Shadow: Damn it...All my fans hate me now...This is all your fault, Trinity! You made me the bad guy! AND you're updating late...AGAIN!
Trinity: (sticks out tongue) Well excuse me for having a life! And I don't care what everyone else thinks, Shadow still rocks!
Shadow: Damn straight!
Trinity: I just like screwing with his fan base...
Shadow: (O.o) ...Why?
Trinity: (smirk) I get more reviews that way. And speaking of reviews, we reached and passed 100 glorious reviews last chapter! I thank you all from the top of my heart!
Tails: Top? Shouldn't it be...?
Trinity: Of course, if I had it my way, we'd be at two hundred by now...
Annabel: Of course. (--')
I still don't own these awsome Sega characters...
Chapter 17 - Resolution
It was an hour before midnight when the storm finally arrived. Winds blew sheets of rain sideways, and sometimes straight up. Later in the night, the dropping temperatures turned the rain drops into snow flurries that swirled up and down the streets in small, white twisters. Tails lay awake through it all, staring out of the tiny window until frost and lumps of mushy snow made it impossible to see through the glass.
It wasn't until the early hours of morning that the storm finally subsided. As the rain returned and slowed to a light drizzle, Jake emerged from the murky night. A creaking door announced his arrival as he entered the small bedroom. The rat sat on the edge of the cot and watched his sleeping sister Annabel, looking tired and grim. Tails rolled to his side and met Jake's eyes, and the rat smiled at him.
"Did you go see them? You're friends I mean," Tail whispered in the cracked voice of someone who just woke up.
"Yes. I told them about Shadow's…recent actions," Jake said. "Lillian is upset over you, despite being in an 'I told you so' mode. She's demanded that you go see her later."
"Why?"
"She's taken quiet a shine to you, kid," Jake said with a grin. "And she's at that 'mother figure' stage. I guess she just wants to comfort you in your time of loss."
"I…I won't go," Tails said after a moment of silence.
"Tails?"
"I-I don't need to be comforted," Tails said, sitting up on the cot. "I haven't lost him yet."
"Tails, that man left you. You can't just sit here and hang on to him, hoping he'll just come back. Forget about him and move on."
"You make it sound like some sappy relationship gone wrong," Tails said with a dark chuckle. "It's just…I don't think he's really abandoned me. He just left so I would see something I missed before…He's still my friend. I know he is."
At least I hope he is, spoke the tiny voice of doubt. Tails brushed it aside. He rearranged his features into a determined look and stared at Jake. The intense look in his eyes disregarded the doubt still lingering in Jake's mind. It was obvious Tails was going to believe whole-heartedly in his words and charge forward without looking back- almost like a certain blue hedgehog. Is this what you wanted? Tails thought with an inward grin. And here I was, thinking you hated Sonic's attitude.
"What about Heath? Has he made his move yet?" Tails said.
"I don't think so. He wouldn't dare make his troops march through that storm last night, and it's too wet and soggy out to go now."
"Wouldn't he prefer to attack under the cover of night?"
"These days, fighting in the night is hazardous. Not only is it too dark to discern friend from foe, but the low temperatures numb soldiers and make it difficult for them to fight. If he's going to attack today, it would be during late evening, after the sun's dried up the ground, and let the fight continue into the night."
Tails stared biting his thumb, staring at the frost covered windows. He remembered the old weasel saying Heath threatened the city with G.U.N. mechs, but Shadow never mentioned seeing them. Could the fox have been lying, bluffing to get Shadow to appear? If he had, then the city might have a chance against him. Tails sat up and drew lines on the frosted window.
"This is what we're going to do. We have limited time, so we'll have to move quickly. Until we can confirm that Heath has no battle mechs, we will fight from the interior of the city here," Tails said, pointing to his drawing. "If he has none, we can work on defending the walls and picking off soldiers from above. With only one bridge to the plateau, it shouldn't be too hard to do."
"Ah. There is another way into the city," Jake said, as if he was just remembering. "There's a secret tunnel that leads out of our base. You turn right instead of left once you go down the stairs, and the tunnel leads into a cluster of intertwined caves north of the city."
"Does anybody know about it?" Tails said, alarmed.
"Only a few privileged members of the Desert Pirates know for sure, and the others have guessed the tunnel leads out of town. But the caves are hidden underground, and finding the right passage is nearly impossible, so the tunnel is normally used as an escape route. We wouldn't risk trying to sneak into the city that way. We'd get lost."
"Good," Tails said, biting on his thumb again. "Then the first thing we need to do is to confirm the presences of battle mechs. Our defense strategy depends entirely on whether or not Heath has any."
Annabel stirred under the sheets and poked her head out of the cloth cocoon. She squinted, unable to see with the dim light that filtered through the filthy windows and looked around the unfamiliar room. When she spotted her brother, Annabel crawled into Jake's lap and went back to sleep, sticking her thumb into her mouth. Jake wrapped his arms around the little girl, and a desire to protect her sparked within his chest.
"We have to protect this city," Jake said softly, cradling his sister lovingly. "At all cost."
-0-0-
There was a little black ball of fur known as Shadow the Hedgehog huddled in the back of a small cave some twenty miles from Calor, wrapped up in a traveling cloak. Winds had blown rain and snow into the cave during the night, and ice coated his body. When the first rays of sunlight fell on him and warmed his ridged body, Shadow uncurled and crawled to the cave opening where he collapsed and laid still, soaking up heat from the sunlight like a reptile.
Shadow happily welcomed the first rays of morning and the coming heat wave. He let his body repair the damaged that was inflicted by the cold storm during the night. Slowly, his strength returned to him and Shadow managed to sit upright. An hour later, he could climb out of the cave and pull himself on top of the bluff, where he sat and surveyed land. The yellow gas had cleared during the storm and the dusty red earth was moisten into sticky mud. Until it dried, it would be extremely difficult to travel across the land.
The temperature rose sharply once the sun cleared the horizon. Shadow calculated four hours until the ground was hard enough to walk on again and settled into his mediation to wait it out. The sun bathed him in its warm rays, and Shadow's body rejoiced in the heat until his black fur became too warm and his body temperature spiked. Shadow resisted to impulse to seek shelter from the relentless heat, and for five hours, he sat underneath the sun and forced his body to suffer with calm dignity.
The soft footsteps of someone trying to sneak up behind him reached Shadow's overly sensitive ears. Shadow was immediately on guard, but didn't let a single muscle in his body twitch and waited as the sneaky culprit hiked up the bluff. Even when the person was standing behind him, Shadow made no sign that he knew of his presence. Shadow waited patiently for the red and white fox standing behind his to speak.
"I will launch my attack on Calor in three hours," Heath said, pausing. The winds blew, but Shadow didn't move so he continued. "This is your last chance to join me, Shadow."
Shadow barked his laughter into the air and the winds carrying his voice down the bluff and out into the land. His laughter echoed through the small caves and ricocheted off of the huge rocks, as if laughing with him in response. The land rang with his laughter for only a moment, but it was enough to infuriate the fox. In an instant, Shadow was on his feet and in Heath's face, a wide grin on his face. Heath stumbled back in alarm.
"Or what, you'll destroy me?" Shadow shouted.
"Yes! I will take rule of the entire world and you are a threat to my plans- you are in the way!" Heath shouted back. Shadow laughed again. "I wanted to have the strongest being in the world at my side, Shadow, but I will destroy anyone who opposes my rule!"
"If I am the strongest in the world, how do you plan on defeating me?"
"Even with strength like yours, you can be subdued by overwhelming forces."
"So you come here alone, and threaten me?"
"Who said I was alone?" Heath hissed.
From the intertwined caves and around the boulders that echoes Shadow's laughter came hundreds of thousands of troops carrying rifles or pistols in their hands. The white and blue clad soldiers glared silently at Shadow and tensed when the black hedgehog's eyes glanced in their direction as Shadow sized them up. Heath stared at Shadow, search for some sign of concern in his face, but he only stared back with his usual cold and emotionless expression. Heath scowled angrily at him.
"You will join me, Shadow," Heath said softly, his voice ringing in Shadow's head. He turned sharply on his heel and hopped off the bluff, signaling his troops to retreat.
Shadow watched the masses of troops leave with a look of indifference, but inwardly, he was shaken. The way Heath's voice had echoed in Shadow's brain as the fox was leaving was disquieting, at best. On top of that, Shadow was worried to find so many troops had managed to surround him without his notice. Shadow wondered if he had somehow been under Heath's mind control powers and suppressed his shiver of fear, careful not to show his weakness before the last of the troops that were slipping away through the caves.
I will not submit to his will, Shadow thought venomously, sitting down and staring across the land toward the horizon. And I will not let him have his way.
-0-0-
It was a hot and sunny noon in the city of Calor, and the market place was bustling with life. But unlike a normal sunny day, the people of Calor were busy clearing out to market place. The flimsy wooden stalls were taken apart and rebuilt to make blockades and extra ladders. The more permanent ones were converted into easy-access storage units for food, water, and medical supplies. Houses being were emptied of anything that could be used as a weapon and piled into the middle of the street.
Young thieves and city guards worked together to coordinate the effort to prepare for the oncoming battle. From the underground base of the Desert Pirates, which even now remained a guarded secret throughout the commotion, came all the commands for the operation. Jake, Sledge, Jet, Lillian, and Tails stood crowded around a circular table, various maps that were scribbled on laid out before them. The thieves ran in and out, carrying messages for the five that were secretly in control of everything.
"Sirs, ma'am," said a bat child with unusual formality, "the set up of the city hall as the emergency over-flow hospital is now complete."
"The assignment of back-up nurses and doctors is also complete," said the bat's sister.
"Good," Jake said, glancing over to Tails. "Now all that's left…"
"Right," Tails said with a nod. "Now that our other projects are finishing up, we should have a good handful of people who can go."
"Jet," Jake said, turning to the lizard. "I need you to hand pick four others to take with you."
"And just where am I going?"
"I need you to sneak into Heath's base, and see if he really has any G.U.N. battle mechs or if he was just bluffing."
"WHAT?" Jet screamed, his yellow eyes popping out of his head.
"Hmm, I see where this is going," Sledge said, crossing his arms across his huge chest. "If he was bluffing, then this may be easier than we thought. And if he wasn't…well, we need to know what we're up against."
"Yes, knowing what we're going to be up against will help us come up with the best defense strategy," Lillian said, glancing over a report that was just handed to her. She peered over the top of the paper at Tails and Jake. "I assume that is why you've been holding off on assigning guard posts and such?"
"But why do I have to go?" Jet muttered, already breaking out into a nervous sweat.
"Because you are the stealthiest of our group, and because I have other jobs for Lillian and Sledge," Jake said. "Speaking of, Sledge you know the strengths of our current members best, correct?"
"Yeah, I suppose I do. Why?"
"Pick our strongest and fastest to stand guard in the tunnel. We need them to be able to single-handedly fight off any one who might come down it, or run like hell to tell us about the breach should they fail to protect it."
"You don't think-?"
"That is exactly what I think," Jake said, following a small kitten with his eyes as she scurried out the room. He waited a few moments to make sure no one else was coming before saying in a low voice, "They must be people we can trust, Sledge. This is our best guarded secret, but we can't afford to hide down here when the battle starts and leave all the fighting to these children, even though their all so eager to fight."
"What about me?" Lillian said.
"I need you to go top side and rally the people into fighting with the guards. I know everyone is working together in preparation for the battle, but I doubt even half of them are planning on helping once things start to get dangerous. Without more people fighting alongside the guards, Heath's troops will far out number us and we will be crushed."
"What about you, Leader? What are you going to be doing" Jet said.
"Erm, I'm staying here, with Tails. We have things to…discuss."
Tails frowned Jake, feeling slightly annoyed, but Lillian glanced at Tails sympathetically, thinking about his situation with Shadow. While she and the kit hadn't gotten off on the right foot, she still felt like she should be trying to comfort him. After all, his hard work and determination could just be a ruse to cover up his true feelings. But without another word, Lillian, Jet and Sledge, saluted Jake and left, closing the huge double doors behind them, leaving Jake and Tails in the empty, silent room.
"If this is about Shadow-," Tails began.
"It's not," Jake interrupted quickly. "It's, um, about making you stronger."
"Huh?"
"I…I know a few Chaos techniques that I can teach you," Jake said, nervously scratching his cheek. "If, um, you want me to that is."
"You even know a few?" Tails said, his jaw dropping. "Am I the only incompetent one? God, no wonder he left me!"
"Well, I didn't know what these powers were, until Shadow told me, and I don't use them very often. I just thought, you know, they would be useful for the up coming battle."
"Yeah," Tails said. He shook his head. "I mean, thank you. I would love for you to show me a few moves."
"Um, okay."
Jake was suddenly feeling very shy. He rarely used his powers before, and he hadn't been practicing at all during the past year. None the less, he stuck out his hand, palm facing up ward, and his fingers curled as if he was holding a ball. And sure enough, as Tails leaned in closer, a ball orange of Chaos Energy began to form. Tails' eyes lit up as the glowing ball swirled in Jake's hands.
"Now watch," Jake said.
Walking over to where Shadow had left a hole in the wall with his fist, Jake pressed the swirling ball of Chaos Energy against the opening. The stone made a strange hissing sound as it was cut away, the Chaos Energy vaporizing it in an instant. Jake pushed his hand into the wall until his arm was buried to the shoulder in it. The strange hissing sound died and Jake pulled his hand out of the hole. Tails immediately looking into the hole and saw how perfectly the stone had been cut.
"Wow," Tails sighed in awe. "Can it go through anything?"
"Anything I've tried so far," Jake said with a shrug.
"What's it called?"
"Called? Um, I didn't really name it or anything…"
"How do you do it?" Tails said, determined to learn.
"It sort of happens naturally. But you have to try and pull all of the Chaos Energy in your body, and gather it into the palm of your hand," Jake said, holding out his hand again. With a faint hum, the orange ball of energy appeared in his hands, slightly more erratic than before. "Curve your fingers to contain it and use Chaos Energy flowing from your finger tips to spin it, so it keeps its shape and you have better control."
"Can you throw it?" Tails asked innocently. Jake gulped.
"I can, but I can't control its path very well. Once it leaves my hand, it sorta goes on its own for a few seconds before it disappears," Jake said. His face turned solemn and sad. "The last time I tried, I took destroyed three different buildings, killing almost a hundred and injuring many more."
"Oh," Tails said, hanging his head. "Sorry I brought it up."
"It's alright. I've been practicing since, but without any luck. I just can't control its path, and it sorta zigzags in the general direction I want it to go."
"You should keep practicing, even if it does zigzag," Tails said thoughtfully. "That could really come in handy for the battle today."
"You think so?" Jake said, staring at his hands. "Well, okay."
Jake once again formed the ball of Chaos Energy in his palm, making it smaller than it was before. He stared nervously at it before he shrugged and half-heartedly tossed it at the wall. The swirling ball of energy started off straight enough, but it jerked to the side and shot off at a 45 degree angle. Half a second later, it jerked again and changed its course- this time heading straight for Tails. It hit him squarely in the chest, and the kit was sent flying backwards, smashing his small body into the wall.
"TAILS!" Jake screamed, rushing to his side. Jake dropped to his knees next to the kit, and was stunned to see him sit up so suddenly. His chest was smoking where the ball of energy had hit him, but there was no apparent injury. "What's going on? That should have ripped right through your flesh…"
"Gee, thanks. I'm glad it didn't kill me either," Tails said, his voice dripping in sarcasm.
"Erm, sorry. I just thought you'd be dead for sure…" Jake said looking closely at Tails. It didn't hurt him at all, he thought to himself. There isn't even any blood.
"I know that we Chaos beings have a little resistance to Chaos energy, but this is just ridiculous," Tails muttered, his hand going to his smoking chest. He inspected his white fur closely, but found no marks or even a singed hair. "It's almost as if…"
"What? As if what?" Jake said, feeling nervous again.
"As if I absorbed your energy," Tails said. Jake stared at him. "It's like I had attracted the pure energy you threw, and when it touched me, I absorbed it into my body and made it my own. Well, I actually feel pumped right now."
"Well, why don't you try and make the ball now?"
"Yeah!" Tails said, jumping to his feet. "I will now make 'The Ball'"
"Don't start calling it that," Jake groaned and Tails giggled at him.
Tails took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He thrust his hand out in front of him and started concentrating. He could feel the Chaos Energy welling up inside of him, could feel it rush to the surface of his flesh. However, Tails could not force his energy to gather into the palm of his hand. All he could get was something like static- little bolts of blue-white energy would skip out of his palm, rushing up his arm and across his body.
Jake watched as Tails stood perfectly still, struggling to center his energy on one point in his hand. As the minutes slipped by, the air around him was filled with a soft humming and the blue-white energy from his palm, began to skip across his fur of its own accord. Soon, even the air started to crackle with the energy. Ten minutes of concentrating later, the ground underneath Tails' feet cracked without warning, making Jake jump slightly.
"I can't do it," Tails said with a sigh, his body going limp. "I just can't center my energy on a specific point. It just keeps rushing around in my body."
"Well, you were sending out sparks from your palm," Jake said. "I think that's a good start. You just need to concentrate a bit more."
"No. You said it came you to naturally, right?" Tails said, biting his thumb. "Well, I was just forcing it. That move just isn't for me. Don't you have any others?"
"Well, yes. But if you can't focus your power…"
Jake frowned and crossed his arms across his chest. Tails was just starting to wonder what he was thinking when an orb of light began to form in front of Jake. Energy spiraled into the tiny orb until it was the size of Jake's fist. Tails blinked and saw another orb forming just above Jake's left ear, and another caught his eye, forming right beside him. Soon, the air was filled with small, yellow orbs, like several suns lighting up the room.
"Well, what do you think?" Jake said.
"I won't be able to pull that off," Tails said, childish glee spreading across his face. "But is sure looks awesome! What do they do?"
"Explode," Jake said. Tails went ridged. "On my command of course. Though a few have blown up on contact…"
"Can you throw these?"
"Kind of. I can guide them but they don't go very fast," Jake said with a frown.
"Hit me with one."
"WHAT?"
"Hit me with one," Tails said casually. "I want to know if I can absorb these too."
Jake swallowed nervously. Using his finger as a directing tool, he pointed at one of the tiny suns and flicked his finger at Tails. The yellow orb seemed to vibrate, then drifted forward, quickly gathering speed. It tapped Tails in the chest and expanded, as if it was going to explode, but it suddenly shrunk again, siphoning into Tails' body at the point of contact. Once the entire orb had been absorbed, Tails touched his chest lightly.
"Maybe that's my power," Tails muttered.
"It can't be your only one," Jake said. The yellow orbs disappeared from the air in little poofs when he waved his hand at them. "You're much stronger than me, I'm sure. You just need to…"
"Discover it on my own," Tails said, looking down at the crack in the ground he had made earlier. "That's why it wasn't good enough for Shadow to just stay and teach me. Using my own Chaos energy isn't something that can be taught. This is something I have to do on my own- there is no other way."
Jake looked at Tails solemnly as he realized that Tails had just rationalized the reason for Shadow's departure. But before he could say anything, there was a soft knock from the opposite side of the doors. Someone was asking for permission to enter the room, so Jake went to open one of the heavy doors. A messenger whispered urgently to the rat then scurried away. When Jake looked over his shoulder at the kit, Tails was still staring down at the crack in the ground, biting the side of his thumb.
"Tails?" Jake said. The kit's head snapped up. "Jet's ready to go. We're sending him down the tunnel, so we're going to wait awhile for the guards that Sledge has chosen to show up."
"Go," Tails said simply. "It's your duty to see them off."
"But what about you?"
"I'll stay here and practice a bit more. It's not like I have anything else to do."
"You can always go to the market place and help with the preparations," Jake said. Tails frowned at him. "Look, just don't wear yourself out. It wouldn't do us any good if you're too exhausted to use your powers, okay?"
"Right," Tails said. Jake smiled at him and disappeared, the door swinging shut with a low thud behind him. Tails stood staring at the door for a while before he glanced down at the cracked ground again. "But it also wouldn't help us if I can't do anything at all."
Shadow: (sniff) Tails still trust me...
Jake: You don't deserve his trust you son of a-!
Trinity: JAKE!
Jake: What? He doesn't!
Tails: There, there Jake. You know you still trust him too.
Jake: Hmph...
Trinity: This is actually one of my longest chapters, so it makes up for being a few days late, right?...RIGHT?
Annabel: Sure, why not...(Holds up the usual REVEIW PLZ sign) Let's see the readers like it.
Trinity: YOU SHOULD ADORE ME FOR THIS!
