Avenging Angel

by anime animal

Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog is property of Sega. Not anime animal. She did once win a little plastic Sonic toy from a cracker when she was about eight, but that is a different story...

A.N: The bulk of them will come later, but this bit is just me saying thanks to Orin, whose help has been invaluable with this first bit. Orin, I still stand by my judgement. You rock. Read her stuff and see if you agree.

Prologue

Amidst the steady downpour of rain and the occasional rumble of thunder, the only sounds that could be heard one dark night in one of the forest areas of Angel Island were the harsh gasps for breath being emitted by a lone figure as he ran through the trees like a creature possessed. Despite the cold and the wet he carried on, ignoring the branches that whipped in his face and the way that his heart was hammering erratically against his chest, almost as if it would burst.

But he couldn't stop, not yet.

The black night sky was darker than usual, even for a storm. The only light came from the occasional fork of lightning that lit the sky with a fluorescent harshness. The atmosphere was almost darker than the weather itself.

Hastily the runner sped through the rain, limping heavily and shivering with fatigue, almost painfully aware of the crimson trails he left in muddy puddles of water behind him. Another vicious fork of lightning flashed across the heavens, illuminating the land, casting the outline of a single hut in hues of white and grey for an instant.

There, then gone.

At the sight of this, the soaked traveller quickened his pace, slipping in the mud and tripping over tree roots in his haste to reach his destination. At his arrival, a gloved hand rapped at the door, his sodden body trembling from cold and exhaustion.

The door opened a crack, warm light surging out into the drenched landscape, illuminating a miserable vision. A second later, it was flung wide, all caution abandoned, and the echidna behind it gave a horrified gasp. Recognition flooded her sapphire eyes as they widened in shock.

"Tails! Merciful heavens, what has happened?"

No words were needed as the injured kitsune limped into Tikal's home, cradling something wrapped in a dark piece of cloth against his body, his attention fixed solely on this unknown treasure as he panted for breath.

Tikal was already fetching blankets and had hung a kettle over the hearth to boil. She turned briefly to steal a glimpse at her friend and paled upon seeing the full extent of his injuries. The white markings on his chest and face were tinged pink, and from behind the bundle in his arms a deep, open gash was bleeding freely. Half of his right ear had been torn off, the remaining flesh jagged and swollen and coated with dried blood. The wound that caused Tikal the most concern was an unseen injury to his left eye that had been covered with a makeshift bandage that had once been white. It was now stained scarlet and darkening.

"They're all gone," he said quietly, looking up at Tikal with anguish painted across his face. "Amy, Rouge, Knuckles..."

Tikal froze and felt her heart stop beating as her eyes went wide in disbelief.

"No..."

"He killed Sonic."  His tone was distracted as he hugged the bundle closer to him, cradling it for all his worth. "Sonic is dead. Sonic-"

Tails blinked once, slowly.

"He killed Sonic," he said again.

 His legs buckled suddenly and Tikal rushed forward, hugging him as he knelt, noticing for the first time that one of his tails was bent unnaturally and that his right ankle was swollen.

"I know this is hard, but you must tell me what happened," she said softly.

Tails' eye stared straight ahead at an invisible point on the wall while he spoke, his voice quiet and trembling slightly.

"We were at Sonic's, waiting for Rouge. There was a noise."

He frowned, and then went on.

"We went outside, to see what- Rouge was-"

Tikal felt a lump rise in her throat.

"Dead?" she whispered.

The look Tails gave her was confirmation enough.

"There was a Death-bot, it dropped her. It was going- But Sonic- Knuckles, they..."

He swallowed hard, his voice shaking uncontrollably. "They went after, Amy wanted to go too but Sonic- He said- told her to stay. So I went. Amy was back at the house. We left her behind. Told her to stay there."

He closed his eyes and looked down at the bundle again.

"There was an explosion."

He didn't need to say anymore, Tikal knew from the look on his face what had happened.

"Sonic. He lost it. We- Knuckles and me, we tried to keep up. But he's Sonic. We couldn't. We weren't fast enough."

He shuddered.

"We watched him die."

Tikal saw the horror on the fox's face, she saw the pain and what sadly looked like guilt.

"Then they came for us... He told me to run. Knuckles. So I did. I ran. And when I looked back… Knuckles was... He was down."

An unnoticed tear trickled down Tikal's cheek as she shook her head.

"Oh Tails..."

"They fired at me then. I can't see with this." He indicated his bandaged eye. "Not now."

Tikal jumped as a rumble of thunder caused the wooden hut to shudder. But Tails still sat on the floor, motionless.

"They knew I'd turn, y'know? They fired, and they stopped me from flying. A trap. All of it. My tail is broken. So I ran. I didn't know where else to go, so I ran back to the house…"

He looked at the shocked look on Tikal's face and put a damp hand on top of hers.

"Knuckles said- He told me he's sorry. Because he couldn't keep his promise."

Tikal bit her bottom lip, determined not to cry, but to no avail. The tears fell anyway.

It was at that moment that the bundle in Tails' arms moved.

Tikal jumped in alarm and stared at it in surprise.

"Tails, what is that?"

The bundle squirmed again and the blankets fell away, revealing a very small, wriggling creature. The echidna stared at it in horror.

"How? Wha-?"

The squirming creature was nothing less than a tiny sky-blue infant hedgehog who was staring intently at the fox and echidna with confused green eyes.

"I got back to the house. I could hear screaming. There was rubble everywhere. I dug… When I found Amy, she was still alive."

"You mean this is..?" Tikal began, staring at the hedgehog again.

"Amy was protecting her. Through everything… There isn't a scratch on her, because Amy protected her. I watched Amy die too. She asked me to take of her…"

All of a sudden Tails' slouched form sat bolt upright, his eyes wide with terror as he subconsciously drew the baby hedgehog closer to him.

"I can't take care of her Tikal, they'll come after me and then they'll find her and they'll kill her!"

"But she's just a baby, she hasn't done anything..."

"She's Sonic's. That's enough," he snarled. "Galateaus can't afford to let her live. Not when she's Sonic's. If she's like him- I can't let them get her. I can't!"

"What makes you so sure she'll be safe here?" Tikal asked, looking at the small child who was sucking her thumb and staring at them. "I can't protect her..."

"Galateaus doesn't know you, so he won't find you," Tails replied. "She'll be safe here."

"But what if someone followed you?"

"They didn't. I made sure they didn't," he said firmly. "You can't turn your back on this. You have to help. She's all I- we have left. Sonic. Amy. They're all gone. Amy asked me to protect her, and Amy's gone, so I'll be damned if I'm going to turn my back. You can't turn yours, Tikal. You can't. Not to this. Not to her. To them…"

Thunder clashed outside the hut as the rain lashed at the window. The baby began to cry, her small face contorted in discomfort and fright. Tikal reached for the child and cradled her close, speaking kindly and soothing her by brushing her immature quills softly with gloved fingertips as she nodded her head.

"I'll take care of her. Knuckles would have done the same."

Tails picked up on the sadness in her voice and didn't follow it through.

"I better go, there's something I have to do."

Tikal looked at him critically.

"You can't go anywhere the shape you're in, and look at that storm!"

Tails shook his head.

"I can't stay here. They could find me. Find her. I- I'll contact you. And when she's older, I'll come back. I promise."

Tikal nodded.

"Whatever happens, be careful. Don't do anything foolish, however justified your actions may be."

Tails sighed sadly and hugged Tikal before stooping to kiss the baby on the head. She murmured in surprise and looked at the fox quizzically as tears began to fall from his eyes.

"You look so much like your dad. Be a good girl for your Aunt Tikal and I'll see you really soon, OK?"

As a response, she giggled and kicked at the blankets.

"Take care of yourself Tails," Tikal said softly. "Don't die."

Tails nodded weakly and then cast one last glance at the small hedgehog.

"Goodbye Daisy."

As soon as the door was shut behind him, Tikal's composure slipped and she began to cry as though her heart would break as the kettle began to whistle loudly on the hearth

to be continued...

A.N: OK, that was evil of me. No, it was beyond evil. It was demonic. But, I couldn't resist it. Um, anyway, I will update if people like what they have read and want me to continue, because I want to continue with it anyway. However, if any of you have read any of my Zelda fiction (shameless self-promotion...) then you will know my situation. If you haven't...

I go to boarding school and am rarely allowed out for longer than a weekend, making writing time scarce. And at school, the only stuff I can write are essays. In abundance. So, updates from me are few and infrequent.

Until the holidays.

So, if anyone wants more, then more may come this week 'cause I'm on holiday. After that, updates are sparse until the Christmas holidays. But until then, feel free to review and tell me what you think. And be brutally honest. But if you threaten to kill me, be warned that my Chao are trained to kill... Actually they're not, but one of them is frickin' scary...