I think that the last chapter was a satisfying way to continue the war. Let's all get back to it then, shall we?
Silver Sheilds: I don't think a kick in the head would be enough to kill someone but I guess you'll find out now.
BlackxShootingxStar: Actually I've remembered all those wounds. I've mentioned though that whenever Tails goes into his kitsune form all his wounds heal. As for Sonic, the guy he fought attacked with lightning so there shouldn't be any puncture or gash wounds. At least I don't remember writing any in. It's incredibly hard to keep up with how many wounds a certain character gets when a story goes on for so long and has a large amount of characters. If I make any more mistakes feel free to inform me so I can improve in the next chapter. Oh, and as for Knux… well you'll see.
Shinju the Rabbit: I assure you any character I kill is gone for GOOD. I don't particularly like it when reused bad guys come back to life.
Kitsune-SuperFox: I sort of did go off what you said but it was a more spur of the moment thing. Also I'm glad you thought Prissy getting his ass kicked was so hilarious! I love it when my readers are pleased. Also, I read your story and I like it! It just needs some spelling and grammar fine-tuning and then you're all set!
Sparktimus: Cool! My story is a ride minus the displeasing vomit at the end. That's amazing!
Raziel777: It was pretty fast now that I think about it. Do you honestly think that it's a good thing it went past thirty chapters? Sometimes I wonder but I don't regret any of the chapters I've written. I'm glad the chapters were climatic and the dialogue was dramatic. Being told something like that really gets me going! I also think you're right about finding an appropriate punishment for Hang Nail. After so many chapters you'd think I'd have thought up something creative. I wish other Tails fans could read this story as well.
tailsim: It's hard for me to describe my scenes. I try my best but sometimes my imagination gets so hyper that I end up with scenes that are impossible to describe without some confusion present. Thanks for the advice though.
Skychick: Hang Nail's life is pretty much ruined. With no friends, family, use of one of his arms, melted legs, and no way of moving from the spot he's at I'd say he's pretty much done. Thanks for reviewing!
Shala the Hedgehog: I hate thinking up words so I just use whatever comes to mind at the last second. It seems to have worked so far!
Chapter 35: Tails' decisions; Which enemy do I help?
During the thirty minutes that Tails had been busy with Hang Nail a considerably large amount of soldiers and robots had been destroyed. It won't take long for the number of people in the fight to stray from the millions down to the thousands. The castle that everyone had been heading toward was getting closer and closer to basically everyone. The order of the people from the closest to the castle to the farthest from it is as follows:
War Zone 15 - It would seem that both Eggman's robots and the G.U.N soldiers have the castle within their reach. They seem to be coming up on the castle by the hundreds while numerous battles take place elsewhere.
War Zone 12- Shoui and her group have advanced quite a distance. With very little distractions getting in their way it won't be long before she reaches her destination. Bocoe and Decoe and their group are a little ways behind Shoui.
War Zone 7 - A little further back Sonic and Buru are fighting alone on a rooftop over looking many explosions and armed participants.
War Zone 6 - Even more back Smokstack has almost succeeded in distancing himself from Eggman and Bokkun. Big the cat is a little farther back from them.
War Zone 5 - Next is Tails and the defeated jaguar, Hang Nail
War Zone 3 - And finally Rouge and Metal Sonic are basically in the same area. They have yet to cross paths.
Not much time or people remain and a certain cloaked deity is aware if it all.
Darkness was the last to slowly make his way into Coordinates 000. He said nothing and thought nothing as he entered. He was too flustered and angry to do either.
Coordinates 000: War Zone 3
"I can go… by myself! Fly in the Freedom! Time never stop and wait for me. Looking for answers and looking for the clue…" Rouge sung while she trotted along the dry soil of the tip of the planet.
It was pretty boring just being in a dusty place like this by herself but there was absolutely nothing she could do about that at a time like this. Smokestack was probably a wreck without her.
"Imagine that headstrong commander a wreck! HA! Hilarious just imagining it!" Rouge was suddenly feeling extremely giddy. That was at least until she heard a small noise coming from behind the building beside her.
Normally a small noise would mean very little to her and she'd usually dismiss it as an unimportant annoyance to her supersonic ears. However, in a messed up place like this, there was no way she was going to take any chances.
The bat quickly jumped on the building's roof and looked over the edge. What she found was something she'd never had expected herself to see.
A robotic blue hedgehog with something shining in his hands was in her line of sight. On closer inspection Rouge saw what the object was.
"A chaos emerald!" She shouted with amazement not even considering whether or not the robot was listening.
"Yes it is. I believe you have one as well bat." The metal figure spoke with such silent malice that it made Rouge's skin crawl.
"I might have one…"
"You do, stuffed in your bra correct."
"… What are you some kinda x-ray sex offender hedgehog bot? Because if you are then Eggman's more screwed up than I thought."
"Hmph."
"Well, whatever. All I care about is that emerald. I suggest you hand it to me before I decide to take it by force. Oh and in case you didn't know when I get forceful people start to dent. You know what I mean?"
"…"
"Well?"
"… Slut."
"Why thank you. I'm not there yet considering I'm only 13 but I've been told many times that I'd make a perfect one of those. How about I get a little closer so you can examine my features." Rouge jumped off of the small building and lashed out her foot at metal.
"…" The robot just stared at her with his still red eyes.
"Let's start with my boots!" Rouge landed a successful kick on Metal's head. It wasn't long before Rouge realized that the strange robot didn't even flinch.
Rouge quickly got annoyed and began slamming both her feet against Metal Sonic's head. The robot continued to remain in the same spot with his eyes locked on to the irritated bat.
Eventually the silent robot grabbed her outstretched leg and held her in place. Rouge gritted her teeth in anger as a drop of unnoticeable sweat slid down her frustrated face. For a short while Metal Sonic said nothing than he spoke in his bland metallic voice.
"Nice boobs."
"Too late for flattery! I'm already pissed!"
"My dictionary doesn't have that word in its banks for some reason… I heard it on one of my scouting missions… I'm guessing that it's a street term for breasts."
All the while Metal was talking Rouge was struggling to break free. The robot had an insane grip! He didn't even have to struggle to keep her in place.
"But then again why I'm bringing this up is even beyond me…hmmm... perhaps it's time I acquired another certain something for my collection while I'm at this." With that Metal Sonic slammed the bat onto the dirt with a huge thud. Rouge didn't move. She couldn't move!
"My body… what did you do…" Rouge's voice showed signs of a struggling breath.
"When you hit the ground I sent a small jolt through your body. It happened at the same exact moment your nerves reacted to the pain of being hit against the dirt. Now you can't move." Metal Sonic explained which made Rouge growl at him. The robot clearly didn't care, however.
"Now, shall we go?" Metal didn't even wait for an answer as he began to drag the bat's body across the ground toward his destination.
Coordinates 000: War Zone 7
Sonic was punched into the hard roof of the musty building once again after barely recovering from another one of Buru's head on assaults. He plopped on the ground and rolled until he skidded to an abrupt halt.
"I swear… I'll bet anything that this guys' just rocks and skin…" Sonic slowly forced his tired body up. This all seemed ridiculous to him. They had been at it for over a half an hour and they both seemed to be in the same battered condition.
Sonic noticed, however, that Buru was certainly an expert at concealing his wounds. Sonic couldn't help but smile. He'd seen this kind of determination before. It was a shame he had to end this so quickly.
"Are you just about done hedgehog? The games are starting to bore me." Buru stood there with minimal cuts and bruises on his hard skin. His straight face would make any other person facing him want to grieve by how unaffected their attacks were on this man. Luckily for Sonic he didn't care how his face looked. He could tell that Buru was a lot more tired than he was.
"Really? You certainly look like the kind of guy who wouldn't hesitate to play naked twister with his roommate." Sonic clutched his arm as he uttered the disgusting comment.
Buru seemed to look Sonic over and sighed.
"Sorry but the jokes don't affect me."
"Yeah, I pretty much figured that."
"I'm guessing you also realize how low you've become during the coarse of this fight."
Sonic twisted his face up as a means of pretending he was thinking it over really hard.
"Nope. Not really."
"It'd be best to cut the attitude. I can tell just by the way you look that you won't be able to go on much longer. My attacks are too much on any body, even yours hedgehog. The way you're breathing, wincing, and holding your arm tells me that you're at your peak. You won't be able to dodge my next attack."
" … "
"Your silence insures me that I'm correct. You use your cockiness and smug outer exterior to blind your opponent from the obvious pain that you feel when you're dealt a decisive blow to a vital point on your body. It's sad how such a previously well-respected hero icon of the public has to hide his true self from the world because of a bloated ego. You have my pity. That alone isn't enough to save you from my next attack though."
" … "
"Look at your silence. I guess I'm hitting the mark aren't I. Is it that unbearable to face your shame?"
"…I guess… your right… I've lost…" Sonic's voice sounded like it was filled with a huge amount of dread.
"Hmph. Indeed you have. I'll end this now. Your too weak to dodge my next attack."
"You're right… I am too weak to dodge it… damnit!" Sonic sounded worried.
Buru charged straight at the hedgehog with amazing speed and his fist pulled back. Just like Buru had predicted Sonic didn't move from his spot. He brought his fist forward and jabbed it at the hedgehog's body.
"It's over…!"
SWISH!!
"What!" Buru saw his fist and what it had connected with was a bunch of air. The bull-like assassin grew scared as he realized what the 'swish' he had heard a while ago meant. He slowly turned his head to the side to see Sonic sliding his feet around Buru's body and slamming his fist across the assassins face.
Buru flew far across the roof and slammed into the black cement of the building with an amazing thud. Sonic stood there with a huge chuckling grin on his face for a long while until he finally decided to speak the obvious reason he was laughing.
"SIKE!! HAHAHAHAH!! Oh man! You should've seen your face. I was like 'Oh no you're right I am a loser' and then you we like 'Yay I win' and then I was like 'Not today sucker' and then you were like 'oh no he can still fight'!" Sonic was grabbing his chest from how much he was laughing. He couldn't believe that G.U.N assassins were this gullible.
Buru, to say the least, was pretty pissed off. He struggled to his feet while panting and growling at the hedgehog for being the first one since his life began to make him look like a fool. Buru's serious face and amazing posture was what made him such an intimidating figure.
However, it didn't take the hedgehog long at all to take that and shred it to pieces. Sonic certainly was a master at pissing people off!
"I'm a great actor aren't I?" Sonic was still chuckling.
"Shut up!"
"Aww, what's the matter? Are you mad that everything you said turned out to be complete B.S?" Sonic didn't even try to stop his laughter.
"I said be quiet!"
"Seriously though! You and your talking! It's just BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH over and over again! When are you smart types going to realize that I don't care how the bones crack when pressure is applied or that something that sinks in water can also float if you get it jacked up on helium or whatever. I fight to win and I carry that tradition on here."
"But you…"
"I what? Oh I get it! You're confused now that I've not only dodged your attack but also knocked you senseless eh? Okay then. Allow me to explain using what I call 'The awesome hedgehog encyclopedia of non-boring awesomeness!' okay!" Sonic cleared his throat playfully and smugly continued. "You iz (Is with a 'z') a non-supersonic hedgehog with the only thing going for him being his rocky skin and bull-like exterior. Me iz a supersonic hedgehog with quills sharp enough to tear solid metal. Get it now!"
"Not really! No! Your body should still be too weak to fight. You're vital points can't be that rock solid! There's just no possible way a creature like you should exist!"
Sonic was disrespectfully picking his ear while Buru spoke. This guy sure was a pain to listen to.
"Well guess what. Like it or not I do exist and believe it or not I have some place much more worth my time to be. I can tell that everything that you were accusing me of was ironically what was happening to your body. I know you were trying oh so hard to hide the fact that you were hurting behind your unrealistic posture and serious facial features but incase I haven't made it painfully clear throughout the coarse of this fight it should be noted that you'd have to wake up pretty early in the morning in order to trick me with some old…"
"What are you accusing me of exactly?" Buru's tone told Sonic that he wasn't in any mood for this. Sonic was tiredly rubbing his fingers together and decided to speak again.
"Not so much accusing, more like calling you out. I know that you, being a high on the food chain G.U.N agent, would never admit it but you're in a much worse state than I am. I'm afraid you might break if we continue this any longer."
"How dare someone like you be little me?!"
"You can stop with the calm attitude. Just relax! Take the deep breath you've been holding in for so long. I know you're just being an uptight bastard."
Buru was starting to lose control over his usual demeanor. Never in his life had he met such an annoying animal! Sonic didn't care and allowed himself to continue.
"It's been fun tricking and humiliating you but I think it's time I finished this and caught up with my friend. I don't regret fighting you though. You've taught me a valuable lesson."
"…And what… exactly what that be…" Buru's twitching eyebrow told Sonic that whatever he said next would decide the fate of Buru's sanity. Sonic had to be careful for the sake of this man's health!
"It's… that G.U.N agents… are total SUCKERS!" Sonic laughed as he held up both his chaos emeralds. He knew he shouldn't have done that but it was just to irresistible! Guess Buru's health is less sustainable then Sonic's fun.
As expected, by both Sonic and Buru, the angry assassin charged directly at Sonic.
"I'll hit you with my strongest rock skin attack!" Buru said as his body started to glow a bright gray.
"That's fine with me. It's you against two chaos emeralds and me! I've got no objections!" Sonic shouted as he used the red and yellow emerald's power to become his famous ball shape and shoot himself at Buru.
The assassin stopped in his tracks when he saw the power emanating from the massive power ball flying straight at him.
"Shield! I need a stronger SHEILD!" He mumbled to himself, as his gray glow grew slightly brighter. Despite that, his worry remained and so did the fact that Sonic's glow was far superior to his.
The hedgehog rammed right into Buru and sent both of them flying off the roof and spiraling across the tops of different buildings. The wind grew strong and powerful due to the force of Sonic's amazing spin and Buru's stomach was taking the full blunt of the attack.
Eventually, after a long flight across the dusty air they both landed on another tall rooftop and slide across it's rocky floor.
Sonic stopped his spin and landed on his feet while Buru slide across the roof and forced himself to stop before reaching the ledge.
Sonic and Buru stood across from each other once again in a seemingly similar stalemate. Buru looked up at Sonic with a huge grin on his face. Sonic looked up at him with the same look.
"Look at that grin… it's okay though… you don't have to put on your façade anymore… I know you want to pass out." The hedgehog said with the utmost confidence in his voice.
Buru's grin didn't go away. However, it did seem that this time he agreed with Sonic's words because he immediately fell forward and passed out on the rooftop.
The fight was over and Sonic felt like a chilidog. Nothing new there.
"I'm hungry… but I know eating will have to wait. My buddy's in danger and I've got to find him." Sonic took a second to scan over the area. After doing so he came to his conclusion.
"I have no idea where the hell I am … OH WELL! I'll find Tails if I look hard enough." The cheerful hedgehog said as he jumped off the building and landed smack into the dirt. Without looking back he sped off to find his lost brother.
Coordinates 000: War Zone 12
During the coarse of the numerous fights taking place across the huge battleground/graveyard of Coordinates 000 the damage reports for Shoui had been coming in by the minute.
Shoui was an amazing leader when it came to commanding her own section of G.U.N. She sees life as an extravagant and well thought out play. She does everything so that it feels on cue and not at all out of place. If the plan fails then the play fails and if G.U.N central command disapproves then it's considered a bad review from an important play critic to Shoui.
Right now Shoui and her group of soldiers were at an impasse with Eggman's robots. She didn't have to do anything while her soldiers fought them. The battle wasn't even intense enough for her attention. While her soldiers took care of the minor annoyances Shoui was receiving battle reports left and right from her men.
"Miss Shoui we've received a damage report coming from War Zone 15 where the castle is."
"Oh really. It seems that we've finally entered the next state that Buru had been going on about so we should be there soon enough. What is the damage report."
"It appears that the G.U.N army has taken the advantage there."
"Good, and overall."
"The Eggman's army has been considerably weakened. We're taking the lead in this fight."
"Good, good. Are we coming up on the idiots?"
"The gold and silver robots are actually behind us. They're headed this way. The report from Soldier 87 says so."
"Really. Anything else."
"Yes. We were able to extract one of the panels that were on one of Eggman's robots with the overall number of the people left in the fight. I think you should look at it." The solider wiped out the panel and showed it to the interested assassin.
"8033… 8032… 8029? It went down so fast." Shoui acted as if she was surprised when in reality she knew how such a thing could happen. She's been in plenty of wars before.
"Also there seems to be disturbing news about Coordinates 000's terrain." The soldier said as he brought out a slightly dusty piece of paper.
"Oh?"
"Yes. It seems that on the inside of Coordinates 000 we've been traveling a considerably long distance but… the monitoring helicopters on the outside of coordinates 000 say that… well…"
"Well what?"
"… They say that 3-way villa ends at the Ice Region and they can't see us while we're inside of Coordinates 000. They're strangely still able to contact us but for some reason we don't appear on the helicopters map signal. The only thing establishing connection is the fact that we have radio links."
"… How strange."
"It seems as though Coordinates 000 is acting as if it's a completely nonexistent land mark all of a sudden. It used to be on the map but as soon as people entered it the coordinates on this place disappeared."
"… Anything else."
"Yes. Our radio connection with the 'outside world' is slowly diminishing. It disappeared completely for the people within a 1mile radius of the huge glowing castle we're headed to. Speculation says that if we advance any further our connection will disappear for good. Meaning that even if we go back towards the direction we came in… we'll never reach the Ice region. It will just go in a complete circle."
"I see… so everyone is trapped here then… bummer… still we are in a war and the show must go on.
"You're not concerned ma'am?"
"As long as the play is seen to it's completion I don't mind being trapped here for all eternity. That's how it was meant to be I guess."
"…" The soldier didn't seem to want to agree with her but knew if he spoke out of term he'd be punished severely.
"Commander Shoui!" Came the voice of a tired and scared soldier as he ran up to Shoui with another report in his hand.
"Yes, what is it."
"I… just got word… from… from a stakeout soldier… he says… that Buru was defeated…" He wheezed out.
Shoui stood there with her head cocked to the side as if she was considering something. Then shrugged it off as if it were nothing.
"Oh well. I guess it's his loss when Hato gets here."
"Umm… about Hato…"
"Yes?"
"… The helicopters outside of Coordinates 000 sent out agents to look for fallen soldiers who hadn't made it to Coordinates 000 yet and… among them Hato was found… dead."
" … "
"Not only that but Rasshu and Mardo were found unconscious and severely injured. By what is still under investigation…"
Shoui stood there with a blank look on her face. Hato… dead? That didn't make any sense. What happened? Who could've…?
"I don't have time to dwell on this. Tell me. How far from us are those two morons." Shoui said in a voice that clearly showed that she was becoming impatient.
"They're coming up ahead right about now. What are your orders?"
"Intercept them! The sooner we take them out the sooner the play draws to it's finally. Get a move on!" Shoui barked out her orders with such forcefulness that the two men quickly went to carry them out.
'Hato's dead and the others have been defeated… I'm the only one left… but still… the show MUST go on.'
During the coarse of Shoui's shocking battle reports Eggman's robots began to gain a considerable lead over the G.U.N army. As of now countless Eggman robots are storming the castle and gunning down any G.U.N troops that may or may not be in their way. Because the castle is so huge it will take a while for them to reach the top. The process of getting there is made even more difficult due to the fact that it's both a race and a war to see who can reach the unlimited power that awaits the first one to arrive.
Meanwhile a little ways behind Shoui
"Come on! Almost half the robots have already made it inside the castle! We can not simply let them go alone!" Decoe yelled along side his partner Bocoe with a massive amount of their robots ahead.
"Doing so would not only make us look bad but the doctor will see us as inconsistent and make us do lowly tasks like force us to shave his putrid back." Bocoe shouted while running with his arms flailing and his legs creaking.
"… I think he already did that once."
"I know! It was like a freaking forest filled with grazing cattle was on his back! Glad it's gone now."
They had both rounded another corner seeking what they hoped to be a huge straight line that led right to the castle. Sadly that isn't what they ran into.
"Stop it right there!" Came the voice of a now bitter female assassin. The two robots stopped on command out of fear and quickly began their continuous trembling fit.
"Hey. That's that weird eye patch woman!" Decoe pointed out much to Shoui's extreme annoyance that they would refer to her in such a preschool manner.
Shoui angrily tugged on her gloves and let the anime vein on her head throb to it's content after seeing the two bumbling idiots whom she thought were the one's responsible for Hato and her crews defeat.
"Tell that freak Eggman that I'll send him to Hell along with the late Hato just to even up the score." Shoui said with an obvious growl in her voice.
"Wh-what about us?" Bocoe asked, as he shaking seemed to reach past any limit that any normal human, let alone robot, would've been able to distribute.
"You're in luck. Since the others were merely defeated instead of brutally killed like Hato I think it's safe to allow you to live. However, that doesn't mean to say that I'm not going to finish you two off right here and now!" Her voice suddenly grew louder which sent a signal to the two freaked out robots to run, which they showed no hesitation in doing.
They ran back in the direction they came but it would seem it was too late. Shoui's hand glowed a bright blue and she quickly flung her arm across the air.
"SHOUI FLATURE!" She shouted her battle cry, which prompted a huge blue stream of power to shoot out of the woman's hand and reshape itself into what looked like a dragon attached to a string. The string of energy was connected to her hand where the energy was admitted from and was attached to the huge stream of power that was dragon shaped and now headed right for the two robots.
The two robots didn't even have to look back to know that she had hit them with her stage prop made of pure energy. They collided with a building as soon as her attack hit and didn't dare move from the pile of rubble they were now covered in.
"That was the 'Flature' attack. It's the simplest of my stage prop based attacks so you'll probably end up with just a few bumps and bruises… or in your case miniature dents." Shoui explained as she recalled her power dragon back into her glowing hand.
Without so much as a goodbye she turned and headed toward the castle leaving Bocoe and Decoe to grieve.
"Do you think the doctor will be mad?" Bocoe asked.
"… Maybe… if he is then we'll probably end up having to clean up a lot of hair… ugh…"
While this was going on Eggman's raid was becoming more and more obvious with each shot that was fired across the terrain. Bokkun, Eggman's messenger half-robo was sent from his robot out into the field to take command of his army away from Bocoe and Decoe. Seeing as they had both been defeated Eggman's move was probably a smart one.
Coordinates 000: War Zone 5
Tails was asleep. After he knocked Hang Nail senseless he yipped with glee until he passed out from exhaustion.
Despite needing a lot more rest than anyone else in Coordinates 000 he was the one granted the very least amount possible due to the frequent disruptions and annoying enemy boasting that seemed to take place quite a lot since the fox entered the hero and sidekick realm of adventure.
Sleeping, however, was a past time that Tails had grown to both await and dread at the same time. The fox had frequent nightmares ever since he was taken off of Westside Island. One in particular continued to haunt him even when he was awake.
A constant dream about a small hut on the edge of Westside Island and the dry afternoon in which the plot of his dream took place buzzed through his subconscious. For some unidentifiable reason the images in his dream were blurry and the pictures kept moving constantly. So much so that Tails grew scared upon witnessing it. It looked like a low definition horror movie.
All he could make out was that it was a woman holding a baby. Then there were screams and gunfire. Thinking about it made Tails' brain hurt. The scene kept repeating itself and throughout it's coarse the only thing that grew clear was the splattering of innocent blood across the wall and floor.
It was too much. Tails couldn't stand it. He didn't care if the image was clearing up anymore. He wanted to wake up now! Wake up! Please wake up! Please!
Tails jolted up from the ground basically drenched in sweat. He had to take in two deep breaths in order regain complete control over his system. After a few confusing seconds Tails remembered where he was. The dry soil he sat on, the huge piles of scattered stone, and the unconscious jaguar melted to the ground became his conscious territory once again.
The fox looked at Hang Nail and sighed with relief. The jaguar's life was at an end. He may only be unconscious but he would never move from there again. It was a really scary thought. Tails himself would probably rather die than have to be forced to live in such a dark, haunted, and dusty place. The sheer loneliness that was sure to await Hang Nail would make anyone go literally insane and suicidal.
The more Tails thought about it the more he wondered if it would be more humane to just kill Hang Nail. Living here, melted to the ground, and having a constant pain of overused power recoiling at your body for the rest of your life in a creepy graveyard like area where it was always dark and the only thing keeping you company was the sheer loneliness you felt seemed a lot worse than dying.
"A fate worse than death… wishing you were dead and knowing that it can't happen until you die naturally… Hang Nail will probably eventually die from lack of water or food… it sounds awful but… why don't I feel guilty that it's going to happen to him…"
'Because he deserves it.'
The familiar voice of dark reason was back and inside his mind once again.
"Darkness?"
'A quick death is to good a punishment for scum like him. At least I kill for the thought of a more advanced life. He kills for fun. Instead of taking the easy way out and dieing quickly, he'll die slowly and painfully. He'll have an immeasurable thirst and hunger that will never be satisfied. He'll want to kill himself for the sake of not having to go through the amount of suffering that will indeed be headed his way. The loneliness and suffering that is assured for this jaguar's future is a pleasing thought to me.'
"It is?"
'Yes. And it is to you too. Isn't it?'
" … "
'Normally I'd tell you to kill any enemy that got in your way but this time it's a much better idea to keep him alive so that he feels the pain he caused you until he died.'
"Are you sure? What if he…"
'He's melted to the ground. He can't move from that spot for the rest of his life. He's humiliated and ashamed that he lost to you. He has constant recoil tearing away at his insides that resulted from him using too much of YOUR power. He'll be constantly hungry and thirsty and wish for assistance but will become depressed by the fact that there will be none headed his way. It's a slow and painful death versus a quick and boring one. You decide.'
Tails looked at Hang Nail and actually considered what he would do. Did the jaguar deserve his help? Should he kill him for the sake of sparing him the horrible and cruel lonely short life that lies for him ahead? It was in his hands. The quick and painless death or the slow and agonizing one, which one did Hang Nail deserve.
After about a minute of thinking Tails heard a smash coming from behind him. The fox turned around and saw, in the distance, an Eggman robot pounding at what appeared to be a man. It was too far away for Tails to make out clearly but Tails knew that the man was in obvious danger. He was probably someone who didn't deserve to die. But if he left to help than Hang Nail…
'What is your choice Miles? What is the fate of your former bully?'
Tails looked at Hang Nail with his eyes focused on him. His eyes grew teary and he let a few of the accumulated drops slide down his face.
"… I wondered… I always wondered… what would've been our future if Bear Mayor didn't pass that law. I always thought that you, Slips, and Silt always picked on me simply because of that law… and I wondered if we could've been friends in an alternate timeline if the law wasn't passed… but after all this… I've realized… that it could've been possible for Slips and Silt… but not for you Hang Nail. Unlike them you deliberately became a tool of Eggman's just so you could kill people and take their lives away. You… betrayed your friends. You knowing joined up with the man who killed them and made up excuses that you were just doing it for them because it was really MY fault…"
'What is your choice Miles?' Darkness asked again.
Tails clenched his fist and knew he had made his decision. Without another word Tails turned away from Hang Nail and ran toward the direction of the robot and that man.
"Hang Nail… I feel really guilty about leaving someone in need to die… but… I don't feel guilty leaving you behind. I'm not going to deny it anymore… I hate you so much! With every fiber of my being I hate you! I… I… don't feel guilty… about doing this… or at least… not as guilty as I feel leaving someone else behind…"
"Someone like Sonic… if he ever turned out like you… but then… I'd probably turn out like him as well just so I could stay by my big brother's side…"
By this time there were no more G.U.N agents or Eggman robots (besides the main ones) in any of the war zones ranging from 1 to 11.
Coordinates 000: War Zone 6
Smokestack had been knocked away from Eggman's huge robot due to yet another power collision. You'd think that by now the two of them would have found a way to get by such an annoying event.
"This is getting tiresome Smokestack! Incase you haven't realized but Bokkun left a while ago and is now commanding my enormous mound of robots into that huge castle. It won't be long before we reach that oh so desirable power that the kitsune is based off of. My ambition is about to be realized Smoke. Guess we know who won the agreement we had all those years ago." Eggman taunted.
"Shut up! You're really annoying you know that!" Smoke pulled back his fist and let his powerful smog accumulate in his hand.
'Okay. Let's see. Everyone in the first eleven zones has pretty much gone. All that's left is me, the hedgehog, the fox, and Eggman.'
Smoke kept powering his fist up as Eggman's robot pulled back its fist again. They both stared hard into each other's eyes knowing that the next move would decide it all.
Eggman threw his punch at the same time Smoke did and their powered up fist collided. Being bigger, it was thought that Eggman's bot should've won. Too bad that wasn't the case.
A second after the hit was made Eggman's giant robot's fist began to break apart. The doctor freaked out when he saw a huge crack traveling up his robot's arm and travel into the cockpit where he was stationed.
"Wise guy." Eggman growled as he pressed a button on his console, which quickly obliged to its function. In seconds Eggman had ejected safely out of the robot and was back in his small Eggmobile.
The huge crack began to emit electricity around the robot and it eventually exploded. The resulting shockwave wasn't big enough for Smoke to see it as necessary to get out of the way but it did a fine job of blowing dust everywhere.
When the smoke cleared, as expected, Eggman had flown off. There was no doubt as to where he was headed and it was the biggest lead Smoke had to finding the fox again.
"There won't be anymore interruptions this time! The fox will die when we meet at that castle." Smoke looked ahead of himself and saw the huge castle in the distance. It was where all of this destruction was leading too. It was where he would finally destroy that fox! He just had too! For the sake of his clan!
"I would've thought that our last two confrontations would've taught you not to interfere with my plans." A voice filled with silent rage came from behind Smokestack. The commander quickly whirled around and was once again finding himself face to face with the cloaked schemer.
"Darkness." Smoke uttered in surprise.
"Hello G.U.N scum."
"Damn!" Smoke couldn't believe his luck! He was too worn out to handle him right now!
"Once again you're feeble mind has failed to comprehend exactly how much I mean it when I say your part in this war is no longer necessary. You've lived longer than you were suppose to."
"Is that so!"
"Yes."
"I suppose you got that tidbit of info from one of your future slabs or what ever the hell it is you read to peak into this prophecy future you keep whining to me about."
"Perhaps."
"And may I ask, for the sake of curiosity, was it you that was to kill me?"
"Better. You were killed by your own ambition. The kitsune."
"…"
"The vision in my head is so exhilaratingly pleasant. The amount of force by which you were literally ripped apart was so satisfying and amusing that I find it hard not to let the moment replay itself in my head. It's good for a few laughs!" Darkness, however, didn't chuckle while he spoke. He was too flustered by what had happened earlier with Knuckles.
"Damn you! I'm just a freak show to you aren't I!" Smoke went off as he began charging himself up.
"Oi. There's that temper again. Usually I find bursts of your flirtatious disable attitude amusing but as of now I'm in no mood for it. I'll end this quick. Our settlement has ended and it's high time I made sure of it!" Darkness sounded like he was morally pissed off by something that must've happened earlier while Smoke was gone. The commander didn't care what it was though. He had to get out and get out NOW or else he'd…
"You'll find that escape is impossible." Darkness said all of a sudden. Smoke was quickly angered by the fact that he stated his sentence as if it were already a fact.
"You sure about that. After all, not many attacks work on me even when I can't see them. Are you sure it'll work." The commander began to sweat as he unconsciously took a trembling step back.
"It'll work." Darkness raised his hand over Smoke's head, which prompted the commander to smirk.
"A karate chop? Is that all?! Come on Darkness! At least kill me with a little flash!" Smoke shouted as he slipped his hands into his pocket. Darkness quickly took notice.
"Whatever it is you're planning it won't work!"
"Loser says what!"
"What?"
"HA! Got ya! You really are an old fashion sucker!"
"Enough games!" Darkness lit up his hand and shot it down on Smoke as fast as he could. However, it seemed that during their short squabble Smoke had managed to pull a few grenades out of his pocket.
"Take this!" They both said in unison as Darkness' hand collided head on to Smoke's grenades.
From a distance Tails heard a huge explosion. The fox began to pick up his passé at the sound of it. He noticed a huge flash of light coming from the direction he was headed. It was so bright that Tails began to wonder if he was still dreaming and that this was the part where he ran into the light and died. His suspicion was quickly dismissed when the light disappeared almost as quickly as it came.
Coordinates 000: War Zone 6
A few more sprints and Tails finally reached his destination. What he had expected to see was a man fighting a huge robot. What he found was a huge small crater in the ground with a man lying inside.
Tails, even more concerned about the man he saw earlier, quickly ran up to him with the thought of helping him. That is until he saw who it was.
"It's that Smokey man." Tails looked down at the seriously injured commander in awe. He looked hurt. He looked like he needed help. Tails didn't know what to do.
'This guy… he's like Hang Nail right… I should just leave him… no… no I can't do that… I don't know why but… I know I could never forgive myself if I just left him here…'
Tails was having an inner conflict with himself. He didn't want to do anything that he might regret. He had a choice to make once again. This time the challenge was a little more glaring.
Still Tails chose to face it head on. He knew that no matter what his common sense told him he'd end up helping Smokestack. Despite him trying to constantly kill Tails, the fox knew that he was nothing like Hang Nail.
Tails ran up to Smokestack and squatted down. He saw that he was still awake! The commander was staring right at him! What could he do about this now?
"H-hi." Tails said a bit awkwardly.
Smoke said nothing. He merely grunted a curse under his breath. Darkness had not only gotten away but he managed to injure him so severely with one karate chop. Those grenades weren't ordinary ones that just explode. They sent out a huge array of tremendous blinding light that is supposed to become bomb like if exposed to concealed darkness. It was a project that the military had looked into for a while now.
Even if they were prototypes they were still his last line of defense against that monster. What else could he have done if his own natural powers didn't work? This probably wouldn't even be an issue if the rest of his clan were still alive. There were so many people with so many different powers that dealt with the elements in there. He was just a little bit of what made his clan so great. Then that kitsune came…
'And destroyed it all.' The commander thought in his head. No later had he felt a huge tug on his jacket that snapped him out of his thoughts. Smoke was being slowly pulled away from the small crater from where he resided.
"Hey… what are you doing… you idiot fox. Let… let me go… I'm your enemy remember…" Smokestack said as a reminder to Tails that he was trying to kill him.
"You're not my enemy… I'm YOUR enemy. I don't hate you but you hate me."
"What?"
"If I see someone who needs help and I'm the only one who can give the help then I'll help. I know you would've just killed me if you saw me lying in the same spot as you but… since I don't have anything against you… I... "
"… Thank you…"
"… Uh… you're welcome."
"Despite you helping me… this doesn't change a thing… I'm still going to kill you if the chance should arise again."
"Oh." Tails sounded a bit disappointed. He then began to try and lift Smoke's limp arm over his tiny shoulder. Once it was successfully over he began to walk across the landscape while dragging Smokestack's body across the ground as he moved.
"Man you're heavy mister."
"…"
"Hey… if you still want to kill me… then why'd you thank me?"
"I don't get what you mean. If someone is taking it upon themselves to help me when I'm in need I must thank them. That's how I was raised."
"Oh…" Tails stayed quiet for a short amount of time while he dragged Smokestack to who knows where. Hopefully he'd eventually run into someone who can help and take the heavy commander off his hands. Or maybe he'd at least find a safe hiding spot for him.
Tails looked down at Smoke and noticed his leg start to twitch. He didn't want to say anything but being a curious 4-year-old it was his duty to pry.
"Your leg is twitching mister."
"It's trying to heal."
"Heal?"
"Yes. My clan heals quicker when outside and surrounded by nature as opposed to inside and surrounded by beeping metal. However, mostly everything in this place is dead anyway so it'll probably take forever for me to recover fully."
"Oh…" Tails said as they continued to walk. After a few more steps Tails finally let out the question he'd been wanting to ask this man ever since they've met.
"Why do you want to kill me?" Tails asked in the most conversationally friendly voice imaginable. The way he asked Smoke such a question almost took the commander by surprise.
"… You… I… to be completely honest… I bare no grudge against you exactly… it's that monster inside of you…"
"It is?"
"Yes… That thing is the exact definition of 'pure ancient evil'. That means it's old. Really old."
"I sort of guessed that this weird power was ancient. But why do you hate it so much?"
"… That kitsune… it did something horrible to my clan… The Diox clan… they were a race of people who had a special attachment to nature and the things that nature can create."
"Like smoke when fire burns down trees?" Tails asked with real interest in his voice.
"Yeah… like that…"
"What horrible thing did it do to your clam?"
"It's clan."
"Right. What did I say?"
"You said clam."
"Oh… sorry."
"As for what it did… it completely wiped them all out… everyone was killed… safe for one man… That man went on to create a new generation of Dioxes but the results were the same for each kitsune that arose at each of the coordinates'."
"But why your clan."
"Our clan put ourselves ahead as the protectors of the planet back then. Whenever something was a miss at least one Diox clan member from around the world would be there." Smoke explained in a calm manner.
"Like G.U.N."
"… Not like G.U.N… our way was more subtle and less forceful. However, when a threat as big as the kitsune arose we had no chose but to become forceful. We tried our hardest to protect everyone but they we all destroyed."
"What happened to that one man?"
"He was killed when the kistune arose again. However, more Diox clan members had been born by then and they tried to help him. They were easily killed as well. The survivors tried relying on the next generation and the next as the kistune kept arising at the different coordinates and would eventually stop at where it began. Coordinates 000 was where the strongest kitsune was to be born."
"… You mean me?"
"Yes. Not only that but by this time only one member of the Diox clan was left and she was a woman who couldn't fight due to an organ injury. She gave birth to me and then died due to the strain of it all. I'm the only one left. That's why I have to kill you."
"… But I…"
"You're at your weakest now. The smart thing to do would be to kill you while you still had very little control over your power. The only positive thing about my situation is that the kitsune chose to revive inside a 4-year-old this time around… it seemed easy but… you're just so hard to kill without interruption…" Smoke had finished his explanation and left Tails feeling guilty and himself wondering why he spilled all this information to the fox in such a friendly manner.
"Sorry…"
"You're apologizing? Why? Don't you like your new power?"
"No. I hate it! It gets in the way of my life! Me and Sonic just want to live together as brothers and defeat Eggman to help save the Earth. But this kitsune thing keeps showing up and ruining it all!"
"… You're… you actually don't like the power you have?"
"Of coarse not! Why would I?"
"… All the others… throughout time… they've all been corrupted by evil once they realized the power they had… but you…"
"I don't need power… power is stupid! I just want to find Sonic and get far away from this scary place…"
Smoke was taken a back. This was certainly a first. No one ever resisted such power before. It was strange. But then again this was still a four-your-old… no… age didn't matter here. The true will of a person's heart is what drives the kitsune into partnering with its host of taking control over it.
This particular child was being controlled and therefore…
Coordinates 000:War Zone 4
"I just can't get over how close that was." Knuckles kept complaining as him and the others trotted their way across Coordinates 000. Him, Amy, the Chaotix, and Shimon had barely made it out of there. For some reason when Knuckles grabbed at that dark light that was surrounding everyone. Darkness' power short-circuited and caused an explosion.
"Maybe you triggered some kind of weakness in him." Amy suggested.
"Maybe… I don't know…" Knuckles tried hard not to think about how incredibly close to dieing they all were.
"Where are we going now?" Vector asked as he cradled Charmy over his shoulders.
"Piggy back!" The little bee cried happily not at all affected by the creepiness of the area they were in. Shimon was a different story. He stayed dangerously close to Espio so he didn't get lost or separated from everyone.
They continued walking and hoping they'd find Sonic or Tails but so far they had no luck. It was as if the good guys repelled them and the bad guys…
"Well hello there!" The voice that uttered the sentence came from the roof of a small run-down hut in front of them everyone looked up and saw something truly freaky.
A metallic blue hedgehog!
"He looks like…!" Knuckles started before Amy blurted the answer out with no disregard for the echidna's eardrums.
"SONIC!!"
"Sonic? Is he not with you? Too bad. I came here searching for him. My sensors are only able to detect who has the chaos emeralds and not exactly where they are. Usually it's the other way around with most of Eggman's robots but what can I say… I'm special." Metal Sonic spoke as he jumped off the hut carrying something in his hand by its leg.
"Hey that looks like… " Knuckles began before Amy interrupted him again.
"ROUGE!!"
"WOULD YOU CUT THAT OUT!!"
"Rouge? You mean this whore." Metal held up the slightly conscious bat by her leg.
"What did you do to her?" Knuckles was getting mad. For what reason he didn't know.
"I hit her. Now she's limp." The robot answered in the blandest voice ever.
For another reason he couldn't explain he grew angrier. Without another word the echidna rushed at Metal in blind rage. Everyone was surprised by Knuckles somewhat unexpected action. After what had happened back there could they afford to risk their lives against an enemy who they knew nothing about?
Metal didn't move he simply stuck out his hand and grabbed Knuckles' fist in mid-charge.
"That pink haired girl… is she Sonic's lover?" Metal asked overlooking Knuckles' angry face. Amy blushed and started to fawn over the thought of actually being Sonic's lover. Everyone else had themselves a huge anime sweat drop upon seeing how oblivious it was possible for her to be.
With one swift motion Metal dropped Rouge to the ground and tossed Knuckles to the side. He swiftly ran behind Amy and chopped at the back of her neck. The surprised hedgehog quickly fell unconscious and was taken up by Metal.
"If she truly is his lover… than he should show up to try and save her… at least I think that's how the mortal heart works." Metal Sonic said as he clenched her dress' collar.
Knuckles, who was tending to Rouge quickly faced Metal with a look of extreme frustration. Espio wiped out a kunai and thrust it at Metal before the echidna could do anything, however. Metal Sonic quickly zipped away from it and let it impale the side of a wooden wall.
Everyone tried their hardest to search for him but he appeared to be gone. However, they could still hear his voice.
"It's been great doing business with you. You can keep the bat. I have no use for her now."
Knuckles growled at the sky when he heard that awful comment and without saying a word, he rushed deeper into Coordinates 000.
"Sonic… watch out…"
Coordinates 000: War Zone 6
Big the cat had finally decided to try his luck at searching the area where that huge light had come from a while ago. He and Froggy made their way toward the area and had a quick look around. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary.
After what seemed like a long useless trek across dry soil Big finally came up on something that caught his eye. Sitting in the middle of a bunch of ruined buildings was Smokestack and the fox they were sent here to find! What a lucky find!
The cat wasted no time in running up to them and waving while Froggy croaked with excitement.
Back with Tails, Smoke had somehow been able to recover enough to muster enough strength to sit up on his own. Tails let him do so while pondering if he should consider running before he reached a full recovery. After all Smoke still planned on killing him.
It wasn't long before both Smoke and Tails heard huge footsteps clomping and making their way towards the two tired fighters. Tails, noticing it before Smoke and quickly turned and saw Big waving at them. Confused but happy he waved back. Smoke noticed him waving and looked up to see his comrade and his friend the frog.
Smokestack barely smiled as Big stopped in front of them. The cat had proved himself useful. After all, this tiny fox certainly couldn't carry him a suitable distance without getting tired himself. The only reason Tails was able to carry him at all was because of the kitsune obviously.
"Hey Smoke! Hi fox!" Big said with a cheek-to-cheek smile on his face. It made Tails feel warm inside so he smiled back.
"Hi mister cat."
"Oh, sorry. My name is Big because I'm big and this is Froggy." He said pointing to the frog on his head.
"Nice to meet you." Tails said while almost chuckling. Smoke watched in amazement at the fox. After all that was going on he could still find the courage to smile like that. What was it that drove this child to live so miraculously?
Even with such a spirit, Smoke still had to kill him. It was such a shame. A young fox like him deserved to live. He saw that now. However, because of that thing inside him he would have to die in order for the world's protection to be insured. Fait can be cruel like that.
"Fox." Smoke called out to get Tails' attention. Tails turned to him wondering if he needed something.
"Um… yes?"
"I'm glad we were able to converse in such a way. I know now that you're unlike all the other kitsunes that my clan has dealt with throughout time. When your time of death comes I'll make sure that you don't feel a thing." The commander said in a silent voice.
Both Big and Tails stared at Smoke confused. If that was suppose to make Tails feel better about dieing it wasn't a very good effort.
Suddenly the air grew cold and dark smog began to surround the three of them. The aurora that formed began to reshape itself into the menacing figure that was the ancient cloaked schemer, Darkness.
"Damnit! He's back again! It hasn't even been that long!" Smokestack cursed as the evil deity stood in front of them with his arms by his side.
"This has gone on long enough! You actually had the gaul to try that same stunt the echidna pulled and think I would let you just get away with it!"
"Darkness…" Tails looked at the cloaked schemer with a huge amount of fear emanating from him. He had never sensed this kind of anger coming from him before. What exactly was this guy's back-story? What happened to him that made him become this way?
"What is it that you're pondering young Miles!? I can feel you!" Darkness' statement scared the fox stiff.
"If you have something to ask… ask it to my face!" Darkness stared at the scared child with such intensity that he didn't know whether to speak or stay so quiet that he wouldn't address him again.
"What is it Darkness? This isn't like you. You're slipping up a lot more than you usually do. Your temper is out of control. Your acting… well like me."
"Don't compare me to filth like you!" Darkness quickly retaliated with his huge hint of anger unchanging.
"Why not? You are infact acting as if you're like me. And if you're doing that then that would make you like an unstable mortal would it not?" Smoke said as he smirked with an enormous amount of confidence in his voice. Big and Tails held each other in fear as Smoke began his crazy talk. Why would he purposely anger someone like him?
Darkness put his hand over his hooded face and let it slide down ever so slowly. As he let his hand go down his chuckling quickly rose. Soon it transformed into a full out laughing fit!
This was enough to get Smokestack to drop his confident smirk. Darkness continued to laugh while Big and Tails just stared in scared silence. Eventually the insane deity stopped and faced the three people in front of him.
"Oh, I'm wise to your cracks Smokestack. I must thank you. The fact that you were actually trying to provoke me so that I'd act like you unstable mortals was so amusing that I feel better now."
Smoke's eye twitched with frustration.
"I see the fox is here. Tell me, why haven't you tried killing him yet? Are you too scared or has your heart turned against your 'honorable' resolve. Heheheh! HAHAHAHAHA!"
"You shut up!" Smoke yelled completely annoyed.
"Or you'll what? I'm in control here and yet you still fail to accept it. Even at your bitter end."
"Yeah, I've heard that one before!"
"Oh, well then I guess there's nothing to talk to you about now is there. The fox on the other hand…" Darkness turned to Tails.
Tails looked up at Darkness and let Big go. He turned to face him with a frightened look on his face.
'What does he want from me now?'
Coordinates 000: War Zone 12
Sonic felt as though he had gone too far. Maybe Tails was back the way he came. But then again the castle was where everyone was headed. Sonic looked ahead of himself from the rooftop he stood on. The castle was straight ahead.
"Well… here I go." Sonic began before he heard a voice interrupt him.
"I finally found you…"
Coordinates 000: War Zone 6
"You're wondering what it is I want aren't you." Darkness asked taking two steps toward the fox. Tails had half a mind to step back but decided against it.
"Y-yes." Tails managed to get out. Darkness chuckled.
Coordinates 000: War Zone 12
Sonic looked behind him and upward. There standing on a rooftop higher than the one he was on was the illustrious Metal Sonic and under his arm was Amy!
"Metal Sonic?"
"It's been a while hasn't it? I believe out last fight was back on Westside…"
Coordinates 000: War Zone 6
"Don't fear me Miles. I'm simply going to even your score." Darkness said in a reassuring voice.
"Even my score?" Tails was confused.
Coordinates 000: War Zone 12
"Let Amy go! Now!" Sonic demanded while holding up his fists. Metal didn't analogue Sonic's anger in any way.
"I have a proposition for you hedgehog!"
"Huh? A proposition?"
Coordinates 000: War Zone 6
"Yes, Even your score. Through out your travels here you've heard countless stories. Many of which you didn't want to hear but you heard them anyway for the sake of your understanding of the dire situation you were in. Now it's your turn."
"My turn for what?"
Coordinates 000: War Zone 12
"A rematch if you will. A race."
"A race?" Sonic's face lit up.
"The first one to reach the castle wins. If you win you get the girl. If I win… I slit her throat."
Sonic winced back and began to ponder what to do.
Coordinates 000: War Zone 6
"It's your turn Miles… it's finally time for your story."
"My story?" Tails eyes were completely focused on Darkness now. His fear was gone and in its place was curiosity. A huge flaming curiosity lingering inside of him was itching to be satisfied.
Smoke suddenly realized what Darkness was talking about and awaited the event that would happen next.
Coordinates 000: War Zone 12
"Your on! We race! First to the castle wins!" Sonic said as he faced the castle in question's direction.
"Perfect." Metal said as he turned toward the castle. 'Now while I'm keeping Sonic busy Master Darkness can break the news to the fox…'
Coordinates 000: War Zone 6
"What story? What story do you want to tell me!? PLEASE! TELL ME!!" Tails didn't know why but he needed Darkness to answer. Desperately, he needed him to answer!
"It's time you learned… of your past!"
Tails became quiet. His pupils almost dilated from shock.
"My… my past… my mommy and daddy…"
"Yes… your mommy… your daddy… Heheh… and their tragic deaths!"
Sorry it took so long to get this up. Please review! I'll try to update faster next time!