"To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage."
- Lao-Tzu
Knothole.
Despite the fighting elsewhere, at least the city of Knothole was peaceful. Once little more than a lakeside hamlet, it had grown dramatically over the last five years into the new cultural capital of the Mobian mainland. Arranged in concentric rings and quadrants, it was a free city as long as one was inside it. Movement in and out, was another matter entirely; tightly regulated and overseen by special elements of the Mobian Armed Forces and the Freedom Fighters.
For refugees, Knothole was a destination one didn't expect to come back from. Robians and the dispossessed fortunate enough to have good connections flowed in, and de-roboticized mobians either remained or were carefully screened and shipped out to other "secure" areas. The wars had led to a vast population of homeless and jobless, and the Kingdom had quickly seen the misfortune as an opportunity to reshuffle the ethnic and political landscape of the continent. Areas that had been formerly homogeneous were now broken up and divided along multi-cultural lines, ensuring no racial power blocs could arise from the ruins as they had in so many other areas in the south.
Children, a special case, remained in Knothole where they were adopted wholesale by the state. It was a central location for the education and care of many of the Kingdom's next generation, where the virtues of hard work, service, and obedience were drilled ceaselessly into the nation's charges. Despite this bureaucratically efficient system, more than a few children slipped through the cracks in the red tape... some by accident and some by design. As a result, Knothole also had (ironically enough) the largest street urchin population in the region.
Blaze hadn't known any of this.
She hadn't even given such a thing a second thought. Her concern had been the mission that she and Silver were on. Their underworld contacts were trying to keep low, so their trip back into Knothole had been rather ad hoc. Luckily, a smuggler had agreed to take them on, and his arrangement with certain city border patrollers had let them sneak in undetected and undisturbed. Despite its clandestine nature, authorized smugglers and merchants kept a constant influx of goods flowing into the city, both legal and illegal.
Once inside, Blaze had figured that the rest of her mission would be a relative cakewalk. She'd even stopped to buy some food from a local vendor. At some point between paying for the "chili-dog" (as it was called) and actually biting into the messy foodstuff, she'd felt someone bump into her. Knothole was a big city by her standards, and very crowded, so she'd rather gotten used to being bumped into on her visits here. The other mobian mumbled an apology before hurrying off, and Blaze had quickly disregarded the whole thing.
Until she reached up to her collar and confirmed that her necklace was gone.
Incredulous, it took her a few seconds to wrap her mind around the fact. Blaze, Princess and Guardian of the Sol Emeralds – pick pocketed! What did she do? What else had been taken? Should she call out, cry for help, and draw attention to herself? No: that was probably the worst thing she could do! Spinning around and dropping her forgotten late lunch/early dinner, the feline stared at the shifting mass of mobians all around her. There was no way to tell who had bumped into her.
'What should I do?' Blaze's hands tensed and she could feel the inkling of her power rising to the surface. A spark danced between her fingers, followed by another. Confusion and dismay was quickly being displaced by anger and frustration. Not only was the necklace an important family heirloom, but it had one of the Sol Emeralds sealed inside it!
"Excuse me, Miss?" someone asked, and Blaze whirled on the interloper.
"What?" she snapped, still unsure what to do. Running off in some random direction after the thief was tempting but stupid and hot headed, which she wasn't, leaving her to fume and think up some kind of plan.
"Is something wrong?" The 'interloper' turned out to be a girl, younger than Blaze by a handful of years. She was a mobian rabbit, a fairly common breed, with light coloring save for the ends of her ears, around her eyes, and on a patch on the crown of her head, where it was a chestnut brown. Wearing a titian orange dress and a little blue bow, she seemed totally harmless.
'Who is this girl?'
"What?" Blaze asked, wary despite the girl's appearance. "What makes you think that?"
"The look on your face," the girl explained. "And you went deathly pale and dropped your food… If I can, I'd like to help."
'She wants to help me? Some stranger she doesn't even know! She should be more cautious, or she'll get taken advantage of…'
"My…" Blaze finally relented. What was the harm, anyway? "My necklace. Someone just bumped into me and took it. I… I'm not sure what to do."
The girl processed this information. "What is the necklace made of?"
"What does that matter? It's important to me…!"
The bunny girl held up her hands, innocently. "I didn't mean it like that. But if someone took it, they'll want to sell it. And where they take it depends on how valuable other people think it is."
Blaze stared at the girl for a second. She was right. There was no way for anyone to know there was a Sol Emerald in there. The Emeralds didn't even exist here. And a thief wouldn't care about the emotional attachment someone had to an object. The feline revised her opinion of the younger girl. She may have looked innocent enough, and even sounded it, but she had a measure of worldliness and familiarity with this era that Blaze didn't.
"White gold, I think," she replied. Blaze had never really thought about what it was made of before; she'd just worn it for as long as she could remember.
"Ok. Let's see if Cheese can help us find it before it gets pawned."
"Cheese?" Blaze asked. Was this girl off her rocker? What could a dairy product do to help?
A tiny blue creature jumped up, literally out of no where, and onto the girl's shoulder. Blaze's eyes widened at the little thing; she'd never seen anything like it. It looked like a little blue and gold blob with barely recognizable legs and arms and a round little face. Someone, probably the girl, also seemed to have attached a red bow to it somehow. It didn't remind Blaze of anything in either the animal or plant kingdom.
Maybe it was from the fungus kingdom, then? Like a mushroom. But no: that would just be silly.
"This is my friend Cheese," the girl said, and she held out her hand. The little blob landed in it, and looked up at Blaze with big curious eyes. It seemed harmless, if a little slimy and gross looking.
"Cheese?" Blaze half asked and the little creature formed a smile on its otherwise formless face. "What is it?"
"A Chao! They're a rare species found on Angel Island. My family runs Knothole's only Chao Garden! Oh!" The girl quickly bowed her head politely. "My name's Cream, by the way."
"Um… I'm Blaze…" the older girl ventured. "Nice to meet you?"
"Nice to meet you, too!" Cream beamed, and held her chao up to Blaze's face. "Get a good smell, Cheese!"
Blaze cringed back a bit, as the chao leaned in to 'sniff' at her neck. With what, she couldn't imagine. The creature didn't look like it had a nose.
Then it morphed slightly, taking on more canine features.
'What the…?'
Jumping back onto Cream's shoulder, it pointed down the street.
"Come on, let's go!" Cream took Blaze's hand, and pulled her along. The girl was stronger than the feline had expected, but she soon let go, and they ran at a brisk pace down the main venue of the open air market. This wasn't the first marketplace Blaze had been in, here in the past, but it was much larger than anything in The Ring or elsewhere she had visited. Her stomach rumbled as her nose picked up the delectable smell of smoked fish, and she silently bemoaned dropping her lunch.
Following Cream closely, the two girls ducked off of Market Street and down past a row of shops. Looking up, Blaze could see rooms – apartments – over the store fronts. They looked to be pretty well appointed, with nice white facades, wide windows and small curious cranes hanging from the top. Maybe they were used to hoist up furniture or something? Rounding the corner, they kept running away from the nicer houses and into a noticeably less attractive area.
This part of the city reminded her more of The Ring. Blaze saw graffiti on a brick wall, something she'd never seen anywhere else in Knothole, and yellow tape cordoning off a three story building. A raised monorail track passed overhead, bypassing the neighborhood as it headed off to some place less seedy. Cream didn't seem particularly afraid of the bad part of town, such as it was, and Cheese led them further down the road, past an open chain link fence, and down into a concrete ditch – it had to be some sort of water channel to control flooding or something.
Cheese pointed, hopping on Cream's shoulder excitedly.
"Looks like we found the place," the bunny girl translated from Chao-ese. Up ahead and under an overpass formed by the road crossing the ditch, a handful of mobians were hanging out. They could only be what passed for punks this far 'Uptown' (as those in The Ring called it).
"If this is it, then let's go," Blaze said, not wanting to waste time.
"Hey, wait!" Cream called, running after the older female as she walked up to the small gang. Seeing the two girls approaching, the punks dropped what they were doing and pointed. Getting closer, it became clear that they were all dressed in a similar way: their fur was dyed green in many places, and they all wore sunglasses and beaten leather jackets. It wasn't a style Blaze had seen before in The Ring.
None of them seemed armed, either.
Unlike The Ring, firearms weren't allowed to circulate among the general population in Knothole. Blaze had even heard that there were acoustic sensors across the city that could detect the sound of gunfire and pinpoint the location. In a lot of places outside the city, one wore a weapon as a sign of independence and power. It meant that, even without super powers or anything like that; you could defend yourself and your property. Many gangs defined themselves by the weapons they carried, including them as part of a dress code. These boys lacked anything like that.
"Ok, boys," Blaze said, walking right up to them. "I believe you have something of mine."
"Ey! Ey! Something of yours, issit?" one of them asked, slurring his voice. Another one, a hedgehog maybe fifteen years old, slicked back his spines and leered at her. Another just chuckled.
"Blaze…" Cream started to say, but straightened up as she got closer. "You didn't have to run in like that…"
"Sorry," the feline replied, offering the other girl a polite nod. "But I don't like wasting time on nuisances like this."
"Nuisance?" the hedgehog boy chuckled. Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out a switchblade. "Dat sure ain't a nice thing ta say. Maybe you betta apologize."
"Ey, you girls made a mistake lookin' for trouble here!" the other one piped in.
Blaze just sighed, and placed her hands on her hips.
"I just want my necklace back," she said. "I don't care who stole it. Hand it over, and we'll all be happier."
"Necklace? Dat don't sound like something we'd have!"
More chuckling. "Yeah!"
"Maybe if you gimme a kiss, it'll jog my memory," the hedgehog added with another dry laugh.
Blaze made a disgusted face, and Cream giggled.
"You Scourges are always causing trouble," the younger girl said, pointing at them. "Why don't you make something of yourselves?"
The hedgehog sneered. "Tch! I don't gotta listen to this shit!"
His two compatriots surged towards Cream, but never got more than a few steps in. Blaze snapped her fingers, and a ball of flame appeared in midair with a flash of fire and light. Cream jumped back, startled, and the two punks fell right on their asses. Blaze beckoned the fire over, and it floated eerily until it sat in the palm of her hand. Tossing it up into the air, and then back into her hand, like one would a baseball, Blaze smirked.
"I think I know better ways to jog your memory…"
The hedgehog punk tried to put up a confident smile.
"Actually," he said, dropping his switchblade. "I just remembered. You know… like… just realized. Necklace! Right! We did find one of those!"
Blaze's eyes narrowed dangerously.
Backing up a few steps, the punk lifted a false lid on a nearby metal trash can. Inside were more than a few stolen items: a few wallets, a purse, a couple ear rings, and a good sized necklace. Retrieving it and holding it out, he smiled weakly. Blaze snatched it out of his hands with an angry growl.
Cream, however, didn't seem satisfied.
"How many poor mobians have you boys robbed, huh?" she frowned, appearing as disappointed as she was angry. "You should be ashamed of yourselves!"
"Ey!" one of the punks on the ground barked. "Come on!"
The hedgehog leader shrugged. "Everybody's gotta make a livin' somehow, sweetcheeks."
"You keep this up, you'll end up in a labor camp," Cream warned them. "Then you'll see how you 'make a living.' Clean up your act if you know what's good for you!"
The punks growled and grumbled, but didn't bother with a reply. Blaze was already walking off, and after a few seconds of indecision, Cream followed. They were a goodly distance away when they heard the punks calling out at them.
"Freak! FREEEAAAK!!" "Chaos Freak!" "Yeah, get lost, ey!"
Blaze's scowl deepened at the taunts. It wasn't the first time her curse had left that impression on people. Even as important as she was, even with her being the Guardian of the Emeralds, she knew many other whispered behind her back. She was different. She wasn't one of them. She wasn't normal. It wasn't until Silver that she had actually met someone like her; someone who understood…
"Wow! That was pretty neat!" Cream exclaimed, sounding chipper and happy again. She snapped her fingers, or tried to. Wearing gloves, they just made a dull thump instead of a proper snap.
'Neat?' Blaze wondered, staring at the girl. Holding her necklace, Blaze stared at it and carefully put it back on. It felt good to have it on her again, and the comforting feeling of the Sol Emerald sealed inside filled her with warmth.
"I guess you have chaos powers, huh?" the girl didn't seem put off, surprised, or perturbed by the fact.
"Um… yeah," Blaze admitted. "Kind of."
"You should talk to Mister Sonic, or… Mister Tails!"
'Those two?' Blaze remembered seeing them at the club. In fact, hadn't this girl been there too?
"Cream, do you know… ah, 'Mister Sonic' and 'Mister Tails?'"
"Yep!" Cream beamed, and the two of them started walking back to the market. "Only just recently, though. My sister is one of their closest friends. They're both really nice guys, and I bet they'd love to meet another chaos user!"
"I'll look them up some time…" Blaze lied. She didn't want anything to do with those two, at least not until Mephiles was with them and they had an idea of what to do to stop Iblis. Cream was all smiles, and Blaze found her mood rather infectious.
She never noticed Cheese, the little blue Chao, glaring at her necklace.
THE CYCLE OF AGES
CHAPTER SEVEN:
Mastermind (A Dish Best Served Cold)
It was nice to be able to talk to someone.
Blaze didn't say a lot for her part, but she seemed happy to listen, asking occasional questions about this or that. While they'd started off as total strangers, Cream was really starting to like the older girl. Blaze was confident in a way that she envied. She reminded Cream of Bunnie, her adopted sister, except less gossipy. She only wished Blaze would talk more about herself, but maybe she would after she'd opened up a bit more.
"But you've only met this Sonic person a few times."
"He's the world's greatest hero, and one of the original Freedom Fighters! I'd trust him with my life!"
Blaze didn't sound convinced. It was strange to meet someone who sounded wary or suspicious of Sonic the Hedgehog. Every mobian adored him! To many, he was the one who had brought hope back into their lives, and given their race a chance of survival. If not for Sonic, everyone knew that Dr. Eggman would have wiped the planet clean of life lots of times!
"He's certainly been involved in a lot of big monster fights and stuff," Cream admitted, fielding another soft spoken question. "But that's not exactly his fault. Dr. Eggman keeps releasing these things. Like Chaos and Shadow."
"Chaos?" Blaze asked, tentatively. "It that related to that… Chao of yours?"
Cream looked at the harmless little critter on her shoulder.
"Nah!" Cream decided. "Chao are cute and friendly! Chaos was this big water monster."
"I see," Blaze replied, though her tone of voice suggested she was still suspicious about the lack of a connection. Cream told her some more about Sonic and Tails, and about the adventures she'd heard they had. Blaze then asked what they were up to now, and Cream had to admit that she wasn't entirely sure. They'd both probably left to help in a battle somewhere.
For her part, Cream tried to coax a little out of the older girl about herself, too. Stopping to get some food, Cream could confirm that the quiet feline was only slightly more talkative on a full stomach. On impulse, the younger mobian had then taken her new friend to an ice cream shop, only to be rewarded with a stunned look on Blaze's face at all the flavors and colors available. That had been one of the first things she had learned: Blaze had never had ice cream before. She hadn't even known about it.
Which meant she had to be from Cat Country.
She was a cat, after all, and Cat Country was about as rustic a place as one could find on the planet (to be polite). Treated to a cup of vanilla and chocolate, Blaze had finally let slip a few more things about her. She was apparently in the city with someone else… a boy, no less. She'd stammered more than a little when Cream had asked if this male friend of hers was also her boyfriend, which meant he probably was, in fact if not in name. She was also still very new to the area, and had come from very far away (which Cat Country definitely was).
More importantly, Cream learned a bit more about her as an individual. She seemed very responsible, and very driven to accomplish something important while in the town. Exactly what, she wouldn't say, but it seemed to involve meeting up with someone. Maybe it was one of her relatives, recently de-roboticized? But that was only a guess on Cream's part. Blaze didn't seem to personally know anyone around, but she seemed very self reliant and capable, having organized the trip to Knothole by herself with no help from her apparently somewhat clueless boyfriend.
By the time they reached the Chao Garden, Blaze was far more casual and friendly than she had been before. Unfortunately, she immediately clammed up when she saw someone new waiting for them at the store entrance. Cream immediately figured it was because of his appearance. After all, one didn't normally find reptilian mobians outside of Angel Island.
"Mister Vector!" She ran to the big fellow as he finished lugging a statue into place by the side of the door. Vector easily dwarfed her in size, even with her no longer being the little girl of a couple years ago. Cream gave him the biggest hug she could manage, but her arms barely made it around his chest.
"Cream!" he affectionately replied, tousling her hair. "How ya doin,' kid?"
"Just the usual!" she let him go and glanced at the statue. "Mom's putting you to work again?"
"Well, I, uh… I'll need a place to crash while I'm here, and…" He cleared his throat, but not the bush on his cheeks.
Cream giggled at his discomfort. Vector was a member of the Chaotix, and personal friends with the core Freedom Fighters. It'd have been more appropriate for him to stay at the Knothole Royal Retreat, but every time he came by Knothole he insisted on 'earning his keep' at Vanilla's Chao Farm. He had more than a little crush on the older woman, obvious enough for anyone to see. Cream's mother enjoyed his company, too, and Cream found him to be a fun guy, if a little quirky… especially his taste in music.
"Mister Vector," Cream introduced her new friend. "This is Miss Blaze. Miss Blaze, this is Mister Vector, a good friend of my family."
"Pleased ta meet ya," Vector said, extending a big gloved hand.
Blaze took his hand with a little hesitation. "Pleased to meet you."
"Likewise."
Sensing the mood turning a little downwards, Cream leaned closer to the statue Vector had been carrying. It was easily too heavy for most mobians to handle, but Vector was unusually strong. After Knuckles and Mighty (who were freakishly strong), Vector was the muscle of the Chaotix. Cream didn't know any of them too well, but like any Freedom Fighter, she'd learned about their allies on Angel Island. This statue was unusual in another way: it was carved to look like one of the mythical breeds of mobians.
"Is this a tanuki?"
"Huh! I think so," Vector responded, giving an exaggerated huff for all the work he'd put into relocating it. "You know, I saw a tanuki once. Espio said it was a raccoon, but I know what I saw."
"What's a tanuki?" Blaze asked, genuinely curious. It looked like a raccoon. Except it had a moustache. In fact, the statue kind of looked like a human in a 'tanuki suit' of some kind.
Strange.
"A tanuki is one of the mythical mobians," Cream happily explained. "Like the dragons. Or the kitsune."
"Kitsune ain't real," Vector corrected her.
"What about Tails?"
"Tails isn't a kitsune. He's just…" Vector didn't like saying it, but did anyway. "You know. A mutant."
"Have you seen anyone else on the planet with two tails?"
Blaze just watched the back and forth, slightly confused.
"Are you going to say dragons aren't real, too?"
"I've never seen one."
"What about Dulcy?"
"Never met her…."
"So you believe in tanuki, but not dragons or kitsune?"
"Or unicorns."
Sensing Blaze was curious, but not inclined to butt in, Cream elaborated, "As Mister Vector proves, mythical mobians are the breeds that may or may not exist, depending on who you ask. Supposedly, they live in far away zones that no one can get to, in castles in the clouds… or deep under the ground… or in space. Or under the sea!"
Blaze smiled a little at the absurd images.
"Really?" she asked, entertained if unconvinced.
"Yep!" the younger girl enthused. "I believe in them! Mobius is just full of magic, after all!"
Cream opened the doors to the store, and led them back inside. It wasn't just a Chao Garden – that was only part of the store – it was also a curios shop, where strange things from around Mobius could be found. There were totem poles from nearby Green Hill and a stained glass window pane from the Marble Zone. Some items were from further away, including woven artwork and pottery from Cat Country, and even a few human items from Overland.
Vanilla was already walking towards them, smiling beatifically. Cream knew she looked a lot like her mother; they had the same coloring, the same hair (except Vanilla's was longer and had more body), and even similar clothes. The biggest divergence on that last detail was her mother's preference in last century clothes (mobian fashion tended to follow human trends, but forty to fifty years late on the scene). Vanilla wore a full length dress that even covered her ankles, for Source's sake! She also wore a frock, which Cream knew hadn't been in style for at least her lifetime.
"Cream!" Vanilla greeted her, and then noticed Blaze. "Oh my, who is this?"
"A friend I met earlier today," the daughter replied, guiding said friend closer to her mother. "Blaze, this is my mother, Vanilla."
"Well, it's nice to meet you. Welcome to the Chao Garden."
Blaze bowed her head respectfully. "Nice to meet you, too."
She then leaned a little closer to Cream. "Um… your father wasn't named Ice, was he?""
Cream slowly nodded her head. "There's no way I'm marrying a guy with a food based name. The puns must be stopped…"
"Why don't you join us for tea?" Vanilla suggested, seemingly oblivious to the whispered in-jokes "I was making some for Vector and myself, but we'd love to have company, wouldn't we?"
Vector nervously laughed, a toothy grin on his face. "Sure! No problem!"
"I… I guess that'd be ok…" Blaze, still a little uncomfortable around so many apparently friendly people, started to look around anxiously. "But I'll have to go soon. I have an …appointment."
"You mean a date," Cream corrected her, with a big smile.
Blaze blushed. "You could call it that…"
"Hey, Cream," Vector interrupted, sounding serious this time. "Can I ask you something? Real quick?"
"Sure…" Cream excused herself, and watched as her new friend followed her mother over to where a few cups of tea were being poured out. Business in the shop was usually pretty slow, so its curator generally took a liberal view of when to take breaks. Interesting company was as good an excuse as any.
"What's up?" she asked, not immune to the fact that Vector wanted to talk in private. That meant it was probably business.
"How much do you know about the Super Emeralds?" he asked.
The answer wasn't much. Just the basics she'd learned in training.
"The Super Emeralds are the seven Chaos Emeralds based on Angel Island. They're tied to the Master Emerald. Anyone using all seven can command the power of both that set and the Master Emerald itself. I think they used to be in Enerjak before he got de-powered. That's about it. Why?"
"Well…" Vector rubbed his long chin of a snout. "We kinda lost 'em."
"You lost them? Since when?" Cream asked, pointedly keeping her voice down. Anything involving the Chaos Emeralds, in any form, always led to trouble. As a Freedom Fighter, she knew all too well just how many crises had been caused by some villain or another trying to collect them.
"Have you told Sally?" she then asked.
"Yes. About a week ago. And no, not yet." He sighed at the look on her face. "I came to tell Sally myself. But we needed to keep this a secret."
"What happened?"
"Dunno. They just scattered on their own. Even the ones under lock and key. No one on the island has 'em… the Dark Legion's got no clue, the Brotherhood's stumped, and even those dingo don't seem to know. Or care."
"So you think they're on the mainland?"
"They have to be. We've split up to look for 'em. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Mogul again."
"Well, I haven't heard anything about this…" she cocked her head at him. "What?"
"You know," he pressed. "Do you…?"
"No we don't have one!" Cream tried to keep her voice down. "We do not have one. I swear to the Source. What would make you even think that?"
Vector frowned slightly, and looked away.
"I've… heard some things… and I know Tails likes to use 'em in his machines…"
"We can both ask him when he gets back, but I know for certain that he doesn't have one. He isn't that type of mobian and you know it."
"Right…" Vector nodded a few times, straightening up as he convinced himself. "Yeah, that's right. Man, I think our boy Knuckles is rubbin' off on me or somethin!"
Cream and Vector headed off to join Blaze and Vanilla, but a certain something didn't join them. Hopping from its perch on Cream's shoulder, Cheese landed in the shadows and quickly made its way to the Chao Garden. It was a small enclosed area, with a large tree, bushes and a small pond. Numerous other chao played in the shade, but stopped when Cheese began to approach. Speech was unnecessary among them – they were, in the end, One Body.
As one, they turned towards the store and the fleshlings within.
There was no need to worry. The Supers, like themselves, answered to The One Body. They would find their own flesh soon enough. As for Cheese, he had his own prey, and the sweet little thing was just perfect.
Silver waved to Blaze as the two met up in Knothole's Alexander Memorial Park.
"Hey!" he waved happily as she jogged over to him. "That a new jacket?"
"I kinda… went shopping…" Blaze muttered, a bit ashamed of the fact.
"Shopping?" Silver tilted his head, taking a good look at what she wore. It was definitely new, and in her favorite colors: violet and a sort of reddish pink. It actually looked…
"Heh! It looks good on you!" he stated, cheerfully oblivious to the pinkish tint on her cheeks. The evenings were a little chilly, and he tucked his gloved hands into his brown traveling cloak.
"Thanks," she said, and coughed. "Let's take a walk."
"Sure thing." He fell in step next to her. The park was nice, with the sun slowly setting. High above them, the city shield interacted with the dimming sun, making the sunset appear even larger and more vibrant than it actually was. Knothole's city park wasn't very large, but it was a nice enclosed space with some basic amenities and plenty of benches and room to toss or kick a ball or two around. A large metal statue of one of the deceased kings of the country stood firm and resolute in the center crossroads of the park.
"The ride we want will be leaving in fifteen minutes," Silver said, sounding casual. "Everything went as planned. The program worked perfectly. Shouldn't be any trouble. What about you?"
"Everything looks good," Blaze confirmed. "I took care of the arrangements earlier today and I have all the supplies we'll need. None of the major players are here. We'll be in and out before anyone can do anything about it."
Silver nodded, but Blaze could tell something was still bothering him.
"What is it?" she asked.
"The guy we're supposed to break out," Silver started to explain. "He's… Well, you'll see…"
Only two transports made up the convoy.
Like all prisoner transfers, it was handled at night, when the roads were clear. As a location with a large proportion of chaos empowered individuals, Knothole also had a prison (called "The Pen") for the more troublesome enemies of state encountered over the years: enemies like the Destructix, and more recently the notorious mercenaries Nack and Nic, and the traitor, Fiona. Unusually wily and dangerous, it was thought best to confine them near to where the one mobian that consistently defeated them tended to reside.
A recent transfer request saw one of those villains being moved from Knothole to the infamous Devil's Gulag Maximum Security Penitentiary. On the city airbase, an air transport idled on the tarmac with a high security escort. The offender in this case was an S-class "special" criminal, and the guards were equipped with specific weaponry designed to combat and contain any attempt at an escape. Likewise, the guards in the lead car and the nondescript van behind it were also armed to the teeth.
Silver stood in the middle of the road, rolling his shoulders.
The lights of the vehicles got closer, almost blinding him with their headlights. The two escorting police on motorcycles, upon seeing the obstruction in the road, started up their sirens. Silver held out his hands, body starting to glow a dull green. Closing his fists, he seized the bikes by the front wheels, twisting them and sending both careening into the sides of the road. He sincerely hoped both officers survived, but focused his attention on the lead car.
It had picked up speed, obviously intending to just drive right through him. Silver frowned and held out both hands, pushing against the vehicle… When it got close enough, it crashed into a field of invisible force, like a wall. The front deformed, and the back wheels spun as it tumbled through the air and over Silver's head. He didn't even turn around as it crashed back to earth behind him, tires screaming and metal screeching as it twisted and spun on the pavement.
Splaying his arms wide, Silver sneered as he tore the wheels of the armored van out of alignment. It fell forward, back wheels churning and driving the front into the asphalt. It eventually ground to a halt at Silver's feet, to the point where he rested the tip of his right shoe on the deformed and scratched up grill. No sooner did it stop, however, than Special Forces officers came out: of the front of the vehicle, and the back.
Focused as they were on him, they never saw Blaze lying in wait. Blossoms of fire erupted all around them. Panicked, they turned in all directions, looking for the source of the attack. Leaping through the flames like a demon, Blaze pounced, sending one flying after another. Silver, too, used the flames as cover. There was no shortage of ammunition for him – even with the inability to grab the officer's weapons out of their hands. Blaze emerged from the flames, motioning them to dance out of her way with one hand. In the other, she held one of the rifles the mobian troopers had held.
"I see what you mean about these," she said, tossing it at him.
"I told you." He caught it with his hands. "They resist chaos energy attacks. I've never heard of anything like it."
Silver examined the weapon. He'd heard about these: they were made out of some kind of exotic metal alloy a human named Nate Morgan developed. This alloy was resistant, or even immune (depending on the purity), to chaos energy based manipulation. It had something to do with Power Rings, but Silver was no scientist.
Despite his own powers, and his own lack of training in the use of firearms, Silver knew enough to be wary of guns of all sorts. There were chaos users, too, who used such weapons. It gave them a formidable versatility; they could attack conventionally or unconventionally, at range or close up. Luckily, most mobians who had chaos powers tended to rely on them entirely, and became useless if they were somehow taken away or exhausted.
Tossing aside the weapon, Silver followed Blaze around to the back of the armored van. Inside sat the man Mephiles had told them to free for the final stage of his plan. He was a strange sight, even imprisoned behind power-dampening fields and restraints. He had a horn growing out of his head, two long bat-like ears, and a flowing white beard left him bearing little resemblance to any normal mobian. Where one of his hands seemed normal enough, the other ended in a hooked claw. Appearance aside, he literally oozed with palpable evil.
And now they were setting him free.
Blaze powered down the restraint field, and blood red eyes focused on her, and then him. At first, he said nothing. They freed him anyway. When the chaos-proofed cuffs finally fell to the floor, Ixis Naugus rose to his full height. Silver looked up to him with no small amount of distaste. What was Mephiles thinking, having them set this guy loose?
"Whom should I thank for my release?" Ixis Naugus asked, striding out of confinement. With a gesture, coils of smoke formed around his shoulders, creating a flowing black cloak to conceal his body.
Silver couldn't help but feel they'd made a mistake. But Mephiles had warned them about the mercurial and frankly rather insane sorcerer. As bad as he was, they needed him, and he was still ten times better than having an invincible and immortal Iblis tearing across the planet.
"Mephiles," Silver said, simply. They'd been told it would be enough.
"Ohhh?" Naugus laughed heartily. "Mephiles is it? Well, I suppose I shouldn't do anything to you, if that's the case. And here I thought you would make such wonderful servants…"
Blaze and Silver exchanged a cautious look.
"Thanks, I guess," she finally said. "Mephiles said you'd help us. We have the Scepter of…"
"Silence, girl. If you did as he commanded, then you will have all I need to perform the ritual." Ixis tilted his head back to look at them over his shoulder. "Where are we to go? I have much to see to now that I am free, and a great many who must suffer for my imprisonment! It will take time to properly savor the agony I shall bring upon them."
"Transportation is my department," Silver said, holding out his hand. Blaze grasped her necklace, and the diamond Sol Emerald materialized. Naugus raised an eyebrow at this, but nothing else. He turned around, anticipating what Silver was about to do. Soon, they were all in arm's reach.
Holding the gem in his hand, Silver closed his eyes and did what he had been told to do.
"Chaos Control!"
Sonic was bored.
He couldn't help it. There was nothing to do anymore. The Babylon Rogues were in custody and the Blue Typhoon was now lingering over the area along with a few other airships. Additional reinforcements had flown in, and Sonic could see two or three smaller airships flying around outside, through one of the faux windows in Tails' ready room.
With nothing to do, he just chilled for a bit. Luckily, the Blue Typhoon had a small supply of recreational equipment, and he had borrowed a few things to help kill the time. Tails had fixed a gamestation up to one of the screens and even played a few rounds of Kart racing with his true-blue best bud. But then the fox had quickly bowed out, claiming that he had a lot of work to do. That was always the problem with Tails. When they weren't on an adventure, he insisted on doing things. He had to keep busy.
Maybe he found it fun?
Tuning the guitar in his hands, Sonic glanced over at Tails' desk, where his little bro seemed to be entirely engrossed in a mixture of paperwork and his computer. Gloved fingers danced over holographic keys at a maddening pace. Sonic smirked. His own typing was more hunt-and-peck. It took forever to write anything! Sonic considered it what he had thought about before: as absurd as it sounded, maybe Tails did enjoy work. Maybe he was a, what was the term? Workaholic?
It was certainly true that the little guy disdained just hanging out and doing nothing. Even Knuckles, stuck up as he was, could appreciate some leisure time at the beach or just staring at the clouds. Tails was always building something, or studying something, or recording something… how could he keep it up? To Sonic, that sort of lifestyle sounded about as horrible a fate as anyone could suffer. Life was about taking it easy and enjoying yourself!
Softly strumming his electric guitar, Sonic closed his eyes and felt a nice beat coming on. He's had dreams, from time to time, about being in a rock band and traveling the country. Sometimes he didn't recognize the others he was with, but other times he imagined his friends came along with him. Tails would be on drums, Knuckles on bass guitar (though how he managed it with his gloves remained a mystery), Mina would sing Nicole would literally be their synthesizer and electric piano, and Sally would be their manager.
They'd hit the towns, lifting peoples' spirits after the war was over, partying and having cool adventures and stuff… wouldn't that be cool? So much cooler than being stuck in some stuffy castle all day when Sally became Queen. He snickered at that. Plus, maybe he could hire Amy as a bouncer or something! Of course, she'd probably attack any groupies that tried to get backstage, so – as funny a thought as it was – it probably wasn't exactly wise.
Sonic strummed out a quite little tune, fingers running easily up and down the guitar as he played. He was self taught, but he'd heard that he was pretty good. Of course, he could barely read sheet music, but the best tunes came from the heart, not by reproducing some scribbles on a piece of paper. Tails never minded the noise, so Sonic squinted his eyes and started on a riff. It was feeling good.
Yeah – this wasn't so bad!
Playing a bit more, Sonic tried to tweak a few parts he wasn't entirely happy with and took a minute to think about putting some words to the music. He wasn't exactly great when it came to that part; he found it hard to really put words to how he felt or any of that junk… at least without sounding corny. Writing a song for Sally would be pretty sweet though. It'd probably make up for just about anything she had a problem with him doing over the last year. Sitting back against the wall on Tails' fold out bed, Sonic tried to think of what he could sing to her.
Nothing came to mind (that didn't already make him cringe).
'Maybe I could just play something without words in it? She'd probably think it was deep and emotional and stuff,' he thought, feeling quite clever about the idea. 'Hey, that's actually a pretty good idea. I bet it would work, too!'
Fiddling around for a while longer, half committed to the premise, Sonic soon found his thoughts straying again. Just sitting back and playing where his heart took him was easy, but planning and thinking up what to play was a lot harder. In fact, it was starting to sound suspiciously like work. Eventually growing a bit tired of it, Sonic leaned further back to stare at the ceiling for a while. In the silence, all he could hear was the distant rumble of the Blue Typhoon's powerful engines, and the steady tap-tap of Tails typing.
"Hey, Tails."
The fox took a second to reply as he finished typing something.
"What's up?"
"What do you think you're going to do after we finally beat Robotnick?"
Tails took a second to think it over before replying, "Well… I guess I'll probably take Uncle Chuck's place as Minister of Science."
"So I'll see you around the palace, huh?"
"I guess. Either that or…"
"Or what?" Sonic prompted, turning his head so he could see his old friend where he sat at his desk. Tails had one hand over the keyboard, and another cupping his cheek.
"I guess I'd like to see my people. At least once."
"You're not going to stay there are ya?"
"No… I don't think so," the kitsune admitted. "There are things about them… about me… that I'm not totally comfortable with."
Sonic chuckled. "That'll piss Tempest off, I bet!"
Tails didn't respond to that comment, at least.
"Then again," Tails began, sounding more amused. "I hear I've got an arranged marriage or two to look up."
"Plenty of girls down here, you know," Sonic reminded him.
Another pause.
"Hey… Sonic…"
"Sup?"
"You ever… you ever really do it?"
"Do what?" Then he got the inflection. "Seriously?"
"Yeah," Tails said, turning his head to face his blue idol. "You've dated more than a few girls. I've seen you making out with Sally and Fiona. How far did you actually ever get?"
"That's a kinda weird question…"
"Come on," Tails pressed. "If you can't tell me, then who can you tell?"
"I probably shouldn't tell anyone, since I don't like getting kicked in nuts." Sonic sighed, relenting. "Anyway, yeah, I've done it."
"With Sally?"
"… yeah…"
"And Fiona?"
"Yeah. Once. Actually twice, depending."
"Amy?"
Sonic just scoffed. "As if she isn't clingy enough already! Besides, the last thing I need is for her to claim she's pregnant or something… I'm not even twenty! The words 'marry me' are the last thing I want to hear!"
"Huh." Was all the response he got from the two tailed fox. Tails seemed to be thinking about something and weighting whether to say it aloud or not.
"What about you?" Sonic quickly asked with a smirk. Since they were on the topic, it was only natural that the door swing both ways. "Wasn't there that girl in Downunda?"
"No. Nothing happened. We were only friends…" Tails hesitated again. "There was one girl, but…"
"But what?"
"It wasn't anything real. All we did was a little kissing anyway. It's best to just forget about it." He looked down at a few papers on his desk, mind straying back into work-only territory.
"Any girls you got your eyes on then? Come on! Spill it!"
"Things are different between you and me, Sonic," Tails explained, but at least he put aside the work as he did so. "It's… complicated. You know I ran into Fiona the other day?"
"Sure. I remember that."
"She set off this… impulse. It's very disconcerting. And then Rouge…." Tails tried to go back to his work. "The less I think about it the better."
"Rouge, huh?" Sonic asked, now far more interested than he had been than before. He knew about Tails' old crush on Fiona, and the trouble it had caused them in the past. But Rouge? That was new.
"You sure know how to pick em, little bro!" Sonic announced with a laugh.
"It isn't me picking them," the fox interrupted. "It's this animal programming in my genes! I don't need… I don't want a girlfriend. I don't want my life to be more complicated than it already is. I should just…!"
But he never finished the sentence.
"Just what?" Sonic asked, curious.
"Nothing…" Tails said in a small voice. "I never gave much thought to all this before… it's just kinda frustrating. And look at all the trouble you've been through with Sally and Mina and Amy and all those other girls!"
"It is a lot of trouble," Sonic agreed, but just as quickly, disagreed. "But it's kinda nice, too."
"Source alive…" Tails rolled his eyes. "So what should I do? What would you do if you were me?"
Sonic shrugged. "Just run with it."
"That's your answer to everything!"
"What can I say? It works." Sonic shrugged again, and pulled himself up off the bed. "If you like a girl, go after her. It doesn't matter why you like her."
"You know that every time I take your advice, I end up in trouble, right?"
Sonic offered a lazy, confident smile. "Not every time!"
Tails shook his head in exasperation. "You want to catch a few laps around the ship before we eat?"
"Now you're talking!"
So the two headed to the uppermost deck of the ship, unlocked a pressurized door and took in the brisk air two kilometers above sea level. There was a track around the ship, designed specifically for running, with railing along the edges, and despite the cold and the thin air the two mobians started with a burst of speed that would put an Olympian to shame.
Circuit after circuit they raced, jockeying at corners and laughing as one passed the other, only to get passed a couple seconds later. Seeing his best friend smiling again, and enjoying himself in something as pure and wonderful as the exhilaration of speed, Sonic remembered when he had first learned that the little fox could… almost… keep up with him.
Tails was the first mobian he had met with abilities like Sonic's own. Unlike Sally and Rotor and Bunnie and Antoine, who he had known slightly longer, Tails understood what it meant to revel in the speed and the exhaustion of the run. He understood how exciting it was to go faster and faster, to push your body to the limits of endurance. He understood the feeling of accomplishment and pride that came from slowing to a stop, trying to catch your breath, knowing you'd given it your all: 100 percent. Tails understood that racing alone wasn't anywhere near as awesome as having someone alongside you.
There was never any other mobian on the planet that could be the kind of friend Tails was. He was someone who he could race with, joke with, and rely on. He could keep up. Even if he spent too much time working, and too little time enjoying life (as Sonic saw it), they were two mobians literally made for each other. Really: it was a good thing Tails was a guy and not a girl, or things would've gotten really awkward really fast.
"Yes!" Sonic pumped his fists in celebration. Naturally, he'd won. Tails was good, but he was best. "If only we had a sign post or something!"
"I'll look into installing one…" Tails said between heaving breaths, his hands on his knees. "I thought… I had you…"
Sonic smirked, giving a victory sign with two fingers. "Close but not quite!"
The blue hedgehog let out a deep breath and watched as the cloud wafted through the air. He wasn't quite as short on breath as the competition, but the thin air and the cold had really started to tire him out. Tails had an advantage here: he was more used to high places like this, and his fur was thicker. Hedgehogs normally didn't handle extremes of temperature too well, Sonic himself being the great exception. Letting out another breath, Sonic leaned dangerously against the railing and took in the sight.
The world lay sprawled out before them.
"Cool isn't it?" Tails asked, leaning against the opposite end of the track and one of the ship's bulkheads. "I love being up here."
For a few minutes, the two just stood and watched, catching their breath and enjoying the view. It felt good. Sonic didn't really know about the problems and stuff that Tails had to deal with, but his little bro was still there. The stuff from before: seeing all those horded ring monitors and shields and stuff in Facility-7, the Blue Typhoon, and the threats made towards the Babylon Rogues… they'd all around a sense of worry in the back of his mind. But his little buddy was still in there, just waiting for the time when he wouldn't have to worry about fighting and the war.
Sonic had a new idea.
When the war was over, he'd take Tails (and maybe Knuckles, if that bonehead could get away from the Emerald for a while) and go on a long victory lap around Mobius. They'd race and relax and visit old friends and see the world like it should be – at peace. They'd joke and tease Knuckles about Julie-Su, about himself and Sally, and they'd get Tails to chase as much tail as foxly possible. For just a little while, they wouldn't have a care in the whole damn world.