Alterniverse: The Truth of the Heart
Morning in Knothole, and the Freedom Fighters were gathered around the table.
"Alright, who are we missing?" Sally groaned.
"Tails, Fi, and Amy." Sonic replied.
"That ain't lahke them... Tails is always on tahme, and wasn't Fi with you, Sugah-Hog?" Bunnie asked.
"She said she had something to go and do alone..."
"You think Tails might be following her again?" Knuckles cut in.
"He seems to prefer giving Fiona her space..." Rotor said. "I guess he's twigged that stalking her isn't gonna make her reciprocate."
"A lesson that Amy could stand to learn..."
"Sonic!"
"What? It's true!" He protested.
"That it may be, but still. Have some tact." Sally sighed, trying to hide a smile.
The light-hearted tone atmosphere was brought crashing down, however, when Amy burst through the door, tugging a livid Fiona behind her.
"Have you two been fighting again?" Sally demanded. Fiona pulled her wrist away, and glared at Amy, who glared right back. "Well, go on!"
"I saw her running out of the village, and shirking her duties again!" Amy yelled.
"Amy has a point..." Antoine mused. "You 'ave been disappearing lately..."
"Agreed... Do you mind telling us where you've been."
"I guess there's no point in hiding it anymore..." Fiona sighed, stepping forward. She reached into her pocket, and pulled out her Freedom Fighter badge, then slapped it against the table. "I quit."
The others stared at her, incredulous.
"Quit?" Sonic parroted, standing up and walking towards her. "Fi, what's up? Why're you leaving?"
"Because what you guys do isn't enough."
"Pardon?" Sally broke in, eyes hardening.
"What do you mean, we don't do enough?"
"I joined this team to end the war. I joined this team to make sure nobody else ever has to go through what I went through. No kids ever have to grow up in a cell, eating Mobini rats and drinking whatever won't poison them just to live, because the asshole in charge doesn't think they're useful as slaves. But if we keep doing it your way, that's never going to happen."
""Our way"?"
"You won't kill him. He's ruined countless lives, murdered people, tortured them, nuked a whole zone, and you give him a slap on the wrist and a snide remark. How many people have died, or lost their whole livelihoods because Eggman's still kicking?"
"Freedom Fighters don't kill."
"No, of course not. You're the Freedom Fighters. You fight for Freedom, but you never do anything to ensure it stays."
"Fi, Eggman's old. He'll be dead soon anyway."
"He's become adept at cheating death, even if he can't roboticize himself, he'll upload his brain into a computer or something, and pull the whole "series of robot bodies" thing again. And that's glossing over the part where we're trying to win a war of attrition against the guy who can churn out a whole army, primed, armed, and ready to kill in about five days, while if we want a new soldier, we've got to wait over ten years before they're even allowed to train, not to mention that last time he almost lost, he nuked an entire zone, and there's nothing to stop him from doing that to us!"
"He's no worse than Robotnik Prime, and it worked against him..."
The vixen took a deep breath, stepping away from the table.
"I read the files. I thought it was my job to know what we were up against. The first Robotnik died because Snively betrayed him. Robotnik would've died that day whether you were here or not. Hell, most of you weren't because you decided that Sonic had murdered Sally or something dumb like that. I noticed that, even though we get these people dead-to-rights almost every week, we always let them get away. You could've ended the war years ago, before I even joined up, but I don't even think you want the war to end."
"Huh?"
"Knuckles, you're here because you're hiding from your father. Your buddies from Angel Island are here because you are. Amy's here because she thinks Sonic might notice here if she smashes that next droid extra hard. Antoine and Bunnie are because they're Sally's friends. Rotor... I don't even know. Pacifistic, won't let his powerless troops carry guns to fight the heavily armed-and-armoured death machines that Eggman shits out on a daily basis, I got nothing. Sonic... well, he's easy. If Eggman lives, and the war continues, Sonic's the Hero of Mobius. Everybody loves him. If Eggman dies, and the war ends, then he's the nephew of the former inventor who owns a diner, and used to be the hero. He'd rather keep on living his perfect life as Mobius' hero than spend it waiting tables and occasionally opening a walmart. Sally wants to make sure her dad won't try and drag her into politics and succession and heir and all that crap again. Tails... I feel sorry for him. You brought him up. He doesn't know any better. He doesn't know any methods other than your way."
"Who are you to come in and say that!" Amy snarled, hammer appearing in her hand. "We were fighting the good fight when you were still skulking around in dusty temples, stealing things, and getting your tail handed to you by Rouge!"
"They were. You weren't. You didn't become a real Freedom Fighter until after I'd joined up." Fiona retorted. "But why split hairs? The point is, I'm going to do what you never could. I got in contact with Rouge, got her to supply me with a Warp Ring and the weapons I need. I'm going to do the bloody obvious, and do what should've been done years ago. I'm going to walk into Eggman's office, and shoot the fat bastard in the face."
Fiona turned on her heel, and walked out of the room, leaving them in stunned silence.
"Come on, let's get her!" Amy said, going for the door, only for Sally to block her path.
"We can't. Legally, she's done nothing wrong. All she's done is call us out for something she thinks we're failing the people of Mobius at... If we attacked her, then we'd be the criminals, by way of aggravated assault. If we arrested her for intent to murder, her target is Eggman, most of the law enforcement would provide her with a heavy bomber craft before they put her on trial."
"She consorted with Rouge..."
"Rouge is a government spy, it's not illegal. She's smart... she knew that whatever she said to us, she'd still be untouchable..." Sally sighed. "Don't worry, we'll get her in time, we just need her to give us reason to do so."
"Alright..." Amy groaned. "Sonic, are you-"
"I'm fine..." Sonic sighed. "I gotta say, looking at things from Fiona's point of view... I'd agree with her. I know that killing isn't the answer in my view... But... what if she gets results?"
"What do you mean?" Rotor asked.
"If she manages to kill Eggman, and makes sure everyone knows about it... What will the people think?" The hedgehog scratched his head.
"A lot of them will approve." Sally rubbed her chin, pacing around the room. "Even within the government, or the military, there are people who want a more permanent solution... It might actually be a problem with Tails..."
"How so?"
"Well, Fiona still likes him, and we all know how crazy he is about her. That's already an unnerving combination. But then you factor in his parentage." She explained, sitting in her chair again. "Rosemary is, despite her appearance, very hot-blooded. She did everything she could to keep fighting in the Great War, no matter what happened. It took becoming pregnant with Tails to finally get her out of service. Amadeus is a four-star general with a taste for melee combat, and he cared deeply for his entire force in the War. He didn't tolerate any death or serious injury without making sure the offending Overlander met a sticky end."
"Let me guess..." Bunnie piped up. "They're in the "Kill Eggbelly" camp."
"Got it in one..."
"It all adds up to a situation where tze girl he's in love with is going off to kill Eggman, his parents support tzat cause, and she not only still likes him, but would probably greatly appreciate his support..."
"Indeed..."
"Going back to Sonic's original question..." Sally drummed her fingers on the table. "If Fiona is hailed as a hero for what she does... then we wait. If her methods do manage to give us the edge against what remains after Eggman's death, then I suppose we apologize for taking a softer touch with the Freedom Fighter Code and allow lethal force. If she has a point, then we can't deny that... And I suppose we should probably be prepared to adapt to normal life afterwards, just in case."
"You can't be serious!"
"I am, Amy. She psychoanalyzed us in the space of a few seconds, and... I'll admit that I have been busying myself all the more since the incident with Patch, just to avoid my father... I don't know how right she was about the rest of us, I don't think the intentions are that selfish in any of your cases... but we have allowed this to go on longer than necessary. Even non-lethally, we could've arrested some of them..."
***
Fiona walked into a glade, and quickly located the crate that Rouge had left for her. The lid came off easily, and inside, she found a change of clothing, and several boxes of gear. She grabbed the new outfit, and headed into the brush to change with some degree of privacy.
Her new attire was similar in style to her old one- a yellow and white bodysuit. The major differences were the presence of proper legs, and the more open top end, supported by a pair of shoulder straps, and with a lower neckline. Beside that, she had heavier gauntlets, white with yellow rims, and what looked like a slightly more advanced version of her normal boots. She wrapped a belt around her midriff, which had several pouches clipped to it, along with scabbards for two shortswords.
The first weapon box contained a backpack of some sort, which, when opened, revealed a disassembled sniper rifle. The next contained what looked like an automatic shotgun, and the last had an assault rifle. The latter two attached easily to the backpack for the former, which she slung over her back. Flicking her tail, she sighed heavily, before grabbing the Warp Ring, and opening it.
"Wait!" A familiar voice called to her. She froze, ears folding back, and turned around, seeing Tails land in front of her. "Fiona..."
"I thought you might show up..."
"What happened, why are you going?"
"I'm going to take the fight into my own hands, just to make sure the war ends. We aren't going to beat Eggman this way, and I realised that no-one was going to deviate from what Sally wants, so I have to break away."
"Will I see you again?" He asked. His eyes were watering, and Fiona closed her own, approaching him. She stooped slightly, and pulled him into a hug.
"You will. I promise. And hey, this way, maybe those "When the war is over" conversations might actually come true."
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to kill Eggman. I'm going to Warp Ring into his office, and unload multiple clips into him. I'm going to kill that slimy, treacherous goblin too, I'm going to make sure the world knows what happened to them. You watch, I'll end the war, one way or the other."
"Well... good luck, I guess." He said, his shoulders shaking a little, and his voice wobbling. "I-if you need anything..."
"I know who to call." She smiled. "I'll see you soon, Tails."
"I'll be waiting, I guess?"
Fiona took another deep breath, unlimbered the shotgun, before stepping through the Warp Ring, casting a final roguish grin to Tails, and flicking a two-fingered salute his way, before she faded into the ether, and the ring snapped shut.