Chapter 10: A fallen wisp

It was early in the morning, Livvy enters Tails' tent. The two-tailed fox was still sleeping. His mouth was wide open with a trail of drool coming out. Livvy giggled to herself before deciding to wake up her mate.

"Tails," said Livvy. "wake up."

The fox did not respond. The female made a few more attempts but to no avail. She was surprised when the male fox showed absolutely no signs of waking up.

Livvy decided to drown her lover with kisses, thinking that the latter is just playing with her. She kissed his lips, his cheeks, his head, his ears... still no response. She was about to kiss Tails' neck until she saw something small poking from her lover's shoulders.

There was a long spike sticking out it. With an IQ of 290, lower by 20 compared to Tails, she identified it as a dark wisp tranquillizer spike.

Livvy screamed. She flew outside and tried to warn her friends, but a loud roaring along with the ground shaking drowned out her voice. Everyone else rushed out, seeing the dark mother wisp appear. She looked slightly different. Samuel made the identification.

"The monster has armour!" remarked Samuel, as the beast called in an army of dark wisps.

The two sides charged at each other. It was surprisingly a tight battle. This was when Tails finally regained his consciousness. He heard sounds of fighting and flew out. He gasped, seeing his friends fight against the dark monsters.

"How long was I out?" he asked himself.

He started to see that his friends were beginning to get tired, as the dark army slowly forced them into a circle, wave after wave. Normally, Jaytee and Shadow's ability to teleport would have allowed the team to dominate the fight easily, but the anti-teleportation barrier drained their golden opportunities.

Tails could not sit or watch any longer. He zoomed straight into the battlefield, transforming into a violet void. Pulling the entire army of dark wisps, he turned into a gray ball and caused a shockwave. It turned all of the wisps except the monster back to normal.

"Take that!" he yelled.

The monster roared in anger. She shot her tentacles so fast that not even Sonic can escape it. Fortunately, Tails turned into a ghost, making him intangible. When the power expired, he looked around to find all of his friends caged.

His heart lurched when he saw Livvy, Sonic and Jaytee trapped.

"No!" yelled the fox, flying towards his friends.

Unfortunately for Tails, the monster stunned him with electricity. She swooped her tentacles, intending to kill the hero. Tails closed his eyes, regretting what he just did. Just as he was about to take fatal damage, nothing happened.

"Huh?" replied Tails, confused.

The monster roared, flying away with Tails' friends. The fox yelled out for his friends but it was no use.

"Dang!" interjected Tails. "What on Planet Wisp was I thinking?"

Just then, he spotted Yacker lying on the ground. He gasped, seeing the wound in the wisp. Piecing the puzzle pieces together, he realized that the wisp ambassador was the one who took the blow.

"Yacker!" shouted the fox, saddened.

It was starting to rain on the planet. The wisp was getting weaker second by second.

"Tails..." choked Yacker, who was trying hard to breathe.

"Oh no..." he sniffed. "Yacker... why?"

"You must believe in yourself..." wheezed the dying wisp. "You still... have... a chance..."

"Please... please don't... leave me..." said the fox, tearfully, while the rain intensified.

"You still have... something... you haven't... learned..."

"Huh?"

The wisp paused. He then spoke in a riddle-like fashion.

"13 together is one with great power..." said the wisp. "Good luck, Miles Wisp-Chromo Prower."

"Yacker!" sobbed the fox.

"You must believe in yourself..." were Yacker's last words before his eye closed.

He was dead.

Tails started to cry hysterically, seeing his closest wisp friend die in front of him. His head was marred with excruciating regrets as the rain started to pour. It was like Planet Wisp was crying over the loss of the wisp ambassador.

Taking the lifeless body, the broken fox flew into a cemetery he passed by when exiting the temple. It was where his parents' graves were located. He dug a deep hole and gently placed Yacker in it.

He cried while burying the body and engraving a tombstone. He said his prayers to Yacker and then left. Digesting all of Yacker's words, he stopped crying. His sadness was replaced with fury and perseverance.

"I will not lose!" shouted the fox, as a loud clap of thunder boomed. "I will avenge Yacker and beat that monster!"

He thought of Yacker's riddle. It briefly sparked his curiosity but then the whereabouts of the dark mother wisp took over his mind. It was at the moment when lightning flashed, Tails made a realization. He said,

"The dark mother wisp is heading for Mobius!"

The fox looked back at the temple and then left.