The two other Rogues followed right behind Jet, and so did the reckless accomplice from before, swerving all the while. The feline from before and the one just ahead shot off and headed for the Mall. Tails hadn't expected them to split up, but those two were headed right for the teeth of the helicopters. It would have to be up to the cops to mow them down in a hail of rubber bullets. That just left him with the people he basically learned to ride from.
Shooting down into the sub-system, he turned up his GEAR and surfed along the side of the wall, as people ducked for their lives. Grinding along a safety rail, over a turnstile, and down into the tunnels, he could see the wake of the four criminals up ahead. The tunnels and the raid shelters were built to house the majority of Knothole's population if (or some would argue: when) the town finally came under attack by Robotnick's forces. They were hardened structures, reinforced and built into the otherwise soft soil that was Knothole's foundation. It was also connected to the massive aquifer systems that kept the city from turning into a ghetto pool whenever it rained, given the land nearby was wet and flood prone.
The tunnels were inactive and dark at present, save for the emergency lighting. There were also few obstacles inside them, aside from some emergency equipment, adjacent store rooms, and the occasional squatter or homeless bum. The four riders ahead of him had to be thinking the same thing. If they were going to make a big move, this was the perfect place…
And sure enough, as the reckless rider shot ahead, the riders that had to be a masked Wave and Storm decelerated and shot back. Storm was the first, fitting his personality, as he swung a meaty fist in an attempt to bat Tails' head off. Sliding off, and hitting an air bubble, Tails ducked the first blow, and jumped over the second. Inverting himself, he unleashed another spinning tornado. It was a fine move, but Storm's experience paid off, and he swerved out of it with time to spare.
Before Tails' GEAR even touched ground (so to speak), he had Wave in his face. Where she had hidden an oversized wrench, he had no idea, but the fact that he had it in his hand, just inches from his nose, meant he had bigger problems to look into. She pulled in her board, and tried to lock with him. Dipping his front, he kept her from slipping under his GEAR, and they entered a two person spin.
"Wave…!" he growled. "What the Hell do you think you're doing? What about the Armada? Is this what you call the Pride of the Babylon Rogues?!"
"Don't you…" Wave hissed, bringing her rifle out. "Lecture me on Pride!!"
Only to have his tails wrap around the rifle and twist, tearing it out of her hands and shredding the barrel. Pushing off him, she broke the spin, and Tails cut left to avoid Storm as he shot in from below. The largest and strongest of the Rogues, Tails had no intention of actually letting the slower fighter get a solid hit in. Besides, compared to fighting Tempest, or even Sally, Storm was sloppy and hotheaded. Like a certain Knuckleheaded echidna, he knew all too well.
"Stand still, damnit!" Storm roared as he swung, GEAR sparking at it occasionally touched the actual ground. They were spinning again, swerving from the right to the left, but Storm's size meant he had to lean more into every motion. Finally seeing an opening, Tails struck in and up, planting a palm strike to the big bruiser's sternum and then twisting to add his GEAR's momentum into throwing Storm off his own board. The experienced rider stumbled, broke contact, and barely recovered.
"You little…!"
Just as Tails started to feel confident, a streak of green shot by, and Tails' GEAR immediately caught in the back wake. The move nearly tossed him right then and there, and then he saw Jet speed back up, layering a forward wake over the back wake. There was no way he'd stay stable if his board skipped from one to the other. Instead, Tails hit his breaks, crested the original wave, and rode up along the curved tunnel ceiling. Hitting the ground, he was back behind all three rogues again.
Fighting Jet would be a serious problem.
"I can't let them escape…" Tails reminded himself, finally upholstering the pistol he had requisitioned before. Picking up speed, he saw them turn sharply right. A grate flew through the air, and he knew Storm had cleared their way into the underground aqueduct. Following close behind, Tails felt his board tremble slightly as the ground turned to water. The aqueduct here was a large utility tunnel, smaller than the emergency shelters, but still large enough to move around in. It was about one eighth full of running water, and all four racers up ahead left steaming trails in their wake.
There was only a couple hundred meters before the aqueduct ended.
If the rogues also sensed that they were approaching the end of their race, they didn't make it immediately obvious. Not until they, too, drew their firearms. Everyone knew that the more confined the location, the more useful their weapons were. Tails only had the one pistol, plus twelve shots in the clip, and one spare clip on his right side. Up ahead, Wave and the other non-rogue rider cut into slides, and opened fire. Tails tucked in, using his tails as shields, and also cut into a sliding echelon. Shooting to the side, and up onto the ceiling, he returned fire, trying to hit the high speed, rapidly maneuvering targets up ahead.
Truth be told, he had been aiming mostly for their boards. He'd never thought of himself as a killer. He'd designed his weapons of war to fight robots… and then there had been that incident in the forest, hunting… Antoine had killed in the line of duty before, and he was sure Bunnie had, too. But Sally and Sonic, the two people he admired the most, would never… or would they? No! He was sure they wouldn't. Those two, above all others, had to remain the symbols of hope that they were. If they had ever taken a life, it was something no one could ever find out about.
'But what about me?' he thought, even as he pulled the trigger, aiming for Wave's GEAR, or at least her foot or leg. 'Would anyone really care if I killed someone? Would it really matter? So… why don't I want to kill these people?'
He felt his aim turn up, as a moment's reprieve gave him a clear shot.
'I should!' his thoughts screamed. 'I should! Wave… you….!"
Betrayed me!
"You…"
Should die.
Die.
DIE!
"What's wrong, brat? Can't pull the trigger? Even after all this? I can't believe you'd hesitate now, after what you… what we… did…" A single gunshot and a laugh. "That shut him up, didn't it… Tails?"
Wave screamed as the bullet entered her leg and shot out the other side.
'What you deserve… is to live…' Tails pushed off from the ceiling, and his board hit the water with a splash. 'You deserve to live, knowing I don't have to kill you to beat you. And that I can beat you. Any time I choose…'
"Wave!" Jet yelled, and he decelerated to catch her before she could hit the water. Tails wasn't blind. He had seen the attachment the Rogues had for each other. Crippling Wave would slow them all down.
A trickle of blood ran down Tails' left arm, and he dully noted he'd also failed to block all the shots to his vulnerable areas with his tails. Strangely, he barely felt the pain. Cruising along the water, waves kicking up on both sides, he felt good. It was just like before… like when he cornered that cougar, or when he caught up with that boar. Bearing his teeth, he could feel his lip curl over his canines.
Tilting his board, slowing his speed slightly as he cruised along, he leveled his handgun. He had two more shots….
And he didn't feel like wasting them.
Storm shouldered an assault rifle. Tails knew the make. It was the design he had recommended when he came back from Station Square, after convincing the government there to help the Mobians rearm. How cute: to shoot at him with the very weapon he had brought to help free his country. The Rogue fired a precise three round burst…
And all three hit one of Tails' tails, deflecting the bullets.
Leveling his own weapon, Tails fired, and Storm snarled in pain as the rifle flew out of his hands. Almost as an after thought, the four riders shot out of the aqueduct, past the concealed exit, and onto the surface of a lake. Tails paid the change of scenery no mind, as he pushed down with his toes, angling it so he accelerated, even with his board in a slide.
"You bastards…" he growled, loud enough for them to hear. "After what you did in Downunda… after I gave you all the chances in the world to redeem yourselves…! Your betrayal cost thousands of lives. The lives of soldiers… who trusted me!"
"Heh!" Jet all but said the word, as he spun in to get between the angry Freedom Fighter and the wounded Wave and Storm. "Should you really be blaming us for your failures, Fire Fox? I bet you blame everyone else for Santa Christie, too. All those people you burned to ash without batting an eye…"
"I didn't pull that trigger."
"No, you just built it!" Jet craned his neck back and forth, swerving to avoid a pile of driftwood without even seeing it. Almost casually, he un-holstered his own gun.
"You should reload," he then suggested. "You only have one bullet left, right? And we're almost to the highway."
Tails ejected the current clip in his gun, and let it fall into the water. Without looking down, he reloaded, using the only spare clip he had.
"Jet," Tails spoke up, taking aim at the Rogue. "After what happened back then… to have you come back here, and try this… I can't forgive it!"
Jet chuckled. It was a laugh that had always reminded Tails of Sonic, or maybe the Anti-Sonic. Like every joke was at someone's expense. Jet may have been willing to ride a GEAR through Hell itself for his mates, for Storm or Wave, but that was about his only redeeming feature. That, and a somewhat twisted sense of fair play when it came to competition.
"We never did get to properly test your Tornado against my Butcher Bird…" Jet shrugged. "But before we have our running gun battle to settle all scores, I think you should see something."
He turned to the non-rogue member of their group, who had hung in all the way to the end. "Take your mask off. Go on. It doesn't matter now anyway."
The fourth racer turned, put her GEAR into slide, and also shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"
Reaching up, she pulled off her baklava.
Tails blinked. He wasn't surprised, but… his frown deepened, mixing with… something else. Disappointment, maybe? Pushing the name past his lips and clenched teeth, he slowly shook his head.
"Fiona…"
"Hmm!" Jet mused out loud, waving his gun dramatically. "Isn't that a surprise? Another pet project of yours that didn't quite work out? Fiona here's told us some interesting stuff about you, lover boy."
"You… shut the Hell up!" Tails could see the highway just up ahead. The Old Road ran close to the lake at one point, and despite its state of disrepair, one could take it to almost anywhere in Eastern Mobius.
Jet nodded sagely, his eyes darting first to Wave, who was still clutching her leg and trying to keep from falling, and then Storm, cradling his wounded hand.
"I… actually have a better idea." And without even looking, he swung his aim around and shot Fiona, knocking her off her board and into the water with a pained scream. She slipped under the waves instantly, almost as if she had never been in the first place. Stunned, Tails only gaped.
"Some other time, kiddo!" Jet gave a little wave before turning and speeding off, with Wave and Storm trailing behind in his wake.
"D… Damnit!" Tails roared in rage, aim lingering on the Rogues' wake. Unable to pull the trigger at the retreating figures, he cursed and spun around one hundred and eighty degrees, heading back towards where Fiona had fallen. Ditching his board, he jumped in, heading down and hoping against hope… and against rationality and common sense.
Four minutes later, on the shore of the lake, he sat next to a coughing female fox. Water ran down the sides of her mouth. Tails wiped his own mouth, half relieved and half disgusted. At least his learning CPR hadn't been for nothing. But…
Fiona…
Of all the Mobians, it had to be her. Even after everything: after Sonic, after Scourge, after everything…! Even after every damn thing she had put him through!!
"I…" she coughed, between weak laughs. "I knew… you'd save me…"
Tails closed his eyes, pretending he couldn't hear her.
"I knew it… because deep down… you're just like him. A stupid hero…"
Touching the bullet wound on his shoulder, a wound she gave him, he turned to the vixen with a look of pity and remorse. It had always been like this. And he'd never, not once, learned the lesson of it all.
"I… really…" She closed her eyes, drifting off. "Hate you…"
"I hate you, too."
But Fiona was already unconscious. Whether she heard it, whether he even meant it, Tails couldn't begin to guess. He felt exhausted, mentally and physically. But through it all, he felt a growing anger. It was different, hotter, than he was used to. Trying to reign it in, he kept his eyes closed and concentrated. Involuntarily, he pounded the rocky shore of the lake, burying his fist again and again in silent agony before collapsing.
He almost didn't hear the rustle of leaves, as someone emerged from the bushes.
For a moment, he tensed, but then relaxed as he recognized the intruder. A red echidna, wearing a headscarf, a white cape, and a pair of heel-less sandals walked into view. Tails knew Nail, though not well. The echidna often came and went as he pleased, despite being an honorary member of the extended Freedom Fighters family. Tails knew that he was Athair's apprentice and had naturally taken an interest in the young kitsune, given his exceptional status as 'Chosen One' in the eyes of the Walkers. For all that, though, Tails disliked the Nail's mysticism (just as he disliked Athair's), and they tended not to interact much.
"You look like you've done something you regret," Nail observed, eyes wandering over to the unconscious Fiona Fox. "Again."
"Like I need to be lectured about it. I'm sure the King will be more than happy to berate me about this mess." Tails slowly got to his feet, dusting off his gloves. "So. Back already, huh?"
"A lot has happened in the few weeks I've been out, it would seem. …You've grown." Nail stated the obvious, and the less than obvious. "And there's a power in you now… that wasn't there before. Or, at least it is much more obvious than before."
Tails sighed. "Not that it does much good, partnered with bad decisions…"
"I don't know," Nail thought out loud. "There are those who would say you did the right thing; the compassionate thing."
Tails stared down at Fiona and shook his head again.
"They're called idiots."
Nightfall.
"We'll need a fire." Sally looked in Tempest's direction. "Firewood?"
"No…" He answered. "It'll produce too much smoke."
"If you have a better idea, now's the time to share."
Tempest sighed. Opening a pouch on his belt, he took out a small pen like object, and held it in-between his thumb and forefinger. "Well, I guess the secret's out, anyway."
The tip of the pen hummed, and a long red beam lanced out and struck a nearby rock. Heating it fairly quickly, Tempest turned off the pen-laser and, shaking it quickly, placed it back in the belt pocket.
"Echidna Technology?" Sally warmed her hands an inch or two from the surface of the heated stone.
"Yes. For emergencies. It has batteries, you see," Tempest pointed out. "And those are difficult to replicate. So we use what we have sparingly. Later… if you prefer, you can bed down near one of the old hot springs. It should keep you warm."
"Should?"
"I really wouldn't know, Princess." Tempest sat down, finally, and leaned back, looking up into the sky. "I've never… had to worry about others in the cold, before."
"Oh? So now you're worrying about little old me?"
"You said it, not me." Tempest yawned, and Sally saw a set of deadly canines set in powerful jaws. "It grows late… I'll take first watch."
"I'm surprised you're not saying how you could stay up all night without trying," Sally said, and reached into her backpack.
"Oh... I could," Tempest assured her. "I just don't want to."
"First watch, then? And how long is that, pray tell?" She sat down, knees tight to her chest, hugging her legs.
"How long do you want it to be?" He obviously didn't want to insult her by either giving her less or more than her share of time. Splitting their time down the middle was pretty safe, but he didn't want to annoy her much either. Though, thinking about it, he wasn't sure why. Or rather, he knew why, but didn't want to admit it.
The pregnant silence from earlier loomed.
"I didn't mean… to be rude…earlier." Tempest ventured. "That was never my intention, Princess."
"And I didn't mean to…" Sally searched for the word. "Intimidate you."
Tempest snorted with a loud 'hmf.'
"Intimidate?!"
"That's it." Sally nodded. "Sorry."
"Listen!" Tempest tired to make his intention perfectly clear just by the tone of his voice. "I am NOT intimidated by you! Or anyone!"
"You're not?" She asked.
"No!" Tempest barked.
"It seems that way to me. I mean it wouldn't be surprising if you were. You have this… opinion of 'my people' as weak and inferior and you call us Prey. But you let me train with your pupil, and you don't keep that tone around when you talk to me, and you seem not to mind my company, and…"
"Intimidate is the wrong word!"
Sally sighed.
Silence.
"A better word would be…" Tempest spoke up again. "Ah… Tah'shia."
"Tah Shia?"
"Yes." Tempest agreed, accepting her slight mispronunciation. "It is a kitsune word, which describes a Prey animal one feels great sadness in killing, because it deprives others of it. It fills one with a sorrow akin to greed, because you feel selfish making such a kill."
Silence descended once more, and this time neither broke it. Tempest was still on his back looking up at the sky, admiring how the most brilliant stars were just faintly managing to shine in the pre twilight. Sally was, at once, looking at him and looking at the sky. They should have gotten back at Knothole by now. The others would start to worry, but standard operating procedure was to wait at least a half-day. Normally, she wouldn't have minded the silence… but this was something they had to talk about.
Just sitting around wasn't helping anything!
"I…" She said, suddenly. "I won't do it anymore."
"What?" Tempest switched from looking at the sky to looking at her. His eyes, a mix of black and gray, met her own. She shook her head.
"I know you're uncomfortable with me." She closed her eyes tightly. "That's ok. I can respect that. I'm not sure what… what I want or anything… It isn't fair to involve you in things, and…"
"You were happy before I came along?" He phrased it as a question, and waited for her to tentatively nod. "Then you will be happy after I leave."
"What… what about you?" She asked. "Were you happy before you came here?"
Tempest didn't answer. Feeling for him, she crawled over and laid down perpendicular to him, resting her head on his stomach. Tempest growled, and Sally could feel it reverberate throughout his body and into hers.
"Tell me something… why were you chosen to find Tails?" Sally leaned her shoulder back against his body, which was surprisingly warm, almost glowing with body heat.
Tempest stifled a laugh. "I wish I knew… Though, I'm starting to think he's the one the Lord of the Ice told me of."
"Lord of the Ice?" Sally asked.
"You don't know? Didn't the One-Tails bring their faith with them when they defected? What Gods do you believe in?"
"That's an odd question," Sally thought about it for a second before answering. "None really. Some believe the Source of All is God, but… I have my own thoughts about what it is."
"Let me tell you of our beliefs, then," Tempest began, eyelids lowering lazily. "We are an ancient people, almost as old as the ancestors of the Wolf Packs. Our Tradition tells us, however, of a time before we grew. When the world was young and pure, seething and bubbling with magical energy. The Lords of the Ice built a great and mighty civilization, and the power of their minds traveled between the stars. They created for their purposes the first Gems of Chaos, and gained mastery of their existence itself. They spread and explored, but found no others similar to themselves. So, after countless centuries, they learned all there was to know."
"Everything?"
"Everything… save one thing. Though they had long outgrown the constraints of life and death, they still yearned for the answer. The answer. To the question: why do we exist? Without purpose, they found all their technology and power lent no meaning to their lives… so they scrapped their cities, and went home - to the icy north. To wander the wastes, for they need not eat or drink, looking only for their own personal answer to the ultimate question. Eventually, most just… faded away, content with what they eventually found within themselves, but not before one last grand experiment to help them understand the life and death they no longer felt. So… they created the Second Race."
"Let me guess. Your people?"
"Among many others. The Ancient Wolves were the first of the Second Race. We, the Kitsune, are the second. They took the strongest, fiercest predators, the most adaptable life they could find, and gifted them with intelligence. And, so the world, this Mobius, was consumed by War, for ten glorious centuries. And in the end, we died. Only a few scant traces of intelligent life survived the First Cataclysm and the First Destroyer. Few Foxes, Few Wolves. Few Dingo… scattered throughout the world."
"We were cast down by the Lords of the Ice, who again walked among the ashes of their world, and restored it, saddened by the failure of their experiment. Realizing an error, they crafted the Third races: your people. The Echidna, we are taught, were the first of the Third Race. Then the Squirrel…" Tempest suddenly snarled. "They cast us down, their Firstborn Heirs, and gave our world to those who were our Prey! We were forsaken!"
Sally kept quiet.
"Still, for them at least, all seemed well at first…" Tempest continued and tried to calm down. "Then… things fell apart. The system was not sustainable, and could not hold steady. The once… peaceful prey of this world multiplied beyond number, and the resources of Mobius were consumed like so much fruit, and the planet was quickly wracked by starvation and plague. Wars erupted between the Prey for food and land. We, too, fought… though our numbers had dwindled, and our races forsaken. It was the Second Cataclysm. The Second Destroyer."
"Finally." Tempest opened his eyes. "Finally, the Lords of the Ice again restored the world, and returned it to as before. And so, the Fourth Age began, and so did our recorded history, as the Second Races were again restored to a position of power, and cast among the Third Races, to control them and to keep the Balance. The Lords… returned to the Great Endless Ice to watch, and pray, and search for their answers. This Fourth Age, however, had one other addition to it."
"What?"
"The overlanders… they are an anomaly. They appear to be the youngest of the Races. Some have called them the Fourth Race; an amalgamation of both predator and prey in one… a failed experiment, it would seem. Without any real breeding population left, they'll be extinct in a few decades at most. The Lords of the Ice are mysterious… perhaps, in the Next Age, the humans shall be risen once more."
"Wait…" Sally remembered from earlier. "Didn't you say before that one of them spoke to you?"
"Yes… Years ago, I planned to ascend to the position of Ephor Anthal of my Clan. The previous War Leader had died, but his Heir was weak, and not fit to take the position. There was also no clear line of male succession from those with blood ties to the previous leader, and many others came forth who also had fit claim to the title. Normally, in this situation, a series of blood duels would decide who became Ephor Anthal, but such a thing would have further weakened Clan Vidar in respect to the other Clans. The Elders were consulted. This was not the first time Clan Vidar had faced this sort of problem, and they remembered how, centuries before, a different sort of contest had been held to settle the issue."
"After trails testing wisdom, strength, and purity of mind, there were only four others who had a truly legitimate claim to be War Leader, and so we went on The Quest. I wandered the Endless Ice for months… More often than I care to recall, I almost starved, only to find a beached whale… or seal exposed on the Ice. It was… the hardest year of my life. Only later, I would learn that two others who had left with me had returned, half dead, and the other two… never left the Ice alive. I kept going… not really knowing what I was searching for, but knowing I would either find it, or die trying."
Tempest reached down, and with his finger, traced the contours of the ring on his right hand's middle finger. "Then… I died."
"You… died?" Sally asked. "Don't tell me you're a ghost, Tempest. You feel real to me."
"Oh, I died…" Tempest murmured. "I'm sure of it. But one of Them brought me back to life. I'll never forget his words… 'What is death, to one who cannot die? It is a prophecy, Vidar… and this is not your time.' I looked up, and, standing above me was a giant. A white giant. His coat was long, and as white as snow, throughout. His legs were sheathed in pure white boots that curved over his knees, and along his chest was a sash, studded by some platinum metal. His arms were crossed, and though I could see his face because it was shrouded by mist, I could see that his eyes pure and deepest black…. I stumbled to my feet, and bowed, as best I could."
"He told me I could ask of him one thing, and only one thing. And to never again search for answers on the Endless Ice. I asked him… I asked him what my life was leading to. And, without even thinking about it, he answered: 'You will find the One who will embody your people, you will love and be hated, you will hate and be forced to love, and then you shall die.'"
"Then, he threw to the ground a single black object. Holding his hand to the sky, a blazing red and green aurora filled the heavens, and the ground split down the middle, from horizon to horizon, 'Choose a Path, and leave,' he said, and disappeared. …I walked for almost two weeks, hunting as I went, withering away… Then, I finally found a small hunting party charting the area for migratory whales. They were waiting for me exactly where the great crack in the ice ended… I was taken back to my Clan, and with this ring as proof, I was instated as Ephor Anthal the next month."
"Could I see it? The ring?" Sally asked, and reached for Nicole, hidden in her vest's inner pocket.
"I suppose…" Tempest took the small ring off his middle finger, and handed it to her. It seemed totally mundane; completely plain. It was a solid black, all around, and somewhat heavy for its size. Sally held the small ring over Nicole.
"Nicole… can you identify this?"
"One moment please." The minicomputer responded, and a lance of light shot out to engulf the black ring. Nicole scanned it for several seconds, and then several more. Finally, she calculated a full reply.
"This unit is of unknown design and composition. Unit is circular to an accuracy of one times ten to the negative twenty meters. Note: scanning range is insufficient to measure the inaccuracies of this unit's construction. Material identity is unknown and does not conform to present or available future databases. Age is unknown. Function is unknown, but assumed to be ornamental. Trace amounts of Chaos Energy are detectable within the unit. Speculative analysis at this time is inconclusive."
"Our Elders could not study it, and our finest Blacksmiths could not damage it or alter it in the least." Tempest seemed oddly detached. "They told me it was unbreakable. I suppose… maybe the Cathumantana Blade could cut through it… but even that I doubt."
"And he just gave you this?" Sally held it up to what waning day's light.
"Give an animal a gun, see if he learns to use it." Tempest gently took the object from her hands. "It is… beyond us. Provided we survive the next few thousand years… maybe we shall be able to understand it."
"And you say they created the Chaos Emeralds too?" Sally thought. "Tempest, how many have actually met these Lords of the Ice?"
"Very few." Tempest put the ring back on his finger. "They choose you, if you are worthy. You don't find them; they show themselves you. Ah… that reminds me!"
"You didn't leave the water running back at Knothole, did you?" Sally laughed. "…Did you?"
"No, of course not!" Tempest closed his eyes, and concentrated, 'Tails'
The bloody bullet hit the metal tray with a loud 'ting!' that filled the room. The flattened mushroom head of it cause it to roll back and forth in a lazy circle, bumping it into another of its kin. Yet another, third bullet also rested in the bloody tray.
"Source alive, Tails…"
"Come on, you'd think you'd been shot instead of me," Tails grumbled from where he sat, at the edge of a medical bed. Mina was with him, dressing the wound on his arm.
"Why can't you or Sonic be more careful?" she asked, knowing full well the answer. "What do you think Sally will say when she finds out you were shot, three times, today?"
"That'll depend on the information I wring out of our prisoners, won't it?"
Mina just shook her head.
"Anyway," Tails quickly changed the topic. He liked Mina, he did, but she had been developing something of a worry-wart streak. She just couldn't get it into her head that even the best of them got hurt sometimes in their line of work. It was the reason she had put aside her dream of becoming a singer and instead trained to help care for the wounded. Field doctors and nurses were more urgently needed than pop idols. Her own run in with a stray bullet had only reinforced that lesson.
"Did you bring it?" he asked.
"I …did," she admitted, reaching over to a nearby sink, next to which lay a small metal box. "But… BUT… I'd like to remind you that the additive use of chaos energy to augment healing has had a detrimental…"
"I know about the studies, Mina," Tails cut her off. "I co-authored half of them. Please. I need to get back to 100 percent as soon as possible. For the city."
"That old excuse…" she turned around, handing him the box. "For the City. For Knothole. For the Kingdom."
He scoffed, but not in an unfriendly way. "You make me sound like a broken record or something."
"Tails. No one doubts your commitment…"
"I should hope not. I've given everything I have to this fight…" he frowned at the thought. What memories did he have that didn't involve the endless war with Robotnick or his underlings? Only the ones where his enemy was Naugus, or Mogul. Opening the metal case, he reached in and retrieved a single power ring.
Focusing on it, it instantly vanished, absorbed into his system.
"Aaah!" He could feel the energy at work, knitting flesh together and filling him with power. It was just a shame they had such a limited supply of Power Rings now. Even among Chaos Adepts, few could metabolize chaos energy from Rings.
With enough chaos energy running through one's body, even the most terrible wounds could stabilize and heal. It had been a real life saver on more than a few missions, especially during the Death Egg incidents. Flexing his arms, he could feel the pain of his wounds diminish, though the blood staining his bandages was a reminder of his mortality, regardless of how much energy he stole to empower himself.
Then the euphoria wore off, combined with the thoughts of what was to come.
Seeing his expression, Mina sighed and sat down on another chair as she carefully removed her latex gloves. "So. Where are you going now?"
"Interrogation," Tails replied. She knew full well where he was headed next. It was why he had brought her to Knothole Emergency Management Center, instead of flying over to see her at the hospital proper. Why he always insisted on having her check on him when he was hurt, he wasn't sure. He'd had some recent intellectual and academic disagreements with Dr. Quack for some time since his return to Station Square, but it was probably no more complex than the fact that he felt comfortable around Mina. She was in Sonic's inner circle of friends, and he trusted her.
Not just with a surgical knife; he trusted her as someone to talk to.
"Anything you want to talk about?"
"It's… Fiona."
She nodded, but said nothing.
"You know, I really thought…" he winced. "After Scourge, after all that… that she would have learned. Maybe it was too much to hope she had changed her ways."
Mina gave him a sympathetic look, and he shared the basics of what had happened. It still hurt to think about Jet and the Rogues escaping, but it hurt just as much to think of Fiona, lying at the bottom of a lake. The more he thought about it, the more he talked about it, the more convinced he was that it had been a mistake to save her. But in that moment, he hadn't been thinking things through rationally.
"Do you still… have feelings for her?" Mina finally asked.
"I never even knew her, Mina. Not the real her…" He couldn't tell her about the android Fiona he had fallen in love with, those years ago. His techy background and return from Station Square had already led many to brand him as dangerous pro-Synthetic.
"I guess I've always cared for this image of her, this ideal I have in my head and can't get out," he cut off his rambling. "I think you know exactly how I feel."
"Love at first sight is hard to get over." Mina nodded ruefully; she still loved Sonic from afar, Tails knew. Her situation was like Amy's, except Mina had never let it consume and define her life. Maybe that was another reason why he enjoyed her company in times like this. It helped him with his own perspective.
"I'm going to break her," he finally said.
Mina reached out, laying a compassionate hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to do this. People will understand…"
"They'll understand that I put my own feelings before the good of the city. Before the good of the people!" Tails patted her hand, but brushed it off. "I have to do this. I have to be there when we make her talk. Her, and the other two."
By the expression on her face, he could guess what she wanted to say.
You shouldn't have to do this.
And she could probably tell what he left unsaid:
Because of who I am, I have to.
Hopping off the table and throwing on a shirt to cover the bruises on his chest and arms, Tails gave his favorite nurse a polite nod. It was time to get his hands dirty. He wasn't Sonic, and he sure as Hell wasn't Sally. No one gave half a rat's shit what he did. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that the two of them were gone. The King's Mercy was just an oxymoron these days, and Tails wasn't feeling particularly merciful himself at the moment.
As he stalked down the corridors, heading towards holding, he felt a tingle in the back of his mind. It was like someone winding the string of a guitar too bit too tightly. Tails tried to push it out, and it was gone… for a few seconds. Concerned, he focused on letting it in, and suddenly…
'Tails'
"Tempest?" Tails paused, and ducked into a nearby bathroom. Was that voice coming from his mind?! "Tempest?"
'It is' the voice continued 'Listen carefully, boy'
'How are you doing this?' Tails thought.
'Practice' Tempest answered. 'I'll explain it all in more detail in due time. Now listen. I won't be getting back today. I trust you've kept your honor since this morning'
'You can't see my eyes' Tails thought back. 'How can you know what I have or have not done?'
'I trust you, boy' the disembodied voice continued.
Tails almost laughed. Almost. 'Actually, an emergency came up. Something I just couldn't let go. Work related'
Tempest paused. 'I see. Well, it couldn't be helped, I suppose'
Tails growled silently. 'What's keeping you anyway? You and Sally are late. You two aren't…?'
'Extenuating circumstances. Your Princess is nearby, safe and sound'
'Tempest… this telepathy… I've seen something similar before, but how are you doing it? I need to know'
'Ah' Tempest started to fade. 'Well, I had planned to teach you more later. The essence of it is that you need an emotional bond with another being. The link is made through that shared experience'
'Tempest?' Tails thought, but got no response. He must be gone already. But at least he'd gotten some information out of it. 'Shared experience' was it? Tails clutched a fist, his body still charged with Chaos Energy.
'How far are you willing to go?' a voice asked. Perhaps it was his conscience.
'Quiet you!' he scolded it. 'You got me into this mess in the first place!'
'Wait. What? Me? I'm innocent!'
'That's what they all say.'
'Come now. Really… are you actually going to try this? Think about who you're emulating.'
'Remember who I've been emulating half my life. It isn't just Sonic. It's that fat bastard, too. So what if I take a page out of that black freak's playbook and get creative with Chaos Control?'
His mind was decided long before he actually entered the oversight room adjacent to where Fiona was being held. She was tough; there was no doubt about that. Already awake and alert and even on her feet, bandages and all, the villainous vixen was currently sitting defiantly in a chair, verbally abusing the interrogator sent to start the preliminary work. She was uncooperative as usual; this wasn't her first time being interrogated, and she knew the ropes as well as anyone.
She had been a Freedom Fighter for a while, after all.
Tails took a moment to look her over, before ordering the room cleared. There were the usual protests, but despite his youth, Tails was a senior ranking Freedom Fighter, a personal cavalier of the King himself, and a high ranking military officer. He also happened to be the one Mobian who had brought in their suspects today, since the others had evaded the attack helicopters. Damn them. He switched off the cameras and microphones, and headed through the door into the interrogation room itself.
"Out," he ordered. The weasel running the op bit back a complaint, nodded, and left, leaving the two foxes alone.
"Tails," Fiona said with a smile. "I never thanked you for saving me."
"And you never will." He knew.
"Aaa! You noticed!" Her smile widened as she laughed. She had a beautiful voice, too.
"I've heard you want immunity in exchange for telling us what we want to know," he skipped the banter and got right to business.
"Signed by the King and confirmed by my lawyer. Who I haven't gotten to rap with yet, by the way," she crossed her legs and assumed an impatient pose. "You might want to get working on that."
He nodded slowly in apparent agreement, walking around behind her, before abruptly grabbing the back of her chair and throwing it to the floor. Fiona fell back with it, yelping as the back of her head hit the floor. Holding her head, she cursed and glared up at him.
"What the Hell!?"
Tails cocked his head. "You think I saved you because I still care about you?"
Her eyes narrowed. "You do."
"You're sick," Tails kept his voice as calm and detached as possible, "You aren't going to jail this time. I'm going to personally see to it that they ship you off to an asylum. An asylum you'll never… ever… get out of. You're going to be staring at padded walls for the rest of your life."
She laughed smugly. "I don't believe you…Tails…"
"Believe whatever you want." He nudged her out of the knocked over chair, bent over, and pulled her into the middle of the room by her handcuffs.
"I didn't know you were this kinky, Tails! Scourge and I used to role play like this, too. Are you the bad cop this time?"
The thought of it made Tails sneer in disgust.
"Go ahead and hit me! Hit me!" Fiona urged him on. "Come on! Do it! Quit being such a fucking pussy!"
He rolled his eyes and took a deep breath. "I missed you, too, Fiona…"
He stood over her, and then fell to his knees, straddling her. She bucked against him, laughing all the while, but he held her down with one hand.
"Eight people broke into a secure facility this morning. You happen to be one of them. Nack and Nic are two others, and I know all about the Babylon Rogues. Who are the two I don't know?"
Fiona just laughed.
He leaned in closer. "Answer me."
"I don't want to."
She bucked against him again, harder this time, as she squirmed. His breath quickened as he felt her against him. There was no doubt that part of the infatuation he'd had with her in the past was physical, even if he'd tried to keep such impure thoughts out of his head. Vixens were often particularly attractive, and Fiona had the body of an athlete and a model. She laughed breathily again as she rubbed up against him, just a second before hitting him square in the face with her handcuffed fists.
She was strong, too.
"You're harder than I thought you'd be, Tailssy… I guess you aren't the little kid you used to be…"
Spitting a wad of blood from his split lip, he ignored her and concentrated energy into his right hand. He'd seen Shadow do this before, and Mogul, too. Telepathic contact wasn't unheard of among certain circles. This was his first time, but he had a good idea of the mechanics involved. And if it failed, he's just go back to the old school: drugs, sensory depravation, and the tender hands of professionals who had been honing their craft since the Great War.
"You want me, don't you?" Fiona looked up at him with savage, hungry eyes. "Then do it. Right here. You turned off the cameras, didn't you? Do it!"
His fingers curled, resisting the urge to form a fist.
"Remember when I used to walk by your hut with Sonic. Do you remember that time you saw us making out under that tree?" She leaned up, just barely grazing his chest with hers. "And you watched? I saw you… and then I…"
His hand slammed into her forehead, crackles of chaos energy arcing up and into her hair. She laughed again, and in his inattention, never saw her fingers as she reached up and raked his face with her nails. Sneering, he grabbed her handcuffs with his free hand and held her arms down.
"Why… why are you like this?"
"Don't you get it? I like being bad!"
Tails caught his breath. "Who were you working for?"
She made another breathy moan. "Scourge…!"
"Scourge is DEAD!" Tails roared. "Who. Are. You. Working. For."
Her eyes rolled, and he could feel her mind opening up. Her legs wrapped around one of his, and he winced at the pressure as she twisted, trying to break his femur. She laughed again, licking her lips. Then another crackle of Chaos Energy shot into her temple, momentarily spiking up her hair.
"Who are you working for, Fiona?" he asked again, feeling certain that he'd finally gotten through. "Who?"
"J… Jet…" she breathily replied. "Jet hired me. Needed… more men… Nic and I needed money…"
"You betrayed your people… your country…"
"Not my people…" she spat out, and a sob cut in between pained laughs. "Not mine… I… I…"
"They are your people."
"Not mine." She chuckled again as she stared up at him, light blue eyes glazed over. "Not yours, either. You don't know… just how little… people even think about you…"
He steeled his features. He wouldn't let her mind games get to him, not when he was the one supposed to be invading her thoughts.
"What was Jet after?"
"Jet…" She weakly tried to shake her head. "Jet was… he wanted…they wanted him to get… the… the locations…"
"They're after the Chaos Emeralds, aren't they?"
"No. Yes… and something else… an artifact… a scepter…"
"Who is Jet working for?"
"I heard him… listened in… he and that cat…"
Tails eyebrows perked up at this. She had to mean the feline rider from before.
"Order from… Meph… Mephiles…"
"Who is this feline? And who is Mephiles?"
"Only called her 'B.' No names. Never… worked with her before… don't know who Mephiles… is…"
Finally, her breathing heavy, Fiona stopped struggling under him. Still straddling her and holding her down, Tails processed what he'd heard, and what he'd felt. Then, looking down at her, he noticed the wound on her side had reopened. There was blood on the floor, and blood on his knees. Her blushing carmine fur was matted and soaked with sweat, her darker auburn hair disheveled and strewn about beneath her in every direction. Even her seemingly out of place hair tie, her yellow ribbon, lay in a tangled mess.
Releasing her handcuffs, he reeled back slightly, breaking his hand's contact with her forehead. He'd gotten what he'd wanted out of her; so why was he struck by this sudden regret for what he'd done? They'd have wrung the information out of her somehow anyway. But this… was…
Beneath him, Fiona reached up, and gently probed the bullet wound in his left arm. It stung just enough to bring him back from his thoughts.
"Mine…" she whispered, a beautiful smile on her face. She poked the wound harder, drawing blood. "Mine."
"You were aiming for my chest," he remembered the shot. And that he had moved at the last possible second.
"I was aiming for your heart…" she seemed to come back to herself, and despite her exhaustion, she managed a small laugh. "I'm so glad… I could leave you with this scar…"
For just a moment, grief crossed her features.
"You never left me with anything… until now…"
He grabbed her hand before she jabbed her finger deeper into his flesh. "Why do you do this, Fiona?"
"Because I like it…" she admitted, totally honest. "Because I don't care, and neither should you."
It was just the sort of thing he'd expected to hear; she never changed. "Where are they going? The Rogues, and those two others?"
Fiona pulled his hand to her face, and nuzzled it. "I'll tell you. Just this once... Because you've been so much fun… Because it felt like I was with him again."