Summary: With the creation of the purification stone a success, the only task left is to use it on the rampaging ninetails, who is not exactly eager to cooperate. Will the combined forces of Freedom Fighters and Kitsune Clan be enough to succeed, and bring peace to a beleaguered Enjou?
Canon Characters in this chapter: Sally, Sonic, Antoine, Bunnie, Tails
Non Canon Characters in this chapter: Everyone :D
Kitsune
byWingedHippocampus
Chapter Eight: Ninetails
"Sonic," came a distant, saddened voice. "Sonic, wake up! Please!"
"Mugh," Sonic groaned, rolling over. "Don't wanna."
"He's fine, Tails," came a soft laugh from what sounded like Sally. "He just made out worse than we did, I think. It's going to take him a little longer to come around."
"But it's been almost two days! Come on, Sonic, wake up!"
"I'm up, I'm up!" The blue hedgehog sat up, rubbing his aching head. No sooner had he gotten himself upright than Tails knocked him right back down again, throwing his arms around him.
"Sonic, I was so worried!"
Sonic blinked, carefully hugging the distraught kit.
"It…it's okay, lil bro," he murmured, pulling him off to give him a little smile. All seemed forgiven, and all it had taken to get there was serious risk of death. "Is everyone okay?"
"A little rest, and we were all fine, except for you," Sally nodded, touching his hand lightly. "When you faltered, the energy started coming out of your own life force rather than the power of an element."
"So do the kitsune have their stupid rock?"
"Yes, they do, the spell was an unprecedented success. Azami says this has never worked quite this way before."
"Whoopdy doo, aren't we special, can we go home now?"
"I'm not leaving until I see the end of this, Sonic," Sally shook her head.
"You're telling me that I've been asleep for two days and these guys still haven't put down their monster?"
"It's not like they can just throw it at him, Sonic. The ninetails has to swallow the kiyome ishi, and Azami won't allow anyone to attack him while he's so close to the settlements further down the mountain. They've been trying to lure him back here, to the shrine, where the kiyome ishi will have the most power and there will be little risk of harming civilians."
"Is that all they need? To get that thing over here? Heh. Get me some breakfast, and I'll take care of that in a Sonic Second!"
"How did I know you were going to say exactly that?" Sally smiled and shook her head. She had faith in Sonic, but he had been terribly drained and may not be in peak form. Nevertheless, he could probably do in minutes what the kitsune had failed to do in days. "Please, be careful. I'll let the kitsune know what you're up to. Try to get him to come to the open area before the shrine. We'll be waiting for him."
"Thanks, Sal!" Sonic would be gone in a blink, and Sally shook her head. Trust Sonic to go from comatose to sonic speed in about two minutes.
"Your blue friend left in quite a hurry," Azami said to Sally as she approached. "But it is wonderful to see he is feeling well again."
"Sonic only has one speed, really," Sally replied with a little smile. "Listen, Azami-sama, Sonic is going to lure your ninetails back here, so you had best prepare yourselves."
"You are not fearful that he may be caught by the beast?" Azami said in a worried voice. "Your friend is fast, but the ninetails has many powers at his disposal."
"Don't worry, Azami," Tails would reassure the older fox, his eyes shining with the confidence only a child could show. "Sonic is the fastest thing alive."
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It had taken another argument with Sally, but Tails had convinced her to let him gather before the shrine with the rest of them as they waited for Sonic's return. Azami gave the kit the very important but less dangerous task of standing on the sidelines, holding the cloth-wrapped purification stone until it was time to use it. Sally was armed with a borrowed sword, Antoine had his own, and Bunnie and Sonic did not need weapons. Most of the kitsune also had blades, except for the blind one, who had a pole arm.
The kitsune were grim and quiet. They knew the task ahead would not be easy, and that any of them could perish, even the ninetails they had tried so hard to save. Soon enough, they could all see a plume of rising dust in the near distance, growing rapidly closer and larger as it came up the mountain.
"Try not to seriously harm him," Azami instructed, "But do what you must to preserve yourselves. Sally-hime, you and yours do not have to help."
"I know," Sally nodded, "But if Tails is fighting, so are we. I sure hope you and the other two are careful, you're still pretty badly hurt from before. Do you have a plan?"
"I am afraid there is little strategy here. We must bring the ninetails down long enough to force the kiyome ishi down his throat. No mean task, I assure you. He will have all eight elements at his disposal, one stored in each tail, plus his own attained element, Spirit, in the ninth tail. If this tail touches you, you may be drained of life, so stay away from it at all costs. We will do our best to counter his elements with our own as he produces them, and in the meanwhile, we must all also avoid more mundane attacks from claws and fangs."
A blue streak sliced past Sally, ruffling her fur, just before Sonic gave a hearty shout.
"FOXZILLA INCOMING!"
The Freedom Fighters were not prepared for what came bursting violently through the trees. The monster was nearly as large as the shrine building itself, and looked less like a fox and more like a furry, white dragon, complete with wicked claws and rows of curving, dagger-like teeth. It immediately plunged after Sonic, and the Kitsune Clan scattered, attacking from all angles, trying to give the creature nowhere to run.
The ninetails's response was swift and vicious. Despite its size, it was incredibly fast, and it whipped its body about in a frenzy of raking claws, snapping teeth, and whipping tails.
Tails, watching from beneath a sturdy tree, had almost forgotten about the elements, but he was abruptly reminded as the earth began to tremble, knocking several combatants off their feet. The poor boy was forced to hang on to the trunk for dear life, a chasm beginning to split the lawn. Iwamaru did his best to counter, falling to place both hands on the ground, willing the earth to close before it swallowed anyone.
One of the beast's tails flashed gray, and the fur on it clumped together into long, metallic spears. A flick of that tail dislodged them and sent them screaming for the vulnerable Kitsune of Earth. Antoine would step right into their path, the shrine grounds ringing as his blade deflected spear after spear, directing them harmlessly into the trees and ground. The increasingly infuriated ninetails whipped its body around to try and snap up the coyote in its jaws, but Antoine was saved when Sonic knocked him aside.
"Hey, you oversized mutt, over here! OW!" The hedgehog rubbed his head and gave Danica a surprised look. "Why'd you hit me?!"
"That is still our clan leader, show some respect!" the blind kitsune snapped.
"Jeez, for someone who can't see, you sure did find my head quick," he grumbled.
"I do have four other senses, hedgehog. By the way, look out." Danica replied calmly, stepping aside as one of the kitsune's tails slammed down at Sonic. He began darting around the grounds, trying to keep its attention while the others worked at crippling its legs, that blue streak always just tantalizingly one step ahead.
The monster had apparently had enough, and it began to rain unnaturally hard, a veritable deluge coming down upon the hedgehog. It felt uncomfortably like drowning, and he couldn't breathe or see where he was going. Verging on panic, he was forced to slow down, and that was when he realized the ground he was on had turned to thick mud. Sonic was now stuck, knee deep and unable to run.
Hanako would come to rescue, thick, fibrous vines bursting from the muck to entangle the monster's legs in a sturdy network of vegetation.
For a moment, it looked like everything was over. The monster was thrashing, but seemingly helpless, its limbs bound to the ground. Several kitsune rushed forward to try and further immobilize it while Sally braved the mud to dig out Sonic's feet, and Tails would be called over with his precious bundle. He pulled away the cloth covering the kiyome ishi, multicolored light shining forth from the glass-like sphere in a sudden pulse of brilliance.
The monster screamed at that, a terrible sound rather like nails on a chalkboard backed by roars of thunder, his thrashing beginning anew. Tails was pulled protectively back by Sally as pillars of twisting flame broke through the already cracked ground, snarling their way towards an increasingly dark sky The restraining vines began to quickly burn and snap away, freeing the ninetails. It was Hanako who bore the brunt of its wrath now, and the four-tails was swept bone-breakingly hard to the ground by a sharp gust of elemental wind. She let out a fearful squeal as she realized she could never get up in time to avoid the enormous claw coming down to crush the life out of her.
Bunnie flashed between them, her body trembling as her mechanical arm strained to keep several tons of monster off the downed kitsune. Kuro cried out fearfully for his lover, sprinting for them.
"Hey, Tall, Dark an' Handsome, come get yer sweetheart, ah can't hold this forevuh!"
Kuro did not need to be told twice; he swept up the injured female and vanished into the shadows to see to her. Bunnie shoved the claw aside and scrambled away from it before it could retaliate, her escape helped along by Hikari, who brought lightning down on the creature to keep it from chasing the rabbit.
"We're not making any progress, and people are getting hurt!" Sally cried as she found herself near Azami and Sonic. "It's too powerful, it will wear us down long before we can do the same to it!"
"Gimmee the rock, Tails, I'll take care of this!" Sonic snatched away the purification stone against a protest from Sally and streaked up one of the ninetail's legs, heading for its muzzle. What he hadn't expected was for the earlier rain to have made the oily fur so slippery, and he lost his footing on the steep neck. Sonic found himself falling, and unable to change direction in midair, he could only watch helplessly as those teeth came for him.
Then he found himself flying, a familiar grip on his arm, as he was pulled away from the incoming daggers.
"Tails!"
"You're too heavy, Sonic, I can't carry you for long!" the kit grunted, nearly crash-landing into Sally. He then stood, brushing away mud and soot. "I can fly, you should let me give it a try! You can't dodge him, but I don't need the ground to be able to move! How else are we gonna reach his head?"
"I don't know, Tails, that thing's mondo dangerous," he shook his head.
"I know he is, and I'm scared, real scared, but if we work together, all of us, I think we can do it. Aunt Sally, you're good at plans, what do we do?"
"Well," Sally rubbed at her arm, frowning at the idea of putting Tails in so much danger, but what choice did she have?
Moments later, the plan would be in action. Sonic would be used as a messenger to spread the word amidst the busily battling kitsune and coordinate the attack. The scattered kitsune and Freedom Fighters would gather, forming a broad semicircle. The ninetails lunged for them, seeing what it thought was a set of easy targets.
Azami, Kitsune of Fire, and Danica, Kitsune of Water, would leap into action to create a wall of thick steam to hide the others behind. The confused ninetails snapped at the vaporous tendrils, and found itself unable to see its targets. Attempts to follow them by sound were thwarted by Iwamaru causing the ground to rumble, and attempts to sniff them out were rendered useless by a sudden burst of irritating pollen from an apparently recovered Hanako. The creature was deprived of nearly all senses, and it writhed in helpless fury, striking randomly into the mist.
"Now, before it uses wind to clear this!" Sally cried. "Go, Tails!"
Tails would fly as fast and hard as he could through the fog, locking in on the writhing silhouette of the monster. The angry beast roared, and the wind that Sally had feared would blast into the little fox, nearly knocking him from the air. The kiyome ishi was dislodged from his hands, and bitter desperation washed over him. This had all been for nothing.
"The stone!!" Tails screamed as the bright sphere plummeted into the remains of the fog. Instead of going for the kit, the ninetails slapped a claw for the kiyome ishi, intending to destroy the irritating object.
"I'm on it!" Sonic cried, dashing over to catch it before the monster could smash it. He had the beast's full attention now, and it began to chase him. "Hey, Antoine! Catch!"
"What?!" the coyote squeaked, but he did catch the shining stone. The ninetails was now after him.
"Antoine, ovuh hea'!" Bunnie waved to him from amidst tendrils of mingling smoke and mist. Antoine nodded and rolled the sphere onto the flat of his sword, bouncing it once before whipping the blade to send the object flying. Bunnie easily caught it in her flesh hand, then she transferred it to her robotic hand to be able to pitch it the distance to Sally. The ninetails was quickly getting confused, and was now standing still, trying to get a bead on the now constantly moving kiyome ishi.
"Sonic!" Sally cried, throwing the stone back. Things had come full circle, and Sonic spun his arm, grinning up at a hovering Tails.
"Here you go, lil bro!" he cried as the thing was thrown back to its original carrier. "Good luck!"
There was no turning back for Tails now. He gave the hedgehog a grin and a jaunty salute before making off for the monster once more. The light gained the ninetails's attention, and it snapped for him, intending to tear both kit and stone between those awful rows of teeth. Tails did not even try to move away, and the jaws closed over him.
To be continued…