TheShamanMaster presents...
Tail's Predicament
Story & Script by TheShamanMaster
Sonic & Friends © SEGA & Sonic Team
Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic...
Notes: Thank you very much to those who reviewed. Please enjoy Chapter 4. Oh, and for the record, The Joker, Dark Knight and Batman all belong to DC Comics & Warner Bros. Please don't sue! Let the madness continue!
Chapter 4: Tails vs. The Joker
Tails had his eyes fixed on The Joker. Was this really Shadow? Would he really do something like this? He had to know the truth.
"Who are you? Where is the real Shadow? What have you done with him!?" He demanded wanting answers.
"I told you. Shadow no longer exists! I'm gonna show the whole world the true meaning of the world fear! Now, where do I begin?" He asked himself.
Tails took a fighting stance, ready to face whatever Joker had up his sleeve. Joker merely reached into his jacket and pulled out a switchblade.
"You know, knives are so much nicer then guns..."
"Excuse me?" Tails believed he was talking random nonsense.
"No, think about it. Guns are too quick. You don't get to savor all the emotions as you forcefully tear into one's being..." He stared at it, stroking the blade lovingly. "Yes, cold metal piercing pale skin and exposing pure crimson! It's art at it's very best." Joker turned his eyes back to Tails. "Y'know, it's like I'm always saying; If you're gonna play with the Joker, you'd best be ready to deal from the bottem of the deck!"
"Puh-lease!" Amy snorted behind Tails. "That's gotta be the lamest bad guy line I've ever heard! Quit acting around Shadow, this isn't funny!"
Joker's eyes slitted as he licked his lips. "Beautiful girl, you could be a problem...a very BIG problem..." He began walking over slowly to Amy. "And I'll tell you for the last time, that person is dead! I'm the true master of darkness. Now, why don't we put a smile...ON THAT FACE!" He growled the last words and leaped over like a jaguar stopping just an inch away from Amy's face. She was frozen in place, scared.
"Now, let's start..." As the blade came closer to her face, Joker didn't realise Tails spin round and kick him off balance. Falling over, he grabbed Tails' ankle, and threw him over. The fox gained the upper hand, reaching for his neck, before both starting landing several punches and rolling over. Joker then kicked Tails in the gut, sending him a couple of feet away from him.
"Tails!" Amy screamed and ran to his side. Tails got up to his feet.
"I'm fine, don't worry about it...You'd best get to safety. Make sure you don't get hurt."
"What about you?"
Tails smirked. "I'll be fine. I'll teach this clown a lesson, then we'll go to the beach like you asked."
Joker seemed to laughing and crying at this point. "Oh, please! Don't stop! You're breaking my heart! Go on you casanova! 'Oh Amy, I'll beat this clown and we'll go to the beach' ." He mocked Tails darkly. "You'll need a lot more than just some romance and a love struck bimbo to beat me!"
Tails gritted his teeth. "You're gonna pay for that." He raised his hands to his face.
"Bring it on!" Joker laughed maniacally. The two raced towards one another, their fists clashing in an instant. Grabbing on to one another's shoulders, they put pressure on each other, hoping one would break before the other.
"What's wrong? No blades?" The fox said. "What happened to blades being art, Shadow?"
"I told you, not to call me that." He snarled. "Besides, I feel good enough to face you with just barefists!" He threw Tails around into a brick wall, but Tails managed to land feet first and spun his tails round to keep himself in mid-air.
"Damn you." Joker admired and chuckled loudly. "Those things do more than just make an image. But I'll admit they are extreamly annoying, not to mention you look like a freak..."
"Look who's talking! You're wearing make-up!" Tails hovered, and chucked some nearby debris at Joker's head, who simply just dodged it in an instant. He raced up to the wall, backflipped off trying to kick Tails out the air and back on the ground. The two-tailed fox had a feeling this wasn't going to be as simple as fighting Eggman (Then again, what was?)
Sonic and Chaotix had finished their coffee break, and now began practicing. It began off with Vector and Charmy playing, then slowly moved onto the rest.
"I'll have you know, that I've become Indestructible! Determination that is incorruptable! From the other side a terror to behold! Annihilation will be unavoidable! Every brok-"
"Stop, stop, stop STOP!" Mighty shouted, interrupting Sonic's singing.
"What? What is it?" Espio asked.
"There's something not right here..."
"And that would be?" Sonic wondered, getting annoyed that Mighty had ruined his rhythm.
"Three guitars? and a turntable in a song like this? What's with that?"
"That's your problem!? A minor thing with rhythm? What's next? Charmy losing his sting?" Vector grew mad.
The armadillo sighed. "No, just relax. Espio, play me the solo again." Espio nodded, and began replaying the guitar solo. During this, Mighty put his headphones back on, and began scratching the turntable, distorting the sound slightly. Sonic and Vector looked at one another, then back at Espio as he finished it.
"Wow." Sonic said with a blank look on his face. "That's actually good."
"Damn right!" Mighty shouted raising his fist in the air. "That's the power of experimentation."
Vector shook his head. "Well, if we keep that up, we'll be the winners in no time! 10,000 Mobian Dollars and all! Maybe we'll get a record deal as well?"
"Huh?" Charmy asked.
"I heard there's new big-shot record guy in town. He says whoever wins Battle of the Bands, he'll sign for a multi-million dollar record deal! So boys it's safe to say we can retire from the detectives line of work, and head straight for the world of rock and roll."
"Yay!" Charmy said happily. "We'll be the big boys in no time!"
"Interesting." Espio said thoughtfully.
"How about it Sonic? How does being the life of a rockstar sound to you?"
Sonic made a thumbs up. "You betcha! It's one of the things I've been thinking of doing for ages...But I got a bad feeling about this. " His eyes fell to the floor.
"Really? What makes you say that?" Mighty questioned his comment.
"I dunno...Something just doesn't feel right."
"Ah, don't worry!" Vector replied slapping him on the back. "Maybe you just ain't use to the sound of it yet..."
"Yeah, maybe. Anyway, shall we continue?" The others nodded and they all resumed playing. Trying out different styles and rhythms was fun. Sonic still was worried though. Something told him that this string of good luck had something to do with that guitar...
Knuckles the Echidna was walking along the sidewalk hand in hand with Rouge the Bat. The two had spent the whole morning together doing whatever they could find. First seeing a movie, then getting ice-cream, and now heading over to the disco at Twinkle Park for some more fun.
"Twinkle Park has a disco? I never knew." Rouge said.
"Surprising." Knuckles smiled. "I thought it would sound good. Disco's have never really been my thing, but Sonic's always going on how I'd like 'em, so yeah."
Rouge laughed. "I guess Sonic's right about a lot of things...Besides, I didn't think you'd have the guts to take me out on a date..."
The echidna went red. "Well, a charming woman like yourself deserves a man like me...and I'd been thinking about it for sometime.."
"Was this before, or after I tried stealing your Master Emerald for the 150th time in a row?"
"Pretty much between the 148th and 149th time, yeah." Both laughed at how silly they sounded.
"Ah." Rouge continued. "I suppose it's like...what? What's that over there?" Both looked up to see the front entrance of Twinkle Park was surrounded by several police cars, SWAT vans and Ambulances. People had gathered round along with reporters, but the cops had placed up yellow barriers to stop them.
"I told you all twice already." One of the officers shouted through his megaphone. "We are to seal this place off immediatly! The place has been bombed and we are trying to rescue what ever people are still in there! This is a terrorist situation!"
Knuckles and Rouge made their way to the front of the crowds, and looked over to see parts of the building had been completely destroyed.
"Who could have done this?" Rouge asked in shock.
"I dunno." Knuckles looked on. "But whoever did it must have woke up early in the morning to do it." He then heard a conversation going on between two SWAT officers.
"Sir, we've sercured the entrances and our bomb squad has gone into the building to undo any C4 left in there."
"Good. What about any hostages?" The other one asked.
"We took an infrared photo of the inside. There are five groups of people being held at gun point, with another group trapped behind some debris of the fallen structure. What surprised us was that we saw two figures inside fighting one another..."
"Fighting?"
"Fighting?" Knuckles and Rouge said together.
"Do you think it's Sonic?" The officer continued.
"Could be. But there's another character. About a few inches shorter with two tails and-"
"That's it! I'm going in!" Knuckles yelled, jumping over the barricade.
"Knuckles don't!" The bat called out.
"No, it's fine. If it's something to do with Sonic or Tails, I'll know what to do." He rushed over towards the building, and began climbing the walls. Reaching the roof, he ran across towards the skylight, which looked like his only entrance. The SWAT officer was amazed at how fast this guy was moving.
"Men!" He spoke into his radio. "If you see a red echidna entering the building, he is on our side. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT open fire! I think he's going in to rescue what hostages he can find."
"Roger. Standing by for further information."
Rouge slapped her head. "Gosh, he's so stubborn."
Inside, Joker and Tails had pushed one another to their limits. Both were battered, bruised and breathing heavily. Tails had been able to keep up with Joker's speed, and managed to do quite a bit of damage to slow him down. Lying on the ground, Tails sat up, wiping the blood away from his mouth.
"Given up yet, kid?" Joker's laugh was wheezy and low pitched. "I told you, you can't beat me..."
Tails scoffed. "I think I've done some damage to you...What's left?"
"Plenty. This is far.." He picked himself up "...from over!" He suddenly drew a hidden blade from beneath his sleeve. "Hahahahahaha!!"
Here I was thinking Altair was the only one who could do that... The fox thought.
"I'd say it's done now. Sayonara, Miles Prower!" Connecting the blade between his fingers, Joker fired it directly at him. Tails shut his eyes hoping it wouldn't hit. SMASH! A loud sound of glass smashing was heard as a certain person jumped down and caught the blade just before it reached Tails' face. He opened his eyes to see a familiar red figure standing in front of him.
"Knuckles!" He exclaimed in relief.
"Hey Tails. What's happened here? Are you alright?" He slung his arm around Tails and sat him down on the bench.
"Ah perfect!" The hedgehog spoke. "Another one to crash the party!"
Knuckles looked up at the Joker, and then back at Tails with a weird look. "Tails, you mind telling me who the freak is with the make-up and the pimp suit? Because he is not looking cool..."
"Shadow.." Tails replied icily.
"Shadow? He's been doing this?"
Joker was reaching his breaking point. "I thought I told you people not to call me that! Since you enjoy ruining things echidna, how about I ruin your face!?" Drawing another blade from his wrist, he chucked it at Knuckles. He caught it and tossed aside.
"Fine, but you can't catch me!!" Joker began racing around Knuckles, trying to psyche him out.
"The fox might have caught up with me, but you, a person who relies on strength more then speed simply can't beat me! Hahahaha!" Knuckles' eyes scanned left and right, before he closed them slowly. Focusing on the area around him, he thought hard before clenching his fist.
No, come on! Closer...closer...closer...There! Charging all his energy, he slammed his fist into the ground, creating an earth-shattering force that began breaking the ground apart. The crack in the ground grew larger and faster, before finally catching out the hedgehog and knocking him to the floor.
"How!?" He growled fiercly.
"Simple." The echidna folded his arms. "I calculated the sound of your footsteps and found out where exactly you were going to run along the ground. A little something I picked up from training..."
Joker snarled, and breathed harshly. "I've had enough!" Using what strength he had left, he picked himself up and pulled out his last remote detonator.
"You got lucky, we'll meet again! But I'll leave you with a little farwell gift!" He pressed the button, and another explosion went off. Dropping it, he stumbled out through the back of the area.
"Damn it!" Knuckles slammed his fist into his palm.
"Knuckles!" Amy's voice called out. "I'll get Tails out! You need to rescue the hostages!"
"You sure, you'll be fine?"
Amy nodded. "Positive." Carrying Tails on to her back, she ran out the exit as the building began falling to the ground even faster.
Time's running out, I need to hurry!
Knuckles, working as quickly as possible moved what ever rubble he could to clear a path for himself so the people could get out. Just then, Rouge dropped in.
"Need a hand?" She asked.
"Rouge?
"Ya didn't think I'd leave ya to get killed did I? Now, let's hurry." With the two of them working together, the clean-up process begun faster, and so began the rescue..
On the other side of Station Square, a large man with swimming pants and a hefty backpack stood on the entrance to Emerald Beach. Accompanied by two robots, the large figure listened onto the various chatter going on about the recent events that had happened.
"Hm? Someone other then me blew up Twinkle Park? Why the nerve! I mean, I could've had a better plan then him, but come on! Why go to all that trouble!?
"Who knows Doctor? I thought you enjoyed blowing things up?" The golden robot replied
"Yes, to a certain degree. This is madness I tell you!"
"No, this is Station Square!" The silver one replied.
"What?" The doctor raised an eyebrow at his creations reponse.
"I just thought I'd give you a movie reference, Dr. Eggman sir."
Dr. Eggman said nothing and stretched his wide body. "Er, very well. Off to the beach!" He declared
"Yes sir!" Both robots responded.
To Be Continued...
Yes, and here is the thrilling conclusion! I hope you all enjoyed. However, I do really want more reviews, I'd appreciate it very much if you did. May I have at least 15 reviews before the next chapter? or at least try for that number? Please. Please! Do it or Shadow Joker will come and get you!
Next time, Amy, Tails, Knuckles and Rouge head to the beach to discover that Eggman is not upto his usual games. Questions are raised as to who really planned the whole bomb plot, as Dr. Eggman says he has no involvement in it. Shadow Joker plans his next move, but where does he strike next? What of Sonic and the Chaotix? When a certain green hedgehog discovers that Sonic is planning to rock in the Battle of the Bands, he starts to plan against him. Will this day ever end for Tails? All this and next time in Chapter 5: Eggman's Day Off.