A Team without Tails: Part 1
He always hated these sorts of days. Looking out the main viewport of the central RAS tower in his compound, Commander Brutus' mind drifted back when he was still flesh and bone. When he had been the absolute ruler of an entire island and many tribes cowered in fear of the meer mention of his name. Robotnik's right fist, they had called him, the crimson butcher of Down Unda. But now, those times seemed so far and away. He had held power in a more orderly world, where war, martial Julian ruled the islands with an iron glove and order was made out of the chaos. Those were productive times when every mobian knew their place under the thumb of the superior creature that was man. Every animal knew their place and those who resisted became well-oiled machines themselves. Life was good then and Brutus was well-rewarded for all his hard-work. But times had changed. Julian was gone and his nephew had turned out to be an incompetant buffoon and the rebels had managed to spread anarachy among the islands undoing all the hard work Julian had achieved in bringing peace to these lawless lands. Now, he, Brutus would restore effiency to these foolish mobians and strip away this misguided chaos that they called freedom.
"Commander Brutus." A loud voice called out to him. The badnik general turned to find three hooded mobians in robes facing him. The trio each wore gold medallions with Julian's angry face enblazened upon them. The three had obviously come to check upon the commander's progress and he knew they would be pleased with the results.
"Ah, gentlemen." Brutus greeted them, trying to sound as pleasant as possible... a difficult challenge for him. "I trust you are all here in preparation for my next great triumph?"
"We are here to ensure there will be a triumph, commander." One of the hooded figures complained. "All you've managed to do so far is attack Miles Prowler and his team in their own base and then manage to spare their lives after utterly defeating them as well as attacking downtown Starlight City and failing to terminate the recently resurrected monarch of South Island."
"Gentlemen, you are not even aware of my other projects which are nearly ready to be tested." Brutus replied. "Trust me, when they are enacted the defeat of the freedom fighter led government will be sweet music to your ears."
"But what is that project?" Another of the hooded trio demanded. "And what is the latest scheme you have summoned us down here for?"
"As to the first matter, I can not tell you at this time. Suffice to say, you will be well-pleased with the results." Brutus smiled. "But as to what my latest plot is, I plan to remove the very heart of Team Tails, cutting off the head of the snake before it can bite us." Brutus walked over and pressed a button on the computer bringing up an image of Tails, Rocket, and Greywolf. "The team leader, their mystic, and the shapeshifter. The brains, the strength, and the heart of the team. Remove them and Team Tails will be powerless before us."
"And how do you plan to accomplish this feat?" the third of the hooded trio asked. "They will be ready for your third generation swat bots this time and will not fall so easily."
"I am not sending those robots out after our three targets." Brutus replied, turning to a set of nearby stairs leading upwards. "Unit Alpha Bravo, I command you to come down and stand before me."
"Aw, man. Do I have too?" A robotic voice with a bit of attitude grumbled. "I just started watching "South Island's hottest fembots on Mobius TV and I wanted to listen to some thrash before I went surfing, dude."
"You will obey my commands, you miserable scrap pile." Brutus shouted at whoever was up the stairs. "I'm sorry about that, gentlemen. He can be very tempermental. It's part of being a robot of his young age."
"What came down the stairs was a large silver robot with two distinguishing features. A flat circular head and two crooked antennae coming out. A pair of blue spheres on the end of each antennae seemed to glow and flash in the dim light.
"Gentlemen, my I present the directional operational omnipresent fusion-unit supreme. Our latest weapon in the war against those accursed rebels." The three hooded figures, stared at the commander dumbfounded.
"Uh, commander." One of them stated. "I hate to complain but you should really work on the names you give your machines." The second hooded figure was not as diplomatic.
"A... doofus? You're sending a doofus to complete this mission?" The hooded figure threw his arms in the air in disgust. "What next are you going to send a moron to capture Princess Acorn or perhaps an idiot to destroy King Sonic."
"Hey man, you're seriously ruining my groove." Doofus replied, streching out his right arm, he grabbed one of hooded figures my the throat and pulled him up close. "So, drop the negative karma, man. Okay?"
"All right, fine." The hooded figure choked out, coughing and sputtering as doofus dropped him. "I take it back, commander. This doofus is the best choice to deal with those mobian fools."
"So, glad you see things my way." Brutus replied as the doofus unit walked out of the the audience chamber. "Before this day is done, I will have the three core rebels within our grasp."
At Team Tails' headquarters, things seemed a little quieter than usual. It had never occurred to the two-tailed fox just how noisy and hectic all his friends could be but with the girls all away at a fashion show in Station Square; Rocket and Greywolf meditating upstairs. Tails actually had some quiet time to himself.
Having so much free time on his hands, the fox had decided to do some extra work on he Tornado. Something he hadn't been able to spare a moment for since, the shattered world crisis a while back.
"Gee, it sure is boring around here. But then, this is the peace that all true warriors strive for." Tails thought to himself, using a wrench to tighten a bolt's underside. "I just wonder what that Brutus fellow is up to right now."
At that moment, a haunting voice began to fill the air.
"Miles." it stated, causing Tails' ears to perk. "Miles."
"What who's there?" He asked, sliding out from underneath the plane and sitting upright. "Who is it? Who is there?" Looking over towards, the door that made his jaw drop. A golden fox with yellow hair and a long swishy tail stood in the doorway. A radiant light around her light some kind of angel from the realm of the walkers. Her warm smile made tears form in Tails' eyes and her deep blue eyes made him want to sob in sorrow.
"M-Mother?" Tails whimpered. His bottom lip quivering. "Is that really you?"
"Oh, Miles. It's been so long since I've seen you, sweety." The vision was of Zooey Artemisa Prowler. "It's been so long since your father and I have seen you. Why don't you come here and give me a hug?"
Normally, Tails would have been a bit more suspicious of an apparition like this, but that voice, those eyes, the huanting image before him overcame his logic. And the happily laughing fox rushed forwards into Zooey's waiting arms. And then, Tails knew only knew darkness.
In the room above, Greywolf was practicing his wolf pack knife fighting in the training area. Having completing his meditation session with Rocket, the honored member of the wolf pack swung his blade in the air performing several martial arts moves that had been handed down through his pack for centuries.
"Swift and fierce is the way of the warrior." He muttered, quoting one of the wolf pack's oldest axioms. "But the warrior whois not ready for the unexpected will most certainly meet an unexpected end."
"That's always been your problem you know." Familiar voice chatted him. "You're always looking ahead for the unexpected rather than noticing what's going on around you." Greywolf looked up, surprised to see a blue mobian wolf standing before him.
"Brother Folker Wolf, what are you doing here?" Greywolf asked in surprise. "The last thing I had heard you took off with Carrotia, Baronger, and the rest of that Witchcart gang."
"I decided to come back and pay my little brother a visit." The wolf snarled, smiling to reveal a set of fanged teeth. "You and I have some unfinished business and it's high time that we settled it."
"Oh, so you want to talk about the past do you?" Greywolf glared at him. "Do you want to speak of how you and Sleet betrayed our tribe? Of how, Princess Lupe had to kick you out after the two of you sold out our hiding place to Julain?"
"Yes brother, there is a lot I wish to discuss with you?" As Folker drew close, Greywolf swiftly spun around and kick his sibling backwards. The surprised Folker stumbled back into the shadows only to emerge as Greywolf's younger brother.
"Boy, you just keep making mistakes don't you kid." Sleet whispered, pulling his cape up with one arm. "You always stuck with that honor junk and never saw the only way to survive in this world is to only care about number one."
"That is no more true than the idea that you are my dead brother." Greywolf snarled, hurling his knife straight at the impostor's chest. "I know a fellow skinwalker when I see one. Die, foul monster." The knife stuck in the other wolf's chest floating there like it had been thrust into tree sap. Silver goo oozed out all around the knife as the Sleet imposter turned itself into a puddle. "What trickery is this?" He asked in surprise. But before he could shapeshift or react, the puddle quickly engulfed him cutting off his supply of air as he struggled against its' silvery grip.
In a room on the other side of the training area, Rocket the sloth sat meditating as the silver figure quietly stepped into the room.
"Ah, I know you're in here, man." Rocket stated without even opening his eyes. "I welcome a fellow cosmic traveler on the universe's sea of tranquility, even if said traveler is made of metal instead of flesh."
"Like wow, man. You saw through my disguise and illusions." Doofus replied, standing in front of the silent guru. "So, are you going to try and use your mumbo jumbo powers to stop me."
"No, that is not the way of my aura." Rocket replied, not even looking up. "My chosen path is the path of no resistance. I bend like a reed in the wind before your unstoppable hurricane of force."
"So wait." Doofus asked in confusion, scratching his head. "You aren't even going to try and stop me from kidnapping you and your two friends?"
"Why should I exert the effort, man? It would be like a leaf landing on the water and trying to resist the pull of the current." Rocket answered. "I will not exhaust myself in a course of action at serves no purpose."
"Serves no purpose?!" Doofus raised his arms flying into a rage. "How's about I pound you into sloth jelly? That would give you a purpose to fight me."
"Ah, but you will not do that." Rocket reassured him. "For you too are a cosmic traveler and you also realize the futility of wasting energy with no purpose. Why beat me into a pile of mush when you can simply take me as an unresisting captive? Such would be a much easier path."
"WHY YOU!?" Doofus screamed, pounding his foot against the ground. "I OUGHT TO...!" Stopping himself, Doofus merely shrugged, before picking up the passive sloth over his head and carrying him out of the room. "That does it. I'm not going to argue with you, man." The robot admitted in defeat.
Having secured the three prisoners, the unconscious Tails and Greywolf in glass holding cells and Rocket, still in his meditative position, merely placed on a transport; the robot hauled his three captives out of the team's headquarters and back towards the RAS compound.