Chapter Thrity-Five
Tails was looking out the window - well, it was technically a wall of glass - in the hotel room he, Kat, Eggman and Byrch were in. The city lights below reminded him of city the Chris lived in. He suddenly felt his heart drop when he realized a hundred and twenty years would already passed in Chris' world. Chris is dead. He wouldn't have lasted a hundred and thirty eight years.
The kitsune shook his head. Such a depressing thought. Though, he could be dwelling on worse things.
He heard the door to the suite open. "What are you, doing?" Simon asked irritably from behind Tails. "Your shirt is all messed up and you don't even have your vest on."
Tails turned and looked at Simon with cold eyes.
Simon had a tie and a red pair of pumps hooked on two fingers.
"You're creepy for knowing what size I am." Tails growled, gesturing to the dress pants and dress shirt he was wearing.
"Hey, you obviously haven't met my half cousin. Or my Second cousin; His name is Geoffery. Actually, you might-"
"I don't care." Tails cut him off. He pointed to the tie Simon had in his hand. "Is that for me?"
The dejected-looking Simon nodded and handed it over to him.
Tails turned back to the window as he slipped the tie and dress vest on. He could see the large party-filled building from the hotel room, the strobe lights and moving silhouettes clear in the night sky.
"Tails?"
Repressing a sigh, Tails turned and glared at Simon. Simon's purple his were sincere. "Look, man... I.. You have no idea how sorry I am. I tried to stop the Blue Typhoon from crashing, but Mortuus had just done too much damage for me to do anything."
Tails was silent, but his glare faltered. "I know," He muttered, sitting on one of the giant, luxurious beds.
Simon loitered for a moment longer, then walked over to the bathroom and knocked on the closed door. He left the shoes he was holding in front of the bathroom door and left the hotel room.
Tails laid back on the bed, staring up at the black-tiled ceiling. He had no idea if this was going to work. His plan, however, was to bring Kat, Byrch, and Eggman into the building where he thinks Mortuus is. Shine was going to circle the building, waiting in case something happened, and Willow was going to stay in a hotel room and access the buildings radio and database, if it comes to it. Simon is was going to keep lookout from Kat and Tails' room, contacting Willow when something happens. Kat had her gun and Tails had Shine's; They were pretty prepared.
The bathroom door opened and Kat walked out. Tails turned his head slightly and thought he saw a completely different person; Kat's hair was straightened and she had a lily-purple lace-up dress with matching shoes. She kept flipping her hair out of her eyes, trying to clear her vision.
Tails sat up, feeling his ears burn.
"Does it look OK?" Kat asked, still trying to fix her hair.
Tails coughed. "Er, you look fine." He avoided eye contact. "Where's Byrch?"
"Is there really no other way?" Byrch called softly from the bathroom. "I feel ridiculous."
"You look fine." Kat sighed.
Byrch hesitantly walked out. She wore a dress, the torso and waist black, and long sleeves that ended long before her hands did.
"It's made of some sort of reflective fabric that makes it look like she doesn't have any scares." Kat explained to Tails. "Where's Eggman?"
"He said he was having a word with Willow about the programing system." Tails got up off the bed. "So are we ready to go?"
Kat glanced around the room, then nodded. "I am."
"I have my blades." Byrch said simply. She really has been creeping Tails out. Before she died, she had... emotion. Now she just seemed like a robot. She always stared blankly, and she didn't put emotion in her words, anymore.
Besides that, Tails nodded. "Then let's go."
Kat, Tails, Byrch, and Eggman casually stepped out of the large glass and metal elevator, immediately immersed in music and laughter. Kat glanced at the elevator's guard; A purple chameleon wearing sunglasses and a dress shirt with matching dress pants. He gave the group a subtle nod and looked in the direction of a large platform in the middle of the room.
Kat looked up at the platform elbowed Tails, nodding towards the towering floor. A familiar blue hedgehog was sitting on a leather love-seat in the middle of the platform, talking to a tall cow with long hair.
"Let's go, shall we?" Kat called over the extreme noises. Tails nodded and walked towards a small, tiled platform with a fashionable steel railing surrounding it. A large guard, a lion, glared down at the group as they headed towards him.
"We're here to see Sonic." Tails called over the music and laughter.
"No pets allowed." The guard growled, his voice surprisingly deep. He nodded to Eggman.
"I'm not a pet!" Eggman snapped irritably. "I'm a tiny, silicon wrapped robot wearing a tie!"
The guard glared a moment longer, then moved aside. "He's waiting for you up there."
As the lift brought them up to the top of the platform, Kat could hear Eggman muttering angrily to himself.
The lift stopped and all the people at the top of the platform went silent, staring at the group.
Sonic - Or, rather, Mortuus - looked at them with wide eyes. Then he grinned. "Well, if it isn't No Pants, No Heart, No Friends and No Aim." He said, looking from Eggman, to Byrch, to Kat, then Tails. "So glad you guys could make it. Drinks, anyone? They have these beautiful things called 'Pina Collodas', here." He nodded to the cow. "Get five of those for me, will you?"
"Come with us and you won't have to die in front of all these people." Tails growled bluntly, walking casually off the lift and towards Mortuus. "I'm sure you'd rather go out in a dignified way."
Mortuus laughed. "What happened to small talk? We haven't even bantered, yet."
"I'll shoot you right here, Mortuus." Tails pulled out the revolver and trained it on Mortuus' chest.
Mortuus paused, along with everyone else on the platform. The DJ, a large, scaly crocodile, stopped the record, taking a vinyl from a bee with glasses and changing the song to something more fitting.
"I wouldn't do that, if I were you." Mortuus smiled simply. He touched a hand to his ear. "Lock this place down." He called to some unknown party. All music stopped and everyone went into a deafening silence.
Kat looked around and saw everyone was staring. She felt her tail fluff up. She turned back to Mortuus. "You planned this?"
"I didn't plan this. I more or less just set up fail-safes. I had no clue what you people were going to do. Besides... Planners are Schemers. I just go with it." Mortuus fixed his crumpled dress shirt, then took what looked like a pen out of his shirt pocket. "I have to admit; I honestly, truly, didn't think you'd fall for this. If I'd known you'd let yourself be this easily, I would have just dangled a turkey leg by a rope on the ceiling."
Eggman prowled up to Mortuus, stopping three or four feet away. "You know," Eggman growled. "I made you. I can destroy you."
"Oh? So why haven't you, yet, old man?"
"Maybe I was just waiting for the perfect time."
"Or maybe you were just waiting until I let you go." Mortuus growled.
"What?" Kat narrowed her eyes.
"He didn't tell you?" Mortuus spun the pen around in his fingers. "I had him in a tiny little cell for the longest time. Quite surprised he survived this long, honestly."
"It's a bomb." Tails suddenly breathed.
"What?" Kat frowned.
Tails pointed to the pen Mortuus was holding. Kat noticed the tiny red button on the top of the 'pen'. She quickly pressed her hand against the little microchip in her ear. "Willow, we need an E.M.P. as fast as you can." She ordered.
"Willow... That little panther boy?" Mortuus asked thoughtfully. "Ah, yes. He can no longer speak with you."
"What did you do to him?" Kat spat.
"I don't know." Mortuus shrugged. "I'm not the one who neutralized him."
The cow returned with a tray of drinks, warily walking up to Mortuus. He took one of the drinks and casually sipped from the straw before returning his attention back to the four heroes. "You're probably wondering why these people haven't tried to kill me yet."
"Not really."
"Well, I'll tell you why, anyways." Mortuus sat down on the love-seat. "They think I'm Sonic the Hedgehog. They think I'm some big hero with a plan to keep them safe. They heard all these grand stories about Sonic and decided to treat me like a god. Which, surprisingly, worked to my advantage."
Three people walked to Mortuus side; A deer, a monkey, and a rabbit.
Kat's eyes widened. "You..." She growled.
It was Cerae, from Mallum, and Jennifer and Bonnie from the Blue Typhoon.
Bonnie just smiled, her eyes covered by long brown hair. "Hey, there, Katherine."
Kat just growled, clenching her fist.
They were literally up against what seemed like an army, now, without any outside help.