The kit ran his tiny paws across the frigid walls as he paused to catch his breath. The rough surface was cool and damp to the touch. Looking up he watched the rays of light poured in through the stained glass windows over head. The structure's beauty was something to behold, but no longer did Tails feel safe with its confines.
Julian had just killed the king in his own throne room, although the fat man didn't even have the courtesy to see to the squirrel himself, leaving the task instead to one of his armor clad soldiers. The blood and gunshots had sent everyone scrambling for safety as the soldiers fired indiscriminately at bystanders. Tails had already seen his family killed once, and to see it happen again left him with little faith in what remained of the world. However, the two-tailed fox found strength enough to run blindly until the blasts of gunfire were but just pops to his ears.
There he stood, lost in the maze of corridors, heart pumping with adrenalin as he listened to distant screams and pleas that were silenced only with bullets. Tails' hearing sharpened, honing in on the heavy footsteps that approached. The kit had run so far already, he wasn't sure that his feet could carry him any further. Slinking into the corner behind a statue, he coward in fear as the man approached in a suit made of steel.
The tiny fox had always been good at hiding, but today was different. The soldier's gear let him see through shadows and with an outstretched bare hand, the human promptly picked Tails up by the scruff of his neck. The man towered over him, even as the fox squirmed in his grip.
"You're nothing but a little runt, aren't you?" the soldier asked rhetorically before laughing.
Tails didn't know what to do, he felt powerless in the grasp of such a large creature. Wriggling with all his might he found one of the man's fingers between his teeth and clamped down. The human let out a scream as he scrambled to drop the fox, but now it was Tails turn to refuse to let go. Even as blood filled his mouth the kit only sought to sink his fangs in further. Finally, he was thrown to the ground as the soldier flung him across the room.
"Oh you little…"
Tails backed away slowly as the man peeled away his helmet to get a better look at his hand. His finger was raw and near severed, but the pain didn't seem to faze him. With his good hand, the soldier pulled out a blackened steel blade as he approached the small fox.
"You like sharp things do ya?" he asked menacingly.
With just three large steps the human was standing above him again, reaching down with his bad hand as if he hadn't learned the lesson the first time. But he had, the human's grip was suffocating as it locked in around his neck. The knife was now level with his eyes as the soldier showed off its glimmer.
"Not so tough now are you?"
A nearby scream was all it took to distract the man, causing him to look away for just a moment. Seizing his opportunity, Tails swung with an extended paw, raking it across the side of the man's face. Just like his teeth, his claws were tiny and sharp. The violent attack caused his captor to recoil and drop everything in his hands so he shield his face.
The clatter of the blade hitting the ground caught the fox's attention. His nails were fearsome, but not long enough to do any serious damage. The soldier's weapon however, was. The only thing Tails knew for sure was where the pointy end went. His paws barely fit around the hilt, but he wasn't about to let that stop him from picking it up.
Still cursing, the soldier stumbled around blindly as he covered a bleeding eye. It was only another moment before the man tripped over an uneven stone and began to tumble towards the fox. Rather than be crushed by the armored man, Tails raised the knife above his head in hopes it would detour the soldier from falling on him. Surprisingly, the blade went right through the steel. However, it did little to stop the course of gravity, and the agent toppled over onto the kit all the same.
Now trapped under a dying man, the fox clawed madly at the ground until he was able to squeeze free. Returning to his feet, the kit found the soldier with a knife buried in his heart, lying motionless on the polished floor. Prodding the human confirmed what he had already suspected, Tails had killed him. It was never what he wanted, but part of him didn't care. After all, how many Mobians had the Dominion killed today?
The two-tailed fox knelt down to retrieve the knife, struggling to free it from the human's armor. It came out glistening in blood that could have just as easily been his own. The sight nor the smell appealed to him, but the fact that he was still alive did. Sliding the blade into his belt, Tails pressed onwards through the cavernous enclosure following the noise of a low pitched hum. It grew louder as he followed the echoes and louder still when he arrived beneath a darkening sky in the castle's courtyard. In the distance was the red suited man who had been there when the King died. The round human stood over a large box, reaching inside for only a moment before boarding a waiting helicopter.
The fox approached the black crate while watching Julian disappear into the advancing rain. What had the troubled man left behind? His feet moved faster until he was next to the object with his chin was pressed against the top of the container. Tails may have only been nine, but was still smart enough to know what was staring back at him. The red LED timer ticking down was mesmerizing to watch as it brought death closer with each second.
"Sonic!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, wondering why he had never thought to do so before.
In an instant the hedgehog was at his side wearing a look of fright.
"There you are little cuz, you had me worried. I have been looking everywhere for you." Sonic said in relief before his gaze shifted to the blood stained knife, "Are you okay?"
The kit nodded and pointed to the box instead.
"That's no good," Sonic said with a dry amount of humor as he took a peak inside. "Twenty seconds isn't a lot of time."
It was too big to move, but it didn't stop hedgehog from trying.
"It won't budge," he finally admitted.
The fox stared curiously at the black and yellow symbol on the side of the large box. He was sure he had seen them somewhere before.
"Come on, Tails, we need to get out of here before we're barbeque."
"What about Sally?" he asked. "She's coming too right?"
"She'll be waiting for you when we get there."
"Where are we going?" Tails asked as he hopped onto his friends back, knowing full well there was no returning.
"You'll see. Now hold on tight."
Wrapping his arms around Sonic, the kit heeded his advice. In an instant they out of the castle, bounding through the forest at a speed he couldn't even process. Finally they came to a rest at the top of a mountain that overlooked their valley. Sonic paused to watch the ball of light grow in the distance, waiting patiently for the sound of the thunderous explosion to reach them. Tails looked up, watching the fiery fragments of Acorn Castle's remains streak across the sky. It was painful to witness such a scenic place disappear in the blink of an eye. It had been their home, but now its remnants rained from the heavens as nothing more than stone and ash.
Tails awoke with a start, the surreal dreams had been becoming more and more vivid each night. His past always found a way to haunt him, whether it was Fiona, his parents, or seeing King Acorn shot right before his eyes. Unfortunately there was no hiding from the torments of his mind, only the dreams that made them a reality. However, he could only fend off sleep for so long. Casting away the covers, the two-tailed fox jumped to his feet.
The crisp morning air bit into his fur as he opened the door to the cabin's porch. Tails hadn't been home in a while, no one had. It wasn't a place that his kind went anymore. Bad memories were just the beginning of a visit to their former sanctuary. To say things had changed would be a monumental understatement. The Mobian's former empire had collapsed into ruin, only fragments of the city remained, strewn about amidst a dense forest at the feet of mountains.
Kintobor had seen to it that the location was removed from not the face of the planet, but any map as well. The large boulders that had once composed Acorn castle were helplessly shattered and scattered by Julian's bombs. For miles on end, charred rocks sat complacent, slowly eroding as moss covered their gritty surfaces. The gentle rain glistened a dreary color on the blackened stone, giving way to one interpretation of the town's new name, Rainstone.
In his youth, the kit could not remember anything but sun and sky. Now, this pace was plagued with a perpetual storm that seemed to suggest the world itself wept for the crimes committed against an entire species. Tails felt his fists tighten as the visible reminders of why he fought greeted him once again.
As the kit stared into the distance at the jagged teeth like mountains that bit into the dark wooly clouds above, the patter of a helicopter's rotors cutting through the air thrummed in the distance.
"You finally made it," Tails smiled to himself. "I was beginning to worry about you."
He had been spending the better part of the last month admiring how quickly nature had reclaimed what was once its own. The humans had managed to build a small settlement amidst the foggy forest, but it was hardly a shadow of the city that used to reside there.
It would be a while before they arrived. Even if they had come by chopper, there was no easy spot to land anywhere nearby. The forest, mud, and other unforgivable terrain would slow them down even more. Taking in another deep breath of the mountain fresh air, Tails stepped down from his porch in search of a path.
From the shelter of a tall pine, the two-tailed fox was able to watch as the Dominion soldier marched into town in a thickening rain. Fiona held her hand to her head as shielded the water from her eyes, trying to find her bearings in a place she had never been.
"It isn't safe for you here," Tails whispered to the forest, "not with Sonic looking for you."
Almost instinctively the vixen stopped in front of the tiny tavern on the corner before turning back to argue with her partner. The kit had spent so much time there, the place must have reeked of him.
"Wait outside in the rain then," Fiona barked at Jake with discontent.
Surprisingly that is exactly what he did. While the red fox helped herself to the warm air inside, the iron clad soldier remained outside, pacing about in the mud. The kit could respect those who despised being idle, but the frustration Tails was feeling stemmed from more than being stuck outside in the rain. Disposing of the agent would have been as easy as waking up, but the fox desperately needed someone to watch over Fiona when he could not. Out of all the soldiers he had fought, this one had been the toughest.
"Don't you let anything happen to her," Tails called out too softly for him to hear.
He had hoped for a moment alone with the vixen, perhaps this was his best chance. Cautiously, the kit slipped into the mist making sure to be as silent as the rain while he approached the over grown dominion agent. His whole life Tails had been able to hide in plain sight as if it were nothing. It came as naturally to him as breathing. Unexplainable to others, his ability was so innate that the soldier was stunningly unaware of his presence, even as he pulled the pin from one his smoke grenades.
Before Jake had a chance to turn, the two-tailed fox was up the stairs of the saloon and in the doors. The lonesome bar was, for a change, occupied by someone other than himself. Fiona's flowing red tail protruded from the stool, swishing contemplatively back and forth. Taking the seat next to her, he placed the aluminum ring in front of the vixen as if it were a promise.
"For you," Tails exclaimed bashfully, still unsure of what to say to the velvet fox.
After all, their encounters up to this point had been unusual to say the least.
"What is…?" she began in an almost concerned fashion.
Rather than explain, he thought it best for her to witness his mischief first hand. Tails pointed out the window, silently begging for her to follow his lead. Together they looked on while Jake jumped to life as one of the canisters on his belt began to spew smoke.
"Son of a bitch," the agent yelled frantically, "what's going on?"
To his surprise, Fiona laughed as a wry little smile crept up the side of her muzzle. Tails could barely remember what laughter sounded like, let alone hers. To hear it was pure bliss.
"Not very bright is he?" the fox joked.
"You might be surprised," the vixen responded as she retreated into her gloomy state, "he managed to find us."
And to this day, Tails couldn't understand how he had been able to do that. For years the kit had managed to evade Julian's finest techs, but somehow this lone Dominion agent had gotten lucky. With a flick of his wrist, the two-tailed fox motioned to the bar tender that had grown to be what felt like his only friend. The man nodded subtly as he reached for clean glassware.
"Why?" he could not help but ask, knowing that she would understand.
"It's not a fashion statement," Fiona replied bluntly as she tugged at the silver bomb around her neck.
The kit couldn't help but shake his head, knowing there was nothing he try to undo what the monster had done to her, at least not yet anyway.
"That's low, even for him. I might be able to remove it though."
"No honey," the velvet red fox replied softly, "it's tamper proof. Julian even mentioned you by name when he put it on. It doesn't come off."
Her voice trembled with fear and disapproval.
"That's it then? You're just going to work for him?" Tails asked before taking a swig of his new beer? "You're going to continue to capture and kill us, like you're not one of us?"
It was a harsh statement, but it was meant to be. He needed to know where she stood. Loving her was easy, but the kit still needed to know what she was.
"Do you think I want to?" she barked back at him fiercely. "I don't have a choice!"
Tails wished she hadn't said those words. Everyone always had a choice.
"Everyone always has a choice, Fiona," he replied, now wishing he hadn't.
The kit knew very well what her choices were and he hated all of them. However, he couldn't bring himself to be selfish enough to ask her to continue doing what she was doing. Tails wanted more than anything for her to live, no matter the cost, but he couldn't let the Dominion know that for fear of them using her against him.
"What would you have me do?" the vixen pleaded with him, desperate for an answer that she couldn't find.
"Fiona," he called out to her softly, avoiding the question he couldn't answer without lying. "You shouldn't be here, it's not safe."
The look on her face grew more worried as he continued, "You're lucky I got to you first. Both of you need to get out of here while you still can."
"And if I don't feel like it," she responded defiantly for no other reason than to be stubborn.
Fighting back the urge to smile, the kit answered as seriously as he could, "I can only do so much. I can't stop him."
"Who?" Fiona asked, finally sensing his concern.
"Sonic."
He had hoped to distract her partner a little longer, but the man had finally gotten board of playing in the mud. The sound of the agent opening the door meant that it was time to go. Sliding of his seat the fox faded into the back of the bar where it was dark. The kit would be able to safely watch the two from a distance.
The look on the vixens face betrayed her confusion too easily. She still didn't understand how he slipped away and it was clear that it frustrated her to an extent.
"You shouldn't smoke," Fiona said bluntly as her partner walked by.
"Har, har, har," the man mocked with his best fake laugh. "Feeling awfully funny today aren't we? The damn thing just went off."
The velvet fox did nothing more than shrug in response, clearly not amused with his problems.
"Were you drinking with someone? Who's is this?" he asked too authoritatively for Tails' liking.
"Yours," the vixen replied without batting an eye, "I didn't think you would let me drink alone."
Fiona was as good a liar as anyone he had seen. She was quick on her feet and could adjust on the fly without the slightest hint of hesitation.
"Sorry, but I don't touch the stuff. Clouds the mind."
"Suit yourself," Fiona proclaimed before finishing her own beer as if to rub it in his face.
From the spot he had found in the kitchen, Tails could see the man reach in front of her, picking up the pin he had left for her. This should be interesting. However, as much as he wanted to watch, his attention was diverted by a hedgehog pressing his face against one of the dirty glass windows.
"That didn't take you long," Tails whispered to himself.
In the city Fiona would have been difficult to corner and even harder to find in all of Kintobor's secure facilities. This was likely the change Sonic had been waiting for, the vixen was alone and in secluded place away from prying eyes of humans and Mobians alike.
Pulling out a pen, Tails quickly scribbled a note on a discarded drink coaster. Perhaps if Fiona came across as a threat the hedgehog would be less inclined to go after her.
"Here," Tails whispered to the bartender sitting idly near the doorway. "Give this to the other fox and then do yourself a favor and get out of here. You're not going to want to be here for this next part."
The man didn't ask many questions when the kit handed him a stack of money bigger than his fist in addition to the note.
Now all the kit could do was hope that she understood. Not where you are, where you want to be, he repeated back to himself. His message was cryptic, but one of the few secrets that might let someone actually hit the blue-quilled Mobian. If nothing else, perhaps it would remind Fiona that where she is now doesn't have to be where she wants to be.
"Sonic!" Jake shouted in a voice that didn't suit him well. "You didn't say anything about him. Is he here?"
In the blink of an eye the quilled Mobian was standing behind them. He had a thing for dramatic entrances, and the Dominion agent had just set him up quite nicely.
"Is who here?" Sonic asked sarcastically, "I'm sorry I couldn't quite make that out. Hearing isn't what it used to be."
They were both dead to rights and there was little the kit could do about it. Sonic was capable of killing them at any moment, leaving Tails left there watching in remorse. The only thing he could hope for was that the arrogant hedgehog would do what he always did and play with his prey before he got bored and put them out of their misery.
The two-tailed fox had always enjoyed watching how others handled fear. Fiona was cool as ice, searching for her next move. She had been in plenty of tight spots already in her lifetime, knowing full well that there was always a way out of even the worst places. The fact that she was still alive was a testament to that very fact. Jake on the other hand reacted much differently. Reaching for the coldest glass of beer, he downed it in four large gulps. For a man who didn't like to drink, he had changed his mind rather quickly.
"Sonic," the agent said as he spun to face his enemy.
"No hard feelings fellas. Orders are orders, you know?" the cobalt Mobian said in a way that he no doubt expected them to understand.
Now is when Tails suspected things would begin to get good. Jake was quick to the draw and easily would have hit his target if it moved at a rational speed. Sonic, however hardly did anything in a reasonable way. The kit found himself ducking low behind the stove as bullets began to tear through the wood veneer.
He hoped with all his heart that the Fiona not only found but understood his message. Looking out from his hiding place he could see her cowering behind the bar now with now where to run. Her eyes were tracing the words on the coaster as clarity began to set in. If there was anyone in this world that Tails suspected could hit the hedgehog, it was Fiona. Standing up she looked down the site of her oversize pistol.
Just don't kill him Fi, the kit thought to himself. I don't want to loose any more friends.
The crack that the .50 cal handgun let out was deafening in such a small place, but with its bark came peace. The room was in a hush as Sonic muttered curses under his breath.
"Jake," Fiona yelled, shattering the silence.
"Yeah, boss?" a surprisingly unshaken response returned.
"Let's get out of here," the vixen suggested as she vaulted over the countertop.
The hedgehog was lying on the ground in the corner of his room clutching a bleeding arm. As he got back to his feet, Jake made a dash for the door, leaving Fiona alone and vulnerable.
Jake! The two-tailed fox shouted inside his head. You can't just leave her!
Had she done more than graze him, the hedgehog might have backed off, but instead she had simply pissed him off. The vixen knew she was trapped when her eyes met his and in less time that it took to blink he was on top of her.
Tails crept across the warped floor boards, as he watched his friend slowly suffocate the fox he loved. It saddened him to behold this reality, to have to choose between love and the friend who had saved his life more times than he could reliably count. Without Sonic, the kit would have never gotten the chance to know Fiona, but with him, he may never know her again. Love was a bitter thing.
The pain in his hand was tremendous, as if the appendage itself abhorred what he was about to do, but he held it steady all the same. He had hopped Jake might prove of some assistance, but it was better this way. Perhaps he could show Sonic and Fiona just how much he cared. Raising his silver Beretta, Tails waited until there was no margin for error. Spooking the hedgehog could only end badly. The speedy Mobian stopped as soon as he felt the cold steel of a gun barrel pressed against his back.
"I didn't hear you come in little cuz," Sonic said in voice laced with guilt.
Even if hadn't been there the entire time, the hedgehog and his thick head would have never heard the sleek fox.
"That's because I have always been here."
And he had, for weeks, waiting for another chance to see the red fox who was just moments away from death.
"Tails," Sonic said hesitantly, "don't do anything you will regret."
That was no easy feat. It seemed like every choice before him was filled with no shortage of remorse.
"Then don't move," the two-tailed fox quipped, "you're fast, but you're not this fast."
All Sonic had to do was let go and Tails could keep both of them.
"Think about what you're doing," the hedgehog reasoned.
He had and this was the only way to make him see how much he really loved her. It was Sonic that had warned him how dangerous it was, how much he would do for her.
"What was that thing you told me about love," he paused before answering his own question. "You know it's true when you will do anything for the other person."
The gun against his back should have made it clear that there was no limit to what he was willing to do for Fiona.
"Do me a favor and don't test that right now," the kit continued with a deep breath.
At once, Sonic dropped his prisoner to the floor, letting her scramble away without a second thought. The hedgehog finally knew that there was no coming between the two.
"Cuz, you never told me that you loved her," Sonic said through a disappointed tone.
Tails eased the safety into place as he lowered his weapon, letting his friend turn to face him. The fox had told him that he loved her, but just not this much.
"She means everything to me, the way Sally does to you. I couldn't let you…" Tails was choking on the words that followed.
"Fiona's okay," the hedgehog reassured him. "A little worse for wear, but even her partner got away."
"And if I hadn't been here?"
Sonic shrugged his shoulders, "I guess it's good that you were."
"I am sorry Sonic," the kit said through teary eyes, "I never wanted to have to put a gun to your back."
"It's me who should be sorry, Tails. I should have known how much you cared about her. I should have put my foot down when I had the chance."
"Just leave her out of this. This is all my fault and I need to fix it."
"As long as she can stay out of my way, I don't have a problem with letting her be, but Sally might."
"I know," the kit replied through gritted teeth, "but I think I know how you can convince her."
"Me? I already told her I didn't want to do this. Even if I tell her now, she'll just find someone else."
"I know," Tails said again. "Which is why we have to make having Fiona alive more important than dead."
"Good luck," Sonic sighed. "Once Sally sets her sights on something, she isn't likely to forget it."
Tails knew that as well as anyone else. However, the squirrel wasn't likely to listen to him anytime soon, but perhaps she would listen to Sonic.
"Well, it's a good thing you have a plan then," the kit answered with a sarcastic smile.
Hello All,
Reviews are appreciated, but this chapter was nothing that spectacular. I am just trying to keep things moving. The story is almost over, but some much still has to happen.
Just a heads up, the next chapter might take a while. I have a lot of it done, but I will be traveling for work for the next couple of weeks. At least in the meantime I will provide a few things to wet your appetite.
Following the general flow of chapters thus far, the chapter will be told through Fiona's eyes. However, it won't really be about her. Over the course of Resistance and Futile, I have now covered almost every relevant character's past, which in turn reveals a lot of their motivations and provides some insight into why the act the way they do. One character however, who has not gotten this treatment is Jake. Normally I wouldn't spend a lot of time on OCs, but has become kind of important.
In Resistance, I glossed over, but alluded to, a very dark past. However, I never mentioned any more than that. Sometimes saying there is a reason is enough to create some meaning in a character, but telling why is so much more fun.
I do my best to re-read my own work to make sure I never contradict myself (If I do, please call me out!). Based on all prior chapters, including Resistance, I have come up with the following things I know about Jake's past.
1- There is an extremely dark moment in his life.
2- His mother hates Mobians.
3- His father died because of them.
4- At one point or another, he reveals this dark past to Fiona
5- He still hears the screams of something he wishes he could unsee and hear.
6- This is why he drinks in Resistance, because he wants to forget.
7- He broke someone's legs after they made an accusation they shouldn't have.
Knowing all of this, I created what I believe that dark moment to be. I have been, admittedly cliché with so many of the other characters, but with Jake I wanted to find something more original and I think I have.
Obviously I can't tell you much more than that or I would ruin the whole surprise (feel free to guess though). I have done my best to create an emotional story, so I want to continue that trend. My previous attempts at touching moments have been mediocre at best, but I hope to improve on that this next time around.
Cheers,
M.D