A few hours pass, and the sun still isn't up but everyone in Marcus' house is wide awake. Tails takes a seat on the long brown leather couch, Cream sits beside him and Marcus sits on a reclining chair, listening to Tails as he recollects what happened while he was in Miles' building. Manic and his gang of thieves sit along the floor of the living room, and Espio quietly thinks to himself in a room at the back of the house
"..I know he's got something planned, I remember him talking about that before Espio came in.. and whatever he's doing, it's not just in one place" Tails says
"What, like a terrorist attack or something?" Marcus asks
"I don't know, but it's nothing good.. god, I feel sick. Whatever that glove did, my body isn't adjusting right.."
The fox stands up and goes into the kitchen, keeping his eye on Manic as he passes the green hedgehog. Manic stares him in the eyes, but says nothing. He notices scratches and a large red mark around Tails' neck, then heads for the door
"Going out for a smoke.." Manic calls to the group as he leaves
Tails hears coughing in the basement as he walks by the door that leads downstairs, and looks back at the group
"Is.. is there someone else down there?" Tails asks
Before anyone can answer, Tails runs downstairs to see who's down here for himself, causing Cream and Marcus to jump up and follow him. They get down the stairs just as the fox sees Celia at the back of the room
"Celia? What are you, what the...? They got you all chained up, what the hell is this, guys?" Tails asks
"Tails, we needed to keep her down here just in case-"
"You're takin' her prisoner down here? What's that about? Come on, unlock this shit!" Tails orders
Marcus throws Tails the key and the fox takes the cold steel chains off the ferret's wrists. Tails helps her stand up and up the stairs, while Cream gets upset but says nothing. The fox gets Celia some food and sits her on the living room couch. Cream and Marcus join in as well
"What the hell is wrong with you, huh? You don't treat anyone like this, that's 17th century type stuff!" Tails yells to Cream and Marcus
"Glad to see who you really give a shit about, Tails. Her, over your girlfriend!" Cream shouts back
Manic steps into this conversation at the perfect time
"Thought you said you broke up with him?" Manic grins at Cream
"I didn't say that! What are you-"
"Oh, is that how it goes, sweetie? Once I'm useless you kick me to the curb and move on? huh?" Tails asks
"Did I mention she kissed me too" Manic asks the fox
Tails looks at Manic, then back at Cream "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah bro, legit" Cream looks at Manic angrily and he gives her a big smile "If I were you I wouldn't be judgmental, over there, princess" Manic says to Cream
Marcus quickly grabs Manic by his vest and pulls him outside "Alright, I've had enough of your shit, punk!"
Manics' gang of thieves follow the two, leaving Tails looking at Cream and Celia on the couch, still eating a bag of chips
"Tails, a lot of shit has happened the last few days, Manic is just causing more-"
"I don't know who I should listen to, a lowlife thief like him, or my girlfriend who has a lot to say when I'm not around. You actually kissed that piece of-"
"DON'T even go there, you kissed her, first! You cheated on me!" Cream shouts
"Listen, it was a mistake. She admitted it, apologized and it was done. Like Manic said, you broke up with me so technically it didn't count as cheating… speaking of that guy, Manic? Really? I get I wasn't there for you, but him? look at him! tattooed thief.." Tails says
"Exactly what you just said, it was a mistake, Tails. and he came on to me, so don't pull that.. as much as you guys want to stick together, he's lying if he says I approached him, and Marcus can prove that! And you can't judge the guy I kissed, look what you put your lips on - that THING!" Cream points at Celia, still eating away
The arguing continues for about five more minutes when finally a loud bang sounds out, causing everyone to cover their ears. Tails looks up and sees Espio standing in the doorway with a hand gun still smoking from the shot. Marcus and Manic run inside to see what's happening
"Enough. Talk. End this, now" Espio says ominously as he walks in the living room
"Why should we, Espio? look at everything that's-"
"I want you to remember what he said about 20 minutes ago" Espio looks at Tails
The fox's eyes go wide "Shit!"
"What?" Manic asks
"Miles… whatever he's got going, it has to be started already!" Tails answers
"And we don't have much time.." Marcus adds
"So, end this right now" Espio orders
Tails looks over at Cream, both stay silent
"I said Now!"
Tails sighs "Cream, look I'm sorry, alright? Everything I've said and done, I'm sorry"
"Yeah, I am too. I'm sorry, Tails.." Cream says quietly "But we are still broken up right now, and I'm still pissed off at you..."
"Good enough for me, now lets get out there" Espio says
Manic looks at his friends and nods at them, then one by one they all turn around and walk the opposite way. He doesn't say a word, just leaves and the group takes off back towards the city. Tails and Cream look surprised, and Marcus walks to the door and looks outside
"Manic! Where you goin'? Damnit! That coward!" Marcus shouts
"Looks like it's just us the four again" Espio says
"Five.." Celia stands up and looks at Tails "I'm going with you guys"
Tails doesn't say anything, neither Espio or Marcus. Cream looks at the ferret, but sighs and agrees. The five make their way into the city and for a final confrontation with Miles. Tails checks his pockets, looking for something but can't find it
"Espio, did you grab my phone back in the building?" Tails asks
"Couldn't see it anywhere"
Cream looks at Tails "Is it that important to you, at this very moment?"
"Well, yeah. Since you guys could track my phone, I could track where anyone in Miles' gang or he himself are right now.." Tails answers
"Right, I'll give it a try.." Espio says as he pulls out his phone. He tries to track Tails' phone but has no luck "My tracker won't work, says the signal is blocked"
"I bet the phone was caught in the fire, damnit.." Tails says
A menacing laugh comes from Espio's phone, surprising everyone
Your tracking won't work this time. Two times is enough, Assholes!
"Miles has my phone, and disabled the track… which means.."
Tails runs to Espio and Cream and tackles them down as a missile zooms past them, then explodes 30 feet away from the group. Marcus looks around and spots Miles' crew everywhere around the forest area wielding guns. Marcus pulls Celia down under the leaves and out of sight of the gunfire
Cut them down to pieces, guys! Blow up the whole forest if you gotta!
Marcus and Celia crawl over to Tails, Cream and Espio, trying to avoid being shot. The five stay low as guns spray the area with bullets
"Any plans?" Marcus asks
"If we.. take a few down, we can take their guns and force them back, but-"
Another explosion rocks the forest, shaking everything and everyone around. Trees go flying into the air, catching fire and landing on other trees, which ignites more
"Those explosions are gonna kill us" Espio says
"Yeah, that's what I'm saying.. Espio, how's your aim?" Tails asks
"Moderate for a ninja I'd say"
"Use your star things and go for the legs, it'll cripple them and you can keep your head down"
"On it"
Within seconds, over a quarter of the thugs go down, screaming in pain, but Skyline is still vastly outnumbered. Espio returns back to Tails and lays low
"I'm out, you got a plan B?"
"Okay, uh.. oh okay. Marcus, your throw me as hard as you can and I'll take em' down by the legs"
"How, like throw you in the air or.."
"No, like, uh.. like throwing a bowling ball, I'll use my Tails to propel myself across the ground and chop them down" Tails explains
"Oh, okay, got it" Marcus says
"Use both arms too, and when they drop, everyone take a gun and head for the city, and move fast!" Tails orders
The fox wraps his Tails together while Marcus grabs him by the shirt, then in a flash Tails is thrown away. He uses his Tails to glide a few inches off the ground and puts his arms out. The gunmen get confused, seeing some go down and leaves flying everywhere, and soon they start to retreat. Tails doesn't lose any speed, and chops down the thugs at the legs
Espio is the first to get up and run to the thugs, punching them and taking their guns. Marcus and Cream run up to him and take guns of their own. Celia hesitantly gets up and joins the group. Tails picks up a gun and flies into the sky, shooting at the retreating gunmen. He looks down at the forest, and waves at his friends to come. He lands on the ground and meets with his group
"Everyone alright?" Tails asks
"All good here, what's next?" Marcus asks
"We need to get rid of that phone, Miles is tracking our every move, he'll send as much backup as he can get.."
"I've got an idea, I'll hold onto the phone and split up from you guys. He'll have a hard time tracking me if I'm scaling buildings when I'm totally invisible" Espio says
"Yeah, and we'll go in and take down his crew" Cream says
"And smash some heads until they tell us where his ass is hiding!" Marcus says
"Exactly. Now, lets move!" Tails orders
Espio nods and turns invisible, Marcus picks up another AK-47, Cream wields two pistols in each hand, Tails takes a tech nine sub machine gun, and puts a shotgun in the strap of his backpack. Celia takes a throwing knife, almost dropping it for how heavy it is.
The group take caution as they make their way back into town through the tunnels and side streets.
It takes about half an hour before the group make it to the city, and are surprised at what they see. Buildings on fire, cops being chased by thugs and half the power in the whole city is off. The sun starts to rise but the smoke from the city covers the sky, and turns it a firey orange colour. Citizens run through the burning city, screaming in terror as gunfire sounds out, and countless screams from many people all around the city make it very uncomfortable to be around.
Tails walks down the street by himself, looking up towards the sky. He ducks a punch and knees a thug in the face, still locked onto this image in the sky. Marcus, Cream and Celia look up and see it too
"What the hell has he done to this place?" Marcus asks
Cream gets a text from Espio and reads it
-Found him-
