Chapter 2: Treachery

I wake up. I'm in a hospital. I try to remember where I just was. There was a base,...Eggman, and...Tails! I bolt upright, and search the room for any sign if my twin tailed buddy. Finally I see a sign, nothing to do with Tails, I mean an actual sign. It says: "If you can read this, you have just woken up from a Coma. Please call the nurse." How thoughtful. After a brief search I find the button to call the nurse. I'm about to press it, then think: You know what? I've been asleep for who knows how long. So why not come back to the world with a bit more flair? I drop the button, then start looking for wires. All I find is a bunch of suction cups with little lights on them. I guess technology has changed a little while I was out. I start pulling them off. Instantly the coding alarms go off. I quickly go limp, close my eyes, and will myself to keep a straight face. Pretty soon I hear the sound of footsteps, and what I assume is a crash cart. Soon I hear a female voice. "Alright who took off the monitors?" Silence. "I'm not mad, I just want to know who it is so I can punish them." Still silence. There's a heavy sigh and I feel someones fingers on my neck. I quickly grab the hand, and yell: "Boo!" "Holy schnitzel!" The nurse, a sand colored fox, has the best look ever. I laugh. "Sorry couldn't help myself." "Well I guess that answers my earlier question." she says flatly. She turns to the rest of the group and says: "Okay guys back to your stations nothing to see." "Oh, yeah just Sonic the Hedgehog coming back from the dead, no big deal." I add. Everyone heads on out, soon it's just me and the nurse.

"Okay first question: How long have I been out?" She pulls out a small pom-pilot looking thing, and starts typing on it. "About... ooh, eight years." "Eight years!?" I don't believe it. Eight freaking years! "Well I guess that explains why there's suddenly a lot more blinking lights." "Indeed." There's a moment of silence. "So what do I do now?" "Now you get some rest. Being awake suddenly after eight years of being comatose is going to be a pretty big shock to your system, but you should walk out of here in a day or two. In the meantime we'll contact whatever numbers that were written down." "Uh..." "We did ignore the, I'm not kidding, hundreds of numbers left by adoring fans." "Oh, good. Last thing I need I need right now is to be swarmed. Oh, who am I kidding they've probably all forgotten about me by now." "You'd be amazed at how persistent some where, especially one in particular." "Are you talking about Amy Rose? Because I actually do know her." "Oh!" She bites here lip "That makes certain things said to her by certain people... kinda mean." I laugh. Then something occurs to me. "Wait you said I'd walk out of here in a day or two." "Yeah?" "Well since I was out for so long, shouldn't my body be... whats the word? You know since my legs haven't been used in a long time?" "Atrophied?" "That's it." "Over the years we've developed a serum that regenerates your muscle tissue, so your legs are still as strong as ever." "Huh, well that's awfully convenient." "Yeah well that's technology for you. Makes everybody's life easier" "Unless of course the technology is being used by an oddly egg-shaped madman. Speaking of which..." The Nurse waved her hand dismissively. "Eggman was killed during an invasion about five years back." I lean back into my bed. This is a lot to take in. "I should go." Says the Nurse. "You need to rest, and I need to fill out paper work."

The next few hours pass by at an agonizingly long pace. Being the fastest thing alive I tend to like being on the move, so laying on the bed while a bunch of doctors poke me with needles and ask me to turn my head and cough isn't exactly my idea of a good time. Eventually though I am released, and what do you know the crazy serum the nurse mentioned actually works, as far as my body's concerned I just took a nap. I walk out of the hospital, and see a middle aged human in a six-hundred-dollar suit standing next to a limo holding a sign with my name on it. I walk up to the guy and ask: "Who are you?" He looks down at me, and replies: "I've been sent by an old friend of yours to pick you up."

I'm skeptical. With the exception of Professor Pickle (Heh-heh) The last time I trusted the humans they chased me down for looking vaguely like Shadow, even during the Black Arms invasion I was always looking over my shoulder to make sure the soldiers kept their guns trained on the aliens, and not me. Also, and this is just a feeling I get, I've seemed to have developed a fear of tall teenage girls with red hair, not sure why.

Anyway because of stuff like that I'm kind of suspicious of humans. Especially ones who look like government agents. So I say: "Uh-huh, and I should believe you because..." He holds up a finger indicating that I should wait a minute, then turns around, and reaches inside the limo through an open window. When he turns around he's holding a small box. He hands it to me, and I cautiously open it. I'm a little surprised to see my running shoes. Apparently one of the guys had taken them when it looked like I wasn't going to wake up for a while. So the hospital had given me a pair of sneakers from the lost and found box that were a size too large.

"Okay" I say "You've got my attention." He opens the door, and motions for me to enter. I go ahead, and get in, then start putting on my shoes. We drive in silence for about five minutes. I'm a little excited to be in a limo that I didn't have to enter through the sunroof. I can't take the quiet anymore. "So... where are we going?" "Your friend wanted it to be a surprise." It's clear this guy doesn't like to talk much, so I decide to occupy my time by staring out the window. I quickly notice that the streets look cleaner then I remember. Usually there's the telltale graffiti, and litter everywhere to tell you that the city your in is mostly inhabited by humans, but not today. I guess things change. Not that I'm complaining. Now that I think of it the streets are pretty clear of people as well. I only occasionally see anyone on the streets, and the people I do see seem a bit nervous, like they just got news that some psycho is chasing them. "We're here." This statement startles my out of deep thought. I look to see that we've pulled up to a big corporate building. I step out, and look at the main entrance. There's a sign over the door, but it seems to be under repair as there's a sheet over it. I look up to see if there's a sign on the roof. There is, but the building's to high, and it's impossible to read at this angle. I turn to think the driver only to see him vanish. I'm shocked by the sight of the man disappearing. It's only when I see the car drive off on it's own that I come to my senses enough to realize. He was a hologram. Technology has definitely moved forward over the years. I walk into the building. The lobby is huge! There's all sorts of expensive looking paintings, and vases, and things of that nature. I see all this, and all I can think is: Okay I don't know anyone who's this rich and successful.

I approach the front desk, and who do I see, but Amy typing at a computer. She looks good. Apparently puberty treated her well. She's wearing a business suit. Pulls it off pretty well. Heck if I didn't already know the possible repercussions I might even ask her out. Wait, did I just think that? C'mon Sonic she looks good but not that good. I mean seriously, it's Amy! I decide to dwell on that later, and speak up. "Um, Hi I have an appointment." She doesn't even look, just keeps typing and says: "Name?" "Sonic the Hedgehog." She snickers. "Right, real name." I smirk. "No no, your line is: 'Sonic you're awake!'or 'Sonic, I'm so glad to see you!' or 'Sonic, now there's no way out of marrying me!'" She looks at me with a surly expression, and asks: "Was it Knuckles or Rouge, who put you up to this?" I'm surprised by this. "It's seriously me!" She rolls her eyes. "If it was Knuckles tell him that this isn't funny, and if it was Rouge tell her that she's not getting the chaos emeralds." I can't believe this! The Amy Rose I knew would think it was me if she saw so much as a male hedgehog. "Okay first: There's no way knucklehead would be smart enough pull off a prank that big, and second: Even Rouge wouldn't stoop that- no guess she would wouldn't she?" She just keeps looking at me with that unbelieving expression. "Look if you don't believe me, look at the schedule, and if I'm not on that, then ask... huh, I actually don't even know who to ask." She rolls her eyes again, but looks on the computer, then back at me. "Well, your not on the schedule, and there's only one person in this building who can have visitors during business hours." "Then call him!" she gives a heavy sigh. "Fine, but if this gets me fired I'm kicking your ass." "Only if you can catch me." She starts talking into the intercom. "Sir, there's someone here who won't go away, claims to be Sonic, can I test the new security drones on him?" I here a voice that sounds suspiciously like a teenager's say: "Amy that's really him." Her eyes widen. There's a pause then: "Well... this is awkward." "Well I have been in a coma for eight years so I guess you get to be skeptical." "Yeah, listen he doesn't like to be kept waiting so you should get up there. He's on the top floor." "Right, okay then." "Um, call me later?" "Sure."

I head to an elevator, it's on the ground floor so I walk right in. I find the button to the top floor which is labeled: "Master Office" How humble Out of curiosity I look to the button below that one which just says: "249" I whistle two-hundred and fifty floors I'm pretty sure that's a record. I press the "Master Office" button and wait. As the doors close I notice that Amy is looking at me with a worried expression, like she thinks I'm in danger. Okay, who is this guy? He's rich enough to afford a two-hundred and fifty story building, and scary enough to get Amy nervous if he even speaks to her. I figure my questions will be answered when I get out of this surprisingly fast elevator I can already feel my ears popping.

When I reach the top floor I see a security station right outside two large oak doors. The station is manned by an entire squad of people who look like they might rip out my throat, or shake my hand depending on how they're feeling. I start walking toward the doors When I'm about mid-way passed the security station I here a voice to my right say: "Stop!" I obey, then look towards the source of the voice to see... "Hey, Knuckles! Glad to see you." Knuckles smiles at me then presses a button on a control panel. I here a slight buzzing for a couple seconds, then Knuckles says: "Your clean." "Yeah the hotel I was in sure knows how to keep a guy clean. Seriously you'd think they were doctors or something." He smirked "You'll never change." "Well all I did was take a nap, it's not like I almost died." He chuckled. "Just get in there you blue idiot!" "Right, call me when your off duty?" "Count on it." I walked to the large doors, and reach for the doorknob. At the last second I remember something. I turn to face Knuckles again. "Oh, by the way, Amy says that faking my return isn't funny." He chuckles. "I'll keep that in mind."

I Open the door and enter the office. Remember what I said about the lobby? Forget it. All of it. That place looks like a slum compared to this office. The place looks like someone raided an entire palace, and put everything in here. So many paintings, and furs, leather couches, and a bunch of other stuff I can't even tell what they are or what they're for. Except for that one metal pole. I'm pretty sure I know what that's for. After I'm done gawking at the office I look toward the fancy looking desk. Whoever is behind it is sitting in a big office chair with its back facing me. I'm about to say something. Then I see it. A silver nameplate on the desk. "Miles Prower CEO of ProwerCore." "I don't believe it." I say aloud. At that the chair swivels around, and I see the twin-tailed vulpine himself, wearing in a tux, and stroking one of his tails like it's an unevolved cat. "I've been expecting you." He says in a surprisingly convincing Rodinian accent. "Dude! That was awesome!" He grins "I try." "Do you know that nobody outside says your name? Everyone just says 'him' or 'he.'" Tails chuckles. "Well in this day and age everyone knows the name 'Miles 'Tails' Prower.'" "Yeah, I bet way to go buddy, never would've taken you for the business type, but just look at this place." I spin around with my arms outstretched to display the room. "I mean how rich do you have to be in order to afford all this?" "Oh you know, Five-hundred-seventy-two-point-eight-billion... approximately." My eyes widen. "Wow I don't even know what to say to that. I mean... how?" He smirked. "It was easy really. I have the highest I.Q. level ever to exist on the planet. I knew that if I started selling my technology that corporations, and even governments would start lining up. So I started small. An Ionic generator here, a cellular regenerater there, baby stuff. Just from that I got enough money to start a company. Then I did what all corporate leaders do. I expanded. Then one thing lead to another, usually through hostile takeovers, and I am now owner of the biggest corporation the planet has ever seen." I smile "Nice, Never thought I'd see doing something like this." He smiles back. "Well a friend once told me: 'there is no circumstance that you can't handle when you use your mind.'" "Sounds like a smart guy." "Not really, he once jumped out of a flying helicopter with nothing but a piece of metal to break his fall." "And yet I lived." "Yeah thanks to a vague grasp on how physics work." I chuckle, but decide not to argue.

"Okay I get how you're rich and all that. But how do you explain why people act weird when talking about you. I mean when you spoke to Amy earlier she looked like she was going to have a heart attack,and I've never seen Knuckles act so... calm and obedient." A dark smile grew on Tails face as I said this. "Well what do you know. Sonic the Hedgehog actually used his brain for once." What the... where's this coming from? "Very well, I'll see if I can break it down to your level of understanding." He got up from his chair and faced the window. "When I mentioned hostile takeovers earlier I wasn't merely talking about business transactions. I also meant in the literal sense." Wait, what? "You see a long time ago I realized something. The reason why people like Robotnik, and The Babylon Rogues, or organizations like G.U.N. exist is because there is too much freedom in the world. There's not nearly enough checks and balances. We need to put more constraints on people to ensure nobody goes beyond the limits society has laid down for us. I have put together a system that allows people to contribute to society without overstepping those limits." "Dude" I say as I take this in. "That sounds a little dictator-y" He smiles. "Society needs a competent leader, to make the decisions nobody wants to make. Like 'when is a boss being too harsh on his workers' 'when is someone too old or sick to contribute, and therefor of no further use.'" his expression darkened. "'When is someone being too uppity for his own good?'" "And I suppose you're the perfect candidate to make those decisions!" I spat. What the hell happened when I was out to cause this? He smiled again. "Again I am the most intelligent person on the planet. It makes sense that I be one to make the tough choices." I motion to the office around me. "And I suppose all this is just a happy side-effect?" "Precisely." I shake my head. "What happened to you? The Tails I knew would never have done something like this! Did someone hurt you?" He chuckled. "I've been planning this far longer then that. To be precise the idea struck me right after the Black Arms invasion, when I had seen exactly what G.U.N. was capable of. I figured it was only a manner of time before they decided that we were to dangerous to keep alive. I knew you would object to my methods so I needed to find a way get you out of the picture. I had planned to have one of my machines 'malfunction' and send you into a coma. But it appears that truck worked just as well." "I can't believe this! Your acting worse then Eggman!" He sighed "Ah Robotnik so much wasted potential. He may have had the strategical mind of a retarded eight-year-old. But he did have a technological skill close to mine. I would have preferred to keep him alive, but unfortunately he was as stubborn as you, and forced my hand." "You killed him?" Tails smile grew sinister. "Put him down like a rabid dog." I'm shaken to my core. I'm barely able to process the information. Tails killed. Tails! One of the most kind and innocent people I knew. He killed a man, and I get the distinct impression that Eggman wasn't the first or last of his victims. "You now have a choice: Join me and help me create a better world, or you can work as one of my underlings." I close my eyes. I think about the events so far. What I've seen, and come to one conclusion. The kid standing before me isn't Tails. His name is Miles Prower, and he is my new enemy. I open my eyes and look him dead in the eye, and say. "You of all people should know, that I would rather die, then work for a psycho like you." He frowns. "Disappointing, but... not unexpected. So be it." I leap toward him, and attempts flying kick toward his head. He smirks and says: "Please." Before grabbing my leg in mid-air then whirling around, and throwing me back. I crash against the ground. For some reason it doesn't hurt. Whatever. I get back up, but before I can attack again I feel a hand on my shoulder before I'm thrown to the floor. I look up to see Shadow. No not Shadow someone else. His red streaks are yellow. "Meet Shadow 2.0 a perfected version of the ultimate life-form." Miles says. I snicker "The real Shadow couldn't beat me. What makes you think this fake can." He shrugs. "Shadow was impressed. Before it killed him that is." The fake Shadow raised it leg then smirked, before sending it crashing into my chest, right on my heart. "I finally get to kill you." It says then repeatedly smashes its leg against my chest in the same spot. I feel my ribs cracking. The pain is agonizing. I look to Miles who simply says: "So long 'bro.'" Then all I know is black.

Authors Notes

Sorry for the delay A giant block fell out of the sky and hit my head so I couldn't wright.

I realize the whole event seems kind of rushed, but these are meant to be short one chapter segments so this is the result.

I'll try to pump these out as fast as I can, but inspiration comes at random intervals so we'll see what happens