Most people see me as nothing more than a sidekick. Someone who never leaves my best friend's side. But I'm far better than that. I'm a warrior. And I'll prove it now. I have found our enemy's true base of operations, an abandoned fortress codenamed Fort Zeta. And I'm gonna bring it down.

I mercilessly plowed through endless amounts of guards, body doubles, and illusions. I am not one who fears. I am one who fights, and wins. With skill and percision, I ended the lives of all who stood in my way. No one saw my move coming. No one took me seriously when I approached them. I proved to them that I am not to be underestimated by any means. With my power, The Aura, I blasted through the ranks of these men and creatures. Eventually, I came to our enemy's lair.

"I always knew you'd find your way here someday, and see past the illusions that you had defeated before, Sonic." A voice said. The voice belonged to a man named Ivo Robotnik.

"I am not Sonic." I told him as I rounded the corner. He stared at me in disbelief. He was clearly in denial of my capabilities.

"Tails?!" He exclaimed. "How? You are no fighter! You are the fledgeling that rides on the back of its mother!"

"Is that what you think? Because you are dead wrong, and soon to be just dead."

Ivo stepped into a stance and put up his guard. I followed suit into my own, ready for whatever battle awaited me. He charged, and attempted a double flying front kick. I easily blocked both, and kicked him in the chin. Ivo's head snapped back, and he hit the ground.

"Surely you can do better." I taunted.

"I'm just warming up!" Ivo said angrily.

"Good."

Ivo got up and threw several jabs before I put him in an armbar. I kicked him several times in the face, and hyperextended his elbow, causing a loud crack to be heard. He soon fell to the ground, horribly wounded.

"Please, I'm just a messenger." Ivo pleaded.

"You, who is hell bent on my death and that of my friends, and who enslaved so many to your evil, now beg for my generosity?" I said, then kicked him. "You, who wanted world domination, and total control over all in a totalitarian reign, ask for mercy?! I think not!"

I summoned an orb of Aura energy, then threw it at Ivo, vaporizing him.

One may question why I did not do what I did sooner. Why I waited until I declared enough to end this man's life. I had to. I had to protect my identity. Confused? I would think so. But my backstory is a tale I've already divulged to a few.

I planted bombs in key points of Fort Zeta, so that no one else would use this base as a front for their evils. When it detonated, I watched from a nearby cliff. A man that terrorized my world for so long was finally ended. But at what cost? With my past revealed, old enemies would come for me again, like the ones who resided within the ships that hovered overhead.

"Now we're in trouble." I said to myself. "It's only just beginning."

Ivo said he was but a messenger, and now I knew to whom. The ships that hovered overhead belonged to a race called the Infernata. I teleported back to my base, and spoke with my friends, who already knew of my past.

"What do we do?" One of my friends, Blaze asked.

"You hold them back from landing, I'll deal with them." I replied.

"I know this is personal, but let us help you." Another by the name of Knuckles requested.

"This is my fight, my time to prove myself. All of yours will come. But until then, stay the fuck out of my way."

I walked outside my base, and jumped into the air, using my twin tails to fly up to the main ship. I had become more powerful than the Infernata could imagine, but I still could not obliterate them with one blow. I would need to go to the source, the core of the ship. An Entropy Bind tied the fates of all the ships to the one I was on, and I intended to use that to my advantage. One dies, they all die.

Suddenly, figures began to warp in, but they were not Infernata, nor was the warping technology. I soon recognized their race. One of them stepped up to me.

"Miles Prower." He said. "We are the Elite Core, the last of Aiur's defenses, and we will fight alongside you." It was Karass, a High Templar of the Protoss race.

I had heard of the Elite Core, it was a unit of five of the mightiest living warriors of the Protoss, High Templar Karass being one of them. The others being Praetor Cretoss of the Zealots, Havazhael of the Immortals, Stalker Executor Savanteras, and Tesamaug, a technological and weapons genius.

"We have to find the Entropy Bind signal tower." I told the Protoss. "We take that down, all of the Infernata die."

"Very well." Havazhael said.

"The highest concentration of energy on this ship is in the main control room, where one can infer that that's where the signal is coming from." Tesamaug stated while looking at a screen in his hands.

"Then we go there." I said.

For some reason, no Infernata patrolled the halls, nor did any alarms go off. We soon came to a door that read CONTROL ROOM above it.

"It's no doubt a trap." I said. "Anything behind there, Tesamaug?"

"A high concentration of Infernata, but the signal can be hit with a well-calculated shot." Tesamaug replied.

"Can you make that shot?" I asked.

"Given the material the protective layer is made of, a blast conjured by The Aura can take it out. But other than that..."

I then knew what to do.

"I need everyone to create a diversion, draw them away from me while I charge Full Blast. I need ten seconds at the most."

"We can give you ten seconds." Karass confirmed.

"You won't have that kind of time!" An Infernata shouted from behind as it uncloaked.

Everyone readied their guns or powers, including myself.

"Karass!" I said. I then began speaking in the Protoss language, and what I meant was as follows: "Create a diversion long and chaotic enough for me to slip out!"

Karass then spoke in Protoss to his men: "Elite Core! There will be no new dawn for us, but our sacrifices will ensure the universe's survival. Adun Toridas!"

The Protoss began firing at every Infernata in sight. I blasted a hole in the ceiling and against most odds, flew through it undetected. Soon, the shooting ceased. I was all that stood between the Infernata and universal domination. My true time of proving had come. Rise or fall. That was my choice.

I knew I couldn't go for the Signal Tower directly, so I decided to go for the core of the ship. I started running towards the core of the Infernata ship. Suddenly, a voice called out.

"TAILS!"

I stopped and looked into the nearby room from which the voice came from.

"Who are you?" I asked as I saw a human, chained and below a large contraption that I recognized as a Soul Reaver, a device that powers massive things through the life force of a sentient being.

"My name's Eelis. Eelis Tychanerlarosis. Are you gonna get me off this thing?"

"You probably ran when they took your world. Until you couldn't take another step." I said to Eelis. "I remember that feeling."

The sound of orders being barked echoed through the halls.

"I had no choice!" Eelis stuttered.

"You always have a choice."

Several Infernata walked into the room.

"We're going to die here, aren't we?" Eelis asked, seemingly hopeless.

"No." I replied. "As long as I'm here, they are the prey. And I am the hunter."

I turned around and blasted the Infernata with the power of The Aura, and spawned my Kodachis, the Bloodbringers. When the Infernata shot at me, I deflected the shots with the Bloodbringers, and sliced through every one of them. Soon, the squad of two dozen were dead.

"You always have a choice, Eelis." I said to him. "Hunted, or hunter."

I destroyed the chains and extended my hand towards Eelis, who took it. I helped him up, and spawned an earth-style pistol.

"Know how to use one of these?" I asked Eelis as I handed it to him.

Eelis took the weapon.

"Yes." Eelis replied.

"Good, you'll have to. One shot will do with that particular Aura-Infused weapon, and the bullets won't run out."

We proceeded throughout the ship, and to the core, annihilating all Infernata that dared stand in our way. When we got to the core, it looked like a small star. Eelis shot at it, but the bullet was absorbed by the core's massive energy output.

"We'll need something with a bigger punch." Eelis said.

Now was the time to charge Full Blast. I extended one hand, leaned back on the opposite leg, and a blue ball of Aura energy formed. When the sphere reached its maximum size, I launched it at the core, which resulted in an energy overload. The core became unstable, and started to distort itself.

"We've gotta get outta here!" Eelis shouted.

"Take my paw." I told Eelis. Once he did, I teleported us out of the ship and onto Mobius, just outside the base. The bodies of many Infernata lay there, undoubtedly the efforts of my friends' defense of the base. The main Infernata ship exploded in a spectacular display of the volatile nature of the Star Core they were using. Shining greater than Mobius's sun, it was followed by a series of smaller explosions, which were of the other ships. One of my friends, Shadow ran outside.

"Tails!" Shadow exclaimed. "You did it!"

"Not only that," I replied. "I showed the universe what I'm made of, and then some. They will know my capabilities before I am finished with my existence."

I was commended for heroic valor in the face of death across the worlds, but I made sure they remembered Karass and the Elite Core. Despite their brief role in the fight, they made all the difference in the universe.

But my duty was far from over. I knew dark times were ahead, now that everyone knew what I was capable of, and who I was. But I stood ready, and defended. As did the rest of my friends. We all have our battles to fight, and what matters is not whether we won or lost, but whether we fought them with our best. After all, the worst thing you can do is nothing at all. And by no means did I run with everyone else, away from danger. I ran into the hurricane, and stood fast to the wind.

Know this, I will no longer hide my identity out of fear, or hide it at all. Everything you thought you knew about me, everything that suggested I was mentally handicapped, or was a hinderance, that was all an act. But I will act no more, and the universe will know the name of Miles Karass Prower, Universal Defender.