Hello Everyone! I'm back with an update, but first some reviews and an announcement!
(FFN Reviews)
SuperSentai199: The twist was something I decided from the start, got to have conflict in there somewhere! :)
Piggon: You'll have to read and find out what will happen! Glad you enjoyed it!
SharpDragonKlaw: We'll have an update with Tails later in the chapter to see what he's going through; the twist was lots of fun to write!
TheGameNguyener: The question remains as to who the marine was, and why they're after Tails. I plan on giving more explanation in this chapter so have fun!
(AO3 Comments)
B_Rabbit14: Good to know you're on edge! :) I was a little scared for the execution of the last chapter, but judging by the reviews, I think it went much better than I expected!
In other news, we finally have cover art for this story! You can find a link to it here:
www*deviantart*com/hoshinousagi/art/Comm-Lost-and-Alone-786175427 (Replace the stars with periods)
That's everything for now, let's get going!
Test of Time
Captive Audience
"Where in the world would they even get one of those uniforms!?"
"I have no idea, they're only issued to royal marines, there's no way to get one as far as I'm aware." Sally explained, the two of them were trying to figure out exactly who had Tails, and more importantly, where he was being held.
"We still haven't ruled out Eggman."
"Yeah, but he's been missing for months. Not to mention the idea of him getting a guard uniform, it just doesn't make sense. If we had a motive it could help in ruling some things out, but as it stands, there's not anything!"
"I can't think of any reason somebody would want the newly orphaned son of two royal scientists, it can't be for a ransom because they knew Tails' parents were dead."
"See, that bugs me." Sally commented, "Because the Prower's records when we went and looked at them didn't list them as deceased, meaning-"
"How would they have known about it unless-"
"They were somehow involved!" They both exclaimed.
"Wait," Sonic solemnly questioned. "You don't think they would, kill him right?"
"It'll happen either way if they don't release him, you heard what Jarus said."
"Yeah, but, if it's really the same group responsible for Tails' parents, maybe they meant to…"
"Sonic, he'll be alright, we just need to focus on finding him."
"I know, I'm just concerned for the little guy."
"We'll figure it out, we just need to look at everything."
Sonic nodded and they continued going over any scrap of information they had, meanwhile, a certain fox was not having the best day of his life.
-X-
Tails sighed as he pressed his head to the reinforced glass that made up the front of his cell. There was nothing he could recognize down either direction, just like the last time he had checked. He sat back down on his small cot and tugged at the collar around his neck, it had gotten really annoying during the few days he had been here, though he still was unaware of it's purpose. He also had plasma shackles placed around his ankles, wrists, and tails. However they weren't activated, allowing him his full range of motion.
He flew up to the ceiling, looking for any vulnerability in his cell he could use. As usual, nothing presented itself. He slowly descended down to the ground, and caught his breath. Normally, he could fly for several minutes at a time, but the extra weight of all of his restraints made that significantly harder. He could only hover for a minute or so before needing to take a break. He figured with nothing better to do, he would lay down and take a nap, he had felt really tired for the past few days.
Just as he had gotten comfortable with his blanket, the door to his cell opened slightly, he instantly felt all of his restraints activate, locking his tails together behind him, and him arms together in front of him, and while he could still move his feet, they could only get a short distance from one another. He stood himself up and looked at the newcomer. He recognized it as Orbot, a small round robot plated in red steel, he had been Tails' 'Caretaker' for the time he had been here, bringing him his food and checking on him occasionally.
"Hello Tails, I require you to come with me." The newcomer spoke, as much as Tails didn't want to, he didn't seem to have a choice. He stepped out of his cell and followed Orbot down a maze of hallways. While he would have liked to, he knew he had no way of escape, he wouldn't get far at the speed he could move now, having to run as much as his restraints would allow to even keep up with Orbot. Attempting also could lead to him getting lost in the endless maze of corridors, along with angering his mysterious captor. Which, considering he was well fed, and had full freedom inside his cell, was not something he wanted happening.
They entered an elevator of sorts and Orbot directed it to ascend to its highest floor. After a short wait the doors opened again and he found himself in what appeared to be a command center of sorts, he was directed to a central area in the room and told to wait. Orbot left the room leaving him all alone, he tried to reach one of the computers to at least see if there was something he could use, however, he found that the restraint around his neck had tethered him to a hub in the floor, yanking back and delivering a short electric shock to the kit, causing him to let out a short yip in surprise.
His investigation was interrupted by a voice on his right. "Make yourself comfortable! From the looks of things, you're going to be here a while!"
Looking over to the voice he found a slightly rotund man, he wore a red and yellow uniform with black pants, glasses and a large mustache dominated his face.
"Who are you, what do you want with me!?" Tails questioned, anger and fear resonating in his tone.
"Please, you don't recognize who I am?"
"Not really, you kind of look familiar but I don't know from where."
"Nothing?" The man sighed to himself. "Children… Utterly Hopeless." He muttered. "I am the brilliant Dr. Eggman! All around genius and master tactician, and you are my precious little captive."
"What do you want me for?"
"Patience now, that would ruin all the fun wouldn't it! Though I must say, I didn't think you would even be still alive in the first place, this has been an interesting turn of events. I must inform Zero he'll get no more business from me after this latest assignment is finished."
"Wait, you killed my…" Tails began before total blinding rage took over, he launched himself at the doctor, only to be flung back to the ground and delivered a painful electric shock. He resolved to growling at the doctor, warning him of what would happen if he got out of his restraints.
"You're a feisty little one aren't you! However, I didn't mean for your parents to perish, I learned of your family's little excursion to the kingdom of Spagonia and so I bartered for the plane to be brought down, expecting to capture the three of you. Imagine my surprise when I learned you had all perished in the crash, with no signs of survival."
"What did you want with my parents?" Tails questioned, maybe getting him to keep talking could provide him some useful information.
"You see, I have a little, project I'm working on, their backgrounds would have proved immensely useful. But for now, I have other plans for you. I have a certain blue hedgehog and brown chipmunk that have been an immense pain in my side, and they both seem to have taken a certain liking to you."
"This is a hostage situation isn't it…" Tails commented, realizing the predicament he had found himself in.
"You catch on fast! I while the original plan was to stage the crash having been caused by the Spagonia military, causing a war. Then, when the dust settled, I'd swoop in and take them both out, leaving me to rule, I'll settle for this."
"Seems like a lot less then you bargained for."
"You have no idea how important you are to my plans, now, enjoy the rest of your stay."
Two large red robots, with a certain likeliness to their owner, restrained and carried the fox back to his cell. Once he was alone again he tucked himself back into his bed, letting out a short series of coughs as he tried to fall asleep.
-X-
Sonic and Sally were still naturally freaking out, they were still no closer to finding Tails, he had been missing for over a week now and royal marines had been sent out into the forest to try and locate any additional clues as to the location of the young Prower. Sonic had joined them, Sally was working on searching the city. There wasn't much additional information on Tails whereabouts and it seemed they had hit a dead end.
That was until he received a call from Sally on his phone.
"Hey Sonic, you're going to want to head back. There's a group of mercenaries attacking the city, they seem Eggman affiliated.
"On it Sal, I'll be there in a second."
Sonic dashed back to the city, where, he found the group of mercenaries Sally had mentioned. They appeared to be a group of jackals, Sonic counted about 5 or 6 in the group. One of them turned to face Sonic, he had a bright red sword in one hand and a small circular gemstone in the other, he recognized this as the Phantom Ruby, a gemstone he hadn't seen in a long time.
"Sonic! You've got some nerve coming here." The jackal yelled, "You cannot hope to stop us!"
"You done? Mr…"
"Call me Zero, now, prepare to be destroyed!"
Sally had arrived from defeating a outlying member of the Jackal Squad just as the two assaulted each other. The other members of the Jackal Squad were continuing to cause havoc and she moved to damage control and preventing them from engaging in the fight with Sonic. They seemed to have Eggman technology at their disposal, this wasn't going to be easy…
Alright guys, that's all for now! Let me know what you thought in a review, and stay tuned for the fight with Zero next time!
