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THE DAY AFTER
23. Hero.
NOTE: This is segment is a songfic. Song lyrics look [like this]. Deal with it.
[TAILS, David Macintyre]
I missed you, heaven.
Typically the human attitude during an experience like this one would
degenerate into something not too far from 'Fuck the world, nothing matters,
I'm just gonna fly'. Or something like that.
I'd probably be the same, but I'm different. Because I know that without the world, I'd have nothing to fly over. Nobody to feel better than. Nothing to be above.
Without a Hell to fly over, there'd be no sense of Heaven in the sky.
My tails are finally working again, allowing me to semi-safely search for Kays' rendezvous point. To my knowledge, he went through with plan, and picked up my laptop on the way there—using some kind of ploy of his. Collecting for the family or whatever.
My nerves are somewhat less steely than usual as I search unsuccessfully for Kays' place, or moreover his car parked outside. The thought of the job ahead makes my stomach lurch strongly, and the weight of the equipment in the bag on my shoulder seem even heavier. This definitely isn't going to be easy.
Ugh…
Now I KNOW I need to calm down.
I'm getting airsick.
I need some music.
I descend steadily and rather unceremoniously touch down on a nearby motel roof with a dull thud. I flick on the portable radio clipped to my belt loop and search for some decent tunes.
Hmm…
Not in the mood for oldies…
R&B isn't my thing…
I was never a huge pop fan…
Upbeat feel-good music sucks…
Enrique Inglesias? That's not even funny.
Normally I don't mind rap but I don't think even that can help me now. I need something more mellow…
Hmm…
Hmm…
There.
I hear the DJ mention a specific song playing next as I take to the air again. I try to calm my nerves and resist another sick lurch. I begin searching.
My unofficial theme song starts. Short drum crescendo. Guitar beats in and starts playing.
[I am so high, I can hear Heaven….]
Eh. It still sounds like he's on drugs to me, but the song is good, shut up. Hmm.
I look down.
Oh, how appropriate.
I was supposed to be afraid this would happen, but I'm not.
Instead it seems… relieving.
Liberating.
Amy's down there in the alley, running like hell from the black robot, Shade, who to my knowledge came screaming out of nowhere and around the corner to chase her. Fuck, that thing is quick.
What now?
[Yeah I AM so high, I can hear Heaven….]
If a tree falls in the woods, and nobody's around to hear it, does it make a sound?
Probably, because there was that little sparrow hovering around up above, who either thought himself too small and weak or just didn't feel like helping.
You see my analogy, of course.
I turn a deaf ear to her cries for help, thinking instead of how much is being lifted off of my chest about her.
[Whoa, but HEAVEN… no, HEAVEN don't hear ME…!]
She was ALWAYS being a pain.
ALWAYS thinking she was a fucking superhero.
ALWAYS tagging along, trying to 'help'.
[And they say that a HERO could save us, I'm NOT gonna stand here and wait…!]
And ALWAYS in the end getting in the way, as a result. Without fail she was clinging to our arms by the end of it.
[I'll hold onto the WINGS of the eagles, WATCH as we all fly away…!]
Well, fuck her, no more of that… this is her own fault.
…
I've got to do something. That's all there is to it.
Everything runs through my mind now in practically a split second as I land on the nearest roof. Kays and his rant finally begin to make sense.
Psychology.
When Sonic ended up in jail, I subconsciously stopped following his example and went for the nearest role model, my parents, in fear of making the same mistakes he made. I wondered where my will to help out went.
But it becomes clear now.
[Someone told me, love would all save us….]
Maybe he never learned from his mistake, but I can.
I don't HAVE to make the same stupid moves he did.
I don't HAVE to end up in prison.
I mean, he isn't a bad guy. He just fucked up. His ideas still make sense.
[But how can that be? Look what love gave us….]
My mind's trying to tell me not to help, now. I can feel it. I'm losing motivation.
I'm not going to let it. The sight of Shade deflecting a projectile trash can and knocking Amy spinning to the ground—several feet away—just… GETS to me somehow.
Sonic's not here. I've got to fill in, right?
[A world full of KILLING….]
What kind of fucking person rebels against Sonic?
What kind of idiot doesn't just ignore, but goes against the man who's an idol and a hero to millions?
[And blood SPILLING that won't ever change…!]
And instead of going with the idea of helping out, putting others before myself, and upholding justice wherever possible, I'm following my parents—who hate my friend just because she doesn't have money and would want me to just watch her die, now.
[And they say that a HERO could save us, I'm NOT gonna stand here and wait…!]
What sort of idiot am I?
Listen to the fucking song. I've got to do something about this.
I leap high into the air…
And come careening down toward Shade, shoulders jutting and bracing myself for the impact.
CLACK.
…ouch…
"What the fuck..?! Tails?!"
Shade is momentarily displaced by the impact, opening a window of opportunity by just a crack. Trying desperately to ignore the pain shooting through my spine and throbbing in my shoulder, I whirl around and grab Amy.
"Come on!"
[I'll hold onto the WINGS of the eagles, WATCH as we all fly away….EyAH ha haaaa…]
I attempt rather pathetically to hoist Amy under my arms in true hero fashion, but despite how much stronger I've gotten, it ends up looking more like I'm hauling her off to a date rape session. That kid of hers must be making her pretty heavy.
I decide to go back to tradition. I lift her off my arms and let her swing freely down until I can just hold tightly onto her arms. She does the same to mine. The sudden weight drags me down a bit, but I can deal with it.
I'm flying rather slowly due to stiff tails. Shade begins to catch up, jetting behind us on propulsion rockets in his feet. Remind me to salvage those for spare parts if we ever destroy this thing.
I try and go higher, pulling Amy to a secluded alcove near a parking garage. I set her down.
She looks at me, in shock and relief, and sits down, shaken. She motions at my headphones. I pull one side out so I can hear.
"…Th…thanks…"
[NOW THAT THE world isn't ending, it's love that I'm sending to you….]
"I am never doing that again until you get that thing out of your stomach."
She rolls her eyes, but doesn't look annoyed. It would seem she's too relieved.
"Now what do we do?" she asks. "That thing isn't gone."
I was afraid of this.
Unfortunately, my original plan of taking Shade down was, now that I can think straight, waterlogged in adrenaline and testosterone. Now I'm not sure what to do.
Take him down? Yeah, right, with what? I haven't even got my bat. And even if I did it would just snap against the steel.
[It isn't the LOVE of a hero, THAT'S why I fear it won't do….]
I hear the mechanical hum of his jets getting closer. He'll find us soon.
Well.
I guess there's really only one thing I can do.
Fight him. Or die in the attempt.
[And they say that a HERO could save us, I'm NOT gonna stand here and wait…!]
I hand Amy my backpack.
"What do I do with this?"
"If this doesn't work, I want you to take that to Kays' apartment and give it to him. You know where he lives."
"If WHAT doesn't work?"
"I'm going to fight it, Amy."
Insane pause.
"You're WHAT?!"
"I'm going to fight that robot."
Another insane pause.
"Are you fucking nuts?!"
"Yes."
[I'll hold onto the WINGS of the eagles, WATCH as we all fly away…!]
I practically explode out of the little annex and into the empty back street, my eyes searching for Shade.
I see him.
His glowing amber eyes pierce the dim evening light, softly illuminating his matte-black head and chrome red stripes, giving his metal form the presence of an oncoming vehicle. How fitting.
He makes full use of that presence and rushes at me. I leap quickly out of the way and he careens underneath me, going several feet past before braking harshly and whipping around.
I land and duck urgently while he soars over my head, rolling through the air in a ball. He hits the ground and keeps rolling, then suddenly turns around in a way not unlike a motorcycle. He stays curled up.
I see where he's going with this.
As quickly as I can, I bolt over to a gray concrete wall and stand a couple of feet away from it.
[And they're WATCHIN' us…]
[(Watchin')]
[They're WATCHING us… As we all FLY away, yeah-ah-ah!]
He does exactly what I expected. He does Sonic's famous spin-dash, or something similar. The huge chunk of metal belts toward me like the coming train it stands for, allowing me a mere second to leap out of the way and send him colliding through the concrete wall. A mess of bricks, cement blocks, and gravel implodes from the wall.
Gathering my breath, I rush in after him before the adrenaline wears off.
He's dented, scratched, gouged, and dinged, but he doesn't show a sign of giving up. Just standing up from his curl and turning around to meet my eyes. He's a fair distance away, mind you.
He's blown through the wall of the old parking garage.
Now he's on my territory.
I think as quickly as possible and recover a suitably sized chunk of cement. He rushes at me.
[And they're WATCHIN' us…]
[(Watchin')]
[They're WATCHING us… As we all FLY away, yeah-ah-ah!]
Instead of doing what I expect the situation would require, I just go for it directly.
Instead of ducking behind a pillar and ensuing in a melee of fancy footwork and pillar smashing, I just rush straight back at him, arm outstretched.
The brick meets his head, toppling him backwards. I soar horizontally over him and crash into the ground, to stand up and quickly run over to his form. He tries to get up.
"Not this time, asshole!"
I slam the brick into his chest, caving a sizeable dent into the plating.
Eggman makes armor for his bots that can withstand lasers, bullets, other robots, collisions…
But not the repeated pummeling with cement by an enraged 13-year-old boy.
I take the cement to every part of his sorry fucking form, leaving caves in his plating everywhere. Feet, legs, arms, torso, head, you name it. After about fifteen strikes I've knocked out his foot propulsion, practically disabled both forearms, unearthed the circuitry in his torso, destroyed one of his visual receptors and loosened the plating on his head.
I just continue.
Clang. Clang. Clang. Clang.
Clang. Clang. Clang. Clang.
Clang. Clang. Clang. Clang.
After that he won't even move. He just makes weak whirring noises and grinding sounds, sparks flying from his body and eyes. The burn feels good.
He tries to move his head, instead just making stutter and jut gradually in my direction.
He stares up blankly at me.
"IS THIS ALL YOU KNOW?!" I scream at him.
"DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING BUT PAIN AND DEATH AND KILLING?! IS THIS JUST A FUCKING *GAME* TO YOU?!
"YOU KILLED MY FRIENDS, YOU ATTACKED MY FAMILY, AND NOW…"
I can't think of anything else to say.
His voice crackles softly.
"Identity… unspecified," he drones.
"Tails, you cock-licker! Don't you fucking forget it!"
Silence for a moment.
"Miles… Tails… Prower…?" he says, making it sound like a question.
"Damn right!" I slam the cement into his forehead again, making his remaining eye flicker.
"Objective… 7… failed," his speaker hums weakly, giving it an air of defeat.
That's it.
Clang.
I tear the metal plating from his head and knock it off totally with the block, exposing his computer and cranial equipment.
I take cement to his hardware, slamming the brick into it repeatedly so every little plastic piece, every copper piece, everything that can be called hardware resembles that of angelfire.com on a good day.
Translation: Absolute shit.
And that's it, by the look of it.
That's the end of it.
Shade is gone.
I stand up from his corpse and breathe heavily, trying to stop myself from throwing up. Stamina.
Too late.
At least, though, I do it on him.
"Jesus, are you alright?"
I turn around weakly and look up at Amy, who's looking down at me cautiously, as if afraid I'll brick her too. She has my bag slung over her shoulder.
I sigh deeply and turn back around, breathing even more heavily.
"I… got him… he's gone," I manage to pant out. Amy smiles warmly, or something similar to it.
"You'll be needing this, I think."
She hands my bag to me.
"You didn't look inside, did you?"
"…no, why?"
"Never mind."
I take the bag gratefully and stand up.
Now I have to get to Kays' place. But I can't just leave Amy here.
"Amy… I'll give you a lift back to Rouge's place. You'll be safer."
She looks around, clutching the sides of her coat onto her body.
"Okay. But stay low, it's cold out."
Sigh. Still Amy, I guess.
But I can't help feeling good about the look she gave me a moment ago.
We walk outside and I take her arms, as she grips mine.
"Your biceps have gotten huge," she says, probably brinking a laugh. "You badass."
"Fish."
I suppose she can't help laughing, so she does.
That's that, I guess.
I start my way back to her apartment and try not to get too relaxed. No doubt the night still has some surprises up its sleeve.
[And they're WATCHIN' us…]
[Watchin']
[They're WATCHING us… as we all fly away…]
[Yeah, yeah…]
[Whoa, whoa…]
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