Outside of the audience hall, Scratch waited for Sonic.

"Get these things off me, now!" Sonic skidded out the doors, spinning around so Scratch could uncuff him. "Come on, move it, metal-head," Sonic demanded, stomping his foot.

Scratch seemed to move even slower than usual. The cuffs came off and then Sonic began pulling on the chains around his ankles. "These too, come on!"

As the robot released his legs, he fisted and unfisted his hands against the cold marble floor, his green eyes sharpening.

The chains were off, and he jumped to his feet. The hedgehog put on his speed and charged free, across the waiting hall.

Sonic ran towards the nearest palace exit. Which happened to be a balcony.

He leapt onto the railing and jumped-two story drop, an ornamental garden below. He curled into a ball as he fell and landed, his head spikes taking the greatest impact. He unrolled, scrambled, turned on his speed and surged forward—

Towards Gramps. Towards home.

Tails trudged across one of the raised scaffolds of Eggman's Tech Lab, hefting a crate in his arms. The glass beakers inside the crate chinked as he grunted and adjusted his grip. He dodged past the combots and Mobian "volunteers" who swarmed over the facility, sweeping his tails out of their way.

Down below the scaffold runways, in the center of the warehouse, stood an egg-shaped human, dressed in red and bent over a table scattered with combot parts.

"Why does there have to be contact at all?" "Eggman" muttered loudly to himself, his thick voice rising above the bustle. "Idiot marriage between friction and physical substances. Entropy should not be a thing." He turned to a random combot standing at attention next to the table. "This is the third time I've replaced your elbows. If my brother would just listen to my theories on Mobium joint replication and loan me some of those hedgehog's "magic" rings, you would never break a socket ever again..."

Tails climbed down the stairs and pushed the crate up onto the end of the table where the beakers would be available to Eggman. He caught his breath, then hauled up a waiting crate of used bowls and tongs, ready to take it back to the sanitation boiler.

"Hey, foxy!"

Tails whipped around, nearly dropping the crate and tripping over his tails in the process. For the millionth time that day he sucked up a breath of air, fear entering his eyes. He cleared his throat and flattened his ears. "Y-yes, sir?"

"You need to talk to Sonic about getting me some rings. Maybe we can work out a deal or something." Eggman said.

Tails' shoulders heaved in a sigh and relief flooded his eyes.

Ever since he'd arrived, he'd been bracing himself for a combot to come up and slam him against a wall, and put him in cuffs. Or tell him Sonic was dead and he was next.

So far everything was normal and that almost made the anticipation worse.

"Well, what are you standing there for?" Eggman raved. "Why shouldn't he share a little? He hates my brother way more than he hates me and he gives Ivo rings every month, for pity's sake."

Eggman turned to face Tails head on.

Anyone could see Eggman was related to Robotnik. He had the same red mustache, pointed nose and bald head, though he had not roboticized a single part of his body. Unless his dark-tinted goggles counted. He never took them off.

Tails blinked. "Um, no. I'll ask him, sir."

"Hmmph. You better. Remember that time when I caught Sonic with the XLight Ray? I'm still the only one who's ever shot down the 'Fastest Thing Alive.'" Eggman cackled. "He still kind of owes me for not blasting his brains out."

Tail pinched his lips, biting back a retort. Eggman never let that one go. Technically, Sonic could have finished Eggman off plenty of times himself. Why he hadn't, Tails still didn't understand.

But all that was back from before the pact, when Sonic and Tails were still on Robotnik's wanted list. Luckily for them, if Eggman had destroyed Sonic, there would have been no one quite as qualified for Eggman to test his weapons of mass destruction on. So, even in the rare moments Eggman could have finished off Sonic, Eggman had always managed to make some sort of "mistake" and Sonic had always managed to live to fight another day.

Eggman chuckled to himself as he turned back to the table. "Those were the days. Fighting him was a lot more fun when there wasn't any pact around to tell me I couldn't try to blow him up any more. Maybe someday. At least I get to babysit you." Eggman laughed and snipped a pair of tongs together suggestively.

Tails glanced down and cleared his throat. "Heh, yeah, um, well, guess I better take these back to the sanitation boiler-"

"Sure, sure, scram, just don't forget about asking that blue pineapple of yours for the rings. When you're done with that crate, get me some liquid nitrogen, and then you can play around in the discards for thirty minutes or something." He waved a hand.

Tail's eyes lit up.

There were lots of things he hated about his "work." He hated that Robotnik had talked the court into forcing him to serve Eggman here. He hated that the reason they'd given in was because he was a mutate, and that meant they really didn't care what happened to him, and anyone could make him do anything they wanted. He hated that the real reason he was here was so Robotnik could watch him and keep him separated from Sonic. And in the process, he'd been trapped into helping make the very machines Robotnik would use to enslave more Mobians.

But all that aside, Tails did like working in the discard pile. He couldn't help it. Eggman did have a lot of good ideas, and when he hit a dead end in one of his projects, he just set it aside. Tails felt at home when he could be creating things and solving puzzles…it calmed him down, helped him forget the things he wanted to forget, and remember the things he wanted to remember. Like his daddy's old tech lab and home.

As Tails turned to leave, he knocked into Grounder, the robot who escorted him to and from Eggman's Tech lab every day.

Tails gasped. "Sorry," he winced, then scooted around Grounder and up the stairs.

The robot scooted on its treads to Eggman. "Dr. Julius Nikolos…Urgent message from Dr. Ivo Nikolos for Dr. Julius Nikolos…"

Tails climbed back up the bronze scaffold steps and carried the crate around the scaffold loop into a steam-filled, enclosed section of the building. He stopped before the conveyer belt to the boiler room and emptied the contents of the tray onto the belt. As soon as the crate was empty, the conveyer belt carried the tongs and bowls into the boiler. Tails waited, leaning against the wall and just trying to stay out of everyone's way.

After five minutes, the items came out on the conveyer belt exit. Tails rushed forward and loaded them back into the crate. He set the crate up on a rack to dry, then charged off to retrieve the liquid nitrogen.

Liquid nitrogen was stored in a large climate-controlled deposit box on the bottom floor. He never used his tails to hover at the lab, so he had to use the old cargo elevator instead…

Tails dashed down the hall to the elevator and pulled the service chain.

In half a minute, the elevator creaked to a stop and shuddered open. Tails stepped inside onto a beaten brass floor. The box-like structure was scraped, and darkened with use. It had once been the main loading elevator, so it was about the size of a small kitchen and several carts sat locked into corrals against the walls.

The doors closed, shutting out the noises of the boiler hissing and people talking and robots buzzing…

Tails ears pricked up.

He stood in silence, his arms and tails wrapped around himself.

The elevator lurched, its cables creaking, and the console light dropped from Level Five to Level Four.

The quiet sank into Tails. He blinked and his shoulders slumped. He bowed his head, his forelocks falling into his face.

How was Sonic going to get them out of this one?

"Don't you worry, Tails, c'mon man!" He'd say. "It's gonna be okay, it always is-"

Except he knew Sonic too well. They'd both figured it out pretty young.

Finally, Sonic had just said it one night. After they'd broken back into Robotropolis again, after the pact. "You know why freaks like you an' me are alive, Tails?"

Tails looked up at Sonic. He knew.

Sonic pointed back over his shoulder with his thumb, his eyes blazing, soot covering his face. "We're alive so those people back there can someday live like they should, with homes and parents and ice cream—they've gotta live and—and they're gonna live longer than we ever will," He clenched his fists, "But who cares, huh? I'd die a million times if it means I can do something about this Robotnik creep. Nothing else matters, Tails, not after what he did to us, not after what he's doing now-we better give it all we've got with all the time we have."

Tails stared. His ears flicked back and he nodded with a shaky sigh. "Got it, Sonic."

I'll try, he promised inside. I won't slow you down, and I won't leave, and somehow we're both gonna be brave enough to do it—all the way.

Tails never knew which day would be the end of it all.

He really hoped that when it ended here, he would have peace. That…that someone would be there to wrap their arms around him when he arrived in the Next world and tell him Sonic hadn't been lying after all—in the end, it really was okay.

Tails closed his eyes, letting the back of his head rest against the elevator wall.

The console began to beep. Tails ears cocked and he opened his eyes.

The console light had stopped at "Level Base" but the elevator kept moving—

Sideways.

Tails caught himself against the wall, frowning in confusion. "What?" he whispered to himself, glancing around.

Elevators didn't move sideways. He didn't usually ride this one, but still—

Tail's eyes widened in realization-

Wherever the elevator was going—he would get in huge trouble for being there—

He sucked up a deep breath, and spun around, looking for a place to hide. He glanced up at the emergency exit door on the roof and then at the bins at the end of the elevator.

The elevator lurched to a stop, and it began to swivel.

Tails charged at the nearest bin and scooted behind it. He lay down flat, pressed his face against the floor, curled his tails around himself and held his breath.

The elevator stopped again.

Tails' blue eyes shone from beneath the bin.

The doors opened. A cart wheeled into his line of vision, followed by Eggman's boots and Grounder's treads.

Tails narrowed his eyes and peered through the open elevator at the room beyond.

Boxes. Machinery. The cart blocked his vision and the fox frowned.

Eggman let out a sigh as they struggled to fit the cart inside the elevator.

"You know, it's almost a shame, Grounder," he said. "I've known the hedgehog was breaking into Robotropolis all along, and I think Ivo knew too. There's not going to be much left of him to play with when Ivo's through with him."

Tails eyes widened. He clenched his jaw tight, gnashing his teeth together.

So they did know.

Tails had to get out and find Sonic and get him away from Aero.

Eggman snapped his fingers. "I had seriously wanted some of those rings from the kid—it could have been a real breakthrough. Can't you relay important news bulletins sooner, Grounder? I've had the fox around me all day, and all of a sudden, Ivo drops the word that it's time, and now I have to lug up all this junk before lunch and lock up Tails somewhere-"

Tails' ears pricked up at his name. He didn't move.

"I would have relayed the alert sooner, only Dr. Nikolos just informed me himself, sir," Grounder replied in his monotone.

Tails breathed out, slowly, his eyes growing wider.

He had to keep calm. Breathe. Uncle Sparks had always told him if he didn't learn how to stay cool, he'd get himself and others killed.

If only he had been more careful last night—if only Sonic hadn't rescued him and those combots hadn't gotten away. He never should have called Sonic for help—he should have let the combots take him. He'd ruined everything, he was useless, and now Sonic was going to pay for it again—

"-Ivo's not giving himself much time to bag Sonic, you know." Eggman snorted as the elevator door closed. He pressed some buttons on the elevator console. "The hedgehog could mess up everything. I fought the little pineapple before this truce when he was—what?—eleven? Escape artist. He's grown up a lot since then. Ivo underestimates him and that two-tailed creep. Ah, well. At least we've got these babies…" Eggman patted something.

Tails dared to glance around the edge of the bin for a split moment so he could see the cart. He froze and his eyes widened. There were dozens—maybe fifty of them, whatever they were. They looked like toy jets enclosed in tube-like coffins.

Missiles. They had to be missiles.

Tails blood ran cold.

"What was the trigger word Ivo wanted for their ignition mechanism? That'd be pretty bad if I gave them the wrong word," he snorted. "I can see it all too well…"

"Marx," Grounder beeped.

"Marx, of course, I'll remember that one. Good old Karl." Eggman chuckled. "I have to say, Ivo's going to make him proud. These Mobians…"

Eggman's words fell on deaf ears.

Tails stared at the missiles, frozen in place. Every muscle in his body held taut and sirens blared in his mind.

He could be the only Mobian who knew anything about this. He could stay safe behind this bin until they left with the missiles and then he could find Sonic. The two of them could try to stop…fifty missiles.

No.

Tails clenched his jaw.

If those jets left this elevator, there might never be another chance. As soon as Eggman programed the "trigger word" into their ignite mechanisms, it would be next to impossible for anyone to do anything. Robotnik could set them off at any moment, with a single message from his brain.

Tails began winding his tails. He closed his eyes.

"…They'll never know what hit them, the little animals," Eggman said. "Lab rats. All of them. A whole planet full. In fact-" he put a hand on the cart. "-Just too many."

Tails' eyes snapped open, rage shining in them.

He scrambled out from behind the bin, whipping his tails apart. He half-hovered half-charged, his gaze locked on Eggman. He jumped and punched the heel of his sneaker into the base of the human's skull with all his might. "No you won't!"

Eggman roared as he dropped to his knees and Grounder's hand attachment converted into a blaster.

Tails snarled as he dropped to the ground in a crouch and charged Grounder. The robot fired point blank at Tails, but the fox threw himself flat with a gasp, wrapping his tails around him. With a shout, he thrust himself towards Grounder, leapt up the robot's arm, and scrambled onto Grounder's back.

Eggman wheezed, trying to get back to his feet.

Tails wrapped one tail and a hand over Grounder's sensors, blinding them. With his other tail and arm, he snatched onto Grounder's blaster hand. His eyes blazed.

"You won't," Tails snarled. "You won't have this planet and you won't have Sonic!"

Adrenaline and rage fueled his strength. Grounder's arm socket snapped into place beneath his hold. Tails shouted in triumph as he pushed his thumb over the external gun override. He shoved it on, switched the blast-gauge to "laser" and forced the blaster in line with the cart of missiles—

The elevator doors slammed opened.

Combots were there.

Tails took only a fraction of a second to turn his head and look—

-but it was still too much. Grounder regained control of his arm.

Tails fired just as Grounder jerked his arm back. The laser beam burned through the edge of the cart, barely missing Eggman.

Tails let out a sharp shout of frustration, his eyes burning. "No-"

Grounder whipped around on his treads and smashed Tails' body back into one of the edges of the metal bins.

Pain coursed across Tail's face and he barked out.

Something in his shoulder snapped loose. He dropped his hold on Grounder.

The adrenaline and hope died in his eyes.

Tails lunged back towards the bin. Grounder's hand clawed around his upper arm and Tails' yelped.

With twist, the robot flipped the fox into the center of the elevator. Tails body hit the elevator floor and he gasped.

Tails looked up at combots and Grounder surrounding him, their blasters locked on his chest. His eyes flickered with desperation.

He snarled.

Tails kicked at the face of the nearest combot.

The combot's enormous hand punched down on his throat and chest, pinning him to the elevator floor.

Tails sucked in his air, gasping for breath. He snatched onto the massive robot's arm.

"Go ahead!" Tails shouted. The words erupted free from him and he didn't know where they came from. He screwed his eyes shut as tears began to clog his throat and vision. He thrashed with all his might. "I don't care! Take me! Go on! You still won't win—you won't catch Sonic-you can't kill all of us-" He clawed at the combot's hand crushing into his body. "—and I don't care what you do to me—I don't care—I-don't-care-!"

Wow, I just want to give a huge thanks to all you guys! You're definitely on my Thanksgiving list this year! ;-D Special thanks to Elizabeth the Bathog and Sharp Dragon Klaw for their reviews and for chatting with me! :D It's great getting to meet new people and fellow Sonic buddies on here! God bless you! I promise, if I ever have a major story plot I can't figure out, I'll ask to see what you all think should happen-I'm starting to get closer to unwritten parts of the story. I better hop on it!

Keep Marching on and Happy Thanksgiving!

~Connie