A/N: Hey everybody, sorry that these chapters always take so long to write but I actually have a reason this time. I had my one year anniversary of Sonic High so I had to write two chapters of that and since each chapter is like 8000 words it took a long time. Anyway, you came here to read so I'll shut up and let you do just that :)

Chapter 10

Land Vs. Sea

The cruel, harsh sun beat down upon the barren earth with its unblinking, malevolent eye. Not trees sprouted from the earth. No shade being cast by their magnificent leaves to shield from the unrelenting heat. No critters scurried along the dusty rocks and those that remained slithered towards the boulder canyons to the south. The air was thick, dry and hazy. Billowing gusts picked up dust and peppered it through the air, blanketing the scarce shrubbery. To the untrained eye, nothing but a barren plain but to those privy to what event was about to unfold, it was the setting of nightmares. To the Vaposians, it was the last stretch of land separating Razor from the menacing talons of Earthia and her wicked offspring. To the Zuncons, it was their last line of defense from the crazed jaws of the warmongering shark. However, to Sonic and Tails, it was merely a small stretch of worthless sand that kept them apart for no longer.

The Zuncons kept to the shadows of the tree line, remaining hidden until the opportune moment to strike. Razor walked ahead of his army, steadily closing the gap as many aquatic animals, all different shapes and sizes marched behind him. However, two in his arsenal were slightly different. One violet feline strode of his left and a more confident sapphire hedgehog kept in step to his right. Abyss was not far behind. Earthia pushed her way past her people, her two daughters Galaxia and Cosmo close in tow. Her eyes widened as she saw the sheer number of enemy forces that were ebbing ever closer.

"Is that him?" Earthia whispered to the smaller golden fox that shuffled up next to her, the two echidnas close behind him. Tails simply nodded, unable to emit words from his mouth. He was too overcome to even move. "If you can prevent any death for peace then I'll owe you big time," she smiled down on him, placing her hand on his back and nudging him forward.

Knuckles' eyes widened as she saw her almost pushing him out into the battlefield, surprised by her forceful nature and complete disregard for the boy's safety.

"You can't just make him go out there!" he bellowed as loudly as he dared, making sure not to release the element of surprise.

"He has to. If he can convince Sonic and Razor to stop, nobody has to die today."

"But they might shoot him on sight."

"That's a risk we might have to take. I have faith in him."

"Tails, you don't have to do thi-" Knuckles began, turning to face the fox but to his amazement Tails had already taken that pivotal step out of the grove and stepped foot on the sand. The harsh juxtaposition between biomes caused momentary pause in his movements but after he adjusted to the almost surreal change in climate, he continued walking.

"Is that one of them? Should I fire?" Abyss asked, fire alight in the squid's eyes. Razor was ready for battle, his thirst for vengeance so close to being quenched after so long but upon looking at the boy walking towards them, he hesitated.

"Isn't that a Mobian?" the shark questioned but as he shifted his gaze to Sonic, he instantly understood.

"Tails…" the hedgehog whispered almost inaudibly under his breath. Before he knew what had overcome him, Sonic sprinted out of the lines of men. His eyes strained on the ever-growing image of Tails, the sun glistening off his fur and illuminated his sparkling azure pools. Tails seemed almost angelic to Sonic as he closed the gap between them. Sonic crashed into him, wrapping him tightly in his arms and lifting him off the ground to twirl Tails around in the air, a look of complete bliss and relief forming on Sonic's face.

"Sonic… it really is you," Tails breathed as the hedgehog placed him back on the ground. The two just stood inches apart, marveling each other as emerald got lost in azure. It was as if all the light in the world vanished leaving only a spotlight illuminating the two. Nothing else mattered. Not the war. Not Razor or Earthia. Not Blaze, Knuckles, Tikal, Shadow, Amy or even Vector. No, neither one could focus on anything accept the Mobian standing in front of them.

Tails let a shallow flow of tears cascade down the contours of his face, unable to believe that Sonic was truly alive, well and survived their run-in with the leviathan. Before Sonic had time to open his mouth to ask Tails what had happened, Tails flung his arms around the sapphire hedgehog and crashed his lips against Sonic's. Sonic immediately obliged, opening his gated teeth to allow Tails' slippery appendage entrance as he eagerly and greedily lapped around Sonic's mouth, enjoying the familiar taste of his saliva.

"Should… Should we do something?" Razor asked, not used to seeing this kind of affection between the same gender, let alone seeing any type of affection in the middle of a battleground.

"No, let them figure this out," Blaze replied, coupled with a chuckled as she saw the confusion on the normally tough exterior of Razor.

"What… what are you doing with them?" Sonic asked as he pulled back, gasping for breath. Tails cocked a head, confused.

"What are you doing with them?" He countered, slight venom in his voice after uttering the pronoun.

"They saved me from the Leviathan. Blaze too," Sonic answered.

"Yeah, the same Leviathan that they released into the waters in the first place."

"Only because their old ruler slaughtered Coral in front of Striker, Sonic fired back, anger evident in his voice.

"Dark Oak only killed Coral because she sent the Leviathan to kill his wife! Besides, Striker murdered Dark Oak afterwards anyway," Tails complained, not able to comprehend why Sonic would even think about siding with the barbaric Vaposians.

"Are they… arguing?" Tikal asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"I knew this was a bad idea. Let's attack now before they get closer," Galaxia urged.

"Patience, my daughter," Earthia remained steadfast, still having hope in the young fox and hedgehog.

"I can't believe you are defending those warmongers," Sonic hissed. "They mercilessly slaughtered the Vaposians in a peaceful meeting and then hid in their little grove to watch the fireworks go off. If they tried to fight harder, maybe Large wouldn't have won so much land."

"Are you kidding me? Those barbarians sent a beast out into the waters just to cripple their own allies," Tails spat.

"This clearly isn't working," Razor grumbled to Blaze, dismissing her suggestion.

"This clearly isn't working," Galaxia complained to her mother who still didn't budge.

"Attack!" Both of them screamed simultaneously.

Sonic and Tails froze, their intense gaze slipping from each other to the surroundings as the line of Vaposians began to charge forward, weapons raised as an equally large group of Zuncons emerged from the shadows, firing. Sonic grabbed Tails, wrapping his arms protectively around the fox as waited for the barrage of bullets to shred through the two, killing them where they stand.

…

Wave sat in her office hidden deep within the mountains of Aves, shielded from the outside world and her Mobian pursuers by curtains of sheer rock ascending towards the heavens. She glanced around at the many monitors that circled her, each one showing more and more death and depression. To her left, she could see the front line, still lead by the crafty armadillo edging ever closer towards the capital of Aves. The one place she was sworn to protect and look after. To her right, she could see some of the people on the streets cowering. Praying for a miracle, holding their children tightly. All the people the Wave had let down.

She looked over towards a small desk situated next to the grand door. The empty chair haunting her. The same chair that used to house Fiona Fox, her next in command and best friends since the tragic demise of Jet and Storm.

"I started this all. My grief… my anger…" she lamented aloud, sighing. Her heart felt heavy, burdened by the tormented souls of the thousands of people that had lost their lives because of this war. What had started out as one grieving commander turned into a war of faith and a war of anger as communities came together to separate others.

"I need to fix this…"

…

Bullets soared through the air, flying at breakneck paces until they wedged themselves deep into the flesh of those that dared to get in their path. Blood spurted from open wounds. Soldiers fell to their knees crying out in pain as their comrades ran past their carcasses, vengeance on their minds. Bullets that missed their mark struck soil, sandy soil erupting from the impact and scattering across the ground. The air was thick with lead filled rain and Sonic and Tails were caught right in the middle of it all.

Without thinking, Sonic quickly grabbed Tails' hand and made a break for the boulder fields to the south, less than two-hundred meters from the epicenter of the ensuing battle. They dodged passed angry reptiles and fish, stepping over plant bodies as both sides began to sustain heavy casualties. Sonic and Tails raised their spar hands over their heads, keeping low to avoid the bullets. They had many near misses, lead soaring millimeters passed their heads, arms and legs but neither sustaining any injuries as they made it to the serenity of boulders.

"This way," Tails yelled as he took the lead, noticing a small hollow carved out in one of the boulders that lead down underneath the ground. The two descended the sandy ramp into a small cave like area. The smooth boulders of the great desert that separated Vapos, Zuncon and Macton acted as the ceiling above their heads, stalactites hanging precariously from the ceiling. The only light to be seen in the small came streaking through from the small entrance that they had arrived in. The two continued to shuffle their way through the darkness until they felt the thick rock walls at the back of the cave and crouched down.

The sound of the raging battle echoed through the cave. Tails shuddered each time he heard the blood-curdling screams of the soldiers and Sonic shivered each loud crack of gunfire. Sonic wrapped his arms protectively around Tails as they both waited out the battle, ashamed that their stubbornness and pride acted as a barrier between the two. If only they could have connected and explained the situation. If only they could have stopped the violence.

"Do… do you hear that?" Sonic whispered after a moment. Tails craned his neck and twitched his ears, straining them to hear what Sonic was talking about when he heard it. The faint sound of shoes crunching against sand progressively getting louder and louder.

"Some of them followed us," Tails whimpered.

"Get behind me," Sonic instructed as he held his arms out, shielding Tails as they both faced the small opening, waiting for the intruders who no doubt were sent to finish of the two for failing their mission. However, both boys let out a relieved sigh when they saw who descended from the surface.

"Thank Chaos you two are okay," Blaze sung out happily as she rushed over and flung her hands around both of them.

"You two scared us there for a minute when you got caught in the middle of all that," Knuckles added as he hopped down the opening and strode over to the two, placing a muscled hand on Sonic's bony shoulder.

"What happened back there? Why were you two yelling at each other?" Tikal asked, completely ruining the reunion of the four companions. Blaze stared back at her, rolling her eyes. Tikal was the one-person Blaze hadn't missed.

"It was dumb," Tails waved her off. "Let's just focus on what's important right now."

"He's right. We need to figure out how to stop this before they both kill each other. Whether we like them or not, both the Vaposians and the Zuncons are the only hope we have of defeating Vector," Sonic added.

"How did we get mixed up in all this mess?" Blaze sighed, her eyesight shifting from Sonic and Tails out towards Knuckles. She extended out his hand and he hesitantly slipped his in hers, squeezing.

"Love," Tails responded emotionally as he draped his arms over Sonic. Knuckles bit his bottom lip as he glanced at Tikal from the corner of his eye.

"Hey guys… I hate to break up the little foursome but you might wanna take a look at this," Tikal warned, her voice cracking in a grave tone as she stared out of the entrance. The four all exchanged worried glances before making their way over to the echidna, staring out into the desert and the horrific sight of the two nations at war with each other.

"It's horrible…" Blaze breathed.

"How can people still get so angry over such a trivial misconception one hundred years ago?" Knuckles added, only adding fuel to the guilt that was burning inside of both Tails and Sonic.

"No, I mean up there in the air," Tikal pointed. All gazes were raised upwards. They squinted until they noticed what Tikal was looking at. There, out in the sky, was a small metal device that looked like a drone gradually get larger and larger.

"What is it?" Tails marveled, intrigued by the strange mechanical marvel. They watched in awe as this strange contraption flew over the top of the raging battle and stopped above the epicenter, right where the front lines were clashing. That's when the middle of the drone opened and a spherical object began to drop through the sky, propelled by gravity as it hurtled towards the ground. They could hear inaudible commands from Razor and Earthia as all the people seemed to scatter but none were quick enough.

"GET DOWN!" Knuckles bellowed as he suffocated both Tikal and Blaze with his two arms and jumped backwards, his body landing on top of theirs and Sonic and Tails did the same. A large crack split the sky like Chaos was letting out a mighty growl. The ground shook like a mighty earthquake had rocked the desert and the boulders above the teenager's heads rumbled and shook. The blast radius of the bomb was small, but it's effects were extensive.

The last thing Tails, Sonic, Knuckles, Blaze and Tikal could remember before being knocked out by falling debris was the sound of stalactites crashing down and crumbling to dust as the light from the entrance way was snuffed out by rocks blocking the entrance and their little hiding spot caved in on itself.

…

"I have taken care of your cobalt problem once and for all. Talk soon," the luminescent neon blue hologram spoke in satisfaction before pressing a button and dissipated into the air.

Vector sat atop his steel throne in his cobblestone castle, one leg crossed over the other as he was deep in thought, smiling to himself. Slowly, the large door to the entrance of his throne room creaked open and a robed figure skulked in. Their body completely covered in the ashen fabric and their face completely obscured in shadows by the hood that draped over their head.

"You're late," he barked.

"I have news from the battle between Vapos and Zuncon. It has been aggravated by your son and Tails. They are alive and on the island," the cloaked figure began.

"Good work, but I already knew about this," he growled. "Don't worry, I have just been informed that they have been taken care of," he finished, the edge of his lips curving up into a smile as he showed his white teeth.

"What shall you have me do then? Go to pick up the pieces?" The figure asked.

"No, don't hassle yourself by going up north. I have another task for you to complete much closer to home," he grinned evilly.

"Anything you wish, Lord Vector."

A/N: Drones, bombs, war, cave-ins... they just can't seem to catch a break can they. Are they really dead? Well... obviously not but one of them might not be as okay as you think ;) And yeah, I know I've just introduced a second mystery character without revealing who the first one was yet but all in due time :) If you like my work and are sick of waiting for updates why not try out some of my other stories. I just released a new one (Yes I'm juggling with three different stories... you'd think I've learnt my lesson already but I guess not) so if you have some time why not give that a read, after leaving a review on this story of course :P And, as always, have a great day.

Next time on Sontails: War of Faith - Chapter 11: The Blame Game