us. — Nelly explained, also trying to calm Luz down. — Did he really want to eat you? — Jack asks Sammy. — Yes. Although perhaps we would have survived anyway. Considering that nagas have two stomachs. — the gray hedgehog answers. — Two stomachs? — Hater asked sarcastically and laughed along with the Dominator: — Agree! This is kind of stupid! There are no creatures that have two stomachs at once. — They happen! — Shadow stated, raising his left index finger. — All nagas, like us, are like that. One digests food, while the other is safe and does not digest anything at all. — Why do you need a second stomach if it essentially doesn’t digest anything? — the Samurai asked and Shadow began to explain to him: — These stomachs among nagas are usually for their beloved soulmate, who is not a naga, but belongs to another race, which is smaller. At the same time, we, naked, when we swallow something, decide for ourselves which stomach our prey will end up in. — But with our nagas it’s not like that. — says young Tails. — Their stomachs are located like this. First, the safe one on top, and below them is the one that digests. — Well they are from another universe, not from ours! That’s why their stomachs are built this way, and ours are built this way. — Nelly explained to him. Shadow then continued to talk: — For us, the safe stomach mainly serves as a bag or a safe place for a significant other who is not part of the naga frame. Our nagas can sometimes fall in love with members of their own race, and sometimes they can fall in love with someone smaller than themselves. Into an animal, Mobian or human. This creates a spiritual connection between them, called an interspecies bond. It's like love at first sight, only... A little different. Luz Bucket then spoke for Shadow: — And that’s what the second stomach is for. The other half will be safe there. And if the naga swallows it and leaves it in the safety of the stomach, then either it will remain there forever, or it will remain there until the naga himself decides to spit it back out. — How do you know about this? — Shadow smiled slyly, looking at Luz and folding his hands on his chest. Luz Bucket looked around and all the prisoners in this empty room were looking only at him with interest. Even adult Tails. Luz sighed heavily. — Okay, since we are still destined to die here and this is our last day in our lives, then I will answer this question to you all. — Scorpio answers. Although he was afraid to say this in front of the adult Tails, there was no point in hiding the truth anymore. — Tails! — Yes? — two foxes ask at the same time. — Our Tails! — Bucket corrected himself. — I! — answers the adult fox. Luz sighs heavily and begins to repent: — You see, Tails, we... With your mother, Fiona... In general, your mother fell in love with me, and then I realized that I love her myself. — What? — the two-tailed man bulged his eyes. — Seriously? — Shadow also bulged his eyes. — Come on! — the young fox was surprised. — Sorry, Tails! I wanted to confess this to you, but I was afraid that you would react to it with anger. She's still your mother, and I'm just a friend. And even your former enemy. — the scorpion naga repented, lowering his head and turning away. — An enemy who becomes a friend, and then also a father? — the skeleton bulged his green eyes. This not only surprised him, but also made him laugh. The adult two-tailed fox on the one hand was a little angry when he found out about this. Moreover, he used to be his enemy at first and wanted to kill him and eat him more than once. Considering also that he killed his real parents and his village a long time ago. Deep in his soul, he was even angry that he had once taken his real parents away from him, and now he also decided to turn on his adopted, but still beloved mother. With these thoughts, he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, while keeping his eyes closed. Although then he calmed down and unclenched his hands. On the other hand, mom herself was the first to fall in love with him, as Luz himself told him. That is, this is his mother’s choice and she herself decided so. This means that he has no right to interfere and interfere with their love or change their opinion on this topic with all sorts of protests. Let them love each other and live happily together. Moreover, Luz has been correcting himself for a long time and becoming kind, following the path of correction. Therefore, here Tails made a compromise deep within himself. He wasn't against Luz's love for Fiona, but sometimes the fox would still be a little wary of their love. Besides, it would be somehow strange for his former enemy to become not only his friend, but also his father. Although maybe in this way he wants to pay his guilt to him, for the fact that he then killed their real parents a long time ago? Having decided on this in his thoughts, he smiled and said: — Luz!... You will always be just a friend to me, just like Shadow! I don't care what kind of relationship you and Fiona are up to. Just be yourself and live the way you want. But in the future, communicate and never hide anything from me! And in the future, if of course you stay alive and get out of here, promise not to be offended over trifles! After all, sometimes, when you and Fiona are together, and I’m next to you, sometimes I will still watch you warily so that you don’t do anything bad to my mother. Do you promise? Scorpio poked his index fingers away from each other, holding his hands clasped together and began to think, looking somewhere at the ceiling. For a moment, he remembered what Fiona and Tails himself had sung to him. — “Don’t look around! Stay as you are! — “Believe that we have become better than we were!” — “You can’t break me!” — a short singing of Luz’s thoughts sounded, which also sounded as if he himself had once sung it and as if he was remembering it! Collecting his thoughts, he looks at his former enemy, his best friend, and answers: — I promise! Adult Tails only smiles in response. Even Shadow widened his sly smile even wider. — I never thought you could have something like this, Luz. — It’s not my fault that Fiona has such a relationship with me? And to be honest, until that moment, at first I myself did not know what bonds between species were, since I myself had never experienced them before and considered them complete nonsense. — No, in principle, this is probably possible even here. Considering that... — Tiny paused and sighed heavily. — Our Shadow was once unlucky with love. — No, Tiny. Maria was his friend, not his lover. — Benny corrected her. — It seems that you really are best friends, since you like to talk about such topics so much. — Jack suggested. — What about it? — Sammy confirmed questioningly. — Since they saved us from our evil Shadow and their Luz, when he was evil before and also wanted to devour us, we got along well and played together, while Luz himself was tied up and was still lying in the corner, like a child punished for his misdeeds. — the gray hedgehog explained slyly at first, and then realizing that he had shouldn’t have said that in front of Luz himself, having offended him, he covered his mouth. — Oh! No offense! Bucket wanted to turn away again, offended, and sigh heavily. However, looking at Tails, who smiled and winked at him, hinting that he should no longer focus all his resentment on this and then the scorpion also smiled and simply replied: — Believe me! This is all in the past! I don't care about that anymore! — Wait, wait! Once again!... — Hater extended his hands, forcing everyone to pause and said: — You... Used... To... Were... A... Villain?” — Yes. — Luz answered the skeleton’s question a little indignantly, placing his hands on his chest. — And you? Is not it so? — Do not make me laugh! I have always been a villain and always will be. — the skeleton answers. — Me too. — Dominator intervened. — And what? — Bucket asked. Samurai Jack stood in front of the two Lords and took a fighting stance, clenching his hands into fists. — If you are villains and want to do bad things to children, you will have to deal with me! — And with me too! — adult Tails also took a fighting stance, clenching his fists and standing on the side of the samurai. Jack turned his gaze questioningly towards the fox, and the two-tailed one winked at him. — What are these, threats? — the girl gets angry, making herself a clawed lava hand. Shadow leaned his huge muzzle towards the Lords and hissed through his teeth: — Just dare to touch my bo... Friend! The lords bulged their eyes, frightened by such a giant, and removed their powers of lava and green lightning. — Thank you, Shadow. — Don't thank me, Tails! — What did you really want to say with the syllable “Bo”? — asked the Samurai. — Bo... Boy-fox! — the striped naga found a suitable excuse so as not to spill the beans about the fact that he was in love with his friend. — And it seems to me that you meant “Boyfriend”! — Peepers lowered his upper eyelid and folded his arms over his chest. — Boyfriend? — Sammy asks, his eyes widening, and then at the same time his younger brothers and sisters repeated the same question: — Guy? — Ha! — Little Bits grinned and, raising her front paws to her lips, shouted: — BLU-U-UE!!! Adult Tails was indignant, impatient, and going up to the cat, kicked her in the stomach, kicking her to the corner. Little Bits crashed into the wall, stood up and grabbed her stomach. Tails approached her again and shouted: — DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT MY GREAT FRIEND!!! HE FELL IN LOVE WITH ME AS SOON AS HE SAW ME FOR THE FIRST TIME, WHEN I WAS STILL A YOUNG FOX, AND BECAUSE THE BUTTERFLY OF DESTINY SAT ON HIS HAND AND WOULDN'T ALLOW HIM TO EAT ME!!! I HAVE ALWAYS SEEN HIM ONLY AS A BEST FRIEND AND I STILL SEE IT THAT WAY!!! AND IN ADDITION, HE THEN HAPPENED TO THIS AND DECIDED THAT HE WOULD ALSO REMAIN A FRIEND TO ME!!! Having finished screaming, the fox suddenly covered his mouth, realizing that he had blurted out a lot of unnecessary things out loud, since there were children nearby and it was too early for them to hear and know about such things, judging by their age. He turned to the children, and their eyes were bulging. They really didn't expect to hear about this. That Tails' friend from another universe was also a guy. Such unexpected news that love could be like this plunged them into a stupor. Even Luz Bucket was shocked, because he didn't know about it at the time either. — Shadow! — the scorpion naga addressed the striped naga-hedgehog. Even Samurai Jack was a little shocked to recognize his father like this. Only the Lords and the commander smiled slyly, folding their hands on their chests. Shadow blushed with shame. He felt ashamed that he had hidden this truth from Luz, for only now did he learn about it. — Sorry, Luz. I wanted to tell you about this, but I... — the striped snake hedgehog fell silent again, remembering that there were children here. — Did you hear that too? — adult Tails asked the children with shame. They just nodded in a stupor. Only the young fox was the first to quickly emerge from his stupor, quickly shaking his head and asking: — Tails!... Is this true? — M-m-m-m... — the adult fox hummed silently, not knowing what to answer. The next one to come out of his stupor at that moment was Sammy and said: — There’s no point in hiding the truth from us anymore! If we are still destined to die here, then you don’t have to hide anything anymore. Say even what it’s probably too early for us to know. We will listen and accept everything. — To hell with all these restrictions, since we won’t live anymore anyway. — Tiny answers boldly and sternly, having ceased to be sad and afraid. — Ew, don’t express yourself, Tiny! — asked Shadow. — Come on, Shadow. What difference does it make to us what is possible and what is not!? — the gray hedgehog answered questioningly, raising her shoulders. — You know! She is right. — Jack agreed with Tiny. — Since we will die here anyway sooner or later, then let our restrictions be lifted and we will even bear (Censored) all sorts of things! — Was he swearing? — Tiny asked Nelly in a whisper and the older sister nodded to her. — Understood! — So you were in love with Tails? — Luz asks slyly and scratched his chin, thinking. — Interesting! If Tails were to become your husband, what would happen? Would my friend become another son by marriage? At such a question, Shadow laughed and said: — Well, how could you think such a thing about me? Moreover, it didn’t come to that. I myself have long come to terms with the fact that Tails sees me as a friend and has long since decided that he and I will just remain friends. — Tell me, how long have you met and gotten acquainted with them? — Samurai Jack asked the adult Tails. — Certainly. This was during the pursuit of Luz to other worlds. When we accidentally ended up in their universe, my psyche couldn’t stand it and I almost went crazy, because we ended up in so many worlds and saw so many that I even gave up. By that time, I already knew in advance that Shadow was in love with me, but for now I hid it from the children, since it was too early for them to know about it, but I told about it in confidence to their adoptive parents, the nagas Sonic and Sally. They promised not to tell the children about this, so that it would remain our secret. I learned that Shadow fell in love with me from one sorcerer in a universe consisting of water, where mermaids and sea nagas lived. Before his death, he revealed this secret to me. Then we, in the children's world, quarreled with Shadow and decided to give up and return home to our world. However, Shadow took offense at me for this and crawled away, remaining in their world. I then felt ashamed and returned to find him. But I didn’t find it and was already desperate. Then they passed by with baskets and I myself met them for the first time. The children's eyes widened at what they heard. Sammy interrupted Tails a little and said: — Wait! Everything was wrong! — In what sense is it not true? — the fox asked the gray hedgehog. — You came then, asked me why I was crying, felt sorry for me, your brother was even suspicious of me, and then I helped you pick the berries you were going for. — No. — Benny denied, looking surprised. — Everything was wrong. Of course, we went for berries then, but we remember these events differently. — How was it then? — asks Shadow. — How? Don't you remember? — Nelly asks the striped naga. — We then went as usual to pick berries so that Sally could bake a pie, when suddenly your Luz appeared and wanted to eat us, and then our evil Shadow appeared and teamed up with him. They both wanted to eat us. — But then you and Tails showed up and saved us by being dumb. You challenged them to battle, but at first we wanted to run away. But then they saw that they almost killed you themselves and decided to intervene to help you. Isn't that how it was? — Sammy asked. — No. I don't remember this. I went out onto the field and there I met you along with our Tails and you yourself fought with me, and when I almost defeated Tails and wanted to eat him, that other Shadow of yours, pretending to be ours, defeated me. — explained the scorpion. — And only then I appeared at the moment of birth. Yes and then. Your Shadow still managed to swallow my Tails, but he stayed inside his throat, not allowing him to swallow him, and your Shadow even almost suffocated and died. — explained the striped hedgehog snake. The children were again stupefied by the story they heard. — But we don’t remember this. We remember our meeting story differently. — says Benny. — So your theory about creating copies of universes when moving from one to another turned out to be true? — Tiny asks Jack. The samurai nodded in response: — This is true! Even these judges and soldiers told us this. This is what can happen when you play with traveling through the multiverse without thinking first. — So you are not the same children we once met? — asks adult Tails. — Aren’t you the same Tails, Shadow and Luz we met? — Benny also asks. All the characters were in great shock and could not believe what they had just found out. — So... We... Really... Anomalies!— the fox says to himself. — And it’s all my fault! — the scorpion naga breathed heavily. — If I had listened to you and Shadow back then and agreed to peace, rather than sneaking into the palace for that ring, then all this wouldn’t have happened! Samurai Jack walked up to the purple naga and, placing his left palm on his stomach, said: — Okay, don't blame yourself! Everything is already in the past! The main thing is that we all at least met together. And besides, I personally am also a little upset; that I turned out to be an anomaly, like my universe. For that now, taking into account the fact that I killed Aku himself long ago, I will be happy to die with all of you, my new and honest friends. — And you and I too, Uncle Jack! — Tiny says smiling, getting ready to cry again with joy. The two Tails, Sammy, Nelly, Benny and Tiny hugged the samurai around. Then both nagas bent down, clasping them lightly with their right hands. The samurai himself in armor stood while I was still there, smiling and closing his eyes, rejoicing for the first time that someone needed him. The four villains standing to the side folded their arms over their chests, looking at them and spat to the side. Suddenly the skeleton noticed some kind of green round thing on the adult two-tailed fox and it seemed familiar to him. Hater raised his right eyebrow and asked: — Excuse me, two-tailed, but... What is that green thing you have there? — This? — Tails asks pointing to the hat and showing it. The skeleton recognized this hat and, pointing to it, said: — It's Wander's hat! My sworn enemy! Where is he? — Wander?... He... — the fox lowered his hands with his head and sighed heavily. — He died! Hater, Dominator, Peepers and Little Bits widened their eyes at what they heard. — How? — asks the skeleton. — One of the agents of this nasty organization, similar to me, killed him. — Luz Bucket replies, also lowering her head. Tails gave Wander's hat into the hands of the skeleton. Lord Hayter looked questioningly at the hat for a minute, and then the skeleton himself began to slowly cry. He clutched his hat to himself like a toy and sat down, continuing to cry. After all, on the one hand, although he wanted to kill Vander himself, on the other hand, he himself felt sorry for him. After all, this red hairball tried to help him more than once. — Sir, what are you doing? — the commander hugged his lord and began to feel sorry for him. Even Little Bits hugged the skeleton and felt sorry for him. The Dominator didn’t care and she turned away. Only the children, the nagas, the samurai and Tails himself then also responded and hugged the skeleton, trying to feel sorry for him. — Unhappy Wander! It's all my fault! It would be better if this freak killed me! — Hayter says through tears. — Is it true? — asks Dominator, looking at Hater in surprise. — No! — he answered her sternly, and then began to cry again: — But I’m terribly worried! — At least you have pity on him too! Do you have a heart? A? — Benny asks that girl. Dominator rolled her eyes and hugged Hater from the front. The skeleton also hugged her back, still crying. Then he felt a little better and stopped crying. Now he sits on the floor and just looks at Vander's hat. Adult Tails looks at the closed doors and, approaching them, puts his palms against them, saying out loud: — These villains killed Wander and Sylvia, and also intend to execute us for something for which none of us are guilty. Let them know that all of us, Naga hunters and Naga children, cannot be broken so easily! Let's get out of here!