Sonic didn't exactly trust Lien Da. Her very aura itself reeked of betrayal. The only reason he'd even let her join his ranks was because he knew from past experience that she was skilled. Once he finally roboticized the human race, he'd simply throw her into the roboticizer along with Snively. He just had to betray her before she betrayed him.
He'd been coming back from an attack on a human trading caravan (in which he'd stolen most of their supplies) when one of his own mecha soldiers approached him in the forest.
"Sir," the robot said in a lifeless automated voice that once sent shivers down Sonic's spine. "There's another intruder,"
The hedgehog sighed at the inconvenience. "Again? I have things to do today," He cracked his own knuckles with a sickening crack. "I'll go handle it,"
In a flash of red (for some reason, his speed no longer produced a blue streak when he ran), Sonic blazed through the forest. He skidded to a stop at the doors of the base. The watchmen immediately recognized him and the metal paneled door slid open.
The base itself was reconstructed from Eggmanland, which Sonic had every attention of renaming. The hedgehog had ripped out the red and black panels that lined the buildings and replaced them with blue and silver paneling. The obnoxious carnavel rides that existed as a result of Eggman's uncanny fascination with amusement parks were gone and silver tracks complete with ramps in springs were in it's place.
Once Sonic got to the main computer room, he was greeted with a brisk nod from Lien Da. Snively walked up to him with his hands tucked behind his back.
He leaned back against the table. "Snively, where's the inturder?"
"We've detained him," the human replied. Sonic noticed as he clenched his jaw and sweat traveled down his temple.
"Do I know him?" he questioned. Chaos, he hoped it wasn't Shadow or Knuckles.
"Um..." Snively drawled nervously. "Yes, but-"
"Who is it?"
The green clad human's shoulders slumped. "It's... Miles Prower. The two tailed freak," For a second, Snively thought Sonic would strike him, but the hedgehog merely glowered coldly, as if to silently scold him for calling the kitsune a freak. Obviously, he still had lingering affection for his old friends. It would fade, he knew.
"Tails..." Sonic muttered, barely audible. He turned to the mecha soldier that had accompanied him and added much louder. "Bring him to me. Now,"
The mecha soldier nodded and exited to fullfill his task. Sonic fought off the urge to throw up. Tails was actually desperate (or stupid) enough to break into his base. Why? To stop him? No, that couldn't be it. Sonic had a great deal of respect for the kitsune's intelligence and mechanical prowess, but if the Freedom Fighters actually wanted a chance at finishing him off, they would've sent stonger members and more than one. They'd probably temporarily hire Shadow for that. It was what Sonic would do in their place.
So... was Tails there to try to negotiate? That hardly seemed worthy of invading a facility guarded by thousands of badniks, hundreds of roboticized humans, and a full air force and navy. If that were the case, what would he say to him? Would Tails embrace him and beg him to come back? Would he join his cause?
Sonic's breath caught in his throat as two mecha soldiers escorted Tails into the room, clutching his scrawny shoulders. The kitsune was covered in light scratches presumably from a standoff with the robots and his fur was matted. He had deep purple bags under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept in days. Maybe he hadn't.
"Wha... what are you..." Sonic breathed, his eyes wide. Part of him wanted to rush forward and hug the kitsune. Part of him wanted to outright throw him into the roboticizer. A small fragment wanted to run away screaming.
Tails beat him to the punch. "Sonic, please," he said with pleading blue eyes. "This has gone on long enough,"
"You shouldn't be here,"
"Neither should you,"
Sonic was silent, mulling over his next response. Calculating. Tails noticed the focused but emotionless look in Sonic's dull green eyes and knew... he knew that his big brother had changed and that terrified him. Question was, could he change him back?
"Please listen to me," Tails practically begged. "You don't want to destroy the humans. I know you don't. I mean, think about the innocent-"
Sonic cut him off sharply. "No human is innocent, Miles,"
Miles. He'd actually called him Miles. Tails visibly cringed. "What about the Thorndykes? Or Sam Spark? Or Princess Elise? Or Sara?"
Sonic had no living idea how to respond to that. Noticing the older Mobian's frustration, Tails continued. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused?"
"Good. That's my goal," Sonic declared with a condescending smirk and crossed arms.
Tails frowned and shook his head, his bangs flopping as he did so. "If Sally could see you now, she'd be ashamed of you,"
Alacazam! That statement mads his facade crack as if by magic. Sonic turned pale. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. His arms fell slack on the sides of his body. Tails suddenly felt sorry he'd said that.
After a moment, Sonic regained his composure and scowled. "If you were anyone else, you wouldn't still be living,"
"Because you still care?"
"Erg! Shut up!" Sonic exclaimed, his face reddening from anger and his fists clenched. Tails flinched but kept on.
"If you were truly evil, you definitely would've killed me. No, mentioning Sally wouldn't even have affected you. But it does. Know why? Cause you loved her. Evil knows no love. You wouldn't have had the ability to love Sally,"
"Don't you dare say her name!" Sonic seethed.
"Maybe you need to hear it!" Tails retorted.
The hedgehog turned to the mecha soldiers. "We're done here," he said stiffly. "Take him to the prison ward. I'll figure out what to do with him later,"
Even as the robots tugged the kitsune away forcefully, Sonic could've sworn he heard Tails whisper I love you, big bro.
Tails was gone and silence and tension filled the computer room.
A/ N: *sighs* When will Sonic learn?
Please review! I love reading them.
