(I do not own Sonic or Tails. SEGA does!)

The Judgment saga

book 1: The Way of the Blade

"Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it"-Winston Churchill

Prologue: Why Do we Fight?

(October 9th 2331, Mystic Ruins, Tails's journal)

There are many things to consider before one goes off into battle. What you are fighting for is always the first on this long list. I remember stories that my aunt and best friend would tell me every knight before I went to sleep in the large forest we hid in. Stories that showed hero's fighting with valor and courage, to defeat those that are considered the wicked evil and must be punished, while saving the innocent at any cost. Some seek their own justice, and that of others, true avengers to the end, no matter what pain lies ahead. Then there are those that fight because they want fame and glory. To have their name spread far and wide so that they may never fade away in history, as the sands of time continue to fall. Others fight to protect their home and country, friends or family, protectors of their honor and soul. They never pick up the sword unless there is no other choice. The most honored are those willing to sacrifice their very lives to save others, without any hesitation or thought of their own well being.

It also leaves the saved broken sometimes however... When I saw someone who actually sacrificed themselves for me, I felt so weak... Powerless... Vulnerable. But more than anything else I felt sad and tormented, like I had lost a part of myself and was dying inside. I kept wondering why. Why did I live? Is there something I still have to do? Why did she have to die to save us, to save me? And why was I the one who had to kill her...?

But back to the original point, those that fight for the good of others are to be considered the most honored and pure of all people. Then you descend the latter and find the less than honorable occupations of most. Becoming a mercenary is the main job that comes to mind. Men and women who have no regard for another's life and kill just to get paid. They don't go blindly and gladly to kill though, or be killed like lamps to the slaughter. They kill because that's all they know how to do, and that's the only way they can survive. A mercenary does in fact eventually help someone down the line by doing what they do however. Be it guarding an official, or saving someone, so they aren't all bad.

Even thieves aren't all bad if you give them a chance. They tend to fight dirty, and have an ear for information on even the worst people. Stealing for them is just another way to get by, or in some messed up sense, a sport. A thieve knows the underworld as if it were the back of their own hand.

The low are just the madmen who only crave power. Not to just rule, only to have it in their grubby little hands and to know that they are superior to all, like kings on thrones. The power hungry don't care who they hurt be it friend or family to get whatever it is they want. Many of them feed off the misery and the suffering of the people just to watch them squirm. Power to people like this is a drug that is always abusesed.

At rock bottom there is only insanity. Men that only crave destruction, to watch the whole world around them burn right to the ground. You might be asking "why do they do that?", "What possible reason could there be to cause such mayhem?". Here is the kicker on whatever you believe... There is no reason. They take power and literally cause hell on earth. The only possible reason they'd want more power, would be to spread what pain they have to every part of this world. To prove that everyone in the world is really as messed up as themselves.

I can see why men crave power however. What people can do with even the tiniest piece of it is extraordinary to say the least. With enough power, anyone could hold life and death in the palms of their hands. And it's because I lacked power, that my one and only love died by mine. It's also why I spend every waking moment praying to whatever god would listen, that it had been me instead. That I had another chance.

I've seen what my weakness has cost me, and I will never let something like her death happen again. This I swear to my dying breath! I've lost too much, and should be dead too many times to break this oath! And as I write these words in this journal, I know nothing can ever free me from the sins and blood on my hands. But I don't want to be forgiven for I know I never can be. I just want to fight.

My name is Miles "Tails" Prower, and this is my story

(Unknown location)

Darkness. The all consuming black of the universe that never shows just what could be lurking inside its shadow. No matter how closely its looked upon and under any light, it never reveals its secrets or its sins. The tall hooded man expected it, and even welcomed the familiar ebony blanket that was his one true ally, as he walked down the hallway that seemed to consume everything.

Eventually he came to a pair of large steel doors that seemed to stand against the challenges of time itself with no problems. Thorns lashed out wildly on its edges as the head of a horned demon seemed to what you with cold calculating eyes. drawing his attention away from the grotesque thing were two guards in ebony armor that curled out words with spikes at the joints. there armor was so gnarled that the man often wondered how anyone could simply see out of such a thing. Both carried a thin saber along their belt with a pitch black sheath, and a black spear in one hand. At his approach each pounded on their chest plates and kneeled before him. At the same time the door opened as if on its own accord and the man strode into the chamber.

Four lone figures knelt in a large circular room filled with shadows, and the creatures that lurked within them. A large purple upside down pentagram seal imprinted on the floor began to glow softly with a figure at each point, standing as still as a statue. Each wore a hooded black robe that went all the way down to their ankles, with a strange ivory symbol imprinted on the back. They were surrounding a dark stone alter in the center of the room that reached at least twenty feet up to the ceiling. The statue showed a humanoid hunched over with his back bracing the ceiling like it was holding it up. what was off about this humanoid was that half of him was only his skeleton while the other showed a pale man with a black ravens wing.

"Report." Came a stern elderly voice. The newcomer flinched at the tone, he never did like this old man, but if his master bid him to then he would obey him.

"Our quarry has been located..." replied the newcomer in begrudging tone. It was slight but he could just pick out a Cheshire like evil grin underneath the shadow of the aged man's long hood.

"Excellent the day shall be soon when our master can once again walk among us," If possible the maniacal grin grew even more. "And this time no being, god or mortal, shall stop us!"

Authors Note

Wow its short! I decided on also writing this. Don't worry folks! I'm still writing 'Fade to Black' but I figured I would try my hand at multi-tasking stories.

I got the inspiration from two sources. One was the Aeons gate series by Sam Sykes, great read by the way if you can deal with all the gore, blood, adult themes, and crude yet witty humor. It's like a call of Duty meets 300 in a sense. The other source was from another Author on this site that goes by the name 'Dark side of the world' for his story 'Bloodtail: The Demon Hunter'. Again, a fantastic read, and worry not, NO ideas from your story are going to be ripped off by me. If it seems as if they are, I apologize in advance. The only idea I meant to use, was to use Tails for this.