Chapter 14 – Nine Lives an Advantage!
A/N: Coming to the end of this fic shortly, but next chapter might be delayed due to excessive travelling and workload. Reviewers as always get the first shout:
HHH – Yeah, I hoped people would really get an image of the picture from my words; hope it worked okay for you. Speaking of pictures; is your finger all right now – it wasn't actually broken was it? That hurts like hell:-(.
RGN – That's a good point; not wanting to be rude, but Australia's probably not the easiest place in the world to live; having more babies means mathematically some of them will survive, but what about the dingo? Any idea why it's the only mammal?
Ri2 – The ceiling, as I said, is important, but no Lien's not really attracted to Metal – she's not quite that twisted (yet!). And yes, Dimitri does have honour, but that's not quite the reason he didn't just take what he needed and let Metal rust – more in future chapters.
GTP – Ahh, the site ate the address; I'd love to read your idea but can't find it. You might need to mail me; I'm really interested now. Please tell me!
TH – As you command, oh mighty one – more writing to appease you (p.s – get ready to kick some fat Italian behind!)
Okay, this is it, last time; with a determined glare, Cream set her sights on the runway beneath her, concentration etched in her face as her now well-practised eye took in everything the instrument panel had to tell her in one fluid glance. Everything was perfect, now it was just a case of slowly easing the stick to where it needed to go, gently but firmly, enough control to make the landing seem as controlled and calm as possible.
"That's it", she heard the soothing voice to the side of her as her hand ever so slowly eased off its pressure, watching the altitude drop, "slow and steady might not always win the race…"
"…But at least it doesn't end up splattered on the tarmac". Cream finished the saying she'd come up with in concert with her instructor, though her face was still grim and concentrating as suddenly the Mystic Ruins airstrip lurched upwards into view. For a second she hesitated, but with a hasty breath she corrected her fractional error, calming her frenziedly hammering heart as the pitch of the Tornado's engines died away, killing the speed of the aircraft to an acceptable, safe level for landing. There was a tense few seconds, there were always a tense few second; Tails had made it perfectly clear that even after years of flying all kind of aircraft he still had butterflies in his stomach as he levelled out, the rise of the aircraft's nose giving the illusion of the plane skimming just above the surface of the runway rather than coming in to touch down on it. With a sudden bump, the rabbit sighed in triumph and relief; that was touchdown, the hardest bit was over – now all she had to do was put on the brakes gradually to make sure the plane didn't stall or flip over. Mind you, Tails did say anyone who cartwheels an aircraft on a runway this straight must have the brains of a gnat; so cheered, Cream lowered the power levels of the engines and casually glanced out the side of the cockpit; beyond where the turbines of Tails' plane were slowing down to idle speed, she could just make out the flash of colour of her mother's car, though she couldn't see Vanilla herself.
"An A grade pass", she looked back around and found herself mimicking Tails' ecstatic grin; even though he knew she was well versed in flying, possibly in a better starting position than he had been as her ears behaved a lot more like plane wings than his tails did, her progress was still managing to surprise him. Not even a dozen lessons under my belt and I'm already landing; the rabbit had an understandable swagger in her manner as the Tornado finally came to a complete stop and, with a quick flourish and suitable smile, she flicked her left ear up to pop the cockpit button,
"Well, after you instructor" she grinned pleasantly, though Tails folded his arms, his own smile a little more forbidding as he drummed his fingers on the fur of his biceps.
"Perfect up until the very last point Cream"; what, no way;
"How?" She was indignant about this; she'd spent most of last night's supposed homework time memorising the pointers he'd given her on landing and that had been picture-perfect, "I bled the power at the right speed, I touched down great and we've got at least a quarter of the runway left".
"And therein lies the problem", Tails cut her off with a single majestic finger twirling the air; smiling sardonically, the fox pointed to where the open mouth of the Tornado's hanger yawned open like a mighty whale's maw, "didn't I mention I wanted the Tornado parked for refuelling before tomorrow".
Ah, yeah, you might have mentioned…; Cream chocked off her arguments, deflating almost visibly as her cheeks underwent a light suffusion of rose and she gave an embarrassed giggle,
"Oops, sorry Tails, I must have forgotten". He dropped his act and shook his head, shucking off his restraint at the same time as offer both consolation and warning,
"Don't worry, I'll roll it in later; you've done all the hard work by lining it up dead straight. Just remember though, they might say something like that on the exam right at the start and they'll mark you down for it if you don't remember, so stay sharp in case they do".
"That's mean", Cream goggled at the sheer evilness of such an act, "you're taking an exam for goodness sake, you're under pressure from the word go".
"That's what they're testing for Cream", Tails was serious as lent his hand to pull her up, eyes hard as he remembered his own experience; the nerve-jangling hell of his exam for his amateur pilot's license – he was certain they'd made it harder than normal because he was so young, but even so he'd squeaked through, the minor mishap of stalling on take-off put down to nerves and discounted, "being a pilot's a hard job to do; think about it, you've got lives in your hands, so you've got to listen to orders. Imagine forgetting an instruction for a flight tower".
"I'd rather not"; Cream could picture the carnage that might result from that and resolved even harder to listen to everything Tails said when he was training her. Seeing her face darken and for some reason discouraged by that, the fox put a compassionate hand on her nearest ear and gave a small rub, smiling as he did so,
"Hey, that was only a little thing; I tell you what, you put on a show like that when this is for real and they'll sign you up for the pro license like a shot".
"Really?" Her face brightened, eyes brighter now and that cheered the fox no end; without really thinking about what he was saying, words came to him,
"Oh yeah; nothing wrong, you got the pitch tunes right, covered the engine like a pro and the landing was inch perfect – you're a natural at this".
"Yay", Cream gave her victory pose as Tails watched on, smiling at making her feel happy again, "I'm gonna make them all so jealous; the teachers all laughed at me when I said I was going to be a pilot – can I borrow the Tornado, please?"
"No", much as he liked the image of Cream performing a flypast of her school, he couldn't let her try that. At least, not yet, "when you get the license, then, maybe".
"Aww, you are so sweet, I, ah…"
Cream blushed and turned away slightly, looking out the side of the cockpit as Tails did likewise, though a weird, strange warmth, not the spicy heatedness of a proper blush, swell up from inside him, robbing him of the ability to breathe properly and making him feel light-headed. She called me sweet; in his delusions, his mind started drawing lurid choreographs and comparisons; maybe she'll think I'm an ice-cream – I'd love to be one if she's eating…;
"Hey", the shout from below broke his warped ideas and jerked him back to reality with equal pangs of both regret and relief, "are you pestering that fox up there young lady?"
"No I'm not", Tails turned around to see Cream shout back to her mother, though even from here he could see her face was brick red, "we were, er, having a civilised conversation about how I can get better".
"Right; I'll believe that when I hear it", the older rabbit spoke light-heartedly before ordering, "come on; sorry to hurry you along but we really need to get to the stores before rush hour starts".
"Coming mum"; still without looking at him, Cream descended from the Tornado's perch with Tails following a second later, only just remembering to take his keys from the ignition as his mind seemed to have been filled with a strange, warm fog that dulled it with a pleasant, dreamy haze. His feet touched the floor and quickly shaking off the cloying mist, he walked over to the pair of rabbits and returned Vanilla's smile,
"Thank you again Tails; how's she doing now?"
"She's, ah, coming along fine", Tails tried desperately to be complimentary without giving the elder rabbit a chance to suspect the conversation they'd just had the thoughts it had germinated, "did you see her come into land; that was first class work. She's going to be an excellent pilot Vanilla; I don't care what her teachers say".
"Neither does she, more's the pity", Vanilla looked down at her daughter smirking as she tried to hide her face with her ears, "something about not putting in enough effort on the Maths homework".
"I hate Maths" Cream countered, shaking her head as she tried to turn the argument on its head for her advantage, "and I'm doing fine at everything else".
"True", Vanilla conceded before looking at her watch and starting, "but anyway we really have to get moving; thank you Tails"; she reached from her purse out of habit even before Tails leant forwards and clasped it shut, speaking sternly,
"You should know by now; I don't charge for friends, get it?" The elder rabbit put a hand over her eyes, chiding herself for her forgetfulness as Cream brightened,
"Yeah mum, telling me off for forgetting things", satisfied at scoring one up over her mother, she turned to her instructor, a little more unsure here as in the end she extended a hand and said in a voice that held more bravado than actually courage, "thanks for everything Tails; see you, er, next time?"
"You, um, you sure will", his tone was identical in pitch and composition to her, putting a brave face on internal doubts and uncertainties, "see you later Cream". She nodded enthusiastically, her smile still unsteady but gaining strength eventually,
"You bet; goodbye Tails, and thanks again". The fox didn't want to drag this parting out any longer so didn't answer, merely nodding, escorting his guests to their car and waving as they pulled off, his eyes for some reason refusing to leave Cream's window until Vanilla drove the car from sight.
XXX
For a few minutes, the fox merely stood, watching where the car had gone and holding his breath, trying to get a hold of his bucking emotions; since Cream had spoken he'd been in some kind of mad dream. I need a shower and a drink; Tails visibly shook himself and restored mobility to his legs, forcing them to transport the rest of his body back to his house and workshop, already planning in detail what he fancied for a snack and to drink. Better keep healthy, got some fresh apples and kiwis so I can get a decent fruit salad, and I've got plenty of milk, so…hey, what's that? Previous thoughts of food, and poignantly the memories of the rabbit girl the serious preparations of his light snack were disguising, were buried by confusion as he saw the image on his front door. Moving up to see it more closely, he saw the two overlaid squares were actually an A4 manila envelope and a smaller scrap of paper atop it, both pinned to his front door with one tack. As he came closer, Tails noticed writing on the topmost piece and even at this range, he could tell who it was from. Still, just for interest's sake, the fox read what his friend had sent him this time:
Hi Tails.
Sorry I couldn't see you directly; you just took off as I arrived. I saw you flying a little bit thought – looks exciting! I bet Cream's enjoying it.
Anyway, I need a favour; next time your up on A.I. could you drop this envelope off to Mighty? Just say I've made up a promise then get out of Dodge!
Thanks
Big
Now that was weird; Tails blinked and scratched one of his ears as he tried to make sense of this. What promise was he on about here, and more to the point, when had it been made? What in the name of the good lord above had those two got up to in the swamp that night?
A couple of scenarios, each as unlikely as the next, tickled the fox's funny bone even as his rational mind denounced them; after all, where would Big get a harmonic and sheepskin at that short notice? Carefully unpinning the envelope and keeping the note with it, the question of what this was nibbled at Tails, but for the time being he tucked it away in his mind at the same time he stashed the plain envelope next to the batteries he had for Vector and the mound of mints he had to deliver for Charmy. Surveying this mass of sweet smelling menthol, the fox shook his head as he opened the fridge; I'm starting to like these Chaotix runs – at least they keep my Tornado smelling fresh.
XXX
"So what do you think to all of this then Mighty?" Rouge held the door of the store they had chosen as their target open as the armadillo stepped through; knowing the deeper meaning of the bat's words, she shrugged,
"It's alright I suppose", she said carelessly, picking out the shorts she was looking for with well-practised ease and heading for them, "it's got risked attached, but then again what hasn't these days? You must feel the same way right?"
"Oh yeah", Rouge smiled before suddenly the light in her eyes dimmed a little and she shivered, "sometimes Mighty, I lie awake at night, not sure what'll happen tomorrow – now we know the Overlord's back it's just got a whole lost work. His job could be fatal to everyone we know, and I know he'd rather die there than risk it falling into the hands of a tyrant".
"We all would Rouge", the bat's ears perked up as she heard the armadillo's softer voice, "look at it this way; you two aren't on your own any more, you've got us there to lend you a hand. Even if that's not enough, Tails can run the others here in what, an hour max? We've never been safer than now, even the Brotherhood says so and I'm not one to judge but Spectre looks like he's got a rather thick neck".
"Like a tree trunk" Rouge smiled before Mighty laughed and shook her head,
"Me and tree trunks, now there's something you two have got to see", registering her new friend's querying glance the armadillo offered, "put it this way – if Vector's the pruning shears, I'm the chainsaw".
"Right", Rouge sniggered as she saw the comparison, "you've done most of the heavy work haven't you?"
"Yeah, that was one of the reasons Vector and the others hired me, now that was a laugh", Mighty beckoned the bat a little closer under the guise of checking price tags, "there I was just playing a quick hand with Sonic and the others at his place, sort of drowning my sorrows at not getting this job on the mainland, then Shadow suddenly goes all dawn of the dead on me, staring like I'm some kind of freak and sort of lurches out the room. We're all mystified until he calls Tails and then they both come back grinning like nutters. Of course, I have to ask as he's beaming at me – I tell you, I half-expected him to announce he'd booked a table at the Ritz for two and was whisking me off for a romantic dinner", Rouge bit her lip, face screwed up as she tried not to picture Shadow wining and dining Mighty by candle light, a rose clenched delicately between his teeth as he span her around the ballroom; the armadillo waited for her to choke back her giggles before finishing, "yeah I know, I laughed about it later as well, but what he had done was almost as good; he fixed up an interview with the Chaotix and things just snowballed from there. I owe him one for that now I think of it".
"Believe me coffee is the way to go with Shads" Rouge affirmed as she remembered the black hedgehog's seeming addiction to the hot black stuff, "send him a couple of jars of home brew and he's your friend for life".
"Better than Sonic used to be then – a couple of Pixie Sticks and he was anybody's when we were kids".
"Really?" Fodder for the cannon, load up and store away – commencing bombardment at the earliest opportunity; never one to miss an opportunity to gain priceless information, the bat sidled a little closer and asked neutrally, "what was he like as a kid?"
"Sorry, my lips are sealed", chuckling, Mighty very gently buffeted the suddenly forlorn bat's shoulder, "he said you might try something like that; I'm under oath not to tell you any of the embarrassing secrets he had when he was eight".
"Oh you teaser" Rouge mock-snarled, though her eyes widened as she saw Mighty pick something off the rack, "going for those?"
"Yeah, they're my size, look hard wearing as well".
"Nah, these are what you want if you need stuff to last", Rouge hoisted off a pair of shorts very similar to the ones Mighty held, pointing at the label as though offering sound proof of her decision, "look at the materials; these'll last for donkeys years". Mighty scrutinised the small white tag and eventually replaced the pair she'd been after originally, nodding her thanks as she made her selection.
"Thanks, glad you're here Rouge; not meaning to call you posh or anything, but you've got a better fashion sense than me".
"Ah, just something that comes over time; took me years to get it right – the guys told you what I used to do right?"
"They, let a few facts slip", Mighty assured her diplomatically, not wanting to drop her work mates in it with the whole truth; after all there were a few facts in there she didn't believe herself – Charmy's story involving Eggman, a blindfold and a couple of sweet nothings just couldn't be true on the grounds of good taste alone. Looking down, the newest member of the Chaotix checked her basket and nodded,
"Right, I'm cool, got everything I need; just you".
"Nah, I'm aright for now, just window shopping mostly, but don't worry", as if by magic something appeared in the bat's hand and she tapped it against the armadillo's hand basket, "this one's on me".
"No Rouge, you can't…"
"I don't intend to", she assured serenely, expanding with a sigh as Mighty gave a quizzical glance, "I keep telling him, but he never remembers. Hopefully he'll have realised by now".
XXX
The peace of the shared home was shattered by a dull slap as Knuckles allowed his palm and forehead to collide at high speed, a groan of frustration escaping as he dragged his hand downwards in torpid defeat,
"That's what's missing from this equation".
"S'up red?" Vector looked over from his seat, lowering the paper as the echidna rummaged in his pocket, checking his wallet and sighing,
"Knew she looked a little too cheerful this morning; I've been had again", the guardian tipped his wallet upside down and nothing fluttered to the floor, Knuckles heaving a sigh as once more the cupboard was bare, "she's swiped my card".
"Isn't that stealing?" Charmy looked up from his comic, mild alarm on his face as he asked; Knuckles shook his head and sat back,
"Normally yeah, but this is different; we've got a joint account and our own cards, so the money technically belongs to both of us".
"So why…"
"Because she's Rouge, she can and I let her get away with it", the guardian chuckled and shook his head, the pillow behind his thumping slightly as his dreadlocks battered it, "it's just a game we play; she tries to steal something, I have to catch her. She's won this time, but she'll pay for that tonight". There was a muffled giggle from the floor followed by a chant,
"Go Knuxie, go Knuxie, go Knuxeeheeuuurrgh!" Charmy was cut off as the guardian moved like a striking snake, suddenly one of his feet was slowly crushing the bee into the floor and he smiled down at his captive,
"Sorry Charmy, don't think I quite caught that", he increased the pressure slightly and the bee squawked as more air was forced out, "what were you saying?"
"Nuh, nothing"; he tried to look innocent at the same time as not let his stomach flop out his mouth, thankfully after a second of glaring the guardian took his foot off the gas and let the younger Mobian go, nothing but pride damaged.
"And let that be a lesson buzzer", Knuckles warned sagely as he retook his seat, "don't mock without keeping your eyes…" A sudden knock at the door interrupted the lecture, Charmy taking advantage to dive out the room and head for the front door. The other two heard his greeting from the front room,
"All right, bang on time; come on in, come on in – did you, oh you did, how much this time?"
"A full tenner's worth; that should keep their sweet teeth happy for a while never mind your comic fixation".
"Hey, it is not a fixation, just an, ah, exaggerated interest, okay?"
"Right", Tails must have conceded to the extravagant bluff as he changed tack accordingly, "where's Vector; got his four A's awaiting". Knuckles glanced over as the crocodile set his paper down and called,
"Bring them in here Tails please; Charmy, get the kettle on, this calls for a victory brew".
"On it"; simultaneously, the kettle clicked on and the door to the front room opened, framing the Mobian who walked in and deposited the batteries with a clump on the table.
"Nice one TT, pleasure as always. Keep the change" Vector added as he slipped the fox a twenty; Tails goggled,
"What's with the generosity all of a sudden? You were tighter than Rouge's suit last time, what's changed?" The crocodile saw Knuckles rise up slowly out the corner of his eye and cleared his throat carefully,
"Well, the new job's payin' well, so I can afford to be generous to my friends".
"Oh right", Tails cheerfully pocketed the cash, blissfully unaware of his stealthily approaching doom as he continued, "I shall look forwards to coming here again". Of course, the sudden growl in his ear took him completely out the blue, sending him a foot in the air and almost careening into the crocodile's lap as Knuckles made his presence felt,
"Mention my wife's clothing too often and there'll be a permanent place for you here, under the floorboards", the echidna bored into the startled fox's face with a steely eye before relenting a faction, "besides, her jumpsuit now's nothing compared to some of the things she had to wear on missions". As Knuckles recollected wistfully, Tails managed to stop his heart from hammering into overdrive and finally managed to gasp,
"Knuckles", he panted as shock ate into his system, "don't do that!"
"Why not, you just insulted the woman of my dreams".
"Take it up with Sonic, that's one of his sayings; I've just heard it so often it stuck with me", the pilot tried to defend himself as Knuckles masked a smile by raising his glove to his lip; yeah, that sounds too familiar to be anything else – ooh, what would he pay me to keep that secret from Rouge? As the guardian turned bribery over in his mind, Tails turned to Vector and asked,
"Mighty around?"
"Nah, she's actually out with Rouge", the crocodile chuckled as Tails flicked his eyes to the heavens and sighed in relief, "just as well they've gone or you'd be flying your plane home with your feet".
"My feet if I was lucky; Rouge'd marmalise me for that one" Tails consciously rubbed his elbows before something grabbed Vector's attention and he tapped the side of his jaw with a set of fingers,
"What you after Mighty for? You on a schedule?"
"Oh no, I can go whenever she's ready", Tails informed him before exposing an envelope, still held flat and creaseless as he finished; "she's got a delivery is all".
That's unusual; though Mighty had told them she still kept in contact with some of her family, she normally did so over the phone; this was the first letter they'd sent that Vector knew of. Still, it wasn't his business so he just shrugged,
"She'll be back soon and she'll want to go pretty much from there. Any idea who it's from?"
"Oh yeah, he left a note", Tails handed the paper to the crocodile, Vector holding it up as a now curious Knuckles moved around the back of his chair to read over the reptile's shoulder. After a couple of seconds, both looked up even more curious than they had been a few seconds ago,
"I didn't think Big and Mighty knew each other?"
"They weren't supposed to", Tails laughed as he recalled the phone conversation he'd had with his brother informing him of the whereabouts of his absentee, "she tried to hike to Mystic Ruins and took a wrong turn, ended up in the swamp and a bad way before Big showed up. She crashed at his for the night and I picked her up first thing next morning, that's why she was a day late for you lot".
"I wondered why that was; she never told us" Vector joined in the laughter before nodding at the envelope, "so what's in there?"
"No idea, haven't looked"; that was true, though Tails didn't divulge the struggle he'd had keeping his hands to himself through the flight here, the envelope propped up in the seat next to him, somehow inviting and mocking both at the same time, daring him to open the forbidden treasure. Knuckles quickly scanned Big's note again and made a few deductions,
"Well it can't be dangerous and I doubt it's anything important; look here, he says get out of Dodge, can't be too sensitive if he's joking about it can he?"
"I, ah, I guess not" Tails agreed casually, trying to disguise his itchy fingers as all three Mobians had their eyes drawn magnetically to the stuck down top of the sealed envelope. Vector spoke next, his eyes nearly dreamy,
"There's no actual addressee", he pointed at the blank face of the envelope, "anyone can open a blank envelope, just to check who it's for".
"Yeah, Big might have changed his mind, it could be for anyone"; Knuckles had fallen under the spell of mischief, grinning as his desperation to know what was in there bloomed into a vehement thirst, "we need to make sure".
In the silence that followed, Tails felt not two, but three pairs of eyes settle on him, Charmy stood in the doorway, mugs forgotten as his eyes remained fixed on the heathen promise of the unknown. With such expectation, what was a fox to do – slowly, trying hard to keep his expression idly curious, Tails carefully fitted his pinkie through the gap in the envelope flap and, with a breath, began to slit it open.
XXX
With bags ready and shopping done, bat and armadillo headed for the Chaotix's base, Mighty in particular picking up the pace as she realised Tails would probably be waiting for her by the time they got back. As they drew nearer, Rouge set one of her carriers on the floor and wipes a trickle of sweat from her brow before it could itch too much,
"Whew, looking forwards to a decent tea when we get there".
"Tell me about it", Mighty agreed before pausing, the bat's words touching on a subject she, and the rest of the Chaotix for that matter, had a deep interest in, "speaking of getting there; any ideas yet?" Rouge was more than smart enough to figure out what the armadillo was driving at and her ears flattened, shaking her head in disappointment at the lack of results,
"No, nothing yet; Lara and Wyn are as mystified as we are. Knuckles keeps trying to corner Locke, he reckons one of the Brotherhoods' got something to do with it, but daddy-in-law's slipperier than a greased eel".
"I agree; you never see him around, even in Haven; I doubt I've ever seen him more than once, and I bet that was only because Spectre made him show up".
"Got the full tour of Haven then?"
"Oh yeah, all of it", a reluctant smile spread across the armadillo's face as certain moments of that little trip stood out more than others, "including the infamous training room and a P.E class with Athair". Mighty shuddered as Rouge laughed,
"Ah, he's not that bad; mad as a hatter and then some, but he always means well".
"Tell my shell that; he must have thought I was some kind of travelling musical instrument and kept trying to fine-tune me – took me ages to realise what was making the funny tapping noise; him with a drumstick just behind me". That was enough to crack Rouge up properly; she was still sniggering as Mighty delved into a pocket for her front door key and sighed, stalling opening for a second, eyes serious again,
"Rouge, you know why I'm going down there right?"
"Yeah", the bat's humour drained away; she'd heard why Mighty wanted to visit Sonic again and that the reason wasn't pleasant, "if you're asking if you're doing the right thing, I can only say yes; you have to know what Metal's capable of and he's the only one who can give you the full story. Not even Knuckles knows it all; you really have to have been there to remember everything".
"But I can imagine most of those memories aren't good", Mighty twisted to see Rouge directly, "he's going to have to rake up a lot of the past; can I do that to him as a friend?"
"You don't have a choice Michelle; if you don't the questions will drive you to distraction", Rouge shrugged her shoulders, "catch 22 isn't it".
"Yeah, and Tails is here now, can't just drop him like this can I?"
"Ah sure you could; he's young, he'd bounce". Mighty chuckled as the key slid into the lock and she turned it,
"Not if I dropped him he wouldn't"; there was a click and the door swung to; from the first glimpse of the scene before them, feminine instinct clicked into place and both women knew something was up.
Cautiously stepping over the threshold, Rouge glared at Vector suspiciously as the crocodile was trying very visibly to suppress a smirk,
"Hello Vector", her tone was cool enough to freeze the air, "everything okay?"
"Oh yeah, sweet as a nut", the crocodile's voice just confirmed their suspicions; it was far too high and heaving with suppressed mirth to be entirely innocent, "he's in the lounge; your bags are packed Mi, Mightehehehe!" With that, he hastily turned his back and raced up the stairs, one hand squeezing his jaws shut as he fought to keep some semblance of coherency. Both returned shoppers swapped an understandably confused glance as a door upstairs slammed shut and muffled laughter was heard filtering down the stairwell.
"What was that all about?" Rouge wondered out loud, though Mighty, curiosity piqued and a little on guard as she realised he'd been laughing at her, took more direct action,
"Let's find out shall we?" With that, she stormed down the hallway and swung open the lounge door.
Crikey it's contagious; they were all like he'd been, no-one seemed able to look directly at her, either focussing entirely on their comics or taking a sudden interest in the goings-on of the garden out the window. Mighty looked at each of them, taking a cool, detached interest in the way they all seemed to wilt under her scrutiny, lips folding and eyes narrowing as they each tried not to break down laughing under her stern gaze. She heard Rouge enter behind her and took a deep breath, her hands planted on her hips as she demanded,
"Right, what was the joke?" There was a long silence; for a second the armadillo was afraid she'd had to get the info the hard way before Tails slowly stood up, virtually shaking from head to toe from what looked like an ambivalent mix of fear and amusement,
"Sorry Mighty, they made me do it".
"Liar" Knuckles and Charmy both defended themselves as the fox slowly pointed to an opened envelope on the side; Mighty jerked a thumb at herself and Tail nodded, turning his back, shoulders shaking as he covered his snout with both hands, snickers audibly trying to escape the confinement he'd placed them under. Rouge watched on, a bit baffled by this as Mighty slowly picked up the opened mail and slid something out, staring at it in open-mouthed shock as she saw it clearly; for a second Rouge was afraid she'd rip it up but no, with slow, terrible deliberation her friend lowered her arms and with the same force that all three male Mobians were using to not crack up laughing, she spoke softly,
"Well, that's another reason to head down now"; Rouge decided words would be a bad thing here so merely raised an eyebrow, "I've got my own question to answer, and unlike Knuckles", she favoured the guardian with a deadly eye beam his stifled hysteria blinded him to; "I intend to find out the answer". She smiled with poisonous sweetness as she ever so slowly extended the slip of paper to the bat; as Rouge took it and scanned it, her own eyes widening in disbelief, Mighty's voice rose to a roar of promise,
"I'm gonna see how many ways there are to skin a cat!"
XXX
Rouge's first look delivered a kiss of shock; it was the second that let what she was seeing sink in and really send her the same way it had sent everyone else; she immediately clapped a hand over her mouth to stop herself bursting out laughing as this rib-tickler seared into her. Even as she saw this and tried to contain her reaction, she caught a glimpse of Mighty's furious, bright red face and shuddered; Big, wherever you are you better start running.
She rolled her eyes down again, letting them meet the expression of stupefied shock the cat had so expertly transferred on the armadillo's face in this sketch. The cartoon Mighty had her hands extended over her head, looking like she was gripping onto something and hanging on like grim death even as she looked forwards, eyes wide as saucers and mouth open in an expression of helpless gormlessness, as though she couldn't believe what she was seeing. This already unflattering scene wasn't helped by the water that appeared to be cascading down her body and especially not by the weeds that clung to her, starting to peel off and make her look even more bedraggled as the caption above just put the icing on the cake:
Mystic Ruins or Bust (or Drowned, or Eaten, or…)
XXX
"Stop laughing or I'll rip your tongue out and use it for a skipping rope" Mighty repeated for what felt like the hundredth time, trying to spare her already very apparent blushes as everyone else averted their eyes, huge grins trying not to be mocking but at the same time unable to be anything else. Suitably chastised, Vector tried to assume a more serious pose, which of course fell apart the second she looked away. With a growl, Mighty returned to her biscuits, crunching them up and swallowing with venom as she pictured a hundred and one ways to earn revenge on that impudent, downright cheeky purple fleabag. So caught up in her plotting was she that when Tails gave a small but nevertheless important cough, she had to be tapped on the arm by Knuckles to register it,
"Mighty, I'm, ah, I'm looking to leave fairly soon".
"Right with you; I'll let you lot break down without the fear of violent retribution", she glared at everyone else present, grateful only that Espio wasn't there as his sarcasm would really have pushed her to the absolute limit, "at least not until I get back".
"Have a good trip Mighty; I'm sure you'll be fine", Vector managed to say with a straight face; Charmy though, seemed like he couldn't help himself,
"Yeah, at least if the Tornado crashes we know you can swim to shore"; the bee rocketed to the ceiling as Mighty lunged for him, eyes aflame with the desire to wreak bloody devastation; only a combination of Tails and the two guardians was enough to grudgingly drag her back,
"I'll get you when I get back", the armadillo promised, pointing at the giggling bee with the finger of impaling death, "you wait; I'll pull your wings off and chuck you over the side of this island, then we'll see who can swim or not!"
"Okay, just don't do that now", Tails tried to soothe as he tried to guide her to the door, "we'll get you to Mystic Ruins first, then you can think of how you're going to go about getting even".
XXX
Sonic heard the buzz in his pocket and knew he had to get ready; luckily Amy was only working three days a week at the Quick Stop, so she was free and on hand to give him guidance as to what he had to do. The text from his younger brother had been vague, but he thought he had a rough idea of what the armadillo was after and he wasn't looking forwards to it one bit. The hedgehog flicked his eyes up to the clock, seeing he had about ten minutes to go and realised with a sigh and a shudder that he couldn't put this off any longer. Reaching across, he gently put his hand on top of his girlfriend's frantically scribbling paws, softly stopping its motions and speaking fatalistically as Amy looked up with curiosity,
"Ames, we got to move if we want to be there on time".
"Really?" The pink hedgehog looked up and checked her kitchen clock, eyes widening a little as she saw the display; she gave a weary smile as she clicked her pen away, "time flies when you're having fun huh?"
"Don't worry, it'll all be worth it in the end", the blue hero smiled as she arranged the papers scattered all over the work surface into those she'd filled out, those she was currently having a go at and those she had yet to tackle; as always, the pile of yet to do seemed much too large in his eyes,
"It better be; I swear I've done enough work to earn a degree just to apply for the course", Amy joked as she reached for her bag and tapped his shoulder, "right, that's me ready as I'll ever be". Sonic led her out of the apartment, waiting patiently as she locked the front door behind her and then without warning sprang at him.
"Hey", Sonic had to shuffle his footing to make sure he could catch her properly; it was touch and go for a second but then he had Amy in his arms, giggling at his suddenly stern look, "I will drop you on your head one day".
"Aw Sonic", she looked up innocently, though her mischievous grin didn't much help the illusion, "I knew you'd catch me; you've often said you'd never let me down". The blue hedgehog scowled, causing her to stick her tongue out before he suddenly took off, racing to his own domicile, mind for once way ahead of him as he tried to second-guess what questions Mighty would be most likely to ask.
XXX
Tails pulled the car up expertly, an inch from the curb and spoke as Mighty made to pop open the passenger door,
"Do you want me to…?"
"No Tails, thanks, but this is between me and the Smurf". The fox waved his hand and spoke again,
"Wait, let me finish; I was going to ask did you want me to wait here; I can probably fly you back today if you want". Mighty raised her eyebrows, considering for a second before shaking her head,
"No, thanks for the offer though; I've got…some other things to do while I'm down here", it might have been coincidence, but Tails almost thought he saw fire in her eyes as she said that; before he could confirm it though she spoke again and it was hidden, "besides, they gave me the weekend off; might as well make the most of it right?"
"Yeah", he shook himself; she's got a sweet nature – she's not going to do anything; "never thought of that; okay, if you're sure I'll drop you off here, cool?"
"Fine, thanks for the lift again Tails". The kit smiled and accepted her peck on the cheek as she exited the Tornado, waving as he pulled off. Mighty watched him go, desperate for any excuse to put this off, but as the last trace of the exhaust disappeared around the corner, she had to square up to the reality; I'm here now, and I need answers – like Rouge said, this is a catch 22. Silently asking for Sonic's forgiveness even before she began, the armadillo slowly trudged towards the hedgehog's front door and squared up to it, flexed her hand for a second and then, with great reluctance, pressed the doorbell. For a fleeting second she believed she'd got away with it; he wasn't in, but no, she heard movement and her heart fell as, with a click, the lock was undone from the inside and the door swung open.
"Hi Mighty", his tone, though attempting to be light hearted, there was no disguising the seriousness, so alien to his normal manner, that permeated his tone, "come on in". Giving a weak smile and mumbled thanks, the armadillo slipped past the wide open door, hearing with the dull crump as Sonic closed it behind her; as much as she tried not to, she couldn't stop that noise reminding her of a trapdoor shutting, locking her into a grim scenario with no hope of release.
XXX
Her unasked question was answered by and equally silent reply; Amy was here to help explain the situation Sonic must surely had known was about to kick off. Mighty took a seat without being asked, pulling her seat in close, mind numb as she tried to think of a way to put this delicately. Seeing neither her boyfriend or his old friend making a move and realising that getting the ball rolling was the hardest part of anything like this, Amy made a brave stab at breaking the ice,
"So Mighty", she looked up at her name, seeing the strain in Amy's smile but persevering all the same, "how'd you like Angel Island?"
"It's a cool place and, you never know, I reckon I could really get used to it after a while", the first words were out, it was a downward rush that even someone as strong as Mighty was powerless to halt, "I'm going to get plenty of practise; I'm a full time Chaotix now, you know".
"I heard", Sonic's melancholy voice cut across hers, not angry or demanding and somehow all the more powerful because of that; his mournful eyes locked onto hers and he asked a question he needed to hear with his own ears, "but what really happened Mighty; I don't know it all".
"Espio and I were shopping, then something on his wrist beeped", the rush took over again, words spilling from her lips faster and with more force as the avalanche gathered pace, "then he grabbed me, said lives were in danger; we needed to get home. We ran there, then he hit a hidden button on the wall, showed this teleporting platform; I had to run down a corridor and hit anything that wasn't Charmy or Vector", there was no smile or chuckle as she quoted the chameleon's words; in her mind she could see his façade of calm beginning to crumble with fear she hadn't been able to understand at the time, "so I did; when I arrived, I was in the Shrine of the Master Emerald; Charmy and Vector were there as well. They were fighting", Sonic felt his eyes flutter shut; for one ludicrous second he thought that somehow Mighty would be able to change the story, make it so one of the deadliest foes he'd ever come across had not been resurrected, but it was not to be. Mighty looked up, the only thing in her eyes stronger than her sorrow her determination, to touch the bottom of this swamp as she spoke again,
"They were fighting a robot. A robot that looked a lot like you Sonic, in fact it was nearly identical. They even said it was named after you", he nodded, so lifeless a gesture she almost thought he'd fainted until his head rose a fraction, enough to here her last, needing question, "what is it Sonic – what the hell is Metal Sonic?"
XXX
He was silent for a few seconds, looking into space as though zoning out, detaching himself from his body and the pain of the memories he was forced to impart by her questions,
"I've been fighting for a long time Mighty; I went up against Eggman years ago and fought with him at every turn. Over the years, I kind of developed a grudging respect for the man – after all, you have to admire his persistence, he never quit however many times we beat him. I don't know for sure, but I think Metal Sonic is his respect for me – imitation's the sincerest form of flattery after all". His smile was genuine, but it was dark and dangerous, the hedgehog stepping onto forbidding ground as he shuddered and spoke again,
"Metal Sonic was built by Eggman and used against both me and pretty much everyone else who got in his way. He is, as far as I can tell, one of the most advanced if not the most advanced piece of hardware on the planet today – he's a soulless killer and he'll use anyone and anything to make sure he achieves his goal, usually to attack one of us or steal something valuable. At first he was set against me, and Knuckles as well, to try and destroy us and steal the M.E. but things changed since then".
"Not really, he's still after it as far as I can tell". Mighty reflected on her introduction to the assassin droid, though Sonic shook his head,
"No, nothing about him changed, just he learnt to go his own way", the armadillo cocked her head as Sonic shook his, "he's gone rogue from Eggman; he does his own thing, he even took him prisoner at one stage. He's hell-bent on doing whatever it takes to crush anyone he thinks of as his enemy, yours truly being right at the head of the hit list". Sonic gave an ugly, mirthless laugh as Amy cut in, her voice quavering from fright even as she tried to keep it steady,
"He's taken me hostage before now Mighty, just to get to Sonic", the two women looked across the table at each other, each reading the truth from the other even as only Amy spoke, "he's evil; he just doesn't care about anything but himself and his goals, forget anyone else".
"He really is that bad huh?" Mighty didn't need a spoken answer, the glances were enough; still, not like I haven't given him something to chew over; "but he's not invulnerable; I cracked him once, he's not going to take something like that again".
"He underestimated you", Sonic's sudden warning burst her bubble of contentment, his tone hard, sharp but most distressingly of all concerned as he looked at her piercingly, "he did the same thing to Knuckles when he fought him for the Master Emerald; that's possibly the only reason red's alive today, he'll admit it freely. He'll only do it once, you got lucky; Mighty, listen to me", Sonic half-stood, leaning across the table towards her, reaching for her hand as his words suddenly burned, lifeless no longer, "I know what you can do, but please, you can't try to do anything against him alone; if he shows up, and I mean anywhere, even if he's on the horizon and going the other way, you run and you find help. I've danced with him too often, seen what he can do…" the hedgehog broke off, shivering violently, teeth bared and gritted as he relived the pale memories of his battles and pains at the hands of his robotic duplicate; Mighty had to bit back a yelp of shock as he lunged, taking her hand in his and pulling her towards him, "promise me, you won't go it alone on this one".
For a second she was set to refuse; friend he might be, but who was Sonic to dictate how she was to live her life? The reaction though was momentary; his face defeated any bravado, any hollow boast, simply through the pain etched upon it, the worry and concern for her sake. She darted her eyes to Amy, no support there – the pink hedgehog looked as unwavering as her partner, lowering her eyes as she recalled suffering at the robot's hands. Swallowing, aware o the burden even her strength couldn't bear, the armadillo gave a shallow, virtually imperceptible nod,
"Okay Sonic", she half-stood, not breaking her gaze, "you've got my promise on this".
Magically the tension evaporated; Sonic slumped back in his seat as though the world had been lifted from his shoulder, exhausted but happy that he had the desired result.
"Thanks Mighty", he sighed breathlessly, gratitude pouring from him as he spoke to her once more, "that means more than you know".
"I guessed", the armadillo stood, needing to be away from here now; she had planned to stay a little longer, but not now, not with the atmosphere still as fraught as this; she needed to give the air some time to clear, "I'm, ah, I'm gonna head off now; don't worry, I've got plans ahead of me. I'll see you again before I have to get back though".
"Not giving up the day job huh?" Amy managed a quip before nodding; neither she nor Sonic made a move to stop Mighty leaving, maybe both heeding the need for a little time alone, recuperation from the awful knowledge. The armadillo headed for the door, opened it, said her thanks once more and departed, the door shutting softly behind her as she took a breath; Knowledge is power, but sometimes, oh sometimes, that power corrupts – Jesus Sonic, how much have you been through I don't know about?
XXX
Her hand was on the front door handle when,
"He was right".
"Aaah!" Mighty span around, guard up and heart hammering even as she recognised the voice, "Shadow you nearly gave me a heart attack! What?"
"Sonic", the black hedgehog replied tonelessly, pointing at the still closed kitchen door, voice low and muttering, "he was right to make you make that promise".
"How much did you hear?" Mighty felt her suspicions rise again; Shadow might have sensed this as he suddenly raised a hand,
"Just enough, but everything I heard was right; Metal is nothing less than pure hatred in a can – all he lives for is destroying anything that stands in the way of whatever he wants to do". The armadillo let her fists fall to her sides, cocking her head curiously,
"You've had run-ins with this guy as well?" Well, it had to come to this sooner or later; Shadow nodded, then slowly, his crimson eyes half-closed, slowly brought up two fingers and tapped his left temple,
"He was the one who did…this to me".
Mighty went cold; she had heard from Amy that Shadow suffered from amnesia, but had never asked; how could I not have asked?; how such an affliction had struck him. Fires of retribution stoked up in her valiant heart; how dare that scrap yard refugee steal the memories of a living being, but the memory of the promise she had just made quenched it, cooling it; after all, if Metal could do that to Shadow with his speed, she didn't fancy too much for her chances one-on-one; Sonic had been right after all.
"Shadow", she could feel nothing to even remotely compare to the ebon hedgehog's loss, but still she tried, "I'm sorry, I…"
"What's past is past; I try to look forwards when I can", he gave a weary smile before suddenly straightening, seemingly infused by new purpose, "and speaking of plans, what are you up to now?"
"Well I was just…" she suddenly stopped, looking at the black hedgehog anew and wetting her lips, a fresh idea germinating in her fertile mind, "…actually, you might help me here, if you don't mind of course?"
"No, I'm not doing anything now", Shadow affirmed before becoming more curious, "what's the plan?"
"Well, I need to…"
XXX
With a barely audible whir and slight plop, the float landed right where'd planned to cast it, bobbing merrily in the middle of the lake before settling down. Satisfied, Big took his repose on a nearby bank, attaining comfort again as he settled down to see if anything was biting. It hadn't been a bad haul all things considering, though the pike he'd landed had come as something of a nasty shock; blasted thing hand nearly nipped one of his meaty hands before he'd managed to unhook it and throw it back; all bones and no meat on a pike. He was really after eels, and a couple had surfaced, though they were little bootlaces in comparison to a few weeks ago. Still, such is life; Big contemplated as he watched the float, alone in its sea of water; it'd be boring if we got what we wanted every time. Minutes ticked by uncounted; the weather was good, the fish were there for the catching and the mosquitoes seemed to be on diets – for the purple fisherMobian, life was perfect. Until,
"BIG!" The shout that broke across the swamp like a thunderclap was so loud and sudden he dropped his rod, cowering as though an angry god had bellowed at him, "get your miserable excuse for a tail out here this INSTANT!"
Oooooh, she's not happy; Big shuddered as he pictured a raging deity throwing fireballs and lightning to purge the earth; somehow he could see Mighty in a white toga aiming a streak of lighting right at him from the wrathful heavens. Still, probably better not to put this off and, he had a plan; if all else fails, run like hell!
A/N: How mean should I be to Big do you think? How long should his hospital stay be? Will he survive and what will be left of him if he does?