Chapter XBlack Sunrise...
(This chapter's a bit shorter than the others...sorry people Flu's kick'n my a$$...but to make it up the next will be twice as long...also I've decided to extend the fic itself to fit more story to it)
It had taken Vyce over a month to heal his wounds given to him by Tails...he was not informed that his opponent was Technopathic. It didn't really matter but, it did complicate matters much further than before. His partner stayed in the shadows at all times, Vyce had never even seen the man's face...but the man as he knew so far was a guineas, Vyce could easily compare his intellect to that of his counterpart...
Vyce turned away from the capsules holding his mechanized friends, "The cryptic systems on these pods are infuriating...no matter what I try I can't get through." He said punching Mecha Sonic's capsule.
"The encrypted program was designed so that it will change itself ever day at roughly the same time...that is why I need Miles alive," The dark figure in the background said in a malicious voice, " His Technopathy could crack that system without so much as a second thought...and I know just how to make him complaint..."
Attached to the arm of the man's chair was a small screen which he spun about to give his partner a better view of what he was studying...It was a picture of Tails locked in a passionate embrace with Kara..
"Bring that vixen to me..."
Vyce smiled at the picture, he now had an upper hand to play against Tails, "Right away, sir."
As Vyce left the building he could hear the man's booming laughter, "Then we'll see how far he'll go for her...before he dies with her."
(Meanwhile at Tails's place...)
Tails was cleaning his guns when there was a knock at his door...he slowly lay down Dusk which was in several pieces on his workbench, and made his way to the front door. He was surprised when he found that it was Espio who was visiting. He had something wrapped in a white cloth tied to his back; he was wearing a pair of black jeans and a matching muscle shirt...
"You appear to be well." Espio said as he was invited through the door. "And how is Kara? I hear the two of you are engaged."
"Wow...that got around fast."
"Come now...you know that as soon as Sally heard she called everyone she knew." Espio said pulling the object from his back, "Here..."
"What's this for?" Tails asked.
"A gift...for the most action I've seen in years."
Tails pulled a small string at one end of the five foot thing and the cloth fell to the floor; beneath was a beautiful katana, it's scabbard was wrapped in dark blue leather, the tsuba (hilt) was made of silver and was designed as a dragon coiling about itself, the handle was a bit longer than usual wrapped in the same blue as the scabbard, and as he pulled it free the blade gave off the shine of polished steel.
"It's beautiful...but I don't know how to use a sword...I mean I know the mechanics of it and all but, the art is completely alien to me."
"Yes but you'll learn...it's always a good idea to keep something like it on hand...guns run out of ammunition...those don't." The chameleon pointed out, "Then again; one man's pride seeks another man's poison."
Tails made some tea and set his new weapon on the table where Espio sat, "So any luck?" Tails asked from the kitchen.
"Sadly no..." Espio replied, "...wherever that Vyce character went, the place wasn't meant to be found."
"Great..." Tails said setting a cup before his friend and moving to the end of the table with his own, "...so, any ideas?"
Espio inhaled the sent from his cup before taking a small drink, "All we can do is wait...and hope his next attack isn't a full assault."
Hours passed before Kara finally made her way through the front door, she tossed her things on the couch and walked over to Tails kissing him deeply, she didn't even acknowledge that Espio was there... Who simply drank his tea and waited to continue his conversation, but he noticed the two foxes hands beginning to roam...He coughed into his fist...
"I could disappear but, I'd still be in this room."
"Oh sorry Espio...I didn't notice you." Kara said as they broke away from one another.
Truth be told she was used to having the vulpine all to herself, and was also used to having him whenever she wanted...
"Perhaps I should go..."
Kara took a seat on her finance's lap, "No...you came all the way here...maybe you should stay a few days, the couch is a bed."
"Wouldn't be a bad idea..." Tails said, "...we have a lot of things to do...I'd be easier if you were here."
Espio found no fault in the logic, and nodded finishing his tea, "Point taken...but do me a favor? Keep the love scene in the bedroom please."
"Sorry again Espio." Kara said climbing off of her seat, "Well I think I'll go take a shower before dinner." She finished rubbing Tails's ear before walking away.
Espio looked confused as Tails stared at his vixen while she walked away, he was leaning to one side so much that he nearly fell out of his chair. Espio turned his neck to one side to see that Kara was not only walking very slowly, but was moving her hips and tail from side to side as she walked, it even appeared a bit seductive to the chameleon, who scoffed a bit louder than he intended...
"What are you doing?" He asked Tails.
"Huh?" Tails replied blankly.
"Go..." Espio said tilting his head toward the door Kara had just gone through, "...I'll handle dinner."
"You really don't mind?"
"Miles...I've been in your position before...but instead of embracing her with every chance I got I took her for granted..." Espio said standing up, "...when the disease took her from me there was no going back. I regretted every day I didn't take her in my arms...don't make the same mistake." The chameleon finished patting the fox's shoulder on his way to the kitchen.
As Espio entered the kitchen he could hear Tails running across the floor and then a slamming door. He could clearly hear everything that was happening; some of the things he heard even made even him blush, but it was Tails's house, so Espio figured the two should be allowed to do anything they wanted. About an hour went by and Tails came downstairs still a bit damp from the shower. They all ate the grand meal that Espio had prepared, Tails and Espio afterwards headed down into Tails's lab where they talked over their next move but the day passed faster than it seemed it should have...
Espio lay on the couch without a blanket despite the obviously cold climate, and as they did most nights Tails and Kara slept in Tails's hammock, to allow Espio a more peaceful sleep they managed to keep the noise down, despite the fact that he didn't care. It was nearly 10 o'clock when Tails fell asleep...
Tails woke with a start as someone was calling his name very lightly...
"...iles...Miles wake up."
As Tails noticed a purple chameleon he attempted to cover Kara's body up, "What the hell are you..."
Espio quickly clamped a hand over the vulpine's muzzle while placing a finger to his lips, "Shhhh...Can you hear that?"
As Tails perked up his ears he heard a slight noise...like short bursts of gunfire at a long distance, Tails sat up in his hammock and studied the sounds for a moment...
"MX-9s...but those are military."
Espio was amazed as Tails managed to leap from the hammock without even causing Kara to move from her spot. Tails rushed about the room and got dressed then rushed through the door that lead to the patio...
"Ffffuck me..." He nearly shouted.
The city which was miles into the distance was lit up like dawn, the successive sound of military assault rifles could be heard more clearly. Familiar black ships floated overhead, screams erupted from the streets...suddenly the smoke trail from a scud missile slammed into one of the small ships, the explosion causing it to veer out of control where it exploded against a tall building, the shock wave made even Tails's house shake...though not enough to wake the vixen that still slept in his bed...
Tails rushed to her side, "Kara...KARA!! Wake up!" He shouted shaking her violently.
"Miles...what the hell?" She wined.
"They're attacking the city...get dressed and get into the panic room, Espio and I have to go help." Tails said quickly tossing her her clothing and rushing downstairs.
Kara climbed out of the hammock attempting to get her clothes on quickly, "M-miles wait..." She fell to the floor trying to get her pants on, "...what attack? What are you talking about?"
As she got the rest of her clothes on she rushed downstairs...Tails and Espio had already made it out the door. She turned to head down to Tails's lab but a sound caught her attention which prompted her to pull her gun, the word attack earlier had made her involuntarily place in the belt line of her jeans. She now holding her revolver close to her chest peeked around the hall's corner to hear a short hum followed by the front door bursting into splinters followed by a figure that rolled across the floor and slid into the kitchen...she realized with horror that the figure that now lay bleeding on the kitchen floor was Tails. She was equally surprised as Espio flew by, his back slammed into the refrigerator with such force that the doors both folded inward and fell from the unit on top of his unconscious body. Two figures rushed into the house toward the downed animals; one was an off colored chameleon that looked a lot like Espio, the other was...her...but with an extra tail. The two were wore a strange body armor made of an unfamiliar dark metal...
The real Kara didn't hesitate, she pointed her gun at the other fox and pulled the trigger...the shot from the powerful .44 caliber round jolted her doppelganger forward slamming it's head into the sink, the exit wound had completely removed the clone's face. She took aim again but, the chameleon had already vanished, she kept her senses open and looked for any kind of opening...Something heavy struck the back of her neck and the world faded to darkness...
000
Tails groaned in pain as he woke up on the couch, someone had patched his newly developed wounds; Kara's clone had used her claws to attack him, he didn't really see that coming, nor did he notice the large sonic wave rifle in the false Espio's hands. Majority of the wounds on his body now were no more than the minor cuts that were caused by his attacker's claws...He slid off his trench coat which was sleeveless now, he'd patched it up over the recent weeks. As he stood up he looked around...his house had been left alone, but, there was something missing. Kara's gun was laying on the floor... He picked it up and examined it; obviously it was the shot from the revolver that had produced the corpse in his kitchen...
He met Espio outside who was looking out over the still smoking city...
"They pulled out a few hours after I came too." Espio said, Tails noticed he was favoring his right arm, and there was about 7 dead clones on the ground, most of who where either dashed to pieces by a sword or were covered with sharp throwing weapons.
"I've already been in town...most everyone is either missing or dead."
"What about Sonic and Knucks?..."
"Missing..."
"Sally?"
"Missing..."
Tails hesitated to ask, "Kara?"
Espio sighed deeply with regret, "I'm sorry but...she's also missing."
"What about Gwen and the others?"
This time there was simply no reply...
Tails walked back through his house to collect his things; he slid his coat back on and added several guns to his arsenal, on his way out he picked up his sword. On the way out of the living room he noticed a CD on the coffee table marked 'Play Me'...Tails fetched his laptop and slid the disk into the computer's disk drive. The screen displayed his video player the dark screen was barely lit...Two dark figures stood before the camera one was obviously human while the other was definitely a fox...
"It's good to see you Miles..." A familiar voice grumbled from one of the figures.
The voice bore into Tails's skull forcing old memories to surface, rage filled his eyes as a light showed that Kara was inside a large glass tube, "YOU SON OF A BITCH!!! ROBOTNICK! I swear to god, if you lay one finger on her..."
The figure stayed in the darkness as he interrupted the furious vulpine, "She'll come to no harm...so long as you show up at the coordinates on this CD. Her life is in your hands Miles...good bye."
Tails was absolutely outraged, "ROBOTNICK DON'T YOU RUN AWAY FROM ME!!!" He screamed into the screen of the laptop slamming it several times into the table until table and computer were both destroyed.
As Tails's rage left him his his true emotions finally hit him, tears rolled down his face leaving trails on his cheeks, he failed to protect her again, and this time he had a chance to defend her ahead of time. He felt lower than dirt, he couldn't count on the words of Robotnick...he didn't even know how the freak was still alive. He could have cared less, his thoughts were all on Kara. Espio tried to comfort him but there was no hope...as far as Tails was concerned he was the reason she was gone, and now it was his job to get her back...