Chapter 11
"Wrench"
"Here you go"
"Screw driver"
"Got it"
"Duct tape"
"Here you…. Wait you're going to use duct tape on a supersonic fighter jet?" Sara said in disbelief.
"Well no other tape can handle the G forces." A smiling fox replied.
Sara rolled her eyes and handed Tails the tape. They had been working on the tornado whenever Tails caught a break from Shepherd's training. Of course that almost always meant working hard into the night.
"I swear working late is making him make bad decisions with this jet. Seriously first the rubber ducky now this… I still don't even know how he used the rubber ducky in the first place!"
"Alright guys it's time to call it a night. You got a lot of work to do tomorrow Tails." Shepherd said walking into the room. He rarely ever stepped into the workshop other than to tell them to go to bed. He always gave the excuse, "The last time I used a hammer I nearly took the Generals one good eye," whenever they asked for his help.
The two got up to exit the room and Sara took one last look around the room. The floor was covered in tools Tails had used and the walls where decorated with blueprints the fox had drawn up. Of course the blueprints where never looked at since Tails knew the design by heart and the only thing about them Sara understood was that they were making an airplane.
They left the room and followed Shepherd down the hall towards the barracks they regularly slept in. They found the room and each went to their separate cots. Sara's was blocked off from the others by an old curtain that had a hole Tails couldn't help but look through every morning. Of course he never saw anything since she never changed out of the old dress she was wearing when she met Tails.
"Maybe we should find her some new clothes." Tails thought.
The three laid down in their old cots, and soon all of them were asleep, everyone except for Tails that is. He was always weary of going to sleep since he'd been having the same nightmare about fighting Sonic on a nightly basis.
"By the time I get off this island I'm going to have sleep deprivation." He thought as he lay there looking at the ceiling.
Eventually his eyes became too strong to resist and shut for the night, sending Tails back to the forest where he would again fight Sonic.
At first Tails had resisted the urge to fight back but the pain was all too real in this dream. After a week he gave in and began to fight back against his friend but he never won. He always found himself pulling his punches and never really taking advantage of the training he was learning in the real world. It was just too hard to hurt the only family he had, even if it was really just an image of his hero his mind was projecting.
With tears in his eyes the young fox woke up. That night Sonic had spin dashed him into a tree breaking most of his ribs and shattering his skull. He sat up and couldn't resist the urge to check his head and chest for any sign of injury.
"Nothing as usual" he whispered to himself.
"You're up bright and early…" Shepherd said climbing out of his own cot. "… You must be anxious to face off against number twelve again." The dog said with a grin.
"I'll get him today" Tails replied halfheartedly. He was still thinking about Sonic. If there really was a war in the United Federation than Sonic was sure to be somewhere on the front lines smashing robots up. "I wonder if he even knows I'm here" he wondered.
They ran down to the training room and as usual Shepherd arrived last huffing and puffing from trying to keep up with tails. He stopped his drill sergeant yelling long ago realizing it was making him look like a fool.
Tails stepped into the center of the room and Shepherd went to the observation area. Moments later Shepherd began blasting Eye of the Tiger again.
"Leave it to Shepherd to ruin a perfectly good song by playing it a million times."
Even if the song ended before the fight was over Shepherd would just start it over. Tails still didn't understand how the dog never got tired of hearing the same song every morning.
"Ready?" Shepherd asked.
"As always!"
The lights came on and the robots came to life ready to fight. The first eleven didn't last though the first chorus but after the song finished for the fifth time the last robot was still standing tall.
They exchange blows again and again but only Tails seemed to be suffering each attacks effects. Punches, kicks, and tail whips moved the combatants from one end off the room to the other as Tails searched for the weak spot that had eluded him since day one.
"Maybe the last weak point is just really obscure Tails thought. I bet that weak spot only exposes itself during one of his attacks."
Sara entered the observation area which was a room separated from the arena by a one way three inch thick piece of glass that couldn't be seen from the arena. "You're never going to get tired of this song are you?" she asked
"How can I get tired of the best song ever?" Shepherd responded in a joking tone. He had figured out that his favorite tune was irritating the two foxes and that only encouraged him to play it all the more.
Sara rolled her eyes and looked over at Tails. He was busy evading a series of punches from the robot. He looked tired and it was obvious he couldn't go on much longer.
"You thing he's ever going to win."
"I bet he will. It's in his blood."
"What do you mean in his blood?" Sara replied hiding the sarcasm in her voice. She knew he was referring to Tails being the son of a war hero. Of course she never told Tails about his father. "There is no use in knowing someone's secret if it doesn't stay a secret after all." She thought.
"He's a fighter. Since he was a young child he has been facing insurmountable odds and never giving up once. He defeated the BKA on Cocoa Island, defused a nuclear missile in the middle of Station square, and crushed Eggman's mech on the Space Colony ark, each time single handedly. The boy was born to fight."
Sara rolled her eyes again, "More like his father was a famous General who you think passed down his fighting abilities to his son, if that's even possible," She thought to herself. She intended blackmail Shepherd into telling her about that contract they occasionally spoke of, but that wouldn't work until she had earned his trust.
Tails spotted it. Finally after all these weeks of fighting he found it. When the robot extended his right arm completely a small wire would bulge underneath the rubber skin that was exposed between a gap in the armor plating, so obscure it could take years to find. One look at the wire's placement told Tails this is what he had been waiting for. He had torn into the other robots enough times to know cutting the wire would sever the main computer's connection with the lower torso and rendering the robot useless.
"Now the real question is: how do I get him to leave his arm extended long enough for me to somehow sever the wire." Tails contemplated for a moment how he would do this when he remembered his fight with Shepherd.
Tails got in close to the robot and began to exchange punches, waiting for the robot to perry one of his punches. Tails was exhausted and couldn't afford to keep fighting much longer. If the robot didn't grant Tails wish he would have to wait until tomorrow to complete this training.
Punch after punch was exchanged and finally Tails got his wish. His punch was pushed to the side of the robots face. Using his momentum he leaned forward until he could place his hands on the ground. Positioning his legs and tails into the right spot he prepared to scissor his opponent onto the ground. It was all or nothing.
Wham!
It worked perfectly. The dummy collapsed to the ground and before it could get to its feet Tails was on top of the robot's chest. Tails grabbed the arm and pushed it flat on the ground. Then he leaned forward and ripped the wire out with his canine teeth.
Sparks flew everywhere and a painful shock raced through Tails body. His vision blurred as the pain began to subside. He blinked ferociously, fighting to remain conscious, but the stain he had just put on his body was too great. With a thud he collapsed on top of the defeated robot. He was Victorious but just barely.
"Well what do you know" Shepherd laughed as he returned to the training room. Twelve inactive robots lay scattered across the floor as well as an exhausted fox. "In all my years I've only seen three others ever defeat that last robot."
"Wha…What do you mean" Tails groaned as he slowly claimed to his feet, having regained consciousness.
"Well that last robot is sort of…special. You see the first eleven weaknesses where each specially placed in each robot to simulate common weaknesses found in most people or machines however the last weakness or I should say weaknesses where naturally occurring in the robot's design."
"So you mean there was no twelfth weakness to begin with?"
"Actually there could very well be a hundred weaknesses in the robot. Especially since every time that last robots has been beaten it's been by some other method than what you used. You see the purpose of the first eleven robots was to teach you where to look for weaknesses but the last robot was meant to teach you that not every weak spot is obvious and how to look for it when that is the case."
Tails limped up to shepherd as Sara entered the room.
"Well what do you know, He actually did it." She laughed remembering her comment only a few minutes before. "So what are you going to teach him next Shep?"
"Nothing. It usually takes years just to defeat the seventh robot and he just finished of all twelve. I don't think there is anything even the General could teach him at this point."
"So what are we supposed to do now?" Sara asked.
"That's up to Tails"
The two looked over at the exhausted fox. He was bruised after weeks of continuous fighting and it was obvious they would need to wait before making their next move. Fortunately they still hadn't completed the Tornado so for the next few days they dedicated all their time to finishing the Tornado IV and planning how they would strike the BKA's flying warship.
Three days passed and Tails wounds had almost healed completely and the Tornado was near completion. All it needed was a coat of paint and fuel to power the engine. Fuel they would find at the Oil Ocean oil rig.
Well that's it for chapter 11. And now we get to move on to a different zone as well as see Shepherd and Sara join the fight. Please review and I'll see you next time.
