SEASON 2 CHAPTER 18:

The group re-emerged from the long stairwell, finally back on proper school grounds once more. Everyone looked exhausted, as the well should be. It was almost nighttime now, and the campus grounds were completely empty, as most students had retired for the night.

"Well, I'll see you guys in the morning," Tails said. "I'm gonna go do some studying from these books I grabbed."

"Night," Saito replied with a yawn. Tails broke away from the group and headed for his workshop, not tired in the slightest thanks to his naps earlier. He slipped silently into his workshop and turned on the lights, laying out his books on an open space on his workbench. Deciding on which book to start with, he flipped open the armorer's manual and began reading, quickly scanning through the small-arms sections as he absorbed as much new information as he could. Thoughts swam through his head as he began doodling up a simple sketch of the Zero's armaments, planning out upgrades for a later time as he read…

A few hours had passed, but Tails was still awake, engrossed with disassembling and rebuilding his wristcomm when he heard the upstairs workshop door slam open and shut, followed by the sound of someone locking the door. He heard the trapdoor slam open, then slide shut as whoever it was scrambled down the ladder. He turned to catch sight of the intruder, relieved by the sight of pink hair. She was clearly panicked, stopping to catch her breath at the bottom of the ladder; she also wasn't wearing her usual school cloak or black stockings, and her shirt buttons were misaligned, like she had been in a rush to get re-dressed to come find him. Tails hopped up from his workbench, walking over to her. "Hey, what's wrong? Is something going on?" he asked.

"We're under attack!" Louise whispered loudly, clearly afraid that someone would hear her. "Everyone's been rounded up… The only ones that didn't get caught were me, Saito, Professor Colbert, and Agnès. Agnès' soldiers tried to attack, but were defeated by a fire mage that melted their guns and swords. They could kill the Headmaster! Someone was fo-"

A loud slamming noise cut Louise off, causing her to jump in fright. Tails could hear the splintering of wood as the upstairs workshop door was forced open, followed by loud stomping on the wooden floor upstairs. Louise and Tails sat in total silence, watching the trapdoor intently. "Damn, this was the wrong time to be dismantling my wristcomm. No T-buster without it. I left Ring in Tabitha's room when I was napping, too!"mTails thought, cursing silently to himself.

Despite their utter silence, the intruder found the trap door, flinging it open with a crash. A shirtless, muscular man dropped down through the ladder hole with a grunt, wielding crude tomahawks in each hand with two more hanging from his belt. Without a word, the brute immediately began his attack, lobbing an axe directly for Tails' head. Tails ducked to the left, dragging Louise with him to push her under his workbench as he reached for the nearest weapon - in this case, a large red-handled monkey wrench. He heard the crash of glass as the tomahawk impacted the front canopy glass of the Tornado, shattering it into thousands of shards.

"I could've sworn I made that stuff bulletproof…" Tails thought to himself. He turned his attention back to the man, who was now advancing on him as he drew another tomahawk. The man made a lunging swing at him, which Tails managed to deflect with a counter-swing of his heavy wrench. Lunging forward under the man's next swing, Tails caught his opponent's legs with his tails as his momentum carried him forward, sending the man sprawling to the ground with a quick yank. He seized the opportunity to lash out against the fallen fighter, striking at the man's kneecap with force that shattered bone, inverting his knee. The man howled in pain, which Tails quickly silenced with another swift blow to the head that knocked the invader unconscious. Tails set the bloodied wrench back on his workbench and picked one of the crude tomahawks out of the man's belt, evaluating its weight and size as a suitable, if slightly undersized battleaxe for someone smaller like him. He gave the axe a few test swings, making himself comfortable with the weapon's unbalanced nature.

"Thanks for that," Louise said shakily, crawling out from under the workbench. " I think he was the only one that saw me. They might figure out what happened if he goes missing for too long."

"Yeah. Where are the others that haven't been captured? Are the rest of the grounds safe?" Tails asked.

"The others are in the bushes outside the main tower, strategizing. The grounds should be safe. They only sent a single guard after me when they saw me peeping through a window," Louise replied.

Tails nodded. "Go get them and bring them here. I need to run to Tabitha's room, I left Ring there before we went to the library."

Louise nodded in response, taking off for the ladder. Tails followed behind, stopping at the shattered door of the workshop to check his surroundings. Satisfied that the coast was clear, he dashed around the campus for Tabitha's dorm, flying up the stairs as fast as he could. He reached her room and flung the door open, collecting Ring and fitting the sheath around his waist, stuffing the tomahawks in the waistbelt and securing it tightly. He noticed that Tabitha's pistol was sitting on her nightstand, the two shiny metal magazines glowing softly in the moonlight filtering through her window. He collected the handgun and magazines, racking the slide halfway to check if it was loaded. The yellow shine of a fresh brass casing shined back at him, as well as a full magazine below.

"For once, I'm glad someone left a loaded gun lying around," Tails thought to himself, shaking his head. He stuffed the magazines into the sides of his shoes, the baseplates of the magazines pressing gently into his ankles. He cautiously made his way back to the workshop, only occasionally bothering to check his corners as he came closer to the central building. He stepped gently through the splintered front door of the workshop and dropped down through the trapdoor, finding everyone already waiting for him.

"Well, that's a relief," Professor Colbert said with a sigh. "We thought you might have been captured. We laid out a plan while you were away."

"Alright, sounds good," Tails said. "What do we do?"

Professor Colbert cleared a small space on Tails' workbench, taking a spare piece of paper and a pencil. He sketched up a crude drawing of the interior, with figures labeled with various names. "This is a diagram of what the current state of the interior of the dining hall is like, according to what Miss Vallière saw. The students and other captives are here," he said, pointing at a square Tails presumed was labeled "hostages", "…and there is a blast hole over here, where the Gunpowder Squadron began their assault by blowing a hole in the wall. I had planned to make some distractions that would allow us to take down the guards here, here, and here, before they could recover to their senses. However, I'm not sure if I have enough flash powder for the job, to make the flying distraction bombs…"

Tails walked down to the far end of the workbench, grabbing the green fabric grocery bag he'd taken from Osmond's vault. "Already ahead of you. I had intended to use these as an offensive modification for Saito's Zero, but they were originally intended for this purpose," he said, drawing a few stick-shaped devices from the bag. "From what I saw of their design, I think these are what you want. These are called 'flashbang' or concussion grenades. Doctor Eggman's robots used to use these kinds of things a lot, since they work well on people but not robots. They use magnesium-based charges that produce blinding light and a deafening blast that completely disorients anyone near it when it goes off. It has an effective radius of about five feet. We could use these for the lower targets, and use your flying ones for anyone on the upstairs balcony."

"Fantastic!" Professor Colbert said. "This should do the trick. I'll get started at once. Saito, could you give me a hand?"

"Sure," Saito replied. Peering down into the bag, he pulled out a few more grenades, these ones shaped like large toilet paper rolls labelled M18. "Should we be using these as well?" he asked, pointing to the box.

"No," Tails replied. "Those are smoke grenades, but they might have tear gas or something mixed in, which could really hurt the other students if they can't get out of the cloud, so it's probably too risky. These people are melee fighters, so range is our friend, anyway. We don't want to be obscuring our vision that much."

Saito nodded. The two disappeared up the ladder, leaving Tails in silence with Agnès and Louise.

"And what about us?" Louise asked.

Tails scratched his head, wondering exactly what to do with them. "Okay. Agnès, you take this," he said, handing Tabitha's handgun and the spare magazines to her. "It's a repeating pistol. You have eight shots in a magazine. When you need to change the magazines, press the button here, insert a new one, and press this lever down. Give it a few practice tests so you don't choke up."

Agnès took the handgun with fascination, practicing reloading and taking a sight picture. "How accurate is this thing? Isn't this too light?" she asked.

Tails shook his head. "Compared to that flintlock pistol of yours, this thing is as accurate as you are. I wouldn't push it past forty meters due to the lack of stopping power at range, but you could probably still put shots on target at that range. Louise, you'll be on support duty. If anyone sneaks up behind me, blow them up with your magic. I'll also give you this," Tails said, returning to his grocery bag to grab the laser sword he had taken. The pink energy-based blade popped into life, but he shut it down immediately by tapping the pommel. "It's a sword, but it's energy-based like my T-Buster, so it will be really light and easy for you to handle. It automatically turns on when you grab it, but you can shut it down by tapping the end of the handle, here. Be careful when you grab it, so you don't cut yourself with it," he said, handing the black device to Louise.

Nodding, she stored it the leg band she used for her wand. "Thanks," she said, confident with her new weapon. The group waited patiently for Professor Colbert and Saito to finish, Tails using the time to toss a couple darts on his board. After about five minutes, Professor Colbert dropped down into the workshop. "We're good to go. We should get started before they hurt anyone."

Tails grabbed all of the flashbang grenades in the grocery bag before following the others made their way to the ladder. Professor Colbert took the lead, checking for guards before dashing out of the workshop for the central wall with a box and his staff in hand. Tails could see the hole Professor Colbert was talking about as he ran, although it was much bigger than he had expected. "Did they really do that with just gunpowder? That must have been at least a few barrels full," he thought to himself. Tails pressed himself up against the wall near the edge of the gap, listening closely.

Ring opened a channel into Tails' mind, his growly voice ringing in the fox's head. "Partner, get ready. There are two men just inside the wall on the left side of the gap, directly on the other side of the wall as you. Ther-"

"Hold it, Ring. Can you broadcast this to everyone at once without talking out loud?"

"Yeah, give me a sec… There. Everyone can hear me now. Two men just inside the wall, where Tails is. Three up in the balconies, pretty evenly distanced. Four others down on the floor beside the two just inside the wall. Got that?"

Everyone nodded in agreement, planning things out in their head. Professor Colbert set the box of magic origami bomb contraptions in the grass and gave his staff a short wave. The paper things began to inflate into small balls on their own, taking to the air and drifting into the dining room as if an invisible wind were pushing them. Tails handed a flashbang to Saito and pulled the pins on the other two he was holding, holding them with a white-knuckled iron grip to ensure the spoon hadn't released on accident. As soon as Professor Colbert gave the signal, Tails and Saito lobbed their grenades inside, spreading them out over the floor. Tails counted aloud for Professor Colbert to detonate his orbs, anticipating their detonation with each count.

When he reached zero, all hell broke loose.

The explosions were deafeningly loud, even to the group outside. As soon as the bright light subsided, everyone hopped up into the hole in the wall, taking their positions. Saito quickly dealt with the two guards on the hole's edge as Tails ran for the guards in the back of the room who were still reeling from the shock. Tails drew his tomahawk and slammed it into the bent-over soldier's stomach, leaving the deeply embedded axe behind as he made a beeline for the next soldier, drawing Ring as he ran. Over the din of the fight, the popping of Tabitha's handgun rang out as Agnès dropped the soldiers on the balcony with expert precision while slowly stepping toward the center of the room. Tails broke into a dead sprint as the final mercenary began to recover his wits, raising his axe to engage the yellow twin-tailed creature dashing at him. Tails blocked a heavy blow from the man's falling overhead axe swing as he tried to sweep the man's feet out from under him with his tails. However, the soldier dropped to his knee, pinning one of Tails' tails under his leg. Tails cringed in pain as he tried to bring Ring down on the soldier's exposed neck, but the man was faster, broadsiding Tails with the flat face of his heavy war axe. Tails would have flown far if it weren't for his pinned tail, sending him slamming into the ground. Tails rolled onto his back as he made a slashing swipe at the man's exposed leg, biting deep to the bone with Ring's weighted tip. The man recoiled away from Tails on one leg, giving Tails the chance he needed to back away and prepare another lunge. This time, Tails was faster, sinking Ring with a heavy stab straight into the man's sternum. He could hear and feel the bone give way under the blow, causing intense fracturing as if a small bone fragmentation grenade had gone off next to his heart. The man, in a final attempt to slay his opponent, reached to crush Tails' skull with his free hand, but Tails twisted Ring and pulled hard, slicing sideways through the man's heart. The mercenary crumpled to the ground, blood soaking the floor below him.

Tails turned to face the final opponent, grimacing in pain. Stars lined the edges of his vision, his head rang from the impact on the ground, and his right tail hung limply behind him from being dislocated by the force of being batted aside while his tail was pinned, but the rush of adrenaline in his body kept him focused on the enemy at hand. He could see Saito sneaking around behind the captives, slicing their bonds with Derflinger, but the fact hardly registered in his mind for more than a moment; Tails' focus was entirely on the white-haired mountain of a man who stood silently, hoisting his heavy steel mace over his shoulder.

"You have all done well to face me. I haven't had this much fun in the longest time!" the man stated in a heavy accent, smiling. "Not since I burned down villages have I had this much fun! But it pales in comparison to the true battle I have yet to face."

Hearing the man's words, Tails glanced over to Agnès. Her eyes were wide, her hands twitching with rage. "You… were responsible for D'Angleterre?" she stuttered. "Are you the man that did it?"

The leader paused for a moment, as if he were pondering something. "Yes… That name is ringing a bell… Ah, yes, the village we torched! It was claimed to be full of plague victims. I knew it wasn't, but I didn't care. I just wanted to burn something!"

Agnès let out a bloodcurdling scream as she drew her sword, tossing Tabitha's pistol aside. Darting up to the man with lightning speed, she crossed blades with the leader's mace, stopping her cold in her advance. "You torched my village, you bastard! You killed my parents!"

The man pulled back his mace, forcing her to step back with a swing of his mace that whistled through where she had been moments before. "So you are the lone survivor, are you not? I suppose it is good that we properly finish the job, then!" The leader leveled his mace, pointing the tip at Agnès. Without so much as a single word uttered, a small orb of red energy collected at the tip and, after a moment, spewed forth as a torrent of fire. Agnès leaped aside, scooping up the handgun she had dropped as she ran. She fumbled the first magazine reload while running but managed to load the second magazine, taking potshots as she darted between cover behind overturned tables that ignited with ease under the blazing inferno.

The leader, forced to block her attacks, managed to deflect any on-target shots with his mace, torching Agnès' cover as she went. Suddenly, the man stopped his assault, turning to face the gap with a look of surprised joy. "Can it be…? I recognize that smell… the smell of charred death. It is! The Snake of Flame!" he rambled with a sickening glee.

Tails looked beyond the leader, tracing his line of sight to see him staring at Professor Colbert.

"Still blind in more ways than one, I see. Benubiro," Professor Colbert stated, taking a combat stance with his staff.

"No wonder I haven't been able to find you on the battlefield for so long!" the man Colbert called Benubiro exclaimed, laughing loudly. "A teacher! You, of all people! This is too much. Now, we can finally see who has truly become the strongest once more!"

Agnès stood up from behind her smoldering cover in angered confusion, dropping the empty handgun once more. Tails watched as she looked back and forth between the two, watching as the two magicians traded fiery blows in a test of endurance, blue flames spewing forth from Professor Colbert's staff to combat Benubiro's red flames. Tails could see as something finally clicked in her brain, a moment of clarity as her eyes flew wide. She drew her sword and pointed it at Professor Colbert. "It was you! I recognize that blue flame! It was you! It was you!" she cried maniacally.

As if in slow motion, Tails watched as Agnès rushed Colbert, ignorant as Benubiro happily re-aimed his staff on her. He let loose a torrent of flames, aimed perfectly to intercept her movements. With a final burst of speed, Colbert lunged at Agnès, catching her before she could swing her sword and throwing her to the ground before the stream of flames caught him head-on, briefly engulfing him. Tails and Saito both rushed toward Colbert as he struggled to his feet, raising his staff once more.

"Haven't you had enough, old man? You're no longer as strong as you were, yet you refuse to acknowledge that. And it will be your doom!" Benubiro yelled, launching a final fireball at Colbert.

Tails could feel the heat of the approaching blaze and stepped out in front with Ring held forward, praying that his sword-spirit friend was ready to activate his Familiar rune to shield them. Before he knew what hit him, though, he felt Professor Colbert shove him aside moments before taking the blast head-on, allowing himself to be engulfed in the flames. Suddenly, the blaze of crimson fire that engulfed Professor Colbert turned blue, launching itself back at Benubiro. It ensnared him in a spherical cage of fire, slowly constricting him bit by bit.

"So this is the power… of the Snake of Flame… Fantastic!" Benubiro managed to say between breaths, slowly choking as the fire consumed him. Benubiro's body slowly burned, leaving behind a blackened crisp of a man that toppled to the ground. Tails turned his attention to Colbert, who was now struggling for a breath. Blood was running from the edge of his mouth, signs that Tails knew indicated internal bleeding.

"Louise! Give Tabitha your wand! We need magic over here!" Tails cried, tears running into his eyes. Louise and Tabitha stood next to him, Tabitha chanting away once more. Professor Colbert shook his head, as if to disapprove.

"I don't believe that will help here. I thank you all for your help. It finally finishes my mission… to bury my past," Professor Colbert whispered. Tails felt a hand on his shoulder, and was suddenly shoved aside. Agnès was on top of Colbert in a flash, her saber's tip at his chest. Saito made a lunge for her, but Professor Colbert held up his hand.

"This is for her to decide. I dealt this incredible pain to her. It is her decision," Professor Colbert stated. Agnès looked as if she were really about to do it for a few moments, but noticed something on Professor Colbert's exposed right shoulder where the flames had burnt away some of his blue coat. She flipped him on his stomach and cut his shirt, revealing a large white scar along his right shoulder. She sat back, tears streaming down her face as she raised her sword again.

Professor Colbert rolled back onto his back. "Yes. Now you know. I realized my mistake and attempted to atone for it by saving who I could. I had no knowledge that the Plague was a lie. You were the only one I could find. I'm sorry…"

Agnès raised her sword again, but Louise blocked her by pushing the blade off target. "It's already done," she managed through her tears. "Leave him be."

Tails was floored. For a moment, his mouth hung open, speechless from shock. "But what about knowledge? And life? Shouldn't he have pursued those instead of giving his life for something so stupid?" Tears flooded to his eyes, soaking his facial fur. "I hadn't even given him the book I had for him. He would have loved it. I could have helped him with my shield, but he pushed me aside…"

Headmaster Osmond, having silently been standing over Tails' shoulder, finally spoke up. "I knew this would happen when he first told me of his history when I hired him. He believed it was his duty to finish what he had started. He felt he had created a monster, and that it was his responsibility to finish it. What we failed to understand, however, was that the monster wasn't just Benubiro. It was himself."

Agnès, seeing her lifelong enemy dead, threw aside her blade in a fit of rage, on her knees beside the rest of the group. The single motive that kept her going, after all these years, had resulted in an indecisive victory. One thought rang out in the minds of everyone present.

"Why?"