Chapter 3 – Feelings Of the Soul

A large explosion like flash lit up the western side of Mobotropolis. Several citizens were flung aside as the blast rippled across part of the city. As the dust cleared two figures stood where the blast had originated. They looked around and shrugged at each other.

"A little too much force there dear." said one of them.

"Maybe but it was fun." replied the other.

"You always enjoyed the dramatic entrance bit didn't you dear."

The other figure nodded.

"We should get moving."

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"WHAT ON MOBIUS IS GOING ON?!?!" balled Sonic.

Sonic had been relaxing on the balcony of his room in the palace when the blast had gone off. He had jumped to his feet and watched it as it had shot across virtually half the city. Seconds later he had activated his comm unit and was currently screaming into it.

"We don't know sir." came a reply.

"Well find out now!" cried Sonic.

He switched the unit off and looked down at the city.

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The two figures walked through Mobotropolis. They received a large amount of funny stares but they didn't notice or care or both. They continued on, at points stopping to admire something. Eventually they reached the palace gates. They stood open as they generally did. They walked through them. Several guards tried to stop them but everytime one got close he was thrown away by a large flash.

"You really like the flash don't you?" said the first figure.

"Yes I do." replied the other.

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Sonic's comm unit started to bleep. He quickly answered it.

"Report!" he said.

"Sire. We have two intruders in the palace grounds. It looks like they are the ones that caused the explosion." came a reply.

"Have a full detail meet me at the palace doors." he said.

Sonic switched off the comm and shot from the room. He arrived outside a few moments later. Several guards were already assembled. Two figures slowly walked up the palace approach path. As they got closer Sonic spoke.

"Alright. That's far enough." he said commandingly.

The two figures took a few more steps and then stopped. They were only about ten feet away now. They both wore hooded cloaks.

"Who are you?" said Sonic.

The two figures slowly removed there hoods. The figures turned out to be two foxes. They both had a strange mark on their foreheads. Sonic looked them over. They looked pretty normal but they obviously weren't.

"What do you want?" he said.

"What we want you couldn't even begin to understand." said on of the foxes.

"I said what do you want?!"

The mark on the foxes head suddenly lit up. Just then there was a flash and the guards were set flying to the side. Sonic was lifted into the air and held tight. He tried to struggle but found he couldn't even move.

"And I said you couldn't begin to understand what we want." said the fox.

"Put him down Juanita." said the other fox.

Sonic suddenly fell to the ground with a thud. He jumped to his feet quickly. He glared at the foxes.

"Who are you?!" he said returning to his earlier question.

The foxes looked at each other. They nodded at each other. The second fox spoke.

"Very well. This is Juanita, my wife and I am Arthur." said the fox.

Sonic thought for a moment. Those names sounded strangely familiar. He just couldn't put his finger on it.

"If you won't say what you want, they why are you here?" said Sonic.

He was careful about what he said. He wished Petya was here with him or Amy or someone with a bit of power.

"We are here to meet our…." the fox cringed slightly, "……..our son."

"Son?" said Sonic.

The other fox spoke.

"We have not told you our surname. Would it interest you to know that our surname is Prower?"

Sonic's jaw hit the ground. It couldn't be.

"PROWER?!" he cried, "You mean Miles is your son!"

"Yes. He is our……..son."

Sonic blinked. This was too much.

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Lavender just wouldn't stop wailing. Amy had tried everything she knew to calm her down but she wouldn't. She had just been wailing at the top of her voice for the past hour. Her eyes were completely red from tears and she kept choking because of her dry throat. Amy was worried sick. She was currently sitting in her parents kitchen staring at a cup of herbal tea her mother had made for her. Tails was standing behind her with an arm around her shoulder.

"I'm sure she'll be alright Aimes." he said.

"I hope so Tails." replied Amy.

She turned and took hold of his hand. She let out a slow sigh.

"I hope she will be alright." she said.

Tails handed her a tissue and she blew her nose on it.

"Don't worry Aimes." he said.

"I can't help it. She's my daughter and I……"

"I know Aimes. I feel the same. I don't want to see anything happen to her."

Just then Tails comm unit bleeped. Tails groaned quietly. This really wasn't the time for this.

"Be back in a sec Aimes." he said.

Tails left the kitchen and walked outside. The sun was high over Little Planet and it shone down on him. This really wasn't the day for all this worry and sadness. He switched on the comm and answered it.

"Yeah hello?!" he said rather roughly.

"Tails. Hi it's Sonic."

"Sonic. What is it?"

"Someone you might want to meet has just arrived in Mobotropolis."

"Tell them to wait. I've got bigger problems right now. Lavender is acting really funny. She been having the same dream for several nights and she won't stop crying. Amy is worried sick!"

There was a few seconds of silence.

"I'm sorry to hear that Tails I didn't know."

"It's ok Sonic."

"I still think you should come though."

Tails was losing patients.

"Look! Who is it?!"

"It's ah…..how should I say this? It's your….parents."

"WHAT?!"

Tails almost died. His parents? It couldn't be. His parents abandoned him when he was a kit.

"It can't be!" he said.

"They say otherwise."

"But I can't just leave. What about Lavender and Amy?"

Just then the door of the house flew open and Amy rushed out.

"One minute Sonic." said Tails, "Amy what is it?"

"It's Lavender. She's screaming to go to Mobotropolis. She says 'they' are there."

Tails blinked. This was too much of a coincidence. He turned back to his comm unit.

"I'll be right there Sonic."

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Sonia and Manic ran down the corridor towards the main palace entrance.

"I don't know about you Manic but I really wonder what's going on." said Sonia.

"I know Sonia. First our medallions go weird and now these two foxes show up claiming to be Tails parents. Too many strange things at once is bad news." replied Manic.

A few minutes later they had arrived at the entrance. Sally was already there. Sonic saw them approach.

"Hey there guys. I'd like you to meet Arthur and Juanita Prower." he said.

The two foxes smiled at them. Sonia and Manic still looked a bit unsure.

"Sonic a word please." said Sonia.

"Of course." replied Sonic.

Sonia and Sonic went off to one side out of ear shot.

"How do you know you can trust them? I heard what they did to you and…."

"Juanita apologised for that little incident. Apparently she has a very short patience level."

Sonic turned and went back to the group. Sonia raised an eyebrow.

"You're far too trusting sometimes Sonic Hedgehog. I hope you're right about these people."

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Several hours later Tails, Amy and Lavender arrived in Mobotropolis. Tails stopped the Twister on the main courtyard and jumped out. Amy picked up Lavender and held her in her arms. Lavender had stopped wailing now and had curled up into a ball on the way over. She was very pale and looked absolutely terrified.

"I'll find somewhere where Lavender can rest. You go and see to this…..event." said Amy.

Tails nodded and headed into the palace. As he entered Sonic met him.

"Hey bud." he said.

Tails didn't answer. He was too full of conflicting emotions to talk. Sonic led him into the palace and into one of the many reception halls. Inside sat Sally, Manic, Sonia and two foxes. They all looked up as they Sonic and Tails entered. The two foxes fixed there gaze on Tails. There was a few second of silence.

"Hello." said Tails finally.

Juanita laughed.

"That's all you have to say?" she said.

Tails just looked at her.

"Out." he said, "Everyone out!"

Tails had a look of fury on his face. No-one argued with him and soon he was alone with his parents. They looked at each other for a few moments.

"It's been too long son." said Arthur.

"Too long!" cried Tails, "You abandoned me!"

"Yes we did!" said his mother.

"And now you turn up and expect me to just say 'hi there, boy did I miss you'?" cried Tails.

"If you must know you're not the reason we came back!" said his mother.

Tails faltered at this. He couldn't believe what his own mother had just said to him.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrg! You don't know how much I'm restraining myself from knocking you for six!"

"Like you could do anything to us!" said Juanita.

Tails suddenly leaped forwards at his mother. The mark on her head glowed and Tails suddenly stopped in mid air. He hung there looking around him. His mother looked him over.

"Look at you. Our only child and this is what we get. A freak!" she said.

Tails wailed.

"Oh we were so excited when I became pregnant. After all my hard work of carrying you and giving birth, you are the result. We were so ashamed. We abandoned you and then said you died soon after birth." finished his mother.

Tails suddenly fell to the floor with a crash. He looked up at his parents his eyes filling with tears. He crawled back a few feet and then got up. He tried to stop himself from crying but a few slipped out.

"Why?" he said sadly.

"We have our reasons." said his father.

"What reasons?!" cried Tails.

"None of your concern. Now go. Remove yourself from our sight." said Juanita.

She turned and looked out of the window. Tails felt as if his heart had just been ripped out and dissected slowly. She took a few steps backwards and then fled the room. As he cleared the door he burst into tears.

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Hello Petya.

T2! Thank goodness you're here.

Why what's happened?

Not only what we discussed but now Tails parents have appeared out of nowhere.

"Tails parents!" cried T2.

He couldn't keep the mental link up when he heard this.

"Have you met them?" he asked.

"Yes. Briefly."

"What are they like?"

"It's hard to say T2. They both seem to be hiding something. It's as if they are layered into several shells. I can only sense what's on the outside. They seem nice enough but I have an odd feeling about them. Like I can sense but not understand the layers below. I feel cold every time I think about it."

T2 looked at her.

"I'll have to see this for myself. But for now our major problem is this increase in power." he said.

"Yes." agreed Petya, "With this latest arrival everyone seems to have forgotten about that."

"Any thoughts?"

"Not really. It's as if everything is building up to something. But I can't say what."

"Most strange. We'll have to do a bit of digging."

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"Tails? Tails?" called Amy softly.

She had left Lavender in the care of Sally for the time being. Maybe being around Miles and Alicia for a while would cheer her up. She was now looking for Tails. She hadn't seen him for a while. She poked her head into another room and called. There was no reply. She was about to move on when she heard a small sobbing sound. She became curious and went in. At first she couldn't see where the noise was coming from. It was then that she noticed a small flick of orange fur sticking up from behind a chair in one corner.

"Tails?" she said.

There was another sob. Amy walked over to the chair. Behind it, curled up in a ball crying was Tails. He looked like he was totally drained. His eyes streamed with tears and he looked like his world had just collapsed. Amy knelt down and put an arm around him. Tails immediately stood up and shook it off. He walked a few feet away and sobbed again.

"Tails? What wrong?" asked Amy becoming concerned.

"Nothing." said Tails.

Amy knew there was something up now. Tails never withheld anything from her. They trusted each other totally with problems and feeling.

"Tails?"

"I said nothing is wrong."

"Tails! Don't be like this. There is something wrong. I can feel it. Tell me. Please?"

Tails slowly turned round and looked at her.

"It's my parents." he said.

"What about them?" asked Amy.

Slowly Tails explained the events of earlier on. When he was finished he slumped into a chair and buried his head in his arms. Amy was completely shocked.

"I'm sure they didn't mean it." she said not really believing it herself.

"They meant it Amy. They meant it!" cried Tails.

"But why would they turn up to insult you?!"

"I don't know!"

Tails' eyes filled with such a rage it actually frightened Amy. She became very nervous.

"You don't know what it's like Amy." continued Tails, "I never knew my parents when I was young. I figured they died or something but deep down I knew there was another reason. I always kept it under wraps. I never admitted to myself the real reason for being alone."

"Tails. I know what you mean. I never knew my parents too….."

"Yes but that's different. You weren't abandoned! You're parents just disappeared! Inside your head of all places! Mine abandoned me! I should have figured it out sooner."

"What do you mean?"

"All of my childhood was spent hiding. Hiding from the other children. They taunted me, chased me and bullied me until finally I just ran. I ran and ran and ran! I never stopped, never turned back. I was an outcast. And why?!"

Tails reached behind him and pulled both of his tails in front of himself.

"WHY?! Because of these things!"

Tails moved his right hand down to the base of one of his tails and gripped it tightly. For a brief second Amy thought he was going to try and pull it out. She relaxed as Tails removed his hand from his tail and closed his eyes. She went over and put an arm round his shoulders. Tails didn't recoil this time. Instead he turned and buried his head in Amy shoulder. He wailed slightly.

"I spent eight year running from one thing or another." said Tails, "It was only when I found Sonic that I really found a friend. I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't met him? Would I still have been running?"

"Don't think about that Tails. You DID meet Sonic and you DID develop friends. Friends who care deeply for you……….and me." said Amy.

"Thank you Amy."

"Think nothing of it Tails."

"I still can't help thinking about what my mother said. I've only been called that one before. And that was by Sarath!"

"Tails! You're NOT a freak!"

"Then what's this?!" said Tails flicking his two tails, "I can understand Sarath saying it. He was our enemy but my own parents! You don't know how much that hurts!"

"You're right. I can't, but what I do know is that it doesn't matter. We have each other and no-one can take that away from us."

Tails just blinked forcing the tears out of his eyes. He nodded and buried his head deeper into Amy shoulder. They stayed like that for a few minutes, both of them thinking about what had happened. Finally Tails spoke. His voice was calmer now and didn't have the hint of rage and sadness it had had earlier.

"If my parents didn't come back to see me. What did they come back for?"

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"Hey Lav! LAVENDER!" cried Miles.

Lavender looked up from the table she was sitting at. A large sheet of paper was spread out in front of her. She had suddenly felt the urge to draw. And draw something really big. She had calmed down slightly from earlier. Being with Miles and Alicia had helped as Amy had hoped but she was still nervous.

"Lav, you wanna come play outside?" asked Miles.

Lavender looked out of the door leading outside. Alicia was outside already playing with a skipping rope. Lavender looked back at her drawing.

"Oh come on Lav. You've been stuck drawing that ALL day! What is it anyway?" said Miles.

Before Lavender could stop him he pulled the drawing round and gazed at it.

"Woah! Nice….um……..blue thing." said Miles awkwardly.

Lavender didn't take any notice. She took the picture back and looked at it. On the paper was drawn a large blue dome. At the top of it was a smaller green sphere. The blue dome had small yellow dots all over it. Lavender just continued to look at it.

"Come on Lav. Come on outside." urged Miles.

Lavender finally nodded and stood up.

"Ok." she said.

They were just about to move when the door to the room swung open. They both looked over as it did. In the doorway two foxes stood side by side wearing large cloaks. Lavender's eyes suddenly went wide and filled with fear. She yelped and leapt behind a chair. Miles was totally confused by this. He stood there looking from Lavender to the foxes and back again.

"IT'S THEM!" cried Lavender.

The foxes moved into the room.

"What do you mean 'them'?" asked Miles.

Lavender was just curled up whimpering to herself. Miles didn't know the reason behind it but Lavender was terrified of these people. Miles thought it best to act. He shot towards them as fast as he could. Suddenly he felt himself slow and then begin to float. He looked down and yelped himself. He was floating a few feet above the ground. He looked up as the foxes passed him. He tried to yell at them but found he couldn't. All he could do was watch. The foxes moved closer to where Lavender was hiding. Suddenly she darted out and ran for the door. One of the foxes spun and Miles could see a mark on her head glow. Lavender was suddenly flung into the air by an invisible force. She hurtled across the room and collided with a wall. She fell to the floor and didn't get up.

"Juanita! Careful! We need her alive!" said the other fox.

"I know. What are we going to do about him?" replied the first one.

"We can't leave him here to tell everyone."

"No we can't."

Suddenly Miles found it hard to breathe. He tried to gasp but found he couldn't. He started to panic. He felt himself becoming light headed as his air gradually ran out. Slowly his eyes fluttered shut and his head went limp.

"Nicely done. No sound." said one fox.

"Thank you dear." said the other.

Juanita looked at Miles again and her mark flashed. Miles body fell to the floor with a thud. They both looked at Lavender and smiled.

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Petya walked along a long corridor towards the eastern wing of the palace. Since Amy was busy dealing with Tails she thought she'd check in on Lavender and make sure she was ok. She kept wondering how Lavender would take the news of her grandparents turning up out of nowhere. She shook her head. Probably best not to tell her until she had calmed down and everything was sorted out. She rounded a corner and then stopped. She could have sworn she had heard a cry. A high piercing yelp. It sounded like Lavender's voice. She listened a bit more but didn't hear anything. She picked up her pace and jogged down the corridor.

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Alicia was getting impatient. Where had Miles got to? He had only gone to see if Lavender was coming outside. She sighed to herself.

"You can never rely on him to do anything!" she said to herself.

She put her skipping rope down on the grass and walked slowly back to the door. She opened the door and went in.

"Hey Miles! Are you…." Alicia started before she froze to the spot.

Lying on the floor, not moving was Miles. She let out a loud cry and sunk to her knees. She grabbed her brother's body and shook him by the shoulders.

"Miles?! MILES?!" she yelled virtually hysterical, "Miles wake up!"

She was suddenly pulled away from her brother. She didn't understand it. She looked down and yelped. She was floating in the air.

"Aah family love. It warms the heart." said a voice.

Alicia looked up to see two foxes standing near the door. One of them carried Lavender over his shoulder. Alicia's face was a mix of expressions. She tried to say something but couldn't.

"And now we must deal with you too." said one of the foxes.

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Petya's jog turned into a full-blown sprint as she heard Alicia's scream. She readied herself for the worse. The Deep Power Stones glowed. The room with the children in it was just ahead. T2 she called in her head.

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Alicia felt her throat close up. She couldn't breath. Her eyes started to close. Suddenly there was a bang and a thud. Alicia came to in an instant as she hit the floor. She looked up. The doors to the room were open and between them stood Petya. She was glowing a bright yellow colour. Alicia looked to where the foxes had been. Both of them lay on the floor in a heap. Alicia tried to get up but couldn't. She decided to watch from the floor. The foxes stood up and stared at Petya. Both of their marks glowed. There was a few seconds of nothing and then a large cracking sound. The yellow glow surrounding Petya suddenly shattered. Petya sunk to her knees, she looked like she had just been stabbed in the guts. She clutched her stomach and screamed. Her right hand glowed a deep purple colour and then faded. The foxes looked at Petya as she collapsed to the floor.

"We have to go now. Quickly." said one fox.

The other fox nodded and then picked up Lavender. Their marks glowed and then they vanished in a flash of light taking Lavender with them. Alicia crawled over to Petya. She was feeling slightly stronger now and gave Petya a small nudge. Petya didn't respond. Just then T2 came hurtling into the room.

"Petya! I got your message and….OH MY GOD!"

T2 looked at the scene around him. Miles lying on the floor in a heap and Alicia slumped over Petya. T2 rushed to Petya's side. He checked the Deep Power Stone.

"Oh my god!" he said again, "It's been virtually drained!"

The Power Stone in Petya's hand was only just glowing yellow. It was virtually a lump of black rock. T2 placed his hand with the other half of the Power Stone in Petya's hand. His hand glowed and he shivered slightly. Slowly and weakly he removed his hand. Petya's Power Stone was glowing slightly brighter now but was still weak.

"That should keep her steady for a while." he said, "Alicia are you ok?"

"I…..I think so but Miles is…."

T2 didn't wait for her to finish. He was already at Miles' side.

"We need Amy here. Now!" he said.