Chapter 15.
Peril! (Endgame.)
He was up a creek. And he knew it. Caden Andross paced back and forth in his den. He was in a bad mood, and a very bad one. After having his high ranking "officers" interrogate the prisoners, they hadn't been able to get a single one of them to tell them Team Sonic's whereabouts. Andross pumped his wrists together angrily; first, his plan of having Jedidiah Prower assassinated didn't pan out good at all. And now, the people of Acadia Island were beginning to suspect that his "Regency Loyalist", Ren Lucio had, indeed, stole the election from the Prower Administration. He just hoped that two-tailed freak of a fox wasn't on board the ban wagon with that feral badger. But Andross suspected that it was too late for such, for now, the two-tailed freak was probably telling lies about how his uncle's election was "stolen" from him. Second, he had heard of rumors that the Acadian Military was on its way here now. That only meant one thing; and that meant that someone from within his Inner Circle was a traitor. And that the traitor had leaked information out for the Acadian Military. But then again, the Acadian Military was supposed to be under Lucio's control. And speaking of which, the falcon was on his way here also. Andross hoped that if the top Generals of the Acadian Military suspected anything unusual, that Lucio would tell them that everything was alright. And all this time, Caden wondered what the heck happened with Murdoc. The bounty hunter was, and had been obsessed with capturing and getting rid of the two-tailed furball. The hawk probably thought that Murdoc had already found the young fleabag and had dealt with him. Just as Andross went to sit back down on his chair, one of his messengers came into the room. And it looked like she was panting.
"Sir?"
"Well, what is it?" Andross asked her.
The messenger cleared her throat, then spoke.
"Prime Minister Lucio is here. And so is Prime Minister Brennan."
Oh shoot! Prime Minister Brennan! Out of all the Prime Ministers of the local islands, she had to come also. Andross knew that Brennan was bad news. Bad news for the Regency. She had so much "goods" on him and his organization. But then, there was good news for him also. He had learned from the weasel messenger that William Kidd was here also. And Andross knew that Kidd was in complete favor of the Regency. But the question was… how far would things have to go before Kidd decided to turn around and backstab him and the rest of the Regency? Andross leaped off his chair and followed his messenger out of his office and down the stairs to the main floor. While on the way there, Andross looked into the Medical Biology room and saw that his top scientists were at work with containing the virus until it was time to release more of it. Finally, they made it to the main floor, where he had the messenger leave. Then Ren Lucio bowed before Andross. The hawk returned the bow. Kidd also bowed down before the hawk. All the while, twenty-six eyes, two pairs of each, were watching from above in one of the ceiling vents...
Meanwhile…
After the whole freaking fiasco with finding Tails, the rest of Team Sonic and Esmer, alongside Tristan Rhoms, had broke through the Regency lines, with Rhoms lying to them, saying that he had captured them. The Regency mercenary guards didn't believe Rhoms at all, so the formerly known bounty hunter had to do what he had to do. He disposed of them, with help from Team Sonic and Esmer. After that fiasco, they had disguised themselves in the guards' suits and had busted out Fara, Chad, Cody, Red, Jerek and Tauren. Tauren immediately realized that his twin brother was helping them. The two wolves wept as they embraced each other, the one excited that the other had finally decided to turn his life around. Fara was so happy to see that Tails was okay. Jerek reminded them that their rejoicing would have to be for later. Right now though, they had to stop the Regency's plans before they could be carried out by Lucio. Currently the thirteen of them were in the vents hidden in the ceiling of the Regency Base. Watching every move the Regency did. Tails, Knuckles, and Amy had their wrist communicators on recording mode so that when the time came for the Regency to be put on trial for their crimes, they would have the evidence and the proof. Andross was bragging on how much progress was getting done with what he called the "Endgame" to the NIA-1 Virus. The girls only shook their heads when Lucio mentioned that he planned on having the Acadian Senate propose a bill that would place bounties on the heads of Team Sonic, and not just on Acadia Island, but on every other island, including the Team's home island. Even to the point that in fact, the Acadian Senate was already proposing the bill as they were in the Biology Facility. Jerek and Red both knew what that meant, if the bill were to pass successfully, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Sticks were might as well be dead. After having enough of hearing senseless talk from Andross, Lucio and Kidd, the group decided to carry out their plan when Tails wouldn't budge to move on with them. At first, his teammates thought that he was being completely stubborn, but then, Sonic and Amy heard everything about the Acadian General Election spill out from Kidd's mouth. Jedidiah Prower had indeed been robbed of serving a second term for another five years as Acadia Island's Prime Minister! Tails was boiling angry that he wanted nothing more than to kill both Andross and Kidd. And that the youngster literally wanted nothing more than to kill Lucio also for being part of the evil scheme. Now was the time to carry out the plan on stopping the Regency and stopping the virus from spreading before it was too late. The group told each other that they each knew their part. Sonic and Sticks were to ravage through Andross' office without getting caught. Amy and Knuckles were to help the others plant the bombs in the main compactor that kept the Medical Biology Facility up and running. All the while, Tristan was to have "captured" Tails and present him before Andross. Everyone soon split up, hoping for the best that help was on the way...
In the main floor…
"... like I said before, I have the perfect 'Endgame' to the virus." Andross spoke.
"And what that might be?" Brennan asked.
Andross was in a corner. Either he could tell her what he had planned to do or he could keep it hidden. But either way, he knew for sure that she already knew. Or was it just his mind going paranoid?
"As you have heard from the news media, I plan on having Team Sonic taken care of, and what I mean 'taken care of', I mean, killed."
Brennan bit her lip and only nodded her head. Andross then led everyone towards his office. But as he was at his office door, the same messenger came back to him, telling him that Murdoc had returned, and with the two-tailed fleabag in his custody.. Andross only smiled wickedly. He quickly went into his office and typed in a passcode on a time-delayed safe. Once the device opened, Andross reached for a curved shaped weapon. He ignited the blade like weapon, a Peorian petar. And he grabbed ahold of a Neolan blast pistol. In fact, it was just the very same one he had shot the two-tailed fox with last year. He placed both weapons in a hidden pocket in his trenchcoat and left the room and led his guests back to the main floor where the guests would probably find themselves more comfortable. As soon as he and his guests come back into the room, he found that Murdoc had, indeed, caught the little foxy brat. And the strangest thing was that the kid was wearing a muzzle over his mouth. Tails struggled against the wolf's grasp as soon as he saw Andross walk into the room. The hawk immediately smiled.
"Murdoc, Murdoc. You've done well!"
Tristan only shook his head. Only he and the fox cub knew that this was just a act.
"It wasn't easy you know, he put on quite the fight!" Tristan yelled as he "kneed" Tails. The kit immediately fell to the floor where he found himself right before Caden Andross.
The hawk knelt low, then with one snatch, he ripped the muzzle off the fox's mouth.
"So, tell me… where are your friends at now?" Andross said as he eyed the kit.
Tails didn't respond.
"How dare you not answer the Great and respected Regent Caden Andross!" The hawk stormed. Then he smacked the young fox right in the face. The kit still didn't respond.
"Aha! So that's it, you won't answer me… 'cause they're all dead, is that what it is my boy?"
"Even if they were dead, you have no right to know their whereabouts!" Tails shouted.
That did it. Andross grabbed out his Neolan blast pistol and pointed it right at the kid. Tails immediately gasped as he saw the weapon in Andross' hand. Andross smiled wickedly. Kidd immediately pleaded with the Regent on sparing the kit's life. Andross immediately put down the weapon.
'Bad idea, Andross.' Tristan thought.
"Are we going to settle with the matter at hand or what?" Brennan demanded.
Andross rolled his eyes as took a hold of Tails and held him at gunpoint.
"Of course we are… after I take care of him!"
"Caden!" Kidd shouted.
"We most certainly do not need bloodshed!"
Andross let go of Tails, but then, the hawk whacked the young fox right on the back of his head. The kid slumped down on the floor, blacking out...
"Sticks!?" Sonic whispered.
The badger looked up at her friend and smiled. "Yeah?"
"You've got those illegal documents?"
Sticks lifted the stack of papers in her hands out for Sonic to see. The hedgehog gave her a thumbs up.
"Good… let's get outta here."
Sonic and Sticks would have everything they needed to prove for once and all that Tails' uncle had indeed won the Acadian General Election. He just couldn't wait for his best friend to be all excited...
"... 93… 94… 95… and 96! Wahoo!" Amy whooped.
"Got every one last Perlan bomb in tact!" Cody and Knuckles said in unison.
Jerek looked at his teammates. "Every last one?"
Fara only nodded her head in response.
"Good! Let's get the heck outta here and now!" Chad yelled. But before anyone else could react, a few dozen soldiers surrounded them. As everyone got ready to fight back, one soldier, decorated in a General's uniform put up a hand.
"We are not… wait? Cody Prower!? Is that you!?"
Cody immediately turned around and let out a gasp as he saw who it was.
"No way! General Shay!?"
The anthropomorphic black colored jaguar saluted Cody. "I could never be prouder of you my son!"
Cody saluted back. "Sergeant Prower reporting for duty sir!"
General Shay ordered his men to lower their weapons.
"Wait, who sent you?" Fara said.
"Huh! If you really think that Lucio sent me, then you are most certainly wrong! Your father sent me!"
Fara put a hand over her mouth. "My father… no wait, he's… he's dead."
Shay only shook his head. "Oh no! We learned from a valuable resource that the Regency planned on having him killed if things got out of hand, that is, against their favor."
"Wait a minute, who is just exactly this 'valuable resource'?"Amy and Knuckles both asked.
"Oh, his name was Tristan Rhoms."
Amy dropped her hammer onto the ground. Out of all people, Murdoc had been the one who had provided the Acadian Military the intel they needed to help bring the Regency down. No wonder why he was so intent on helping Team Sonic and their friends.
The whole room shook at first, then the ceiling caved in and in the next second, a few dozen Mantis bots, Motorbots, BeeBots, CrabBots and FireBot fell right through the ceiling. Andross immediately backed away and pointed his weapon at one of the bots.
"Hey! No one hits Tails like that, well, except me!"
Andross, Lucio, and Kidd immediately turned around and saw that a upside down egg shaped like man was standing right behind Brennan. It was none other than Doctor Eggman. And right behind him was none other than Sonic, Sticks, and Tails!
"What the heck! What is this!? Some joke of some sort!?" Kidd shouted at Andross.
"Well maybe, just maybe… if you had not betrayed me, then you would know."
Kidd immediately gasped, his face turning pale. Whereas Tails also gasped. The kit knew that voice from the back of his mind. It was none other than his uncle Jedidiah Prower!
The "former" Prime Minister of Acadia Island walked beside Eggman. Andross looked behind and saw that the fox was still laying on the floor.
"Wait… what-"
Eggman interrupted Andross.
"You dimwitted bioterrorist, that is actually one of my prototype Clone bots! And it actually proved itself quite successful!"
Andross was at a loss for words. Tails only giggled.
"We fed you all a little bit of false information. You see, we knew that you, Andross, were intent on wanting to torture my best friend here, in front of your guests, so we had Tristan Rhoms here bring before you this Clone bot made exclusively from Eggman Industries." Sonic paned out, then he continued on.
"While we hid Tails the whole time, in your office, where he found all sorts of evidence pointing to the fact that-"
"You Lucio stole the Acadian General Election from my uncle Jedidiah!" Tails yelled.
Lucio immediately stood up. "This is just outright preposterous!"
"Oh good grief! For crying out loud, yes you did!" Sonic shouted.
"And we have all the proof!" Sticks yelled.
Andross was definitely caught now! Brennan had a Neolan blast pistol pointed right at him.
"They say to never trust an echidna from Olathe Island, well… they got that darn right!"
Tails eyed Andross and just smiled. "Yeah, I was the one who fed her the intel before she fell for your 'Endgame'."
Suddenly, the sound of glass shattering was heard from the Rendezvous Room. Andross immediately smiled, but then, his face was one of terror as he heard his mercenaries screaming for help.
Sonic eyed Andross. "Give it up Andross! It's game-"
A blast was heard from within the room. Tails immediately dropped to the floor in a dead faint. And in the next moment, everyone else within the room got ready to fight back.
"Minions! ATTACK!" Eggman shouted.
Andross and Kidd immediately ran out the Rendezvous Room, but not before Brennan shot down the traitorous anthropomorphic goat. Sonic immediately knelt down by Tails and turned him around gently. The kit's eyes were barely open.
"I'm fine."
Sonic sighed in relief as Tails spoke. Then they realized that Andross had not shot Tails again. Sonic looked up and saw that Lucio was the unfortunate one who was shot. And the thing was that the falcon was dead. Sticks looked where Andross was headed.
"He's gettin' away!" The badger shouted.
"Not for long!" Sonic yelled...
Sonic, Tails, and Sticks had rejoined Knuckles and Amy and had told everyone else that this was just their fight against Andross now. After all, Andross was planning on controlling the local government entities with one goal in mind; and that was to have Lyric the Last Ancient rule the world with a iron fist! As Team Sonic made their way into where the top scientists of the Regency had created the NIA-1 Virus, they had to be careful. Very careful. Red had provided each of them a laserproof poncho. Tails thought he looked good in the one he got. It was a misty grayish-blue colored poncho. When they entered the room, they had found out that the scientists were dead. Some had probably been shot down by the Acadian Military, while the rest had been killed by the virus. If that was the case, then Team Sonic could of been breathing in the very spores of the viral infection.
"When you all get the chance gang, cover your mouths for a minute." Sonic suggested.
Tails immediately placed his goggles over his eyes and used them to start scanning the whole area of any sign of Andross. Nothing. Just as things were starting to get hopeless, Tails finally saw through his goggles a detected lifeform.
"Aha! Found him!"
Suddenly, orange colored lasers came out of nowhere. Amy and Sticks immediately dove under a cabinet while Knuckles cleverly dodged them. Sonic and Tails got behind a couple of pillars. Immediately, the fox felt something hit him square in the back. He immediately slumped down the pillar he was behind.
"Tails!" Sonic gasped.
Tails didn't respond…
The kid didn't even have the time to respond. He was distracted by a million thoughts rushing through his brain. Tails remembered the time when he had been shot down by the Cubot prototypes. He was definitely okay then. He remembered the time he had been shot down by Andross. He had definitely been wounded then. But the thing was, Tails knew that living in the past meant that he was expecting the same thing to happen every time he was face to face with whatever enemy had hurt him before. Tails didn't want to live in the past, he wanted to live in the now. Immediately, Tails knew what he had to do. And now, he was just simply no longer afraid of Caden Andross. He just wasn't. The fact was, other people's lives depended on him and his teammates. He knew that he had to change the way he lived his life. He finally put on a smile. No longer afraid, Tails reached for his portable Unbolterizer that he had with him. He drew it out and breathed in deeply, then he exhaled. By the time he came out of his thoughts, he heard all four of his friends shouting his name.
"Tails, buddy? You okay?" Sonic asked.
"I'll be fine." Tails said.
Then as quickly as he spoke, he get off the ground and removed himself from the pillar he was behind and started firing back at Andross with his portable Unboltizer. Immediately, Andross marched in the room, and as soon as he did, the doors around them began closing up and locking themselves. Andross shot down towards Amy, that was, untill the hawk felt a laser directly hit him square in the back. Andross immediately lost grip of his blaster pistol. But he wasn't done yet. Suddenly, the hawk went totally insane as soon as he ignited his Peorian petar blades. Andross slashed everywhere he could. Sonic was too fast for him. Amy cleverly dodged him, using her Piko Piko Hammer. Sticks easily got out of his way, using her Bo staff to fight back dirty. Knuckles kept throwing punches in the Regent's direction. Tails flew off the ground, using his twin tails while using his Enerbeam like a whip. Seeing Tails use his Enerbeam gave Sonic a idea. Why not have himself, Knuckles and Amy use their Enerbeams also and get a hold of Andross?
"Use your Enerbeams!" Sonic yelled over to Knuckles and Amy.
Knuckles and Amy realized what their teammate meant. The two activated their Enerbeams and seeing what Sonic meant, they wrapped their Enerbeams up around the Regent. Sonic and Tails did the same thing with theirs also. Soon Andross was wrapped up in a glowing light of energy whips as he struggled to free himself from the tight grip of the Enerbeams. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy having Andross right where they wanted had Sticks deliver the final blow to the hawk. As soon as Andross felt Sticks' Bo hit him square in the face, he slumped to the ground. The other four teammates immediately let go of their Enerbeams and rejoiced, but they soon realized that that was a big mistake. Andross immediately leaped off the ground and pulled something out from the inside of his trenchcoat. It looked like a glass vial of some sort. Tails and Amy immediately realized what the vial in Andross' hand was, and they both immediately gasped. And in that moment, Sonic realized the vial in Andross' hand.
"Andross! You wouldn't dare!?" Sonic yelled.
The hawk immediately threw the vial down on the ground, glass shattering all over the place, and within a few brief seconds, all the members of Team Sonic started coughing violently, it was then in that moment that they found out that Andross was wearing a gas mask over his beak. As soon as he saw that his enemies were getting weakened by the content of the virus, Andross immediately reignited his petar blades and went back to slashing quite insanely fast. Despite the fact that they were growing weaker from breathing in the spores of the virus, Team Sonic somehow managed to move out of Andross' way. However, the more weaker they grew, the more slower they became, making themselves easy targets for Andross. The hawk immediately about slashed Amy's head open, but luckily she managed to move out of his way. Tails reactivated his Enerbeam and grabbed a hold of Andross' hands with it. Andross immediately moved in closer to the fox and as he made it, slashed open the fox's left arm. Tails immediately gasped as he coughed more, the virus settling in his lungs, and unfortunately, he was the first member of Team Sonic to drop to the ground in a dead faint.
"Tails!... No!" Sonic rasped, coughing.
Amy soon collasped to the ground in a dead faint also. One by one, Knuckles and Sticks also fell down onto the ground, leaving Sonic to fend for himself. Just as Andross was about to go in for the kill on Sonic, the hawk suddenly felt another laser hit him square in the back. And this time, it wasn't from Tails' portable Unbolterizer. It was from his Neolan blast pistol. He weakly turned himself around and was soon face to face with the one person who he thought would never betray him; he was face to face with none other than Tristan Rhoms. Letting out a shout of anger, Andross immediately ripped the gas mask off the wolf's muzzle. Then before Tristan got weakened by the content of the virus, he shot Andross one final time. The anthropomorphic common black-hawk immediately slumped onto the ground as he drew his final breath...
And Caden Andross -the feared leader of the deep state-like Regency- was no more.
Tristan Rhoms, at this point, began coughing violently. He knew that he would not make it. Having weakened lungs from long ago had him easily exposed to the NIA-1 Virus. He began closing the vents up so that the virus did not spread out the rest of the Medical Biology Facility. Suddenly, he felt someone grab a hold of his hands. It was none other than Tails.
"Why… you… little… half-pint… rascal…" Tristan gasped, smiling.
Tails weakly smiled in return.
"... this is… what… happens… when… enemies… forgive each… other… they help… each… o-other…"
Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Sticks, and Tristan all helped each other close the vents up to the Medical Science room. As soon as the last one was all closed up, Tristan hacked violently, then collasped to the ground in a dead faint. By then, the others fell down to their hands and knees. Tails, being the weakest of them due to having the NIA-1 Virus twice, fell completely down to the ground. He inched his way to where Tristan was and as soon as the fox reached him, placed a hand on his back.
"You… l-little… rascal…" Tristan gasped.
Tails immediately squeezed his eyes shut as he coughed violently.
Tristan continued on…
"... I'm… s-so… s-sorry… for… everything… e-evil… I-I-I… I.. did.. to.. you… please… f-forgive.. m-me…"
Despite the fact that he was coughing violently, tears rolled down Tails' face.
"...I-I.. do.. forgive.. you…. T-Tristan Rhoms…"
Tristan smiled. Then his chest fell with a final breath...
And unfortunately, Tristan Rhoms was no more.
Tails had stopped coughing as he felt a hand grab his. He barely turned his head and opened his eyes weakly and smiled. It was none other than Sonic. And the hedgehog was weakly smiling at him...
"..I-I'm… real… p-proud… of… you… b-b-buddy…"
Then, Sonic and Tails closed their eyes and passed out in a complete dead faint, hands locked in each other's in a brotherly love...
The last thing Amy saw before passing out was the Acadian Military trying their very best to break into the room. She heard General Shay bark orders to use the Jaws of Life to break down the door. Then, Amy Rose passed out, out of exhaustion from having caught the virus...
OH NO! Not good for Team Sonic at all! What is gonna happen now!? Will Team Sonic survive this horrible ordeal? How will things turn out? Next chapter chaps! God bless you all 'til then!
JalcoFox.