Chapter 25: Fear/Mettle
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"Ho, ho, ho!" hooted doctor Fukurokov as he regarded his prisoners. "Right into my trap."
"Let us out!" demanded Ice, punching the glass separating them with all the power he could muster, to no effect.
The owl shook his head. "Be thankful I left you your clothes," he joked. "And what do we have here!" he exclaimed opening Miles' satchel. "Five Chaos Emeralds! Amazing, now we have them all," he gloated. He saw Miles examining the glass barrier. "It's no use, Mael-sprawler. This material, my own invention, can easily withstand tank shells."
"Anything you can do?" asked Vertigo softly as the kit rubbed his chin, running his hands over the hard surface.
Miles eyed the Armada head scientist, visibly not impressed. "Nothing special. The graphene layers were a good idea, but they aren't properly protected against strong vibrations that could unmesh the whole structure. The titanium micro-crystals are not properly refined, else the glass would have been 100 percent transparent instead of slightly reflective. And still no Morganite. I think I'm insulted." He took a step back and lashed with his tails, leaving shallow lines. "I could drill through with some effort, but there is another way."
He bent down, curling to a ball, and started spinning rapidly- without going anywhere.
Ice blinked. "What am I watching?" he muttered.
Vertigo smiled, feeling the power involved. "This is going to be good," she decided, cautiously taking a step away from the glass.
The kit was nothing but a glowing orange ball, mostly smooth, though spike-like protrusions were sometimes visible as he span. Without warning, he rushed forward, friction apparently deciding to manifest after a long break, and the mere air pressure knocked both the shark and the other fox back. He collided with the glass-like surface and bounced back, ricocheting off the walls for a while, until his momentum was spent and he returned to normal.
Miles nodded to himself satisfied as he regarded his handiwork. The reinforced barrier had not broken, but it had obviously been close. Every inch of it was cracked, with a huge dent at the point of impact where tiny pieces were missing. "Once more, I think," he quipped amused, winking at Fukorokov.
The owl scientist let his beak open and close a few time ineffectually, then he rushed at a control console, desperately pressing a button. The prisoners braced themselves, but weren't prepared for four tesla coils to emerge from the four corners of the room and activate, encasing them in a net of lightning.
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Rouge couldn't help but feel tiny when she looked at Babylon Six. It was so immense, she initially couldn't quite behold it. Her mind insisted such a thing simply didn't exist. It took effort to suspend her disbelief, but she managed.
"Ma'am, the target has already suffered superficial damage. Chaos traces confirmed," noted her human operator, zooming at an area on the lower side of the giant battle station.
"Miles, you magnificent bastard," she marveled, staring at the gaping hole the size of a house. "You actually got in!"
"The target has noticed us. They are launching jets."
The bat nodded. "Battle stations," she commanded coolly. "Air squadrons 1 to 6, prepare for launch!"
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"Ho, ho, ho, what now, Mael-sprawler? Can you…" the owl stopped and blinked as the kit, defiant and calm until that point, was evidently not listening. Instead, he had fallen on his hands and knees, shaking whole.
"Not now, not now, not now," he muttered, akin to a mantra, as Ice and Vertigo reached for him.
Fukurokov caught on, smirking savagely. "Are you scared, Mael-sprawler? Amazing! Who knew it would only take some humble electrons to defeat you," he marveled.
Vertigo was hugging him, while Ice watched on from just beside them, trying to conjure an idea. "Don't underestimate me!" shouted Miles, his anger peeking through abject fear for a second.
The owl shook his head. "But you can't even move, can you?" he jeered. "The battlelord was so worried, so excited about you. He hid it well, but I could tell. What will he say, I wonder, when he learns the bane of the Armada was defeated by mere astrapophobia?"
"Miles, listen to my voice, not his," whispered Vertigo softly but firmly. "You are strong, stronger than your fears."
Ice kneeled next to him, grabbing his shoulder tightly. "We all have fears, but I know you. You are brave. Bravery is not about fearlessness, it's about doing things despite being afraid."
And the kit tried. With trembling hands he reached for his glove bracelet and the control device embedded to it. He steeled himself in Vertigo's embrace and managed to look through the arcs of lightning instead of at them. At his confiscated backpack and the drone within.
Fukurokov blinked as the backpack moved, his eyes narrowing when he saw the small robot. "So that's how he planted that bomb," he muttered, leaping forward as fast as his bulk allowed. In any other situation, the foxbot would have danced out of his grasp, but Miles was barely there as it was. "Nice try, but I have your bot right here!"
The kit growled, anger being the only emotion he could feel apart from terror. "You… Let it go!"
The owl laughed, raising the flailing robot above his head in triumph. "It's over. And, anyway, this worthless toy wouldn't have been able to do anything," he taunted maliciously.
Ice gulped as a battle aura encircled the fallen kit. "Worthless… toy!" he screeched outraged. "Take this!" He demanded, pressing a different button on his controller.
The one-kilo fox drone the doctor was nonchalantly waving above his head suddenly morphed into an 800 kilos submarine and he shouted in pain as it pinned him down, probably breaking a couple ribs. "Wha…?" he tried during the transformation, only to end his word with a wheezing sound, as he found himself barely able to breathe.
"Get… crashed," snarled Miles, still shaking, as he tried to consider their next move. They were still trapped, after all, and all the owl had to do was get noticed by one of the thousands of battlebirds on board.
"Can you do anything about the coils?" asked Ice towards Vertigo, since their usual tech expert was incapacitated.
She eyed them carefully and shook her head. "Tamperproof, at least without some heavy duty tools. Can you break the floor? Reach the ceiling?"
The shark kicked at the ground a few times, dismayed at the dull sound, then frowned. "Too solid and I can barely reach the ceiling if I leap. It's really high."
Miles' thoughts felt like molasses and yet Ice's simple proclamation caused the breakthrough he needed. He wasn't sure if he had it in him, though. "Ren, are you there Ren?" he called in delirium, trying and failing not to sound hysteric.
"I'm here Miles," replied Vertigo still holding him. "I'm here."
"Hold me tighter," he begged, trying to tune out the merciless crackling of lightning all around them. "Break my ribs… if you have to, but don't let go," he mewled. "And Ice…. Grab my ankles."
The shark didn't ask questions, bending down and doing so, as the kit raised his tails upwards. Vertigo, holding him against her chest, couldn't help it, though. "What's the plan, Miles?" she whispered.
He laughed dementedly, his eyes leaking tears. "I have to fly, Ren," he half-explained, fiddling with his control bracelet. "I have to fly and you with me, but…I can't… quite remember… how," he managed.
"I believe in you, little brother," she cooed. "You can do this, because no one else can." She started nuzzling him right between the ears, whistling a lullaby.
The lightning was still there and he felt exhausted, knowing it would get far worse before it got any better. Yet the rational part of him, exiled in a small segment of his vast mind and barricaded behind Vertigo's efforts, somehow prevailed. The trio rose to the air slowly. He almost lost his spin a couple times, but held on, focusing on the vixen's soft tunes and the weight of the great shark on his legs.
"Hold me!" he demanded once more, practically shrieking as he touched his bracelet one final time and activated the Sea Tail's Supernova Spark.
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The sky above them was on fire.
"Extend the main cannon!" commanded Rouge, satisfied as Invictus One shuddered, a large hatch opening at its center and an enormous telescopic tube growing from it. "All craft, check your path. Stay away from the line of fire."
"Capacitors at 50 percent," reported the zebra operator.
The bat nodded. "Take aim. Target, the underside of the Babylon Six main dome. Specifically the presumed anti-gravity devices." She had toyed with the notion of firing right on the wound Miles had left, but dismissed the idea, not knowing how close the trio was to the hole. A successful strike could unwittingly vaporize them.
"Capacitors at 100 percent."
"Cannon locked on."
Rouge took a deep breath. "Fire!" she shouted.
Liquid light left the cannon at supersonic speeds, almost reaching the target -and dispersing against an invisible bubble.
"Forcefield detected; Square hit, no damage."
"Analyze," she demanded, gritting her teeth. Her ship was the pride of the Federation. The Armada was supposed to be a ragtag band of mercenaries. This was madness.
"Ma'am, look at the tip. High energy concentration detected. It's a weapon system!"
The bat gulped. The conical lowest part of the top-shaped battle station was glowing a brilliant crimson. It wasn't aimed at them, but if it was a light-based weapon, it wouldn't need to be. A good enough adjustable mirror could turn any stationary laser omnidirectional.
"It's firing!"
Rouge watched in disbelief as a continuous red beam of light shot right toward the deck of the huge battleship. At first it seemed to have no effect, but then the metal simply melted under its heat. Before the bat could envision just how fast such a weapon could sink them, though, an explosion happened on the Armada station, staggering the whole construct, sparks dancing all over a part of its surface, localized close to the Chaos bomb hole. The grand laser sputtered, then died down.
The agent didn't have time to feel relieved. "Damage report!"
"It melted through seven of the decks, ma'am. Three more and we'd be sucking water. One of the medium subs is totaled. Three dead, two wounded."
Rouge growled. "Launch everything!" she ordered.
The human operator eyed her carefully. "Without the extra thrust we will barely be able to keep up."
The bat sighed. "I know. But if this thing fires again, I want our people to be as spread out as possible. Now figure out what our agents did up there. And find me a way past that Walker-damned forcefield!"
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Miles felt faint. The light was so bright it passed right through his eyelids, his hands and Vertigo's torso, still utterly blinding him. The air around the trio was unbearably hot, but he had had the presence of mind, barely, to tone down the electric attack's intensity just enough for them to survive in midair. Babylon Six was another story, though, since its metals were far better conductors than seawater. The discharge wouldn't destroy the huge battle station, of course, not even close, but it was bound to cause serious damage. No fuses had any hope close to the onslaught, the current leaping short distances through any supposedly non-conductive material.
Such thoughts were far away from his mind though, which was dominated by a singular thought. "Fly," he muttered, tasting Vertigo's fur. "Fly… fly….fly…"
Everything around them was lightning. The metal walls, the now destroyed tesla coils, the completely shattered glassy barrier, the many devices in Fukurokov's lab. Thunderbolts danced all over, some reaching for the three adepts and caressing them. The air was too resistant at their height for the bolts to cause real harm, but they might as well have been made of acid in the kit's mind.
Vertigo was still trying to placate him with tight contact and sweet whispers, but each time lightning tried and failed to jump at them, he could feel his grip slipping, his tails slowing down, their altitude decreasing. Ice was already holding himself awkwardly enough from the kit's ankles, trying to angle his body as far away from the raging storm around them as possible.
After what seemed like years, the tempest stopped. Miles managed to hold for another three seconds, then collapsed, conscious but babbling incoherently.
"You did it," assured him Vertigo, who had never loosened her grip even after they had fallen. "You held on; you did it."
The kit dug deeper into her lap and started weeping audibly.
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"Capacitors at 100 percent."
"Ma'am, their weapon is charging again!"
Rouge was feeling really stressed right now. "Can we intercept their laser with our own cannon?"
Both of her personal operators turned and gawked at her, then looked at each other. "It could work."
"Or it could blow us sky-high. We have no clue of the science involved."
The bat cleared her throat. "Last time we were lucky something stopped their shot. We need a strategy. Now."
The human nodded. "Very well, boss. Aiming at Cone of Red Death," he declared with a straight face.
Rouge had to snort to avoid laughing. "Fire!"
Gold and crimson met close to the Armada station, fighting for supremacy. The Invictus One main cannon momentarily overwhelmed the red laser, striking at the spire just above its emitter and leaving a slight dent. The other beam continued firing though, lancing through the battleship's deck once more and piercing all the way to the water.
"Compartments R3 and R4 breached," reported the zebra, trying to keep her voice level. She sighed in relief after a while. "Successfully sealed. We are still in business."
"Capacitor at 100 percent."
"Same target, fire!"
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Miles stood up, trying to steady his breathing, his bloodshot eyes aching. "We have to move on," he announced, though it sounded like he was trying to persuade himself first.
Vertigo tried to grab his shoulder, but he slapped her hand away. "Miles…." She muttered.
"Sorry, but we really need to go," repeated the kit. "My weakness has already put us in enough danger."
Ice patted him on the head, ignoring his flattened ears. "You kicked that 'weakness' in the ass when you pulled that stunt, kid," he reminded him. "I wouldn't have dared to press that button myself and I'm not even afraid of lightning."
The youngest Chaos adept rolled his eyes, feeling a little more like himself again. "We should at least see what of our gear has survived."
Most of the weapons and gadgets were a total loss, though they fortunately had some extras stashed inside the Sea Tail.
"The owl?" asked Ice, a bit apprehensive.
Vertigo glared at him. "You didn't need to mention that bastard," she whispered as Miles stiffened a bit. "He was between the sub and the rest of the station. You probably won't even find his ashes."
The kit turned his Sea Tail back to a drone and picked his Emerald bag, which was unscathed. The others were further ahead, having a whispered argument, and he was about to join them when he felt something.
"A Chaos Emerald," he whispered, eyeing what looked like a vault door. Any other time he would have been more cautious, but he was still feeling very out of sorts, so he simply ripped the door off the wall, grabbing the yellow gem inside and basking in its radiance as it synced with its siblings. "One more remains."
His reverie was cut short when a siren started wailing and a heavily reinforced door came down right next to the other two adepts, separating them from the kit.
"Ice! Vertigo!" he shouted, as he dashed to the door and slashed with his tails, to little effect. "I can't believe it! This door has Morganite!"
"Hot lab one breached," announced an automated voice. "Lockdown in progress. Detaching module in 120 seconds, detonating in 130 seconds."
"Miles, go. We'll be fine," said Ice, visible through a tiny window and talking through a somehow still working intercom.
The kit gaped at him. "You are trapped in a battle station full of enemies with no way to retreat!"
Vertigo scoffed. "Miles! You are trapped on the section that will fall and blow up!" she reminded him. "Get out of here, we'll be fine!"
The kit snarled, spin-dashing at the door again and again.
Ice was now shouting. "Get out, damn it! You have to leave now to have a chance to survive."
"I have my sub!"
"We are in midair!"
"The Sea Tail can now fly!"
Vertigo blinked at that. "What?"
"I can transform the waterjets to turbofans. It doesn't matter now. We have to leave together. I can't just leave you!"
"Lockdown in progress. Detaching module in 80 seconds, detonating in 90 seconds."
The vixen groaned. "You aren't thinking clearly. You won't make it if don't leave now. Please, Miles. Just get out and fly back in, for Chaos' sake!"
Miles wiped new tears from his eyes. "Stay safe! Promise me!"
Ice sighed, realistic about their odds. "Miles, no matter what happens to us, I know you'll see this through. To be honest, I think we've been holding you back."
The kit eyed him crazily. "I'd have never got out of that lightning deathtrap alone," he shouted.
"Miles," said Vertigo softly. "We believe in you, Miles. Despite all the trouble, these last weeks will always be precious to me, because I've met you."
"Don't talk like that!" demanded the two-tailed genius, still hitting the door ineffectually. "Don't you dare die on me!"
"Lockdown in progress. Detaching module in 40 seconds, detonating in 50 seconds."
"See you on the other side, kid. Of the door or otherwise," joked the shark, waving once, then turning around and walking away.
"It will only be a while. You'll be with us before you know it," insisted the vixen. "Now run, little brother," she added, following the older adept.
Miles spin-dashed the door one last time, leaving a deep gash-and some of his blood in it. "Vertigo! Ice!" he shouted again, to no avail. Still sniffling, he turned around and ran for his life.
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End of chapter 25
I was looking for a chance to use Tails' greatest fear and this is it. Fukurokov lucked out and selected the one thing that could possibly defeat the Mael-Sprawler as his cell security. Too bad for him that he got cocky. In the game, the remote robot would simply push a boulder on the doc's head, but I wanted something more epic. At every water level you watch that little robot turning into a submarine, so what better than to use that ability offensively.
About Rouge captaining a huge warship: We've seen her leading whole squads in the comics and I think she does have what it takes, even when so young as she is in this story. It's not such a stretch she'd be given temporary command of a battleship since she was the agent closer to the action.
Now, with Tails seperated from his friends, he must escape and find another route to enter Babylon Six. Keep an eye out for the next chapter and don't forget to review!