Part 3
Standing on a hill high above a ruined village stands an unknown Mobian, looking down over the smoldering ruins with clear dismay.
"The many tailed demons have been here..." He says with a growl. "What is it they could possibly want with a peaceful village like this one. One just like mine..." He pauses, clenching his fist. "I swear... I will find a way to make them pay!" He exclaims as his hand bursts into a bright blue.
The unknown pyro of a Mobian soon makes his way down to the village, scouring the remains for any signs of survivors. Near to the remains of a wooden home lies a woman, an avian of bright color, singed by the flames and clearly beaten.
"Please... help me..." She calls weakly up to the male.
He leans down over the woman and asks. "Who did this to you?"
"It was... some ferret Mobian, along with several of those... many tailed foxes. They said..." She coughs for a moment, choking on her own blood.
"Enough, save your strength, just show me where they went." He says impatiently, looking up and around furiously making sure none of them are left nearby.
She weakly points to the north, toward a road. "There, in the... they went... in the canyon." She says before the wing falls limply to the ground.
The unknown one, now clearly seen as a male rat with bright blue hair, wearing flowing garments and wooden sandals; takes no time and begins to run in the direction of the canyon. The rodent thinks to himself.
.oO(I may have this... gift... but I still don't know how I can stop them, but I must try! If it costs me my life, so be it. They've taken too much from me already)
His eyes tear up a bit as he remembers his loving wife and child, slain by the hands of one of the many-tailed ones. He was powerless to stop them then, but he will, he MUST find a way to avenge them, he tells himself.
After nearly 30 minutes of running through the canyon, he spots a convoy ahead of them, moving fairly slow in comparison. A slight light blue aura that surrounded him suddenly glows much brighter and he begins to speed ahead at an incredible speed, being propelled as if they wind itself was blowing him there. He draws his sword as he sees one of the kitsunes trailing at the end and quickly lashes out right as he reaches the other, taking off the kitsune's 3 tails in one swoop of his blade, cutting through easily as he caught him by surprise.
The kitsune cries out and falls to the ground, the others then stop the caravan and look back just to see the rat standing atop of the pained kitsune.
"It's that guy... I swore we left him for dead. Oh well, he'll just make for some extra entertainment." The ferret at the front of the wagons says and motions to several of the others. "Take his tail off, let's see how much he likes it." He commands with a chuckle.
A strange golden collar encircles the ferret male's neck, with an ominous looking dark blue lady kitsune, stands by his side. An equally strange looking bracelet around one of her paws with a glowing gem, watching the spectacle unfold with a flat expression.
The rat wields his sword readily, his bright blue aura flaring and a strong wind picking up around them.
"You don't scare us, you may know our weakness, but you'll never get our tails!" One of the two calls out before both soars up to the rat. Both of them having four tails each.
The battle lashes out with furious slashes of the sword and lightning lashes of the fists, just like the battle between Tails and Fiona. The others in the group cheer on the two kitsune.
"Yeah, rip him to shreds!", "Beat the shit out of that stupid rodent!" The crowd cheers on, consisting mostly of Mobians at this point, many of them also having one of those strange collars with a zoned-out look in their eyes.
The battle continues, the rat able to fend off the blows with the side of his blade and quick maneuvers. He then suddenly lashes out with his blade in a way bigger than before, causing another great wind to pick up. The twin kitsunes shutter as they're blown back and suddenly find cuts on the sides of their heads.
"What the..." one says, wiping the blood from his cheek, being distracted just long enough to find the rat's sword piercing through his heart. "N-no... I can't be beaten... by a lowly Mobian." He whispers loudly in agony in agony before falling back off of the sword, motionless. The other kitsune cringes and lashes out at the other, his attack more furious than before.
"Whaddya know... this dumbass has some potential after all." He quips to the large kitsune next to him who remains expressionless, purple, elliptical-pupil laden eyes focused intently on the fight.
The fight continues on, furious blows traded between the two for several minutes, the two showing no signs of tiring.
"Hmm... enough..." The deep blue kitsune suddenly speaks up in her rich, feminine tone. She quickly charges up a sizeable blast of her fur-matching colored energy and launches it without hesitation. The resulting beam engulfing several of the Mobian on-lookers along with the kitsune who fights the rat. The light blue shrouded rodent spots the energy blast and dives for cover as the kitsune in front of him is engulfed in the energy, sharing the fate of the others as he's blasted into mere particles by the blast.
"Missed..." The blue kitsune mumbles.
"Hey, woah! You're killing your own men. We've gotta have servants to push the wagons!" The ferret snaps at the dark blue kitsune.
"Fine, you deal with him then." She mutters before grabbing the wagon in the front, literally lifting the entire thing above her head and hovering off of the ground, flying off with whatever precious cargo that was in it.
"Tsk, fine." He mumbles as she leaves, walking fearlessly toward the rat which has now gotten back to his feet.
"Oooo, he's in trouble now. The boss is gonna rip 'em a new one." The remaining crowd cheers the oddly confident Mobian on. The assaulting rat readies his now bloody blade, a somber look on his features.
"The boss? ...are you the one that's responsible for the all the lives lost in the villages?" The rat asks with a tone of indignation.
"Hah, yeah... I got a little carried away... you see, it's easy to get carried away when you carry the power of ever-cleansing fire." He says, his body suddenly being engulfed in flames.
"You have a power like mine... what are you?" The rat calls out, gripping his blade ever tighter.
"A god... and now I will smite you like the miserable insect you are!" His flames flare up more, becoming so hot to the area around him that it sets the remaining wagons on fire and causing the swordsman to shudder. Maniacal laughter fills the area as the flaming ferret slowly closes ground on the other.
"A god... a fool more like it. Let's see if your fire can keep up with my wind!" He thrusts forward a paw, a gale force wind kicking up causing the ferret to guard himself, slowly being pushed back but his flames are ultimately fanned even brighter.
"Hah hah hah hah, sorry to burst your bubble but the wind only makes fire stronger. You don't stand a chance." He says, motioning out toward the rat, a pillar of flames of flames following.
The rat then focuses, encasing him with an even stronger whirlwind that blows the flames away.
.oO(He's right, I can't beat him using my power... I've got to think of another way... a way to get his guard down) The swordsman thinks to himself as he's cocooned in the veil of wind.
"It's now or nothing!" The rat cries out as he charges up his wind power as high as he possibly can, creating a hurricane force blast of the wind that blows away the remaining Mobians and pushes the flaming ferret slowly backward as he tries to hold on.
"It's useless, you might as well just throw your power away!" The ferret gives another bought of crazed laughter as he and his flames continue to be pushed back.
"I don't care what you say... you killed my wife, my friends, my child! I can't let you get away with this! If it takes until my last breath, I will ensure that you never harm anyone again!"
The wind howls and rumbles with the force of the rat's aura, the flames of his assailant finally beginning to flicker.
"No way, you're not blowing me out!" The maniacal ferret retorts, closing his eyes and giving a loud cry out as he pushes his strength as far as it will go, the flames roaring around him as it's all pushed back.
.oO(Now's my chance, he's not paying attention!) The rat says before positioning his sword and letting go. The blade flies toward the ferret at incredible speed as it's pushed by the tremendous wind landing square in the middle of the ferret's chest.
Soon both the wind and the flames die down as the swordsman relaxes and the ferret finds himself impaled by the sword.
"You... you clever little bastard." He says amidst grunts of pain, eyes open now and wide with shock as he grabs the blade piercing him, doubling over.
"Now you feel my pain, remember this moment and learn from it." The rat calls out.
"You idiot... there's no way you're going to strike down the god of flames with one lousy trick." He hisses out before suddenly pulling the blade free from his chest, a rampant amount of blood spilling out after as the ferret hits the ground, panting and shivering.
The swordsman rat then moves over toward the ferret, his flames now tamed. He reaches down and picks up the bloodied sword, lashing it out a couple times to get the loose blood off of it before sheathing it back in its scabbard. He then puts his foot firmly down on the ferret's neck, pressing down hard.
"God or not, you will atone for your crimes!"
The ferret hisses and grabs the sandaled foot, struggling beneath him.
Suddenly Tails wakes up, rubbing his forehead as he ponders what he just saw.
"Was that just a dream?" He ponders aloud.
"That was no dream..." A familiar voice pops out from the darkness of the room. "I saw it too."
"Genra, is that you? How long have you been in here?" Tails asks groggily.
"Just a couple of hours, I couldn't help but come to you when I realized what was happening. I knew you would have questions." He explains simply, silvery eyes peering out from across the room.
"As we speak, two hybrids are fighting it out for dominance in another land, each fueled by the own visions and desires." The elder explains.
"But I thought you said there were only three." He says, looking over toward those silver eyes curiously.
"Yes, there were only three in my visions, that's all there will be when it's all said and done. The others will not survive." He explains.
"What... just who are the three?" Tails asks wondering if he's one of the ones killed along the way.
"I cannot say for certain, their feature were mostly obscured in my visions. There are many possibilities but there will be only three standing in the final days." Genra says.
Tails jumps out of bed and starts to get dressed.
"Where are you going young one? If you're going to find that canyon, you're going to be too late by the time you get there even if you know where it is. It's over a day's time away from here." The elder states.
"Then you'll just have to take me, I know you can get there quicker." Tails demands.
"Don't be harsh, we must let these things unfold by themselves. It is not our place to intervene." He says to the younger.
"I don't care, I refuse to believe that only three will be alive in the end. If even one more life is spared, we'll be better off in the end." Tails says with confidence as he finishes dressing. "Now take me there." He orders the older.
"Very well, but know that you cannot change this prophecy." He says with a sigh. "Fine, put your hand on my shoulder and I will teleport you there. Just remember, there is high-profile pure blood around there too, you must be careful."
"I understand, Genra, I will do what I can to avoid confrontation with that female." Tails says to him reassuringly.
A minute passes as Genra concentrates before Tails finds himself in the broad daylight, now in that very canyon.
"Thanks, Genra, I will make this count." He mumbles to himself.
The two continue their struggle, the ferret having escaped from beneath the other's foot and is beginning to get fired up again.
"Heh, I will reduce you to ashes, fool!" The ferret calls out before focusing his fire power into an area in front of him and launching a fireball full-force at the rat. The swordsman braces himself with another cocoon of the wind, barely managing to stave the fire off.
Tails sees the two others and the remains of the wreckage just ahead of him. "Good, there's still time... and he really did know just where they were, now I can set things straight." He mumbles to himself as he walks toward the two, several feet behind the swordsman and able to feel the whoosh of the wind around him.
The ferret suddenly stops and looks past the swordsman, seeing the twin-tail approaching. "Huh? Who is this fool?" He calls out.
This causes the rat to look behind him as well, he notices the twin tails and reaches for the handle of his sword.
"There's no need to be frightened, I've seen your plight and now I've come to make things right," Tails says as he approaches , his bright white aura beginning to flare. He steps near to the hesitant rat, which takes a step away from him.
"Strange, I was confident there were no others around... then this guy just drops in. How idiotic, I guess I get to fry yet another dumbass today." The ferret speaks before giving another laugh.
"There's only one way to end this quickly... let's combine our power." He says to the rat beside him. He reaches out a glowing paw to the swordsman. A ball of his white energy beginning to form in it.
The rat looks to him hesitantly before offering his paw as well, forming his own light blue, wind-power energy to him.
"I really don't know what this is going to do... but when he charges, he gets to find out." Tails adds just loud enough for the rat to hear him. The swordsman nods and focuses a great deal of his power into the combined light blue and white ball which sparkles spectacularly and spirals in a radical motion.
The other doesn't hear them and finally stops laughing, flaring the flames once more before charging at them at full speed.
"Hold it... almost there..." He says as the other rapidly approaches them and just as Tails is about ready to say go, the ferret makes an astounding leap over them. Taken aback for a moment before refocusing and aiming the powerful combined energies backward. Tails and the others look over their shoulders.
"Now!" Tails calls out as the blast flies from them right as the ferret lands. The flaming one looks back at the large blast of combined energy and flares his flames, turning quickly around to try to defend himself.
The combined energy land against him with a loud crack like close-range thunder. The ferret struggles with it, trying to control it but it inevitably pushes him quickly back as he desperately tries to keep it from exploding.
"Nooo!" the flaming ferret cries out desperately, ultimately losing control of the blast and causing the entire area to be engulfed in an explosion that could be felt for many miles around. The fox and the rat brace themselves as the blast push them back as well, filling the area with dust and rocks which blow at them with an incredible gust. Quickly the blast fades and the dust begins to clear from the air.
The ferret lies back against a canyon wall, still in one piece but gravely injured. Tails sees this and runs up to him, leaning down to check for a pulse.
"He's still alive." He says before noticing that golden collar around his neck. He reaches over and tries to find a way to remove the collar, struggling with it as it's sealed quite tightly around the other's neck.
"Hey, help me get this off of him!" Tails calls back to the other who is already closing the distance between him and the others.
The two struggle with the collar before finally breaking it loose, the collar flickering violently with a strange energy as it's removed. Tails quickly throws it away to the side and picks up the injured ferret over his shoulder.
"What are you doing?" The rat asks.
"It's as I thought, he wasn't responsible for his actions. That collar had some kind of control over him, now we need to get him medical attention." Tails explains.
"There's another village up ahead, it's likely where they were going..." The rat adds.
"BTW, I'm Tails... from the Acorn Kingdom," He says to the other as they begin to trek down the road with the ferret slung on the fox's shoulder.
"I'm Darrien... I'm from the village of Sohori, which was destroyed by that ferret and a gang of the many-tailed demons." He explains.
"Nice to meet you Darrien... and demons isn't exactly the right term for them, they're just other beings from another place." Tails adds.
"They're demons to me, they were among those that killed my wife and child. I can never forgive them! I am surprised that you, being one of them, would help me." The rat adds, eyeing his twin tails suspiciously.
"Oh, my tails... I was born with them, it was some kind of genetic mutation. I'm no more a kitsune than you are." The twin-tailed fox explains.
"What do you mean?" The rat questions as they continue their conversation and walk.
"It's a long story, I'll tell you along the way."
The two walk and talk for over 15 minutes along the way. Tails explains to the shocked rat they are part kitsune themselves and that they were made that way at some point in their lives. In Darrien's case, he never even knew but thought it was strange that he has control over the wind and an odd aura. He also explains that the ferret is one too and that he was most likely made that way to be a tool to the pure-blooded kitsune and serve a hidden agenda.
"I don't know what they're doing, but there's something definitely not good about it. It must explain why I have a pure-blood kitsune watching over me now, he obviously knows more than he's letting on but I sense no evil in his heart... so I'm thankful for his help." Tails adds as they walk into the village.
"You can sense evil?" The rat asks with a bit of bewilderment.
"Yes, I can... this is why I decided to keep this guy around, once the collar was removed any trace of evil vanished from him. Besides, with whatever the evil among the kitsune is planning, we're going to need all the help we can get. Genra told me that we will be able to stand toe-to-toe with kitsune, but not yet, we still need time for our power to mature."
"When will that be?" The rat continues questioning.
"That, I've never been able to get an answer to." The twin-tailed fox replies.
The two go over to the local hospital and put the ferret down on the bed. A local doctor begins to work on the ferret.
"It's a good thing you two got him here when you did... he wouldn't have survived much longer." The doctor porcupine tells them.
"We should've just flown here," Darrien tells Tails.
"Flown here, what do you mean?" He asks in return.
"You mean you can't fly? I thought all of us with these special powers could fly." The rat explains, beginning to hover off of the ground.
"No, I used to be able to fly with my tails, but not anymore... you'll have to show me how sometime."
The doctor clears his throat to regain their attention. "I'm not sure how long it will take him to recover, possibly around a week. In the mean time he needs to rest, please step back outside and come back in a few days." The spikey-backed doctor tells the others, who step outside and continue their conversation.
Meanwhile back in the Acorn Kingdom, Genra stands atop the palace looking out over the rising sun.
"He's the one... I can finally rest my doubt. He's the one who will bring balance back to the kitsune once and for all. His heart is pure and so shall be his power. It's time he knows the true enemy... before they take me away from him..." He says to himself as he watches the horizon in deep thought.
