5. The Persistence of Dreams
Tails jogged determinedly along Davis Avenue, his tails wagging behind him. Finally he staggered to a halt by an empty bench and sank down onto it panting. Sonic may be a big fan of running to avoid thinking about your problems, but my legs don't agree with him. On the other hand, the complaints from his leg muscles did interrupt his fretting over his recent dreams. The one that Sonic had woken him up from the day before had been bad, but he'd had more all last night, over and over with him failing - although now they were new tasks, not ones he'd already been successful at - and then the monsters crept out, calling lightning and electrifying metal objects around him. Shaking his head in rejection of the memories, he pulled out a water bottle and took a few gulps. He looked around as he stood up again, and noticed a new poster tacked up on a telephone pole. He grinned in spite of his worries as he noted that it overlapped the bottom edge of another sign that read 'Do not post signs on this pole'. Stretching his tired legs, he walked over and inspected the gaudy sign. Two humans and two dokan were silhouetted in bright colors, each riding a hoverboard. Superimposed on those images were the words 'Central City Hoverboard Challenge!!', and below that, in smaller letters, 'World Cup Qualifier!' Still smaller print detailed entry instructions and conditions, which the cub skipped over, and at the bottom, in print that rivaled the top line in size, was the date, about two weeks hence. Tails shook his head again as he continued his jog. Hoverboards were popular enough, sort of like those ATV things, but he'd never been particularly into them. If he wanted to fly, he had several versions of the Tornado, not to mention his own two tails. He'd never heard of a hoverboard World Cup, but considering how little attention he paid to the sport, that was hardly surprising. To each their own, I suppose. Good luck to anyone who does enter.
Dismissing the poster from his thoughts, he found his mind returning to that odd-shaped agate Sonic had found. I really wish he hadn't thrown it away. But, that was Sonic all over, the thought equaled the deed, whether right or wrong. Although, to be fair, he isn't often wrong. But this time, I think he was. The dreams didn't stop, not for me. And he's run off again, so I can't ask him if he's still having odd dreams. At least I know Amy and Cream aren't. He'd called them this morning, just to check up, although without mentioning his own bad dreams. They'd just finished the project at the playground and neither had seen any more of the clockwork creatures. And no one had seen anything odd, either locally or on the national news. But lightning strikes were happening with dismaying frequency in his dreams. Those dreadful purple eel-things– he could practically see them oozing out though the walls. Tails growled, baring his teeth and sped up, counting his steps to try to focus his mind. One-two-three-fou– OUCH!
"Do you mind, fox-boy?" The arch voice was familiar, as was the arched brow. Although it wasn't Rouge he'd run into; she was standing to the side.
Tails gulped nervously as he looked up at the human woman he'd collided with. "I- I'm sorry," he stammered.
She smiled pleasantly enough. "No harm done. Are you all right?" He nodded and she went on, crouching to bring her face nearer to his level. "I'm Amber. I work with Rouge, and she's told me a lot about you. You built that shuttle that took Shadow and Sonic up to the Black Comet, didn't you? That's amazing!"
Tails glanced over at Rouge, but the bat was admiring a gold bracelet on her wrist and pretending to ignore the conversation. For whatever reason, she didn't seem inclined to scoff at him, as she often did. "Yes, ma'am, I did," he said, feeling his spirits rise. Somehow compliments from strangers seemed to mean more than praise from his friends. "I flew them to the ARK, and then on to the Black Comet."
"He also defused that missile Eggman lobbed at Station Square, remember," added Rouge, still apparently focused on her jewelry. "And he worked out how dangerous Emerl was. He's not only got brains, he knows how to use them."
The fox cub blinked; in his experience, it was unusual for the bat to be complimentary unless she was being sarcastic. But Rouge seemed to actually mean what she said. Well, if she's being genuine right now . . . . "Um, Rouge, you haven't seen anything, uh, weird, recently, have you?"
"Weird how?" She looked at him, tilting her head curiously.
Hesitantly, Tails told the two GUN agents (or was Amber an agent? At any rate she had on a GUN uniform) about the clockwork things that had appeared in the park a few days earlier. He didn't mention that Sonic had dreamed about them beforehand, although he did say that they'd disappeared afterwards. The two women seemed very interested, and exchanged a glance when he'd finished. But then Amber shook her head, and Rouge said thoughtfully, "No, I haven't heard anything like that. Hmm. Haven't heard anything, really, that I can tell you - except," she glanced around and stepped closer. "Have you seen the posters up for the hoverboard races? There are seven of them in the next two months, all over the world, culminating in this World Cup thing." She eyed Tails closely, and he agreed that he'd seen them. "Well, next one you see, take a good look at who's sponsoring the event. I think you'll be . . . interested." She winked, and stepped back. "But we'd better be getting on, or we won't have time to eat lunch. See you around, Tails." With a wave, the bat walked off. The human gave the cub a grin and a "Nice meeting you", and followed her friend.
Tails scratched his head, decided he'd come far enough to turn around, and headed back the way he'd come. When he got back to the telephone pole with the poster on it, he paused to take a good look - and saw what Rouge had meant. "'Sponsored by Robotnik Inc.' That is interesting. I wonder what Eggman's up to now?" He turned that thought over in his head as he jogged back home.
He pushed the door open without pausing to unlock it - he'd long since installed a security system that recognized him and his friends and allowed them automatic entry. He wandered into the kitchen and pulled open the refrigerator to make lunch. As he lifted a jar of mayonnaise from the shelf, the light and the motor both stuttered and went out.
Tails frowned, then stepped back and closed the door to conserve the cool air. Putting the jar of mayo on the counter, he realized that the digital clock on the microwave was still lit. He reached over and flipped the light switch, and the overhead fluorescents obediently flickered to life. "Huh. Must be a breaker." Sighing, he headed down the hall. The circuit breaker panel was stubborn as always, but when he got it open, he was surprised to see the refrigerator circuit in the 'on' position. He flipped it off and back on to reset it, and returned to the kitchen.
The fridge was still dark and silent. With a grimace of annoyance Tails decided to get lunch first, then deal with the recalcitrant appliance. He took the mustard, cheese and beef out and added them to the items on the counter. But as he started to assemble his sandwich, he heard an odd crackling from behind him.
Frowning, he looked back at the refrigerator, afraid that something had gone wrong with the wiring. Instead, he heard a soft 'pop' join the crackle as the door cracked open, and suddenly a pair of massive violet jaws shoved the door aside and struck at the fox cub. Tails yelped and dove to the side, then scrambled into the living room. Tails twisting in dismay, he looked around for something to use as a weapon, and saw another pair of jaws on a long, thin body eeling out the back of the television. As the first eel appeared in the archway to the kitchen and a third glided up the hall from the bedroom, Tails yanked open the front door and fled.
Where to flee to was the problem. If these were really the creatures he'd seen in his nightmares, he didn't want to be outside with them. On the other hand, he couldn't inflict them on just anyone; someone might get hurt. Without consciously reasoning it out, his feet took him in the direction of Amy's apartment building as another violet monster coiled down a lamppost.
"Tails?" She answered the door, alarmed by his panicked pounding, and jumped back in surprise as he lurched through. "Tails, what's wrong? What happened?" she asked, even as she caught his arm and steered him to the closest chair.
"Th-the-they're after me!" he managed. He'd seen more of the things sliding out of alleys and yards, pacing him on the opposite side of the street and periodically sending out little bolts of electricity. The few other people who'd been out had cleared out of the eels' way as fast as they could. "Those electric eel-things from my dreams, they want to, to zap me!" Although, even as he said it he started to wonder why. What did they gain by attacking him? At least in his dreams he'd done something to deserve it! He also realized belatedly that Amy couldn't possibly know what he was talking about, since he hadn't told her about his nightmares.
The pink hedgehog blinked, started to open her mouth - then closed it firmly and headed for the coat closet. As she went, she flicked a wrist and pulled her mallet out of thin air, and with the same hand yanked the closet door open. Her free hand pulled out a pair of red rubber galoshes, then groped inside on the floor a moment and pulled out a slightly smaller green pair. She tossed the second pair at Tails. "Put these on," she ordered. "They're too small for me, but they're too big for Cream, so they should fit you. It's not a lot of rubber, but it may help. And my hammer is wooden." As she spoke, she was pulling on the red boots without letting go of the hammer. She put an ear to the door and then peeked out into the hall, then plopped down on the couch opposite the fox cub. "Nothing out there yet, so how about giving me the story from the top?"
Tails did so, telling Amy about the dreams and the monsters that turned up to zap him with lightning, and how the refrigerator had died and then the eels started appearing all over. And how he'd run to look for help. "Sonic's who-knows-where, and Cream doesn't really know how to fight and Knuckles is on Angel Island - and I don't know where it is at the moment - and I didn't feel like I know Shadow or Rouge well enough to ask, so . . . I came here. Sorry. I'm probably getting you into trouble."
Amy scoffed. "I'm your friend, and friends help each other. And you're right about Cream; she'd want to help but there's not much she can do. There may not be much I can do, for that matter, but I'll try what I can, anyway." She cocked her head suddenly, and turned to look at the door. "I think we've got company." She stood up and readied her hammer. Tails slid off the chair and stood up too, hearing the faint crackling from the far side of the door.
There was a long pause. Then Amy jumped forward and jerked the door open. She swung her hammer nearly at the same time, and brought the wooden head down soundly on the violet eel in the hall. The lithe form snapped out straight and rigid, then collapsed. The pink hedgehog poked her head out, then pulled back and shut the door firmly. "Fire escape." She moved towards the bedroom.
Tails followed, feeling silly in the green boots. He helped Amy wrestle with the window, which (of course) stuck. Then he realized the problem. "Not there, Amy - it's made of metal!" But there were eels gliding into the bedroom behind them, and no where else to go. He took a quick look outside as he climbed up on the windowsill. There were no eels visible, but when he looked down he could see several fluffy yellow forms - the electric sheep. Tails took a breath and attempted to jump over the metal railing and take flight at the same time. He didn't quite make it, but the metal wasn't electrified. He held his hand out to Amy, but she shook her head.
"I need my arm free." She climbed onto the windowsill in turn, then jumped over the fire escape entirely. Tails gasped and made a quick lunge to catch her around the middle. With every sign of faith in his ability to do so, the pink hedgehog twisted as she jumped and smashed another eel as it tried to follow her out the window. "Let's get out of here, Tails. Someplace there's not too many people. You fly, I'll defend."
"Yes ma'am," said the fox cub promptly. "But I hope you'll forgive me if I don't salute; my hands are full."
"Ha. Ha. Very funny." But her tone was amused.
To Tails' dismay, the sheep followed them on the ground, and the eels paced them in the air, but to his relief the lightning bolts from his dreams failed to materialize. Actually, he realized after a bit, there seemed to be something . . . wrong about them, as if their mere existence wasn't wrong enough. But between his tiring tails and arms, he didn't have much energy left to worry about the enemies - he was more worried about how long he could both stay aloft and retain his hold on Amy. (Just the flicker of thought that he might drop her - and her probable reaction when she caught up with him afterwards - was enough to lend temporary strength to his grip, but it was failing fast.)
He got as far as the Emerald Town playground and knew he couldn't go any further. The landing was rather rougher than usual, but the pink hedgehog merely stood up and dusted herself off without comment. Tails looked around, and picked up a fallen branch, then turned to face their pursuers. Who were milling around about thirty yards away as if blocked by an invisible wall. The fox cub frowned.
"Tails," said Amy thoughtfully, "are they supposed to do that? They seemed a bit confused while they were following us."
"I don't know. They certainly were more, um, aggressive in my dreams. And in my house, come to think of it."
Amy rested the head of her mallet on the ground and leaned on the handle. "Do you suppose I'm puzzling them? If they were sent after you, maybe they don't know who they're supposed to attack?"
"But the mechanical things attacked you and Sonic and Cream. And they didn't seem bewildered, did they?"
"No, but he dreamed we were there, and when you were telling me about your nightmares about these eel and sheep-things, you never mentioned me being in any of the dreams with you."
"You weren't." The little orange fox flicked a quick glance at Amy, who was watching the milling creatures closely. For whatever reason, they were neither coming closer nor circling around; it really did seem as though some sort of barrier held them back.
"You're not supposed to change the dream," said a voice above them. "You can dream about other people, but if you didn't dream about them, they aren't supposed show up. The third-levels aren't very bright, but they know they'll get into trouble with wise men if they attack the wrong person. Of course, the rules have changed and they aren't certain how to react to that, either."
Amy and Tails both stared up into the tree. There was little to be seen overhead except branches and leaves, but Tails thought he caught a glimpse of pink or white. He opened his mouth, but Amy beat him to it.
"Who's up there!?" she demanded. "Come on down here, and tell us what you're talking about! What are third-levels and who are the wise men?"
"Who are the wise men?" Tails still couldn't see the speaker, even though he was shifting position to scan the tree's canopy, but whoever it was sounded positively delighted. "Oh, that is rich! But you'll meet the wise men soon enough, no doubt, now that the dream caster's been charged!" There was a rustling from above, and retreating laughter. Tails backed away from the tree and took to the air, hoping to get a look at whoever it was, but –the world turned brilliant white - then black.
"Tails! Tails, get - umph! - get up!"
Amy sounds out of breath, he thought muzzily. Then his eyes flew open as he realized what was going on. He'd moved towards the, the 'third-levels' when he'd tried to look up, and apparently that had decided them to attack. The fox cub staggered to his feet, and swung the stick he (fortunately) was still holding at a small yellow sheep. Nearby, the pink hedgehog was wielding her hammer with practiced skill. Tails hit two more sheep, and one of the eels, and abruptly all the creatures ran (or slithered) away.
"What is going on here?" Tails spun around at the smooth, cool voice and looked up at a pair of sapphire eyes. They glanced at him and flicked on to Amy. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" An overly long arm extended, pointing a bone-pale finger tipped with a black talon at the girl. Without any of the rage or bluster of Doctor Eggman, this creature exuded malevolence. Tails had a strong urge to flee with the attackers.
Amy, however, shouldered her hammer and marched forward. "The name's Amy Rose, and I'm helping out my friend. Who are you, and what are you doing here?" She matched the stranger's inflection with the first phrase, and raised it on the second.
The pale being glared at her. Whoever this was, he was neither dokan nor human. The . . . being . . . had a rather elongated look, far too tall to be dokan but much too thin to be human, and was dressed in strange outfit trimmed in red and gold, crowned by a jester's cap striped in red and deep crimson. First a wizard, and now a jester . . . . Surely not. "Are you the Dream Caster?" he piped up.
The creature gave an unmistakable start of surprise, and bent down to look the fox cub in the face. "What do you know about the dream caster?" demanded the silky voice.
Tails gulped, his tails curling up in front of him like a shield. "Nothing really, only that some kid saw a wizard in another town and we think he's called a dream caster," he said nervously. The sudden intensity drained out of the creature as quickly as it had come, and it straightened. It turned and drifted away a few feet, murmuring to itself. Tails blinked as he saw the crimson boots were floating a few inches above the ground. No wonder it had snuck up on them. He caught the word 'knights' amid the murmur. Well, that sounds about right. Wizards, jesters, and knights. All we need now are a dragon and a king. "Who are you?" he asked, echoing Amy's unanswered question.
The strange being looked back at the two dokan, its eyes narrowing thoughtfully. A black-nailed hand toyed with the end of one of its hat's twin points. And suddenly folded across the crimson and black vest as the being bowed. "Merely Reala, Master Tails. Only a humble jester." And with that it rose into the air, and flew off rapidly eastwards.
"Tails," Amy asked carefully, "how did he know who you were?"
"I don't know. But I don't think he - I don't think that this Reala is a humble anything. And I really wish Sonic hadn't thrown that agate away - did you notice? His hat was the same shape as the stone."