With a frustrated look on his face, Tails looked forward with his baggy eyes.
I can't believe I was beaten by these idiots.
Bean hummed as he walked around him with a gray duct tape.
"You spin my beans round baby right round," he said in a melody. "Like a record bean, right round, round, bean."
Fang scowled at him as he leaned near the sink, slowly placing bullets in his revolver.
"If you're going to keep perverting popular jingles," he said. "Then you can wait in the Marvelous Queen by yourself."
"I'm fine with that. I can learn a whole bunch of new songs on the radio. Plus, that means you trust me around your bike/jet thingy."
"…Just shut yer trap for now."
"Okay. Hmm hmm hmm beans hmm hm hm hmm hmmm, like a hm hm bean, right, hmm, hmm bean."
After reloading, Fang raised the base his gun to his face, closed his eyes, and sighed. Leaning on the fridge, Bark rolled his eyes and smiled.
"OK," Bean said jubilantly. "All done!" He pressed his index finger and thumb together then kissed them and released it. He shook his hand as he talked. "That's a one-a-spicy duck tape you got-a-there!"
Tails squinted at him. He then turned to Fang.
"Is he always like this or is it a holiday or something?" he asked.
"You don't know the half of it," Fang said, exasperated, as he walked over to Tails. "Now, let's get down to business…"
"What do you freaks want?"
"Freaks?" Fang folded his arms and chuckled. "Cute, but you're the last one that has the right to call anyone that. As I was saying, we came here in requirement of your services. You have a particular set of skills that doesn't seem to fall within our collective resume. So, we were hoping you could fill that gap with that big, beautiful, brain of yours."
"If you wanted a favor, you could have just, oh, I don't know, walk up to the door and ask like a civilized animal person. But pardon me if I'm not feeling like in the serving right now." A smug smirk appeared on his face. He raised his arms and bared his palms. "I seem to be tied up mood at the moment."
"Heh. Yeah, figured you'd say something like that. So, we came here with a little preposition."
Tails yawned, then raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?" he said.
"Give us what we want and then we'll be out of your fur. Simple as that. Don't, and well…" Fang pressed the tip of his gun into Tails' right ear. "Yeah."
Tails looked annoyed. He didn't say anything.
"S'matter? No smart aleck comeback this time? I swear, you were never this much of a wise guy before. I mean, you are in the traditional sense of the words, but I digress. Must be big blue finally rubbing off on ya."
"Yeah," Bean said. "Why is the saying called 'wise guy' when it implies a lack of wit?"
Fang squinted.
"It's supposed to be sarcastic, Bean," he said, irritated.
"But if you're talking to a dumb person, then sarcasm is the last thing you should be using. Idiots can't understand such advanced nuances as easily. I mean, hellllloooo, they're stuuuupiiiid. They don't get things."
"I don't get you."
"You don't know how much that means to me. Also, did you just call yourself stupid or are you being sarcastic? It's hard to tell sometimes."
"You won't hurt me," Tails finally said.
"A little too late to be making those kinds of assumptions, mate."
"No, it's not." Tails turned his head to face Fang. The gun ended up being pointed between his baggy eyes. "You came here because you wanted something only I can supply. If you did anything that would impede my ability to provide it, that would defeat the purpose of this little game of house."
"He's got you there," said Bean with his index finger and thumb under his bill.
"Noooot quiet," Fang said with a smile. "You see, we know you're a genius and all but you're not the only one in the world. Even if you refuse our demands, we can just ax you and move on to the next egg head. Or did you think knowing so much made you some special little snowflake?"
Tails remained silent.
"Then why did you come here in the first place?" he asked. "I'm a Freedom Fighter. If you kill me, my team, especially you know who, would stop at nothing to avenge me. And not to brag, but I've got plenty of friends in high places. You'd never get away with it."
"Buddy. We 'get away with it' every single day. G.U.N.'s never been able to track us. Your little club house superhero group never caught us. It wouldn't matter if it suddenly became more personal. Although, I'd hate to deal with Blue to be frank. He really rubs me the wrong way.
More like you can't land a hit on him.
"We're master thieves. We operate underground. We'd fall of the face of the Earth and they'd spend the rest of their frilly little lives searching for us. Or they'd wise up and quit while their ahead of themselves. Even Big Blue gets pretty impatient pretty fast, as I'm sure you know very well. We only came here because you were the first one on our list."
"…That can't be the only reason. If I'm not the only scientist within your reach, then it makes no sense to come to me, one of your recurring enemies, first."
"Yeah, we're not really that deep into the whole genius scene. You're the only other guy we can trust, so to speak."
"And Eggman?"
Fang's smile dropped. Tails slightly lowered his head.
"As much as I hate to admit it, he's just as smart as I am. Except he's got access to more resources than I do and could probably do a much better job at finding additional ones too. In fact, you're closer to him than you are to me. After all, I'm sure you've never had to make this kind of house call to him seeing as he regularly fills your wallets."
Nobody said anything else for a while.
"Because, genius," Fang said. "As I'm sure you also know, he's running a bit low on resources. So, he's out of the question."
"Huh." Tails looked forward as his baggy eyes widened. "I guess you're right." He then turned to Fang with a suspicious look. "So, did you find that out before or after you had a little chat with him?"
"…"
"You just said I was at the top of your list. That implies that I was the first person you came to or at the very least the first one you thought of. In either case, it doesn't make sense to seek out anybody else. You wouldn't because you had nobody else in mind, like you implied. So, how would you know that he's running low on resources?"
"…"
"I'm sure you guys are acquaintances, but I doubt he's the kind of guy who'd call you at 2:30 in the morning to discuss his feelings."
"…"
"So, right after a humiliating defeat, you just so happened to strike a conversation with him? I mean, how often do you call him for work? You guys are freelance, right? The calls come to you, I'm assuming. Going out in the open is a bad way to maintain a low profile, especially when you're wanted for several offenses by the world government."
Fang grabbed Tails by the fur on his chest and pulled him close. His gun jabbed into his forehead.
"I don't know where you got that smart mouth," he said coldly. "But in the underground world, that's a guaranteed way to bite the bullet."
"We're not underground now, are we?"
The two viciously stared each other down.
Bark silently observed them from the fridge.
"Jerry, Jerry," Bean said as he stomped his right foot on the ground with each word.
Fang almost threw Tails after letting him go, sending the chair rocking backwards. Bark stepped in and grabbed the tip of the chair and slowly pushed forward.
"Truth is," Fang said with his back turned. "I'd rather not see you dead. If I'm being frank, I kind of like you."
Tails raised an eyebrow.
"I find that extremely hard to believe," he said.
"Figured as much. But, and hear me out on this…" Fang turned his head slightly to reveal a devilish smile. "You and me. We got a great deal in common."
"I find that even harder to believe."
"Now hold on, don't be so quick to judge. Although, that might be a little difficult with that noggin of yours. Yeah, when you really put in effort, the world never seems to stop spinnin', don't it? Can't be helped. People like us, you and me, we see things through a different lens. We see possibilities others can't and we're either hailed like deities or used up like a hooker's contraception.
"And the thing is, we make it look easy too. Comes naturally to us. These possibilities. Maybe we were born this way. Maybe we worked for it…Nah. This world favor's effort. You don't have the right to move up in life if you're not willing to put in a little blood, sweat and tears."
"You're putting me to sleep."
"Course, with a little genius comes a little case of the ol' nutso, am I right?"
"Annnnd, you lost me."
"Ohh!" Bean said as he raised his right hand. "I've got plenty of nutso! Does that make me a genius?!"
Fang turned to Bean with an irritated look.
"Is a chicken a bipedal vertebrate?" he asked sarcastically.
Bean continued to smile blankly for a few seconds. His eyes narrowed and his mouth began to close. Then he rested his chin on his fist and tensed his brow. Bark simply shook his head.
The answer's yes, Tails thought as he rolled his eyes.
Fang turned back to Tails.
"Like I was saying," he continued. "You see, I've been browsing the 'pedia, giving myself a self-diagnostic…"
"Yeah, don't do that," Tails interrupted.
"And after reading a few other scholarly articles, I happened upon a few interesting conclusions. You might not experience it now since you're young and all, but hoooo boy, are you in for a treat. I'm talking bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, suicidal thoughts, hallucinations, crippling depression. Buddy, big brains bring big problems!"
"Please don't project."
"I mean, come on. Look at some of our greatest artists. Like that Van something or other. Chopped his ear off because he was coocoo."
"Thaaaaaat's racist," Bean said. "Ding."
"And Einstein refused a life-saving operation because he 'lived long enough.' What kind of schuck doesn't want to live a little longer, am I right?"
Kill me.
"And Newton? He's the worse of them. He was so deep into his science thing that he never bothered to get any tail. Can you believe that?"
"…You know, I'm not proud of it but I actually agree with you on that one."
"Right? And let's not forget the good doctor of course…"
"OK, but where is this all going?"
"Right, the big wrap up. My point is, we're gifts to the world. We're one of the very few that can offer new possibilities to this forsaken mudhole that's only good for scouring shiny goodies. It'd be a shame if we lost a bunch of possibilities over a hapstance that happens to be very easy to accomplish. Am I right?"
"…"
"I mean, with all the stuff you willingly throw yourself into and the statistics I just pulled up, you might end up doing yourself in anyway. Man can only take in so much, you know? When you think about it, it makes sense that there's so very few of us in this world. We're at a day and age where information is more readily available than at any other time. And yet people just seem to keep on getting dumber. This should be a world full of people like you and me."
"One of you is already too much."
"I think maybe some people cling on to their ignorance because they're afraid of knowing the truth. Endless possibilities mean endless ways to screw up. And instead of challenge themselves or persevering, they'd rather suckle on that sweet, sweet nothingness. Instead of bettering themselves, they'd rather be simpletons if it means avoiding failure. It's only natural. The brain avoids risk and seeks reward, but that's just a perversion.
"Tails, my not so dissimilar compatriot, this world is full of weaklings. Scum that isn't willing to improve unless they can see the immediate benefits when they should be doing it for its own sake. It's people like that who deserve to be taken advantage of."
"Is that why you steal?"
"No, I just didn't finish school. Tails, this world needs people like you and me. Without us, society would spiral into a pit of madness where the people would choke on their own selfish, hedonistic stews."
"You're really the last person to argue about hedonism."
"Perhaps. Don't take the truth out of what I said though."
Tails silently looked at Fang for a while. The conniving weasel simply smiled at him.
"I'm not like you," he finally said.
"But you are. And eventually, when that youthful optimism fades out and you put on your big boy googles, you'll see the world for what it truly is. Just one big easy target lined up for you because others are too afraid of their own nature. The darkness will dawn upon you eventually. And when it does, if you're not already doing bigger and better things, you might just give me a call and make my day."
"Are you gonna tell me you're my father next?"
"Heh. You can dance around this all you want, kid."
Tails closed his eyes and sighed heavily. He opened them.
"You haven't even told me what you wanted."
"Ah, right. The big hurrah. You see, me and my friends are in a bit of a financial defic—"
"Either skip the anecdote or blow my brains out."
"Fair enough. We want you to make us a Chaos Emerald."
Tails squinted.
"…So, you heard about that."
"Yep."
"You can stick that gun back in my ear."
"Let's not get hasty."
The young fox rapidly rocked his body in the chair, shaking it in many directions.
"Why the heck would you think I'd ever want to do that again?!"
"To avoid breaking the hearts of all your pals and ridding the world of an ever-increasing set of possibilities? And because maybe you'd want to avoid a very painful and agonizing death?"
"Shots to the brain don't hurt."
"Yeah, who's lived to tell that tale?"
"And what would you be using it for?"
"Heh." Fang extended his arms. "Ain't it obvious at this point, kid? We want to sell 'em to the highest bidder. From what we know, your dashing friend was able to invoke Chaos Control using the fake Emerald. Shouldn't make any sense. But why is that? That got me thinking. How did he gain access to a fraction of potential unlimited power with a rip off? Being able to stand with the gods shouldn't be possible for some schmuck with a few gadgets and free time.
Tails' felt and heard a rapid beating from his chest. He refused to let it show in his face but he felt a slight spasm under his right eye. Fang's smile slightly widened.
"Then I pieced it together. According to The Conservation of Energy, energy can't be created nor destroyed. It can only change from one form to the other. All the energy the universe ever had or ever will have is and always will be the same. The Chaos Emeralds are just conduits for, allegedly, all that energy to freely flow. How would one go about providing a sample of that unlimited energy?
"I don't know the specs, not my area of expertise. But I'm guessing you just came up with a few spiffy equations that allowed for a feedback loop of that some of sweet, sweet Chaos energy. Chaos energy exists in every and anything. I don't know how but you looked at a Chaos Emerald and figured out what it would take to replicate its capabilities. And for that, I tip my hat." Fang raised and lowered his hat with the barrel of his revolver. "Mad props to you."
Tails could not hide his cringe.
This is like talking to one of your older relatives that's trying too hard to be cool.
His eyes rolled over to the microwave, specifically the timer.
The EMP still hasn't worn off. I've got my Chu¬2 bombs and Magic Hook armed and ready. Once the pulse wears off, I'll have to get creative if I want to fend these guys off long enough while subtly activating my com link to…
"Oh," Fang said. "By the way, don't bother waitin' to see how long it'll take for that EMP to wear off. It was less of an EMP grenade and more of an EMP seed. It's stationed outside right now and can be remotely activated. Bark's been ordered to flip the switch every ten minutes. Even has a little timer to remind him."
His face grew blank. A cold sensation ran through his cheeks and arms.
"OK, so you figured out my trick," Tails said with false courage. "So, you're gonna sell it to the highest bidder. Except, any idiot with an Emerald radar can figure out that it's a fake. And so can a jewel appraiser that's seen a real one up close. You won't get very far in the long run."
"And that's were your wrong," Fang immediately replied. "You see, we're not trying to con anyone. Nope. We'll be up and front. Imitation Chaos Emeralds for a few grand. Except we won't be stupid about it. We'll have you whip up a batch that's easily breakable and doesn't last forever. Can't have all these idiots running around with all that power forever, y'know? But should worse come to worse, you and your Freedom Buddies can just do clean up like you always do. Business as usual.
"Best part is? Everybody wins. Buyers get their limited unlimited power, the heroes get something to do, and we get paid. Heck, we might even throw you a bone or two if you're interested."
Tails couldn't help but frown. He bit his lower lip.
"What are you saying?" he said. "Even if they don't last forever, giving the scum of the underground convenient access to Chaos Energy would only cause trouble for everybody! Bad guys don't care about other bad guys! They only care about themselves! You can't empower selfish people like that! They'll just snuff out anyone else!"
"Big deal," Fang coldly replied with a smile. "Less for you to clean up, more for us to rake in. Still a win-win. If anyone happens to get caught in the crossfire, you only have yourselves to blame for being too slow."
He lowered his gaze and his eyes darted across the floor. He reached into the vast resources of his mind at maddening speed. But alas, he came up short.
They've really thought of everything…Even if they take me out here, who's to say the next guy won't be as resistant?
An uncomfortable sensation filled Tails' heart. He closed his eyes and lowered his head.
For all my talk, when it comes down to it, I'm not like him. I can't freely give up my life even if it is for the greater good.
Then he smiled. Tears welled up in his eyes.
And here I thought I'd actually come so far from those days of innocently following my heart. In the end, all I can do is give in to it.
"Well kid?" Fang said looking down to Tails. "Whadda say? Deal or no deal?"
Tails closed his eyes, arched his head up, inhaled, then sighed heavily.
"Okay," he said. "I'll do it."
"Hehaha!" Fang patted the back of the chair. "Excellent. I knew you'd come through at some point. Well, let's get started, shall w-"
"On one condition. Actually, make that two."
Tails turned his head and sternly looked Fang in the eyes. The weasel slightly winced but kept his expression.
"Sure thing, kiddo. You name 'em."
"You have to promise to never tell my friends. They probably wouldn't blame me but…I…I can't bear to look them in the face knowing I betrayed their trust."
"Goes without saying. Snitching's bad for business anyway."
"And…" He paused. "You have to make me breakfast."
Fang's smile froze in place. His gaze locked onto Tails who had an intense poker face.
"Hehe…hehehe…"
Fang aimed his revolver at Tails face. Bark quickly stepped in and pulled his hand up while holding him back.
"You think this is a joke, you little brat?! Does this look like Chaos Chefs to you, bucko?! You want me to cook you an omlette with this gun?! You can eat on your own bloody time but until you give us what we want, you can get bent!"
"Look. I am phenomenally tired. I got about five hours of sleep. I didn't have dinner or eat breakfast. And to top it off, The Three Stooges broke into my house, jumped me, and told me some long-winded soliloquy about depression or schizophrenia or whatever. I can barely keep my eyes open and the only thing that's kept me awake this entire time is the fear of you guys ending my life and ruining those of the people I care about.
"You want me to build you WMDs for you to sell on the black market? That's fine. You want me to lie to my friends, who I've known and trusted practically my entire life? Also fine. But you're asking me for too much under these circumstances. The brain requires nutrients, sleep, and patience to function properly, three things which I'm very low on right now. So, either make me the most slamming, fantastic, heart pounding, soul thumping, lip smacking, finger licking, peanut butter! And cucumber sandwich! The world has ever seen! Or! GET! OUUUUT!"
Fang and Bark stared silently at Tails with wide eyes. They exchanged glances and then looked back at the fuming young boy. They both put their hands up.
"Okay, okay," Fang said reassuringly. "Let's just calm down, annnnnd take it easy. No need to use your outside voice 'cuz we're in doors. We'll get started on that sandwich right away, yeah boss?"
"I'm sorry," Bean said. The rest of the room turned to face him. "Peanut butter and cucumber? Yeah, no thanks. That goes against every moral principal of science. I refuse to take part in such apostasy."
"Bean," Fang said lowly before escalating into a shout. "I swear on my bike, my bike Bean…!"
"No, no," Tails said. "He's right. I took it too far."
Laid out on a table was a plastic bag holding sliced blueberry bread, orange juice, butter, cheese, milk, a carton of eggs, lettuce, cupped ramen noodles, a ¾ filled bottle of ketchup, and two bagels.
"What the heck are we supposed to make out of this?" Fang said. "You don't even have peanut butter or cucumbers."
"Be creative," Tails said.
"Argh…Do you even have any herbs or spices?"
"There's some salt in one of those cabinets."
"No thanks," Bean said. "Fang's already got plenty of salt from after you cleaned his clock."
Fang stared blankly at Bean. The green duck smiled at him, pointed at him with both fingers and snapped one at time at them. Then he swung his fingers to the sink.
"I'lllll be over there."
"Have you ever even made breakfast before?" Tails asked. "Or do you steal from soup kitchens too?"
"Soup's not even a breakfast food," said Bean.
"Neither are beans," spat out Fang.
"Beans are a universally applicable meal. They're nutritious, delicious, and suitable for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert."
"You're only saying that because that's all you ever eat."
"Of course, so I'm the perfect spokesperson."
"I don't have any beans," Tails said.
"Then go get some."
Tails attentively stared at Bean. He raised his palms at him, drawing attention to his lack of mobility.
"Even if I did have them," Tails continued. "I wouldn't want them anyway. Regardless of how healthy they are, I'm with Fang on this. I just don't see them as a breakfast food. Maybe if I lived in some sort of back alley and had no other choice."
"Ahaha! Haha…" Bean nervously laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I'm totally with you on that. Aha…"
Fang turned to Tails.
"Can't we just give you a bowl of cereal and call it a day?"
"Yeah, like that's going to energize me after our little brawl."
"I prefer the term melee," said Bean.
"Then we'll give you two bowls," said Fang.
"That's too much sugar. I'll end up crashing. I need a variety of nutrients in excess to compensate for my lack of dinner as well."
"Then I'll call you a pizza."
"No. It has to be breakfast food. Plus, I get the feelings that you're either going to rob or just not pay the poor delivery person."
"So, you want us to get our chef on and cook you up a nice, wholesome, meal like a bunch of underappreciated nannies."
"It's the only way to get me to help you. Heck, it's the only way I can help you."
Fang released an irritated growl but then he turned to face the table.
"Alright gang," said in an almost depressed mood. "It's chow time."
"That was the most uninspired one liner ever," said Bean.
"Shut up and pass me the eggs."
"In the meantime," Tails said.
That's all he said. Afterwards, his head stooped over and he soundly snored.
Fang repeatedly tapped Tails on the shoulder. His head bobbed and he continued to snore.
"Hey," Fang said. "Wake up. It's chow time."
"Don't you mean," Bean began. "Juice and jam time?!"
Despite their pleadings, Tails snored with a comfortable look on his face. Drool poured out of the side of his mouth.
"Well, I tried. You can't be mad at me."
Bark walked over behind the chair and grabbed the edges with both hands. With tremendous vigor, he rapidly shook the chair in every direction. In the end, it only amounted to Tails' head falling in the other direction.
Tails continued to profusely snore.
"No, no, treasure lady," he said with a smirk and red cheeks. "Tis not the chest of legend I've come to behold."
Fang pointed his gun to the side of Tails' head. He flipped it over and with loud thump smacked him with the barrel. His head stood up straight and his eyes shot wide open.
"I'm not White Beard but I came for some booty!"
"Why don't you start with some egg salad?" Fang said with a smirk.
"Huh?"
Tails looked down at the table. In front of him was a plate of crushed boiled eggs mixed in with some lettuce and noodles with a fork stuck in the middle. On the right of that was a plate of a sliced bagel with butter spread on it. On the opposite end was a plate of grilled cheese between blueberry bread. Between the plates were cups of milk, orange juice, and a bottle of ketchup.
"Bone appetite," Bean said.
Tails closed his eyes and took in time to inhale the aroma. A pleasant feeling filled his head and he already felt energized.
He grabbed the fork and stabbed it into some lettuce and twisted it around the noodles caught up in some eggs.
"Ahhhh…"
Tails leaned back into the chair and rubbed the tape surrounding his belly with both hands. The bags under his eyes disappeared and his fur seemed to gain a shiny hue. In fact, Fang, Bean, and Bark shielded their eyes with their hands.
"His youthful innocence," Fang said. "It's too raw for me to handle."
"We must protect his purity from the perils of this world," Bean said.
"No. He has to learn. He has to grow. That's the only he'll become a ma…"
Fang stared at Bean who had a bowl of burnt cereal with milk in his hands.
"What?" he said before putting a milk filled spoon in his mouth and taking a crunchy bite. "I didn't have breakfast either."
"You ate beans. You always eat bloody beans."
"Which we firmly established as not being a breakfast food, so."
CRRRRRUNCH!
With a messianic like smile and gesture of his hand, Tails turned his head to the trio.
"Thank you," he said.
"Yeah, yeah, you too," said Fang, twirling his gun like a windup. "Now get with the inventing."
Bark walked over to Tails, firmly grasped the right side of the chair and yanked off the left side of the tape with one hand. He then gingerly removed the other side of the tape from Tails' body as to not rip off any fur. Tails hopped off the chair and stretched his elbows, ribs, and leaned forward and backwards. He clapped his hands.
"Right!" he said enthusiastically. Then he turned to Fang and raised an index finger while squinting his left eye. "Only one, teensy, tiny problem."
"If you're expecting room service, you can forget it."
"No, no." Tails waved his right hand in front of his nose as if fanning away a terrible stench. "You see, I've completely memorized how to make a fake Emerald from scratch. Only problem is that I don't have the materials for it."
"Are you flippin' joking…"
"I mean, come on. I only made one, and that was to sabotage a doomsday laser. I never anticipated I'd have to make another one."
"That's actually a fair point," Bean said before taking another bite of the crunchy cereal.
"Great," Fang said, rolling his eyes. Then he extended his arms and elevated his voice. "Freaking great!"
"I see you've learned a new word," Tails said with a smile.
"So you're telling me we came all this way, broke into your tool shed at 6 in the bloody morning, and spent forty minutes making you cupped noodle salad all for nothing?!"
"I…didn't say that. The materials can all be conveniently found in one location. An island about 1200 miles south of here. I can calculate how long it'll take us to get there based on your hover bike's top speed."
Fang did not initially reply. His eyes narrowed in a way that let Tails know he was being observed for suspicious behavior but he didn't seem to care. He innocently stared back at him.
"It took you forty minutes to mix cup noodles with uncooked lettuce?"
"Don't ask."
"He wanted to figure out the microwave on his own," said Bean.
"There's so many freaking options! Pizza! TV Dinner! Soup?! Why does a blazing microwave have a setting for soup?! Is the point not already to warm things up?!" Fang folded his arms and looked aside. "I…had to be sure I got it right to make the best possible meal."
"…Riiiiight. I'll go get my excavating equipment and then we can leave. Although I'm not sure how useful they'll be with a dynamite duck and a polar bear wrecking ball."
"Oh, and the EMP's off. We needed to work get the microwave working somehow. But in case you get any funny ideas…Bark, you and Bean go with 'im. If he does anything crazy, holler at me. I'll take care of the rest."
"You got it dude," said Bean. "Although, I could just explode us if things get too saucy."
"Don't."
"If it makes you feel safer," Tails said as he shrugged his shoulders. "Right this way, fellows."
As the three of them made it to one corner of the lab, Fang observed them while walking towards the door frame. He stepped over the door and walked down the door frame.
Alright, he thought. Something's not right. An hour ago, little bugger was just about ready to blow us straight to the high heavens. Now he's playing nice just because we fed him some food? The cub doesn't strike me as someone so fickle, especially towards someone standing a little further down the morality spectrum.
Fang stared at the dirt on the ground while walking. He paid no attention to the actual contents of the soft ground comprised of various shapes and materials. He stopped at the door to his hover bike and placed his right hand on top of it. His still looked down, practically blind to the scenery before him.
Is he…is he playing us? It's not implausible to think he doesn't have the necessary resources based on what he told us. But his lack of resistance. His immediate compliance…it don't add up to his idiosyncrasies.
He cares about his friends. Why is he so fine with the fact that he's going to be lying to them, especially with the potential to cause destruction on a global scale?
Fang jumped over the door and landed in the cushiony driver's seat. Normally, this would be one the highlights of his day. His mind had long associated being at the helm of his long time hoverbike the Marvelous Queen with feelings of ecstasy and contentment. Aside from being behind the barrel of a gun, being behind that wheel was one of the very few times he truly felt alive.
But in that moment, he felt an odd chilling sensation. Almost like a premonition. His gut told him that something fowl was afoot. But his mind seemed incapable of forming the final piece to that puzzle.
He thought back to the skirmish from about an hour prior. He visualized the approachable fox boy's paternal instinct inducing smile. But then that image smugly glared at him with red eyes. It was a look that portrayed a sense of superiority so great that the target of his sneer was nothing but cheap entertainment. A means to pass the time. And not a very good one at that.
Fang closed his eyes, inhaled, and sighed.
"Tsk."
Yeah right. He's nothing but a goody-goody. He's not some master manipulator. He lives in a world of sunshine and rainbows where everyone gets to hold hands and sing Kumbaya. He's never spent that kind of time in the underground. He's too upstanding.
He doesn't have it in him to straight up lie. Meaning he finally caved.
"Heh."
Fang reached into his right pocket and pulled out a gold key. He put it in the ignition and twisted it. The satisfying sound of the engine starting and the vibration of the hoverbike brought a smirk to his face.
I'll give him that. Kid's a genius. But mechanics is about as far as that goes. Take that away, and he's just some kid.
Sunset Hill, 10:47
The Marvelous Queen halted over a meadow of green grass with zigzag patterns. The land scape was filled perfectly square hills and shuttle loops.
With Tails leading, The Hooligans hopped out of the hoverbike holding shovels and pick axes.
"Bean," Fang said. "Never. Ever. Touch a radio again."
"Admit it," Bean said. "I'm the voice of the generation. A once in a life time lyrical genius bestowed upon to you by the gods themselves. You will respect me."
"It don't take talent to change a few words in a song."
"Alrighty," Tails said. "Sunset Hill is rich in the apollonesian stone. It's the basis for the model the Emerald. This area's chock full of them. All we need are samples large enough to fabricate seven of them like you said on the way here. I already have a machine for the coloring."
"Can't we just blow them up?" asked Bean sounding bored.
"And destroy the valuable resources? No thanks. And since they're kind of rare and form every couple of millennia, I'd like it if we kept the destruction to a minimum. I mean, you can just sabotage yourselves if you feel-"
"No," Fang interrupted. "We're good. Let's get…er…pick axing boys."
"…I think you mean excavating."
"Yeah, whatever."
"Alright then!"
Tails energetically walked over to a large, silver rock with a square pattern on it and struck the top of it with a pick ax. A chunk fell off. He picked it up and placed it in large rubber bag. Bean lifted his pick ax and struck a nearby rock. A spark flew from the impact. Then a spark formed in his eyes.
"Shiny…" he said practically drooling.
Bark looked at his pick ax and dropped it. He put his hands up. With expert form, he quickly but gently tapped a rock with his fist. A large chunk slid off.
From a few meters away, Fang attentively stared at them.
I almost feel bad doing this.
With both his hands, he raised the pick ax over his head.
Almost.
He swung his arms down. But nothing happened. Intrigued, he looked at the shiny silver rock to see that it looked the same as it did moments before.
The devil? I'm stronger than Bean. I shoulda least caused a few sparks…
Fang then carefully reexamined his surroundings. A few key details made him squint.
For starters, he wasn't holding a pick ax any more.
And it was a lot windier than it was a few seconds ago.
He swung his body around and pulled out his revolver in one motion.
Bean seemed to have fallen over onto his chest. Bark faced his direction with his hands held in an offensive stance. Tails pointed to the right with his index finger.
Fang's gaze quickly turned in a 90-degree angle.
Three pick axes fell to the ground.
And a smiling, blue hedgehog leaned against the side of the Marvelous Queen with his arms folded.
"Yo," he said while holding out his hand.
Fang sucked his teeth.
"Sonic the flippin' Hedgehog."
"So, after a good night's sleep, I get up and decide to go on a little morning jog. And then I run into my best friend going rock hunting with a trio of international terrorists. Is this the start of some lame joke or what?"
"Get away from my bike!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
As he shouted, three bullets were fired at Sonic's massive eyes. He was taller than the Marvelous Queen, so a head shot was the most viable option. The first bullet only reached the tip of his nose. Without any real effort, he swayed to the left. With a dancer's form, he kicked off his left leg with his right extended and avoided the second bullet. The last bullet followed the first. His left leg briefly drilled into the ground and sprung off the ball of his foot, taking him out its path of fire.
A trail of dirt and grassed kicked up.
Before he could finish shouting, Fang's revolver was pointed at the sky.
With his left hand, Sonic tightly held the gun between the holster and the chamber.
"Yeah, don't do that."
Fang couldn't properly process what happened that next moment. Immediately following, a dull noise filled his head. There was a brief flicker of light followed by darkness and aching feeling in his nose. He slapped the ground and lost all feeling.
Sonic looked down with a slight bit of shock.
"Huh. Sharp eye, glass jaw. Makes sense when you think about-"
An excruciating feeling exploded from his ear drums. His head whipped to the side. What felt like a powerful gust of wind forced him off balance. His left foot was placed on the tip and his right leg was bent and raised at an awkward angle. His arms dangled forward and he felt like he was falling.
Tails—!
Bean stood a few feet in front of Tails. Most likely, he was caught up in the blast radius and knocked aside.
Using his super strength and vastly superior speed, Sonic stomped, sliding a few inches until he maintained his balance. He rocked his body in the opposite direction with a strong brow.
An orange trail of flames. Some black smoke mixed in. And a green duck with a sadistic smile darting through the air faster than a formula-1 race car.
Bean had his left arm held back straight. A line of smoke followed it.
Their faces were only about two inches apart.
Bean's eyes opened wider than what was considered the norm and his pupils shrank to size of peas. However, before his senses informed him of what happened, he traveled through the air unconstrued.
Sonic leaned all the way to the left, diagonally fixed. Bean continued to fly across the lime colored meadow. His head sunk into the dirt a few feet away.
He swung his torso back upwards but another conundrum demanded his attention.
The point of intersection between a thick, pale yellow forearm and bicep headed directly towards his face. He pieced together what had transpired the very next instant. Take that as far as you may.
So, Bean was just a diversion.
As fast as he was, his body still operated under the same laws governing physics as anyone else's. He used enough energy to carry his torso upwards to a maintain a proper standing position. In doing so, he put himself in line for an attack traveling in the opposite direction. Stopping one's body from moving in any given direction is never instantaneous. Even when done fast or skillfully enough, there is still a shift in the vector before coming to a complete halt.
Regardless of his agility and flexibility, his body was at an awkward angle. To avoid the attack, he would have to stop himself, which would still cause some lag, and swing his body in a completely different direction. Energy flows through the body depending on how it is positioned. Simply put, he was postured in a way that wouldn't allow any fluid movements unless he hand enough space. He may have had the overwhelming advantage in every area regarding movement, but even that was useless in the face of an attack he did not see coming.
No one trait within the realm of mortal hands is all powerful.
His best assets had been turned against him.
Not bad.
A tremendous smacking literally shook the area. Sonic's body twisted as it darted parallel to the ground.
The right side of his head and forearm felt numb, as if thousands of tiny needles stabbed at them.
With enough space to function, he tucked his limbs to his torso, flipped backwards a few times, stomped on the ground and crouched. Kicking up a massive amount of dirt with his hands and feet, Sonic slid backwards for several feet.
Suddenly, an area of the dust parted in a circular formation. Sonic looked up to see Bark quickly charging in with the intensity of a freight train. The brown mitten that covered his powerful right fist arced down towards his face.
Nice try.
Sonic quickly stood up and shot forward in the same motion. He swung his own right hand and twisted his upper body with untraceable swiftness. His palm struck the inside of Bark's arm, slightly guiding it within the grasp of his left hand. In the same motion, his outside elbow struck Bark in the ribcage. A fraction of a second later, his hardened quills sunk into Bark's chest and abdomen. He smoothly whipped his left leg at an arc swept it out. With a firm grip on his arm, Sonic crouched and pulled forward. To finish it off, he kicked his left leg upward.
Let's see how you like it!
Bark was hurled several feet into the air, sent into a helpless dangle.
Sonic whipped his body around and took a step forward.
BANG!
His line of sight was disrupted by another patch of dust and dirt.
BANGBANGBANG!
He heard three more bullets tear through the air. But he could not see where they were coming from. Bullets cannot pierce his skin, but enough of them would eventually debilitate him. In that state, the safety of his best friend would surely be in jeopardy. Any ignorant move he could make was potentially fatal. But from where he stood, he could not discern his opponent's objectives.
He may have been able to process information much faster than normal, but Sonic was no genius. He was just an impulsive thrill seeker. He's maintained that dangerous life style only because up to that point, his enemies failed to take advantage of that fatal flaw. He would reach checkmate up against an opponent that carefully thought things through.
The brain is a fantastic creature. It would do anything within the vestiges of its capabilities to avoid feelings of inadequacy. After all, it is hardwired to seek pleasure and avoid risk. Doing so is no daunting task. If one remains rational in all instances, they will find that the amount of stress in their lives would remain limited.
Yes, everyone is a special snow flake handcrafted by the Divine Designer, or DNA for you atheists and other agnostic fellows, and placed in a totally unique set of circumstances that have never been or ever will be exactly as is. But in mass production, design requires uniformity. Even so called custom models still maintained the same base properties of any other object in the same class. Ergo, all sentient beings are simultaneously similar and dissimilar. We all need to consume nutrients to survive. We all need blood cells to carry those nutrients through the body for energy.
We all need energy delivered to our brains to think.
As the saying goes, great minds think alike. But the same is true regardless of your intelligence. Stupidity is characterized by a lack of breadth of though, ergo following a very predictable series of patterns.
But everything has patterns in them.
From the blue skies to the green grass, there is a script encoded to all facets of existence regardless of one's perception of them. Even the ones hailed as geniuses, as different and varied as they be, follow a predictable path of thought.
Omniscience is simply not in the domain of the mortal, carbon bound lifeform. It may only seem that way to the irrational mind. Such people assume that when one knows a lot, they are knowledgeable in many or all things. Using the rational mind as the basis for thought, all motives become clearer then a sunny day after a storm.
Nobody is out the reach of understanding. One need not have superior intelligence to understand their neighbor. It is such a simple fact that even babies can fathom. The young can relate to each other based on feelings which are evident through facial expressions, posture, tone of voice, body language, and other instinctual cues. It may be due to a lack of knowledge, but they gain an understanding of their surroundings depending on how it makes them feel. This applies to other people. Once you recognize your own feelings, understanding that other people have feelings should become a foundation for your understanding of them.
Even an ignoramus can deduce the motivations behind the actions of superior intellect.
But at some point, a person grows infatuated with their emotions. They become so obsessed with satisfying the need to feel pleasure that it spirals into a fear that they can never feel good enough because of their surroundings. In doing so, they omit the rational thinking process and overcompensate by excessively relying on their feelings. They fear what they don't know and in turn forgo the continual learning process.
But emotions and logic aren't on two sides of the spectrum like pseudoscience would have you believe. They are two separate but necessary faculties of the brain that work in tandem. They are complementary partners, the ultimate tag team.
A purely hedonistic life is a short life. While a too rational life can lead to complications with society and everyday decision making. These two facets work together to maintain an equilibrium necessary for function.
There's a reason people become less receptive to dopamine, that is, the chemical responsible for feelings of happiness, as they grow older. After a certain point, you should have allocated an understanding of the world around you even through elementary pattern recognition. After leaving the safe reins provided by the adults in your life, a rational, educated mind is necessary for survival. That is not to say that one cannot be happy and rational as time goes on. It's just that, rationally, as you become older you should accumulate more knowledge and rely less on your feelings if you want to survive, especially when your body's natural functions slow down.
But acquisition requires effort. Effort does not guarantee success. Fear of the unknown is a common fear, and so those people willingly remain ignorant because they fear what they don't understand. Slowly and surely, the requirements for ensuring survival and happiness become more difficult to blend. Eventually, people tend to omit one in favor of the other.
In more primitive times, failure ultimately lead to death, which bred a failure to continue their lineage, a function that motivates most behaviors. An organism's primary goal in life is reproduction. Anything that aids in it, social status, accumulating of resources, responsibility, brings joy and contentment. Anything that obscures that breeds conflict in the mind.
The brain reacts to stress in a variety of ways. Anger, sadness, fear, pain. These negative feelings serve as motivators to avoid continuation of whatever caused them so one can return to a state of equilibrium. However, due to the brain's natural preference for pleasantries, the simple thing to do when faced with overwhelming opposition would be to give in. Omitting control omits responsibility. If you cannot take responsibility for the outcome, the basis for those feelings of negativity falls in on itself.
When people fail to see an immediate solution, they often turn to submission. Doing otherwise would require recognizing that they can't live in a constant state on content. In the worse cases, even death is preferable to another moment of this inner turmoil for these people.
However, such a notion defeats the purpose of life. One can only be in a deficit of ecstasy when experiencing challenging circumstances. But you can only feel that way because instinctively, you see the value in the world before you. The feelings of negativity stem from being unable to attain contentment for the time being. Giving in is just a short hand way of relinquishing responsibility for what you can do and avoiding negative feelings. It is a heuristic.
You can't solve a math problem by walking away from the board.
People are willing to go through more pain and suffering to avoid pain and suffering when sometimes more pain and suffering is all it takes to avoid more pain and suffering. They're willing to rationalize giving up when that same thought process can be used to carry on. And that fundamentally makes no sense.
While knowledge is a highly valued asset, people tend to rely on what they already know too often. When one fails to reach that understanding, some would opt to go into panic or rejection mode. They relinquish responsibility to avoid feeling like true failures and then they continue living a life of excessive mistakes that could be easily avoided with common sense thinking.
As long as you don't die, you can learn from your mistakes.
It is a simple thought process but many fail to do it.
Optimism, perseverance, vigor.
It takes a certain type of character to stand in the face of overwhelming odds with unwavering determination. Sonic the Hedgehog was such a character.
If I were Fang, what would motivate me for blocking my vision and then shooting? He knows that I rely mainly on speed. I try to take the quickest route to defeat my enemies. But even that's too simple of a plan to work every time, so I throw in a bit of misdirection with surprising movements to fool 'em. It's the perfect complement to my skills. He knows this.
But at the start of the fight, he shot to kill. A bullet through my big ol' eyes would have probably ended it right then and there. So he's trying to win as quickly as possible too. With his aim, a headshot'd be the easiest thing to do, but with my speed, I can dodge them just as easily. If he knows this, then why would he fire the two additional shots?
I know that the first one is aimed at my eyes. A quick boost in speed should put up an air shield. But, I also have to consider that Bean might me waiting to ambush me. Those bombs explode on rough impact and anything shy of the speed of sound qualifies. A Sonic Boost won't protect me from a collision with an explosion. Avoiding them for now is safest option. But I don't know which way to dodge!
Sonic was only on his second stride.
Wait a nanosec…If he's aiming for my eyes, then that limits the amount of options I can take. Like before, he's shooting in three directions, but this time the delay between shots was smaller. Revolvers have recoil but that can be fixed by placing a sturdy hand above it. So the bullets are also closer to each other than they were before. Judging from how fast the bullets are, they're probably a few inches away from my face. But to catch me off guard, they're most likely in a formation that'll hit me no matter where I side step.
I can slide under them, but Bean's bomb could be waiting in that gap underneath. So, the best thing to do is…!
Sonic took his second step. He somersaulted twelve feet into the air, spinning forwards several times. He noticed a flood of fizzing black cannon balls on the ground.
Wait! Revolvers only carry six bullets! That means he…!
BANG!
"Argh!"
A bullet struck him directly on top of his head. He uncurled and flipped through the air. While spinning, he saw Fang hunched over to the side. Before he could fire, Tails delivered a jumping punch to his jaw. However, he was still able see Sonic out of the corner of his eye and adjusted his aim accordingly. Afterwards, his body spun around and he stumbled backwards.
A throbbing sensation thundered up Fang's skull. He took a slight second to writhe in pain but afterwards, wobbly swung his right arm up. Tails ran right into Fang's line of fire. Even so, he stomped into the ground with his right foot, leaned forward, and shifted his weight in the opposite direction. He clenched his right arm so tightly, it burned.
His fist rotated as it plowed through the air.
But even then, Fang's gun managed to make its way to his left eye.
Still in midair and upside down, Sonic's face spasmed. His fur jumped up. Very few things scared a man like Sonic the Hedgehog, one who constantly swung past death's door like the neighbor paperboy. But the mere thought, the mere possibility that his best friend, the one he had known for all these years, would cease living before his very eyes sent a chill through-out his body.
In less than a fraction of the tiniest part of a second, Sonic kicked forward and spun around.
With a bruised eye, Fang grinded his teeth together with an almost pitiful, desperate smile.
His finger lustfully hugged the trigger.
BANG!
The sound of a bullet reached Sonic's ears. Panic, fear, and dread filled his thoughts. Then frustration. And then anger. It was a profuse rage that oozed from every pore, clogged every artery like years of factory-made, corner store cake consumption. It was a crippling feeling that one simply could not ignore no matter what method of rationalization they used. Entirely consuming his heart.
That is, if he didn't feel so proud.
As he flipped through the air, a smirk formed on the corner of his cheek.
At the last second, Tails used one of his tails to slap Fang's hand downward. The bullet struck a patch of grass several feet behind them.
CRRRRRRUNCH!
At the same time, Tails' fist sunk into Fang's face.
At the same time, Sonic landed.
BTOOOOOM!
At the same time, the bombs next to him exploded.
An intense heat tore into his left side. He landed he couldn't feel the ground anymore. His body hit the slope of a hill. He rolled sideways. His back struck something cold and hard.
With a deafening sound and excruciating pain, he was knocked away into an abyss of darkness.
After an unspecified amount of time, Sonic came to his senses. He slowly opened his eyes with a groan.
The first thing he felt was an intense thirst. It was if it someone lit a match and threw it down his throat. He opened his mouth and heavily panted. His stomach rhythmically moved up and down with each breath.
The second thing he felt was the cold dew of grass massaging his right side. However insubstantial it was compared to the blazing heat, it managed to revitalize him, if only slightly. He rolled over to his stomach. After squeezing a patch of grass, he gritted his teeth and slowly pushed off the ground. His left hand terribly stung and the feeling only worsened the more weight he put into it.
He leaned to the right. He heard a metal clunk and felt another cold sensation. He turned to see The Marvelous Queen. He put his right hand on it and pushed of it to support himself. He eventually grabbed the top of the door to stand himself up. Hunched over, he panted as he stared at the ground.
Now at least marginally conscious, he noticed the awful smell of burning flesh. There was also an annoying ringing in his left ear. The outside of his left glove was shredded, causing the other half to dangle. His left shoe was heavily charred. His entire left side was darkened with various shades of black and red, remission the sight of a cooling volcano.
He looked to his left. He saw three pick axes. He angled his head up.
However recent the explosion was, the smoke was in the process of clearing. He noticed a few silhouettes. His vision was slightly blurry. However, the smoke soon dissipated.
It showcased a frightening image.
Tattered and bruised, Bean knelt with his arms crossed in an X shape, his hands making rock and roll signs. To his left, Bark stood. Tightly held off the ground was a Tails with an apologetic look.
With a sheepish smile, Fang aimed his revolver in his ear.
"Checkmate, hedgehog," said he. "Beat it or the kid gets it."
Sonic stared at The Hooligans stoically. He put his hands on his hips and leaned backwards. His joints popped and he pleasantly groaned. He rolled his head around and cracked his neck. He placed a hand on each shoulder and rotated them one at a time.
He sighed heavily.
"Hey! Did you hear me?! Do you want to see kiddie fox brains splattered everywhere?"
"Calm down," Sonic said nonchalantly. "I heard you. But that's not gonna happen."
"Wanna bet?"
"I would," Sonic shrugged. "But unfortunately, I don't have any rings on me. Odd since I keep running into them everywhere I go. Maybe I should invest in a coin purse. Or a wallet. Do they even make ring wallets? Oh, but then I'd need money to buy it. Man, am I in a pickle."
"I am going to shoot this child and you are going to have to sleep with that on your conscious."
"Fang, buddy, pal, amigo. We just went over this. You won't shoot Tails. In fact, you're going to hand him over to me and we'll just be on our joyous little way."
"It's confidence like that that gets children shot in the skull."
"No, it's dropouts without any marketable skills who do things like that."
"Did you even go to school?!"
"Let's try to stay focused."
"Sonic," Tails said. "If I've ever made you mad, I'm sorry, but pleeeeease shut up."
"Yeah," said Fang. "At the risk of a stupid question, what's making you so sure of yourself? You don't look like you're in any condition to fight back. I could kill you and the brat in .05 seconds if I felt like it."
"I feel like you're exaggerating a little bit, but to answer your question…" A metal tapping was heard. Fang narrowed his gaze. "That's a nice hoverbike you got here."
"…"
"Yeah, I'm not much into mechanics. That's more Tails' thing. I'm sure he could appreciate the geeky bits more than I ever could."
"…"
"What's the horsepower on this thing? Heck, who am I kidding? I don't even know what that means. It just sounded like a relevant question. Not that it matters. I'm like a gazillion miles faster than it anyway."
"What…are you getting at?"
The smirk on Sonic's face widened.
"Oh, nothin'. Just admiring the specs on this thing. She's a real beaut.'" Sonic slowly rubbed the door with his hand, which made a squeaky noise against his glove. He lowered his voice. "It'd be a real shame if something were to happen to it."
Fang did not immediately reply.
"Tshh…tshh! Yeah right! Take a good look at yourself! You look like turd! You couldn't even catch an ice cream truck!"
Sonic kicked up a pick ax and caught it with his right hand. He carelessly swung it around and stopped it just above the parked vehicle.
"Wanna bet?"
Fang's shoulders tensed.
"You're bluffing," he said.
"I'm not."
"I'll ice the brat in a heartbeat."
"That's all the time I need."
"You'll be crying to your girlfriend about this for the rest of your life."
"She's not my girlfriend…"
"Don't make me do this!"
"Do you really want to find out why they call me the fastest thing alive?"
A stalemate. Silence. A grin. A grimace.
Even if the solution to the problem was within arm's length, the mind would still favor the less stressful outcome. All or nothing, as the saying goes. It takes a certain character to stand in the face of overwhelming odds with unwavering determination.
A sigh. A dropped arm.
"Alright, alright...You win. Let him go, Bark."
Fang the Sniper was not such a character.
At least, not today.
Tails ran over to Sonic's side and hid behind him. Fang stared stoically at the two in defeat. He twirled his gun and threw it inside the holster.
"Come on gang. We're out."
"Awwww, what?" Bean complained. "But it was just getting good."
"Shut up, Bean."
The trio walked towards the Marvelous Queen. When the five of them intersected, Tails turned to look at Fang. He didn't return the favor, but he glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. Sonic simply folded his arms and smiled as the three walked by.
"I thought you were called The Hooligans," Sonic said.
"I don't know where that came from."
S'not a bad ring to it though, he thought.
The Hooligans hopped in their respective seats of The Marvelous Queen. Fang put the key in the ignition. The Marvelous Queen floated a few inches above the ground.
Fang turned to look at Tails.
"Hey kid."
"Yeah?" he innocently replied, like any child would to an elder.
"Tell me. I'm a little irked at this outcome since we came so close. Did you know he'd show up, or was it just a coincidence?"
Tails simply smiled.
"Of course. Not that it matters."
Fang did not reply. He just continued to stare.
"Either way, you completely underestimated me. I'll admit it. You got me good earlier but that was with the three of you but you still made too many assumptions. It would have been wise to assume the worse and think that I was playing you but you gave up on the notion in favor of generalizing. You assumed certain qualities I possessed, like my boyish innocence, meant I wouldn't mislead you even though I've been misleading you from the moment you came through the door.
"For all your talk about understanding me, you placed me into a category of archetypes to bring me to a level you're willing to accept. You blinded yourself for the satisfaction of believing you made a good call and that led to easily avoidable mistakes. Fang, you're brilliant, but you fell for the same trap that separates the ordinary from the extraordinary. You could say you…"
Tails narrowed his eyes. An oddly familiar and eerie smile appeared on his face.
"...missed your target."
Fang did not wait another second. The Marvelous Queen hovered higher above the ground and rode away on the emerald green grass.
Sonic placed his right arm around Tails' shoulder. He put his left hand on the side of his mouth.
"Any time you want some target practice," he shouted mockingly. "Give us a call! Look us up in the phone book! We're the Freedom Fighters! You can't miss us!" Sonic then turned to Tails. "They still make phone books, right?"
"I don't know man," Tails said. "Reading's for nerds."
"I like reading."
"…Nerrrrrrrrrd."
Sonic lightly shoved him. He chuckled.
"But seriously…Are you okay?"
"What, these?" Sonic pointed at his body with all his fingers. "Just a little third degree burns and tinnitus. I'll be good as new after a little lunch and a power nap."
"I think I have some food in my fridge. You won't believe the kind of day I had."
"Yeah, you have to tell me how this escapade happened."
"I will, but in exchange, I have to request a solid."
"What's up."
Tails pointed at the meadow behind him.
"Can you give me a ride back to my workshop? The Tornado's back at the shop and I'm reallllllllly tired."
"Heh. Sure thing, buddy."
With that, Sonic picked up Tails, his pick axes and shovels, and ran ahead at Mach 7 speeds.
A few miles east of Sunset Hill, 10:59
With his arms folded behind his head, Bark stared at the vast ocean whirling by from the right passenger seat of the Marvelous Queen. On the opposite side, Bean held an unlit bomb in his lap and rubbed it like an expecting mother.
What a day, Fang thought from the driver's seat. Who'd have thought the brat had it in him to lie like that?
Fang stared indifferently to the ocean ahead.
Just when you think you've seen it all, life comes at you with a bat to the back of the skull.
"Well," he said. "That was fun."
"Sure was," Fang said dryly. He pressed a button on the dashboard. A green phone icon appeared on a screen. A few seconds later, a voice answered.
"Why hello there."
"Mission's complete, doctor."
"And I take it you failed miserably?"
"Not in the way I'd like, but yes."
"Excellent."
Bean turned his head to the dashboard.
"Was that supposed to be a pun?" he said.
"No Bean. Not every word that sounds like "egg" in the beginning is a pun. I'm not that kind of villain. I'm more of the menacing, sophisticated type."
"Yeah, okay…" said Fang under his breath.
"What was that?"
"So, how's part two going along?"
"Ohhhh, swimmingly, I'd say. Our little castle crasher is having the time of his life. His excessively, long life might I add."
Get a room you two, Fang thought but had the sense not to say out loud.
"As long as we get paid, who cares about the state of the world anyway?"
Mystic Ruins, Tails Workshop, 11:06
Sonic screeched to a halt on a path of dirt a few feet away from entrance Tails' workshop. He let Tails down and they walked inside. After stepping over the unhinged door, Sonic's eyes shot open in shock.
"Geez," he said. "You have a party I wasn't invited to?"
"I tried contacting you," said Tails as he grabbed a seat at a table. "But those bums brought an EMP."
"..."
Tails noticed Sonic worriedly staring at him. He waved his hands in front of him.
"But it all worked out in the end, so it's okay!"
"…It's really not." Sonic looked aside. "Now they're bringing the fight straight to our front doors. Literally."
"Technically, I don't live here."
Sonic looked at the fridge and microwave then glared at Tails.
"Although, I do spend an awful lot of time here…"
"An EMP isn't something they'd think of ahead of time. This has Eggman's stink written all over it." Sonic turned to Tails. "Whatever he's planning is already in motion."
"It'd be great if we knew what it was."
"Yeah, no kidding..."
Tails gently placed his head on the table.
"But you can't know everything…"
Sonic continued to stare at the battered workshop with his arms folded.
"Like we need to. Just give it time and it'll all come to light. Especially with that big, beautiful, brain of…"
Sonic turned around to see Tails drooling with his eyes closed. A smile appeared across his face. He picked up the shelf, neatly organized its contents, and threw the broken frame and glass into the trash, grabbed a cerulean sheet and pillow lying on the floor and placed it over Tails' back in about two seconds. He lightly patted him on the back.
"Good morning," he whispered.
He picked up the door, stepped backwards and gently left it in frame.
But before he could let go, Amy's voice screeched from his wrist communicator.
"Sonic!" she said in a panic. "Come quick!"
Sonic rolled his left glove up and blankly stared at his wrist.
"…Excuse me?" he said.
"Castle Acorn is…" An explosion cut her off, creating immense feedback. Sonic's gaze widened.
"What was that?!"
Despite his questioning, there would be no reply until a few seconds later.
"Son...ic…AH—!"
"Amy? Amy?! Amy!"
Static. No response. Amy's icon disappeared from the screen before his eyes.
Sonic turned around and kicked down the door. Tails' upper body sprung up.
"Lady, do you really know what a poop-deck is?!" he shouted.
"…Wha…?" Sonic said confused before shaking quickly his head. "Not important. Tails, we gotta go. Fast. Castle Acorn's under siege!"
Tails' eyes shot open.
"What?!" he said with a look of terror on his face.
"That's all I know! Come on!" Sonic ran over and picked up Tails. "We gotta bounce!"
"Wait!"
"What do you mean wait?! Amy and the others are—!"
"Sonic, just—just wait a sec."
Tails set himself down and pressed a red button next to the fridge. Part of the floor on the opposite edge of the room opened and revealed a flight of stairs. Tails ran down.
"Tails?!" Sonic shouted in confusion.
He would return fifteen seconds later with a yellow emerald in his right hand.
"Let's warp there using this," he said. "It'll come in handy."
"The fake Emerald? Good thinking! Give it here!"
Tails ran over to Sonic and handed him the artificial Emerald. Tightly gripping it in his right hand, Sonic raised it up.
"Chaos—!"
In a yellow flash of light and distorted sound, they vanished.