Author's notes: Sorry for not updating. Hope this insn't disappointing...Ok, got a bumper crop of reviews on the last chapter. Thanks to everyone! Ok, now for the fourth chapter. Enjoy! And, yeah, Tara is a fan character. If I write other fan-fics, maybe I can include her? Oh, and with every fan character, there is a disclaimer...
Disclaimer(revised): I dunno who would want to use her or him, but Tara and Sopher are mine. All mine. You'll have to ask before you can use her. But Sonic and co are not mine.
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Chapter 4: Choices
Sopher sat on the hard, cold, stone floor, sweating profusely as he looked at the digital timer fixed against the wall, heart beating every time a second ticked down the timer on the wall. 11 hours, 52 minutes and 34 seconds was probably going to be how long he and his wife had left to live, give or take a few seconds. Or maybe it was how long someone else had to live, he didn't know. It was up to her daughter to decide. But Robotnik was the one who made all the rules, and he could change them whenever he wanted.
He buried his head into his hands. Of all people who could have been captured, why did Dr.Robotnik have to pick this 3? They were only a bunch of nomads, going around the plains, searching and begging for food to eat, with clothes and a photo as their only possessions. And of all three, why did Robotnik have to give Tara such emotional pain? She was only 8 years old, an innocent, young cheerful girl, and was probably, deep inside, suffering right now. Why didn't he choose him to do the job? Why did he choose her?
Why?
He let out a cry of anger as he banged his fist against the wall.
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At the other end of the huge underground fortress sat the overweight doctor, sitting on his hovering green chair that so willingly took his weight for its 8 years of service. And existance. In front of him was a small monitor screen showing many, many meaningless words that only made sense to an experienced hacker, while beside him on the cup holder was a big mug of egg nog, which was still filled to its brim. Beads of sweat rolled down his cheeks as he typed furiously on the keyboard, careful not to make any mistakes. He has been doing that for hours now; reprogramming an inhibitor chip wasn't an easy task.
Dr.Robotnik panted. He should normally be taking a nap right now, or relaxing in his chair now. But, this morning, he made an inference. "If Tails was in Knothole now, as shown by his tracker, he should be relieved of all programming by now, which meant that something like an inhibitor chip must've been installed. Which would disable any electronic device except itself interfering with the body's or brain's processes."
Which would mean that his master plan will fail...
At that thought, he immediately scrambled for the green chair, and spent the whole morning trying to get into the software, which was the easy part. He was now doing the hard part, reprogramming the chip such that it would allow the device to be installed into the poor fox's brain, and at the same time not allow his robotic brain to awaken... He had tried to deactivate it for good, but, how was he going to do that to something that's already off?
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The Sun would have normally used its heat to force everyone into their homes, but today, much to its dismay, the sky was cloudy. Children in the vilage were beginning to come out of their homes to play games with each other, as Tara sat on a bench, watching them. She had tried to join them, but apparently, they were really to shy to play with her... Or so they said.
Suddenly, a voice came from behind her.
"Alright." Sally said excitingly. "Tails, this is Tara. And Tara, this two-tailed fox is Tails."
Tails opened his mouth to speak, but Tara beat him to it. "Hi Tails!!!" Tara said as she shook his hand vigorously, smiling to a confused Tails. "I've been wanting to meet you for a loooong time, Tails! I'm so glad to finally meet you!!!"
"Errrrrr, hello Tara... Hey, I've never seen you around before... so what brings you here?" Tails replied with a slight smile.
Tara looked down. "My parents... they.... died after falling off a cliff... I mean, got eaten by an ice monster. My family... had no real home... so we wanted to come here to stay... But, I'm the only one who is here now, they...risked their lives...for me..." Tara said coldly.
But suddenly, she looked up with a smiling face. "So, how did you get two tails, Tails??? They must be really, really, cool, right? I heard you can fly with those, can I see you do it? Pleasseee..."
Tails was laughing as he said, "Sure, Tara!" Wow. She was soooooo cute... He looked around, but Sally wasn't there anymore. He shrugged and began to twist his tails...
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"Oh great!" Sonic muttered to himself as he sat on his chair, burying his head into his hands. "I can't believe I forgot my best buddy's birthday! What am I supposed to give him?"
He felt really, really guilty. From the day Tails met him, he never failed to give a little surprise to his idol during his birthday, not even once, no matter what situation he was in or how he felt. From little 'drawings' to shoes that massaged his feet and allowed him to run at the same time, Tails gave them as a token of appreciation to show that he was thankful for what he had done for him...
But unlike him, Sonic had always only left a simple birthday card, with just "Happy Birthday" written on it. That is if he had remembered his birthday at all... Although Tails always said he was happy with them, Sonic could sense he was not...
He couldn't just do that again, not this year, after what had happened to Tails. He had to give him something special, something cool, at least something...
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"Wow, Tails! How did you stay up there for sooooo long?" Tara looked up to him, asking him.
"Well, I cheated a little...." Tails replied as he slowed down his mechanical tails to a top as he landed on the ground.
"Huh? What do you mean, Tails?" Tara said.
Suddenly, two razor-sharp blades popped out of Tails' tails, making Tara shriek.
"Don't worry, Tara!" Tails said as he withdrew them, chuckling, "I won't hurt you.... I almost got turned into a robot by Dr.Robotnik, but luckily, Sonic and Sally managed to cause a blackout, so I'm only, ermmm, a half-robot, something like Bunnie. But, well, Dr.Robotnik is dead now, so you don't have to worry..."
"Was... it painful, Tails?" Tara asked, face showing concern.
"Yeah.... Very... But, if you're in that machine, the pain will be the least of your problems. You'll become a mindless robot..."
Tara remained silent for a while. Was that how her parents were going to suffer? Noooooo. She couldn't bear this, seeing her parents being turned into those things. No wonder everyday, in her prison cell back at the base, she would see a wolf or a rabbit with fear in their eyes enter her master's control room, and then out came metal thingys that looked similar to the wolf or the rabbit march out. Was her parents next?
She immediately turned away from Tails and ran to her hut, slamming the door behind her loudly.
Confused by her actions, Tails also ran towards the door and knocked on it. No answer. He knocked a few more times without success, before walking away from the door. Was it something he said? He sighed as he walked off...
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Meanwhile, Tara took out a small needle gun from her bag, loading it with the device....
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I'm not sure whether this is good. So please review...
