Ch 11
I had a lot of extra time on my hands. Being grounded but having access to a computer as long as I'm doing something that looks like homework has given me plenty of time to write and think. Here's chapter 11: 5 years later. Now before you bombard me with questions regarding ages of characters and whatnot, I have a little explanation showing my logic at the end of the chapter. We have final stopped the foreplay and gotten to the real deal! This fiction has only begun!
oOo
It was dark on the island where Tails lived. Not late at night but early in the morning. A figure lay under a small sheet in a small bed, two large, bushy tails hung out to the side. The house was small, and from what one could tell, was a one room home. Who ever lived there had no real desire to keep the log cabin decorated and was very plain. The only furniture was two beds on opposite sides of the room, one occupied and one not. The only thing of real color in the room was a very large, red bud in a large clay pot.
The two tailed figure started to move around slightly. It was awake, but was too lazy to get out. Dim sunlight started to trickle into the room through an open window.
Suddenly, the front door flew open, letting fresh sunlight pour in. Whoever had barged in had no intention of letting the creature laze about.
"Get up, Tails!" The voice was that of Shadow the Hedgehog, who waited briefly for the two tailed creature to get up. When it didn't, Shadow stepped forward and pulled the sheet off, exposing a teenage yellow kitsune.
"Alright!" Tails lazily shouted, then quickly stood up. "I'm up. Let's go."
Tails fallowed the expressionless Shadow outside. Then the both broke out into a run through the forest. Shadow elegantly skated and jumped off of trees. Tails kept close behind, moving with just as much grace, but propelled himself forward using his tails. They both burst out of the forest and skidded to a stop on the soft white sand of the beach.
The sun was fully up, exposing Shadow and Tails fully. It had been five years since Tails had lived on that island, making him fifteen, and he had matured very much over that time. He had gotten considerably taller, very tall for someone on his planet, but would come up short on the average human. His once round body was now thin, sleek, and toned, making the young fox look very lean. His arms and legs were thick with muscle, but he was not extremely buff. The three small bangs on his forehead and grown to five very thick, long, golden yellow ones, along with more, thick head fur on the rest of his head. Tails kept his attire of white gloves, but had added black wrist guards similar to Shadow's red ones with his custom black rings placed around them. The same rings were around his ankles along with matching black ankle guards above black running shoes with a white strip and grey bottom that had small blue gems imprinted on the toe and heel.
The blue gems were actually uniquely cut fake chaos emeralds that, with some of the young genius' own mechanical wizardry, made the bottom of the shoes totally frictionless. He simply had to arch his feet to turn them on. The purpose was to make it so that Tails could use his tails to push himself forward and slide along the ground with no resistance, eliminating the need to use extra energy to keep himself above the ground. This actually allowed him to move much faster.
Shadow also had grown over the years, but not very much. He looked very much the same, but his quills were slightly longer and thicker. He had grown very little, and was barely as tall as Tails now. Tails had always thought that Shadow was immortal and ageless, and when he asked him why he was aging, he replied "Professor Gerald once told me that I will age until I am in the physical prime of my life, and from that point on, I will never age again, and live forever".
"What are we going to do today?" Tails asked. His voice had also deepened, but not intensely. He certainly didn't sound ten anymore.
"Just our daily thing" Shadow replied, getting into fighting stance.
Tails did the same and formed a smirk on his face. "Okay. Let's go!"
With that, they both dashed forward at each other, ready to fight. They made contact and started battling each other, neither hesitating to land a good punch.
As Tails had changed, so had everyone else in the world. Sonic had taken up residence in Tails' old home, usually staying the night there or lounging about waiting for Tails when he wasn't trying to stop Eggman. Even after five years, Sonic still waited for him, and even went out and looked for him on occasion. The rest of Tails' old friends had come to the conclusion that he was probably dead. Five years of being away without speaking to anyone can make people think that.
Unfortunately, when Sonic was battling Eggman, he usually lost. Every since Tails had left, Sonic was fighting alone, and over the years, Eggman had gained much more power over the world. The doctor controlled maybe half of the planet, and had enslaved people by the cities. By the time Sonic had gotten Knuckles to help him fight, Eggman had gained too much power, and the duo was unable to stop him, making Knuckles give up the hero business quite quickly.
Sonic's appearance had showed the years of battles and defeats that he had suffered. His quills were long, droopy, and unkempt. His body had become more toned and buff because of all of the exercise he got from fighting, but various scars covered him. There were still fresh bruises and cuts on his face. The ego that Sonic once had was completely diminished. Instead of being carefree and unbound by others, he had gotten much more serious. Not only did he have a responsibility to protect as many people as he could, but he was unable to help everyone, and was often wrongfully criticized.
When Sonic was doing nothing but staring at the floor, he heard the front door open and close. He looked up to see none other than Amy Rose, now eighteen years old. She wore the same red colored dress, but it was slightly longer and had sleeves that came to her mid-upper arm. The red headband remained in her pink quills, but now it had a small artificial flower attached to it. Her attire was complete with a small, red handbag that hung from her right arm.
"Hi Sonic" he greeted calmly. Amy had matured very much, and did not often pester or beg Sonic for a date. She resolved to just talking with him and occasionally would hit on him, but they had remained only good friends.
"Hey Ames" the blue hedgehog replied, then he resumed gazing at the floor. He was trying to hide his face, which held new cuts and bruises from a recent battle. Tails was usually the one who would fix him up and make sure it was alright, but Amy had taken over, and Sonic always felt a sense of vulnerability when Amy would try to help him.
But Amy could see clear as day. She walked over and sat next to him then examined his face. Sonic turned his head away.
Amy frowned, knowing how Sonic was but she knew what had to be done. "Come on, Sonic. Let me see."
Sonic reluctantly replied and faced her. Amy pulled out a small handkerchief from her handbag and wiped some blood and dirt away. "Did you beat him this time?" she asked, trying to break the awkward silence.
"I haven't beaten him in five years" Sonic replied monotonously.
Amy finished and tossed the handkerchief away. "You'll get him sooner or later. People like Eggman can't hold onto their power forever."
"Maybe. But I don't see him loosing it soon enough." With that, Sonic stood up and started walking.
"Where are you going?" Amy asked curiously.
"Eggman is trying to take over a large city not too far from here. I have to try and stop him."
Amy watched the blue hedgehog walk out the door and dash away. With every passing day, it seemed that Eggman's empire spread farther. Amy was really starting to worry about Sonic's safety. Eggman used to just try to defeat Sonic, but now he was trying to exterminate him.
Please be careful…
Tails and Shadow were still engaged in a heated battle. Ever since Tails had successfully performed chaos control a few years ago, Shadow's training had escalated to other techniques, such as the chaos spear and actual combat. Tails wore his black rings all the time. Just performing everyday activities with them on was exercise, but actually training with them was a real workout.
Tails evaded a roundhouse kick by back flipping, then dashed forward in the air and attempted to hit Shadow from the side. Shadow spun out of the way and kicked Tails in the back, knocking the foxteen into the white sand. The black hedgehog then threw a chaos spear at him, but Tails rolled to the side and fired his own, distracting Shadow just long enough for him to get up and punch him across the face then in the stomach. Tails was about to jump kick him in the head, but Shadow recovered and jumped away.
The two stayed a few paces apart for a minute, just taking a quick break to catch their breaths. After all, they were only training, not trying to kill each other.
Shadow was visibly less tired, but he still had a fair share of bruises and scrapes. "Let's step this up!"
The black hedgehog removed the rings from his wrists and threw them to the side. Tails responded by removing his also, and getting ready. Only recently had they started taking them off during training. He claimed that now that Tails was physically strong, he should be practicing technique rather than intensely exercising.
But this was usually just a survival game for the both of them. Shadow became extremely powerful, far stronger than Tails, very briefly when he removed them, and Tails' strength increased also, but his agility and speed increased dramatically. Tails could not quite beat Shadow in a straight race, but he was far more agile and could change direction and dash short distances with much more grace and speed.
Shadow began with a homing attack, heading right at Tails. Tails dashed to the side and behind him then kicked him away. Tails' speed was crucial here. If Shadow did hit him with one of those, it would hurt a lot.
Tails fallowed the balled up hedgehog into the air, caught him, and threw him to the ground like a base ball. Shadow stopped spinning and landed firmly on his feet, then fired an entire wave of chaos spears at him. Tails dodged them all by moving from side in the air or out running them. Tails prepared one of his own and heaved it at Shadow.
This was one of Tails' favorite techniques, because he was the only one who could do it. Once Shadow jumped out of the way, the yellow light turned around and fallowed him. Although Shadow was much more powerful, Tails had much more control and knew how to manipulate his own energy. The spear continued to fallow Shadow around until he dashed up to Tails and knocked him out of the air. Tails lost focus of his attack and fell to the ground with a thud.
Tails immediately tried to jump up, but he felt a foot on his chest. Shadow had him pinned down, chaos spear in hand, ready to fire.
"Checkmate" Shadow declared.
Tails sighed and laid back down. "Okay, you win. Could you get off of me now?"
Shadow did so and helped Tails up. The obsidian hedgehog always had a closing piece of advice after every spar. "You must learn to focus on your attacks and yourself. Chasing me with that chaos spear is useless if it leaves you vulnerable."
"Yeah. I'll remember that" Tails said while picking Shadow's rings off of the ground and handing them to him. Shadow took them and pounded fists with Tails. The two had spent much time together and each had changed in a way. Tails became more serious and maybe slightly cynical, but still remained the light hearted fox that he always was. Shadow had become more sociable and has even openly call Tails a friend. But he still likes to be alone sometimes and is not nearly as talkative as Tails was.
As Tails retrieved his own rings, Shadow spoke to him. "I went on a run this morning. Doctor Eggman is about to take another city."
Tails looked back at him seriously. "Is that so?"
"Yes. The good doctor's empire is becoming more powerful with every passing day. Even your old friend Sonic is incapable of stopping him for much longer."
Tails stared at the ground. Being reminded that Sonic continued to fight without him and constantly loose made him feel guilty. But for the longest time, the teenage kitsune didn't think that it would make a difference if he returned to help.
"I think it is time that we step in" Shadow exclaimed. "It won't be too long until Doctor Eggman is in control of the world. Then, nothing can stop him."
Tails sighed. "I agree, but I don't know how. They probably think I'm dead by now. They'll probably hate me if I go back."
"You could be right. But then again, they could welcome you." Shadow started to walk away into the forest. "I advise you to think hard about it. We wouldn't want this world covered in robots. I myself have no intention to let that happen."
Tails watched Shadow disappear into the woods. He placed the rings back on himself and sat cross legged in the sand, facing the ocean. He closed his eyes, thinking deeply. What would happen if he went back? Would they welcome him? Would they hate him? What if Eggman really did take over the world? Could I even do anything about it? All of these thoughts played around inside the kitsune's head. He did want to see everyone again, especially Cream. She was the last person he saw before he left, and knowing how sensitive she was, she probably became very upset.
Tails began to think very hard about this. He had grown very accustomed to this island and knew it like the back of his hand. This place became his home and he had been there for more than five years. He liked his daily routine and had somewhat moved on from what had happened all those years ago, but the teenage fox still had occasional nightmares and guilt trips, a few of which were so bad that Shadow had to smack him to get him to calm down. But he had kept true to his resolution and hadn't let any tears fall from his eyes. He remembered what Shadow had told him, to "wipe the blood from your chin and get on with your day". Tails moved on from everything that had happened. Mostly everything.
But then Tails realized something: he was doing the same to Sonic and everyone that Cosmo had did to him. He was making them feel the same way. After a long while of considering, Tails made his decision.
"I'll go back and help Sonic" Tails said to himself. "I'll decide if I want to actually live there based on their reaction."
The yellow kitsune stood up and dashed into the forest, looking for Shadow to tell him and to check on his plant. It took only a brief moment for him to arrive back at his cabin. He walked in to find Shadow lounging on the other bed, which was where he spent most of his time when he wasn't training Tails or running around.
"I decided to go help fight Eggman" he said to Shadow.
Shadow didn't change his position. "Good. When?"
Tails hadn't really thought about when he would go. "I don't know. I guess now and try to prevent him from take this new city" he answered while watering the large red plant. It was nearly as big as he was now, and had grown the whole time he was there, but had yet to bloom.
Shadow sat up and faced him. "Good luck. Do not forget what I have taught you."
"Wait. You're not coming with me?"
"I'm coming, but you are going to be the one who's fighting." Shadow could see that Tails didn't quite get it. "I'm going to let you try on your own."
"Do you think I'm capable?"
"I wouldn't let you do it if I didn't think you were capable."
Tails smiled at the amount of confidence that Shadow had for him. "Okay. Let's go then."
With that, they both dashed out of the house and to the ocean. Shadow skated on the water and Tails flew above it. They had both decided that they would normally travel without means of chaos control. This was because all they had were fake chaos emeralds, and they died out after a few uses, and Tails only had so much of them.
Cream the Rabbit, she still lived with her mother near Tails' old home. She stood at the window of her bedroom and gazed out into the sky. The once little bunny had grown in every which way that a young woman her age should be. Now about thirteen, Cream had a much more womanly figure and was slightly taller. Other than that, she did not change in appearance at all, except a larger and longer dress that was exactly like her old one.
Her large brown eyes stared out of the window and to the sky. Five years ago when Tails left, she had never been the same. She was still innocent and pure, but did not have the same happy vibe that she once had. Frowns occupied her face whenever people weren't looking and enthusiasm did not come easy, even for her mother or Amy. She would often stare at the sky for long hours, hoping to see Tails or even the X-Tornado fly across, but that had yet to happen.
Cream's gaze was interrupted by her mother calling for her. "Cream?"
The young rabbit sighed and lazily walked out of her room to the kitchen where her mother was. "Yes mother?" Creams voice had changed also. It was not unbearably high pitched anymore, but was still very high.
Vanilla was cooking and turned her head. "Would you be a dear and run into town to pick up some things for me" the older rabbit asked politely. She would often send her daughter out for errands now that she was older, and sometimes it was the only way to get her out of the house.
Cream took a list from a nearby countertop. "Sure, I'll be back soon."
Before Vanilla could thank her and remind her to be careful, Cream had already walked out of the house.
Cream walked at a lazily slow pace, looking at the sky rather than where she was going. The city she was going to was in sight after she came over a hill. It was not far from her home at all, but it would still take a few minutes to get to the nearest grocery store.
Time passed quickly and Cream found herself in the outer edge of the city where buildings and concrete took over and no green could be seen. But something was very unusual. The streets were absolutely deserted. People had gotten out of their cars and left them in the roads, and everything was silent. That is until a loud bang was heard around the corner. Cream jumped at the sound and a blue streak came flying towards her. It stopped right in front of her.
"Cream! What are you doing? Run!" It was none other than Sonic the hedgehog, with an exceptionally large robot behind him.
Cream nodded her head and ran back the way she came. Sonic turned around just in time to be swiped away and crash into the side of a building. Cream saw and started to run faster, but the large machine caught up easily and scooped her off of the ground.
Doctor Eggman's voice rang out through speakers on the contraption. "Well well. Look at what we have here."
The large hand opened up to reveal a distressed Cream, huddled up in fear. "It seems I have a new hostage!"
Sonic stumbled out of the hole in the building that he had crashed into, looking more beaten than he did before. "Let her go!"
Eggman's laughter filled the surrounding area. "Or what? Are you going to bleed on me? You can hardly stand!" Then the doctor's hysterical laughter rang out. "No! I think that I will keep her. If you decide to interfere with my business again, my next generation E-99's hand may just tighten when I'm not looking."
Eggman demonstrated his point by commanding the robot to close its hand around Cream, which it did, but not enough to crush her. Cream's muffled screams and cries could be heard from in between the giant metal fingers. The other hand tore off a large chunk from another building and hurled it at Sonic, burying him.
It took a moment for Sonic to crawl out of the rubble, and when he emerged, Eggman was gone. "D-damn y-you" he whispered before passing out.
oOo
There's chapter 11 for you.
Now let me explain. I'm not sure how it went in the Japanese timeline of Sonic X, but six months had passed in between each season, making a year pass total, which makes Tails about 9 when the show ends. But a few weeks passed actually during each season. The show seemed to start at the beginning of the school year, late August or early September where I'm from. Because Tails' birthday is October 16, those few weeks must have passed through that, making him actually closer to 10 years old at the beginning on series 2. Add the five years and that makes him fifteen. Because Cream is two years younger and I was unable to find a birthday for her, I just made her 13. Amy is 18 because of the 1 year that happened over the showplus the five year jump. So basically, every character is six years older than they originally are, making Sonic 21 and so on and so forth. My logic is undeniable, so don't question me! (slams fist on desk)
Now that I have rambled on for a minute or so, I will tell you that I will update not for a long while. I have finals on Friday and all next week, and being the dedicated student that I am, (yeah right) I will be studying hard (or just enough to keep my parents off my back) and will not be writing for a while. So with all of that said and done, I'll see you in a week or two.