King for a Day
By Asher Tye
Disclaimer: Sonic, Tails, and everyone else are owned by Sega and Archie Comics respectively, depending where you recognize them. Characters you don't recognize, such as Garivald, Synthia, and Valnin belong to me. This story is based in the Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog universe.
Summary: After the whole fiasco with Titan Tails, a Zone Cop uses Tails Prime as a body double for a counterpart that has gone missing from his own universe. The problem: the guy is a royal prince. Now, Tails must make sure his counterpart's coronation ceremony goes off without a hitch without letting anyone know he isn't the true prince. It's just one of those days.
Author's Note: The idea for this story actually came to me in dream. Truthfully, what is written didn't happen, and it sounds more like the end of a series to me. If anyone else who reads this thinks the same, they are free to use the idea of the story for themselves, and good luck to them. I should also warn you, Antoine appears in this story and, though he's actually one of my favorite characters, I've never actually been able to get his speech down correctly. That, coupled with my complete lack of knowledge of how to spell French words, means it may be a bit difficult to understand him.
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"Sonic, slow down or we'll miss it!" Tails screamed as his cobalt friend tore through Knothole with the kit on his back. As if by magic, Sonic the Hedgehog, the reported fastest thing alive, came to a screeching halt right in front of the chilidog stand the duo had been heading to for lunch.
"Me, miss a chilidog stand? Surely thou dost jest, little bro. I would think you would sooner bet on Sniveler to beat ol' Buttnik in a pie eating contest than me miss a chilidog stand," the hedgehog said in a mock offended voice that never failed to make Tails laugh.
"Ha ha, silly me, I don't know what I was thinking," Tails answered with equal sarcasm as he hopped off his best friend's back. "So how many chilidogs you wanna get?"
"I'm starving big guy, I could eat a whole… well looky there," Sonic said as he stopped dead in his tracks, an action that was in and of itself so unusual as to cause Tails to look more at Sonic than at the stand.
Ever since Sonic's popularity had skyrocketed amongst the people of Mobius, everyone was trying to emulate him, and that had meant a huge growth in the number of chilidog eaters in Knothole. As such, it was not uncommon to see normally sparsely populated stands filled almost to capacity. Nothing could have prepared Tails for the sight that greeted him though. Sitting on a stool at the bar was a familiar figure clad in a blue robe.
"Uncle Merlin?" Tails asked just as the elderly fox took a bite from the dog in his hand. After the fiasco with Mammoth Mogul and Ixis Naugus, Tails's uncle had decided to live in Knothole so he could be close to his only relation still planet side. Slowly, the vulpine sorcerer turned his head toward his nephew, quickly swallowing the food in his mouth before speaking.
"Miles," Merlin said, glad to see his young relation as he affectionately scratched the young kit's ear. Then Merlin turned his smile towards Sonic in a similar fashion of greeting, though he forwent the ear scratch.
"Merlin, I didn't know you liked chilidogs."
"I am a firm believer in trying new things, Sonic, and that includes chilidogs." So saying, Merlin gulped down the remainder of his meal in two bites. "But as it happens, I was also waiting for you to show up, Miles. I have something I wanted to show you in my house."
"Cool, what is it?" Sonic answered before Tails could respond. For a brief second, a look of worry passed across Merlin's face, though it was quickly replaced by the same grin he'd previously been wearing.
"I'm afraid it's a bit of a surprise Sonic. And unfortunately, it is one that won't keep for very long."
"But we haven't even eaten yet," Tails whined, not liking the idea of food so close being yanked from his plate, even if it was being done for a present.
"I understand, and I promise that when we get back, I will happily buy you as many chilidogs as you want."
"Ha, careful you don't make promises your wallet can't cash there Merlin," Sonic said. "Still, if it's that important, I guess Tails and I can take time out of our busy schedule to take a look."
"You are most gracious, your 'Royal Quickness,'" Merlin responded, doing his best to put as much false humility into the words as possible. Quickly, the elder fox lay a few mobiums on the counter to pay for his meal before standing up. "Now then, without further ado, I suggest we head over to my place."
When Merlin had chosen to live in Knothole, King Elias, out of respect for one of his father's oldest friends, had offered the former court magician lodging at the palace. Merlin had politely refused, opting instead to transport his cottage home to Knothole magically and placing it next to Sonic's family's home. Though Tails remained living with the Hedgehog family, it often comforted him to know that he finally had a real live relative living so close by. It was at this structure that the trio stopped moments later.
The cottage, made of ancient logs and wood, looked somewhat out of place next to all the newer homes that had actually been built around the indigenous trees of the forest. Some had said it was disrespectful to the plants that had sheltered the rebellion against Robotnik in its infancy, but such protestations had come to naught. From within his robes, Merlin pulled forth a ring of iron keys which he used to unlock the door to his house and all three entered.
Immediately, Sonic knew something was wrong. For one thing, the inside of the cottage looked nothing like he remembered it. The door had opened up into what felt like a very tight room lined with computers and screens. For the second thing, the entire room was on its side. The click of a lock locking made Sonic and Tails turn around to see that the wooden door that had been right side up when they entered had transformed into a wide metal door that lay on its side, just as "Merlin" was now standing on the wall/floor also perpendicular to them.
"Oh no!" Sonic groaned as he slapped his forehead in exasperation. "Not you perpendicular dorks again!"
"Language, please, Sonic, there are children present," the fox who had conned him said. "My apologies for having to trick you, but I am under something of a time constraint right now and could not risk you saying no." So saying the fox proceeded to move forward into the room, sitting in a chair that stood before a small console. "N.I.K.O.L.E., activate engines and set course for our destination please."
"So, where's Zonic?" Tails asked as Sonic began pounding his head against the wall/ceiling of what was now obviously a ship.
"Not here I'm afraid, which has a bit to do with the current crisis the Zone Cops are facing. I am the perpendicular counterpart to your Uncle Merlin. You may call me Nilrem is you feel so disposed to," Nilrem said, before turning to Sonic. "And would you please stop doing that Mr. Hedgehog, before you break something."
"Okay, okay. So what reason NOW do the Zone Cops have for busting into my universe and kidnapping me?"
"Actually, I am not a Zone Cop, Sonic. All the Zone Cops are currently busy with the crisis I mentioned earlier. I am more of a field scientist and am acting to buy them some time. And I should point out you were not the one I was supposed to get. We need Tails's help. Unfortunately, I did not have time to wait for you two to become separated, so I had to bring you along as well."
"So what's wrong?" Tails asked, more concerned with the danger to the multiverse than whether or not they had been tricked.
"As you are no doubt aware, the multiverse consists of countless universal realities all running 'parallel' to one another, if I may use so simplistic a description. Your universe is the Prime Universe, the reality without which the entire multiverse falls apart."
"Yeah yeah, Zonic covered this about a year ago," Sonic said, his eyes narrowing as he recalled the particulars of that little assignment.
"Yes, well, what you may not know is that while your reality is singular in that respect, there are other universes that share a slightly similar status, known to us as Hub Universes."
"Say wha?"
"Haven't you ever wondered why it appears that denizens from certain other universes are able to cross into your own so easily whereas others cannot? You do realize that if other Sonics could traverse the barriers of the Cosmic Interstate as easily as Anti-Sonic did, your world would be inundated by thousands of counterparts."
"So what keeps that from happening?" Tails asked.
"A universal molecular resonance frequency that is absolutely unique to each universe. And the more radically different one frequency is from another, the more difficult it is for denizens of one universe to traverse the void to another. The rational mind uses the concept of distance to perceive these differences. Hub Universes are those universes that sit at the 'cores' of clusters of such similarly resonating universes. It's actually quite fascinating and something the perpendicular scientists have been working on understanding for…"
"Getting back to the crisis," Sonic interrupted, sensing a monologue of science babble. Nilrem blinked as his train of thought was interrupted.
"Oh yes. Pardon me, but I can't help but enjoy talking about my work," Nilrem said as a picture of Mammoth Mogul appeared on the screen in front of him. "Some months ago, the entity known as Mammoth Mogul attempted to destroy all realities in an effort to remake the multiverse in his own image. Before he could attack the Perpendicular Universe or Mobius Prime, Zone Cop Zonic entered your world and retrieved both you and Mr. Prower here, hoping to use Tails's status as the Chosen One to defeat Mogul and save the Multiverse."
"I don't remember this," Tails said, a fact echoed by Sonic.
"Yes, well, I will explain about that shortly," Nilrem said, as the computer continued to illustrate his story. "In order to assist Tails in defeating Mogul, Zonic also took care to rescue all of his counterparts from each Universe before Mogul destroyed them. This tactic resulted in you merging with your counterparts to become the nigh omnipotent entity known as Titan Tails." As Nilrem spoke, a picture of a gigantic, muscle-bound fox appeared. Sonic reacted to the image by letting out a loud laugh, a sentiment Tails echoed quietly as he looked at the ridiculous looking image. "I know. Our savior was not quite how we envisioned him. My best guess is that the enormous form was an attempt to reconcile the large number of physical bodies that went into making him without costing any of the counterparts their existence."
"Anyway, after Mogul was defeated, Titan Tails used his powers to restore the Multiverse. He then erased all memory of the event, save for those of us from the Perpendicular Universe, and sent his component Tailses back to their home realities; a truly generous act that was about ninety-eight percent successful."
"Wait, so, how many 'mes' didn't make it back to their homes?"
"There were only a few hundred, which the Zone Cops were very quick to round up and return before anyone was the wiser… uh, save one." Once again the screen changed to a picture of Tails, though this was clearly not the same fox that Sonic had always known. His body looked slightly plumper and less firm; as though he had gone through none of the rigorous training the real Tails had gone through to become a Freedom Fighter. In addition, this Tails wore a small crown on his head and a coat similar in design to the one Elias had worn before he had been crowned King of Mobius. "May I present Prince Miles Elias Prower, sole heir to the House of Acorn and the future ruler of his world… and the only counterpart we have yet to find in this entire stinking cosmos!"
Tails looked at the picture, his eyes widening as his jaw dropped. Suddenly, his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fainted dead away.
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Tails's eyes blinked as he slowly regained consciousness, thanks in part to the foul smelling salts Sonic was waving under his snout.
"I think he's coming to," Sonic said as he handed the vial back to Nilrem.
"Oh, good, I don't think there's time to select another candidate for this mission," Nilrem said as his hand moved over the controls.
"Mission?"
"Yeah, Nilrem explained it to me while we were trying to revive you. He needs you to take this 'Prince Miles's' place until the Zone Cops can locate him."
"But if he's been missing for months, why the sudden urgency to find him now?"
"Actually, for his reality, it's only been a few weeks. We've been using a temporal shifter to slow the passage of time relative to the rest of the multiverse. Unfortunately, the mechanisms used to pull this off are becoming a terrible stain on the universe at large and on our N.I.K.O.L.E. computer program in particular. She will not be able to keep the universe out of synch much longer."
"How long?"
"A day at the most, maybe a few hours, and then that reality will force itself back into the time-stream."
"So you guys have to find him before then?"
"Not with you on board. You see the problem is Prince Miles has been missing for so long without any trace that soon his father, King Acorn, will have no choice but to declare him dead, an act that will strip him of his claim to the throne."
"I feel for the guy, but I don't see the problem as long as he returns home healthy. Can't Sally or Elias take the job?" Tails asked.
"Kiddo, Nilrem says they don't exist," Sonic replied. Tails looked to his uncle's counterpart for confirmation of this fact.
"I'm afraid it's true, in this reality, neither Sally nor Elias was ever born. Without you, that is without him, the royal couple have no heir apparent to the throne. Without one, the next in line would be the Royal Advisor."
"Robotnik," Tails said, almost hissing the name.
"Uh, no actually, it's a badger named Garivald. Believe it or not, this version of Robotnik is actually quite good, and somewhat friendly to boot. It's Garivald who's the problem, particularly since he's been trying to eliminate your double ever since it became apparent that the majority of the Mobian nobles would not block Acorn's choice for a successor."
"So why hasn't this guy been arrested if he keeps trying to kill me?"
"He may not be as powerful as your Robotnik is, but he does possess a great deal of cunning and resources. He knows that if he loses his position, none of his plans mean anything so he's careful about keeping himself from being a suspect. Only a few others actually know what he's doing and unfortunately, only three of them are on your side."
"Great," Tails said in a less than excited tone.
"The problem is, if Garivald claims the throne, N.I.K.O.L.E. has predicted a maximum time frame of about five years before a civil war results in the chaos emeralds being forcibly ignited and the entire universe is destroyed. And, since this is a Hub Universe, its destruction will also destroy every other alternate universe which shares 'proximity' with it by virtue of having a similar resonance frequency." At that news, both Sonic and Tails visibly balked. "Now then, Tails, if you would kindly come over here, I have a file that summarizes Prince Miles's life as best we could so you'll have some knowledge of what to expect when you get there."
"And what do I do while Tails is busy doing his 'Prince and the Pauper' thing, help you guys find Miles?"
"That is a job best left to those trained to do it, Sonic," the elder fox said as he pulled up the file for Tails to read, turning the monitor sideways for the non-perpendicular fox's benefit. "I'm afraid I really don't know what to do with you. This world is not missing its Sonic. In fact he will be one of the Mobians Tails will have to fool into believing he is the Prince."
"What?! You think I'm just gonna let my little buddy go waltzing around a strange Mobius all alone for Walkers know how long?"
"Actually, it will only be about two weeks at the longest, time that will actually accelerate here due to this world attempting to synchronize with the rest of the multiverse. After that, it will no longer matter whether or not Prince Miles is found."
"Why not," Tails asked, turning from the monitor?
"Because in two weeks time Prince Miles is supposed to undergo his Rite of Ascension ceremony where he will officially be recognized as the Crown Prince. On that day he will be expected to wear the Crown of Acorns on his head. The problem is, once the Crown, made from the Source of All of his world, sits atop your head, it will immediately reveal you to be an imposter to the King, an act that will end our little charade most effectively I would imagine."
"Okay, so you guys have to find the Prince before then."
"But what about me," Sonic asked again?
"As I said, I wasn't really planning anything with you, and I don't intend to abduct this world's Sonic simply to satisfy your over-protective feelings towards Tails." At Nilrem's explanation, Sonic's shoulders slumped. "Look if I can find a way, I'll see if I can't sneak you into this reality. The more help we have on our side the better. In the mean time, Tails needs to study that dossier while I prepare an appropriate scenario to let him safely infiltrate the Mobian Royal Family."
The Beginning…