SaffraEchidna: Yep, plenty of stuff happening :P I try to keep people interested ;)
Awdures: Oddly enough, I agree with you; I don't usually like additional characters, but Bait just waltzed right in (and caused some major rewriting of the plot on my part...ah well :P)
Kj: The end...hmm, I'm hoping you're talking about the cliffhanger there :) The other fic, yes. Working on that right now.
Ryopon: Ah yes...the question is, did Bait mean to do it or did his grip slip:P
Treasurehunter: Okay Knux, okay, maybe you'll live. Maybe :P That's for me to know and you to find out though ;)
FriedBrickWall: Well, they'll get to Tails soon enough (weg) In the meantime, read on ;)
TC Chan: (bows) Yes, I'm capable of just about anything when it comes to my characters (weg) And I had to start bringing cliffhangers in again; it's what I do ;) I did consider leaving it with Sonic, Knuckles and Bait sitting around a campfire eating marshmallows and playing I-Spy, but that didn't have the same feel about it somehow ;) And thanks for your comment on that line; it took a few rewrites to get how I wanted, so I'm glad you liked it :P
Samantha27: (grins) Thanks; I like Bait too :P Sonic's behaviour...actually, I think Sonic has matured in many ways. He's still his carefree self, but whereas before he might have thought it was a good joke, now he's grown up a little.
Zaln: (grins) Heh...you're right; it really would be cheap if I had just brought Bait in as a replacement for Tails. While I can sorta see how you might think that...you'll just have to take my word for it that it's not true ;) The original plot did have just Sonic and Knuckles' story until they found Tails, but that's changed now; Tails is going to play a much bigger part than I first thought ;) Just 'cause Tails didn't appear much in the first four chapters doesn't mean he's gonna sit on his hands for the rest of the story ;) All I can say is...wait a few more chapters before dismissing him completely ;)
Pain shrieked through Tails' body as he struggled to lift the pickaxe and bring it down onto the rock for what felt like the thousandth time that morning. The tool was vast, almost as large as he was, but that didn't make any difference. You had a tool, you worked with it no matter how much you were hurting, and if you lagged behind, failed to meet your daily quota or if the overseer was simply in a bad mood, you'd feel the lash across your back. Tails knew; some sadist had shoved him in among people the same age as Sonic and Knuckles – and strong at that – so in comparison he was always behind.
What are we digging for? That was the question that kept repeating over and over in Tails' mind. You didn't excavate miles of underground tunnels just for the hell of it. He'd also noticed something, before the pain had become too excruciating for him to focus on anything besides getting through his shift; they were working in a definite grid pattern. There were hundreds of people going up, at least as many going across and another batch destroying the bits left standing. They were looking for something, something very specific and probably quite small.
Up. Down. Did he dare to snatch a breather, if only for a few seconds? That was a flogging offence as well. So was looking around to see if anyone was watching.
He was used to the constant, white hot pain in one tail by now, although that didn't make it any easier to bear. Like so many places, this one had a definite pecking order, and Tails was right there at the bottom. That was the hard bit. He'd never been able to persuade the others that it was tough enough in this place without being tough on each other; last time he'd tried, two of them had shoved his head into a barrel of waste water and held it there until he'd been on the verge of passing out. Eventually an overseer had sauntered over, pulled his tormentors off him, dragged Tails out and kicked him back towards the wall he was supposed to be excavating. It hadn't been done out of kindness, Tails knew. No, it had been done because if he'd drowned, that would be one less worker. One less slave.
In the beginning he'd entertained thoughts of escape, or at least a rescue. Now, though, he knew better. He'd lost his cool with Sonic entirely, and Knuckles probably wouldn't abandon the Master Emerald to search for him when the echidna had no idea that anything was wrong. Besides, even if Knuckles decided to look for him and even if he worked out where to look, how was he supposed to find Tails? Here the fox was just one among thousands, digging in what amounted to an eternal maze.
But what for? That's what was threatening to drive him mad. If it was so important to whoever was in charge that they resorted to slavery to dig it out, Tails wanted to get to it first.
Next to him, another slave rammed his tool into the wall above Tails' head and yanked it out again, showering dust and rock chips down onto the fox's head. Tails bit back a yelp as several of them landed on his ear.
That hadn't been the work of the overseers. Tails had met a small group of slaves who put him in mind of one of the gangs back home. Although they couldn't do anything openly – at least, not in front of any overseer – they'd still managed to give him an assortment of bites and his ear was the worst. It wasn't deep or even particularly dangerous, but a fox's ears were incredibly sensitive and the bite hurt worse than all the other injuries put together.
Tails supposed there had to be a subclass of outcasts, a scapegoat of scapegoats. He just didn't know why it had to be him.
He was glad he had such thick fur. It didn't help when they were beating you, but it did offer some kind of protection against the chains. He'd seen a kid about his own age, an iguana whose hide had been rubbed right through by those chains. Tails could hear him whimpering when he walked, and he left bloody footprints everywhere he went.
He could understand Sonic now, could see what had led the hedgehog to give up. Giving up and accepting things was just so much easier, meant less pain...
The fox gave a mental shake of the head, furious with himself. He'd never give up! They may think he was broken, but boy oh boy were they gonna get a shock one of these days! The thought almost made him grin. There was no way he could get a message out to Knuckles or Sonic to get them to look for him, but that didn't mean he couldn't escape under his own steam.
Flicking his eyes to one side, he saw one of his fellow slaves working mechanically, eyes glazed and dull. The sight only served to harden his resolve.
I'm not gonna give in. I'm not gonna end up like that guy. Sonic wouldn't give in! he thought fiercely, then suddenly remembered that Sonic would, that Sonic already had and was probably still wandering around Mobius a bitter cripple. Well, see if Tails ever built him a pair of walking crutch feet again! Anyway, Knuckles wouldn't give in. Tails was never sure when the focus of his admiration had shifted, had ended up on Knuckles rather than Sonic. He supposed it must have happened after Sonic's fall at some point, although he'd never been able to pinpoint the exact time.
Gotta get out. Actually, he wanted to find out what they were digging for before getting out, but Tails could well anticipate being stuck here for the rest of his life.
A shiver ran down his spine, making the injuries there twinge as he remembered Max. Max had grown up in this place, hadn't he, then just died some sixty or so years later and it looked like the overseers were still no nearer to getting what they wanted.
No! Tails wrenched the pickaxe out of the wall with such vehemence he scattered rock chips all over the floor. Driving it back in hard, he closed his eyes grimly, hanging onto one thought. That's not gonna happen to me. I'm gonna bust outta here and go back to Angel Island. Knuckles'll know what to do. I'm gonna get out.
The only problem was, he didn't know how to go about it. He knew the Emerald he had was the one that turned you invisible, but he didn't have a clue how to use it or, for that matter, why his captors had never been able to find it. They'd found and taken everything else, even his journal (which Tails had seen them toss casually into a fireplace).
He wished he had his toolbox. Apart from being a link with the Sonic he'd known before the hedgehog had turned sour, he might have been able to build something to get himself and the other slaves out of this mess...or at the very least, do some serious damage to the overseers. Not all – in fact precious few – of Tails' inventions worked perfectly the first time, as both Sonic and Knuckles could bear witness.
So. No tools – that had been due to Raker's gang, not these jerks – no way of getting a message out and nothing except his chains and pickaxe. He couldn't pull a cutie like whacking through his chains either; they were so short that it was impossible for him to reach the one between his ankles unless he sat down, and every time you did that you were either stripped of your weapons and had a chain and collar wrapped around your neck to tether you to the wall or – more often than not – you were beaten back to work. There was no mercy or sympathy to be found anywhere; most of the overseers seemed to enjoy their job.
Dizziness compounded of exhaustion and pain swept over the fox and Tails stopped. He'd long since learned the best way to cope with this; you didn't move, you just froze and waited for it to pass, then got back to work.
Unfortunately, this time he picked the exact same moment to rest as an overseer picked to look in his direction. Before Tails had time to recover, the whip sliced across his back, biting deep into skin and muscle.
Hushed voices surrounded him and Tails blinked his eyes groggily, disorientated. Something had happened...he'd paused to rest, hadn't he, and...and the next thing he knew, he was on his back on the hard ground. From the feel of it, he'd been given more than just one blow with a whip. His pain had quadrupled – whip cuts notwithstanding, Tails had landed on his broken tail – and judging from the stiffness of his face, one of those lashes had come perilously close to his right eye, but he was alive and with no more broken bones. That in itself was an achievement; he'd seen people afterwards who looked like raw meat. But why had they done this to him? Granted most overseers didn't need a good reason to beat you this badly if the fancy took them, but they usually told you what you'd done to deserve it. Or at least, screamed it at you.
Groaning, Tails rolled over and vomited weakly onto the floor, then pushed himself to his feet, despite the protest in every single muscle.
An overseer – this one looking like he'd been the victim of a particularly savage attack, maybe those guys who were always picking on Tails – shoved a metal tray piled high with food into his hold. It wasn't for him, Tails knew. No, this was a pure scut job; feeding the prisoners. Despite the welcome break this offered from mining, it was the worst job in the entire complex; the cells were through three miles of tunnels from here, and there was no way anyone could get there and back and still have time to meet their quota for the day.
Tails shifted his grip and started jogging towards the entrance to those tunnels. The quicker he went, the quicker he could get back. He supposed he should feel sorry for the prisoners – the only time they got food was when a slave screwed up and was forced to carry it, and even then the food in question was so rancid it usually poisoned them – but his mind was too busy turning over the possibilities. At the very least, it would let him explore the tunnels a little more, get to know his way around.
He turned left into one of the tunnels. He knew that so long as he kept moving, didn't talk and didn't try to eat any of the food either, he wouldn't draw the attention of the overseers. Nobody ever got punished for simply being lost, Max had told him, and Max had known almost everything there was to know about this place, but now Max was dead...
Here Tails did come to a brief stop as the reality of this hit home for the first time. Max was dead. He was the only one who'd bothered to look out for Tails, and now he was dead. And unlike the time when Sonic had supposedly died, this time there was no echidna to pick up where the dead guy had left off.
What would Sonic do in this situation? No, forget him, what would Knuckles do?
Something cool, Tails decided. Prob'ly smash the place up and tear through the chains with his bare hands, then kick everyone's butt!
Not really applicable or even very constructive in his current situation, Tails decided reluctantly. About the only things he could do better than either Knuckles or Sonic were swimming and flying, and with only one tail he couldn't even do the latter. And there was nothing cool about swimming. Lots of people could swim.
At least he was too small to do anything other than dig and carry. Tails supposed that strictly speaking he was too small to be doing that as well, but he'd rather dig and carry than do some of the other things he'd seen.
Hearing footsteps down a side tunnel, he started to move again, not jogging this time but walking. Pain and fatigue roared through his body with every step, and he found himself wondering why he didn't just surrender to the feelings. At least if he collapsed they'd be forced to let him alone; you couldn't make an unconscious person dig.
Tails looked at the plates and felt his stomach turn over in protest. Even after the time he'd spent down here (and just how long had it been, anyway?) he wasn't pathetic and docile enough to eat that. He supposed he might be after long enough, but it hadn't happened yet.
The pickaxe wobbled crazily on his shoulder and he juggled his burdens around until he managed to grip the handle between his teeth. That was better. You didn't leave your tools lying around in case some other slave pinched them. He'd learned that one the hard way.
Tails abruptly came to a halt again, this time because there was a chasm in front of him. It wasn't excessively large – if he'd been healthy, he could have jumped it without thinking – but loaded down with trays and with a pickaxe in his mouth...that was a whole different story.
Well...he supposed he had to try, if only because he didn't want to go back and risk being spotted by someone. There was a saying in the tunnels; you do not go back, you only go on. Besides...it wasn't such a big chasm. Not really.
Tails forced his protesting body into a run. The edge of the chasm crumbled as he got near it and he launched himself into the air reflexively. His feet missed the other side by a good six inches and in desperation, Tails flung both tray and pickaxe away and scrabbled for a hold with his fingers, catching hold of a solid outcropping and clambering up, not resting until he'd crawled over the lip of the chasm.
Below him, there was a series of loud crashes and clangs as the tray and its contents hit the bottom. Tails winced, flattening his ears. Oh boy, now he really was gonna get it; he was supposed to bring the tray back afterwards, to say nothing of his tool.
Well, they could do what they liked to him! Even if they flung him in the prison and left him to rot, he still wouldn't surrender!
I'm not gonna give up. Whatever happens, whatever they do to me, I'm not gonna wind up like Sonic. I'm not gonna let 'em win.
He'd fought once before, in the beginning. Once had been more than enough; they'd beaten him into unconsciousness and given him an additional ten lashes the next morning. Tails was determined not to give in to them, but even he could admit that there was a big difference between defiance and suicide. Better to put up with it and be healthier when the chance came to fight back, catch 'em with their guard down.
Tails finally gave in to the demands of his small body and dropped onto the floor, where he didn't fall asleep so much as pass out. As always, his last thoughts were fixed on Knuckles and Angel Island, although this time the beginnings of a plan were stirring in there as well.
Well, I've had people ask (or demand) to know what's happening to Tails, so I thought this chapter was as good as any to do a short catch up ;) At the moment it's going to work out being one chapter Sonic & Co., one chapter Tails and so on. At least until they're all reunited ;) If you read, please review :)